A World War II Flying Fortress Was Made into the ‘Gas Station Bomber' on a Bet
For 60 years, a World War II-era B-17 Flying Fortress sat atop an Oregon service station, serving as a canopy for customers stopping to refuel. It ...
For 60 years, a World War II-era B-17 Flying Fortress sat atop an Oregon service station, serving as a canopy for customers stopping to refuel. It only made it there after an incredible cross country journey that involved smuggling booze and a two-plane pileup on an Oklahoma runway. Art Lacey created the "Gas Station Bomber" -- one of Milwaukie, Oregon's most visited sites -- on a five-dollar bet. According to his daughter Punky Scott, the now-deceased Lacey was attending a birthday party in 1947 when he told fellow revelers he was going to put a B-17 bomber on top of his local gas station.