THE NOISE THAT WILL LIVE WITH ME FOREVER
In 2003 or 2004, I was at Sebring. I was sitting eating lunch in between my practice laps, and the track was quiet for an hour. During that silence, I heard a noise that will live with me forever. It was the sound of four Pratt & Whitney engines that lived in an airplane called the Memphis Belle, the first B-17 to last twenty-five missions in the Second World War.
And then I saw it. God, it was beautiful! Khaki has never looked so cool. It flew low, very low, circled the racetrack, and landed on the runway next to the track. I dashed over in half-pint, the little car we had for scooting ’round the pits, got out, and just, well, stopped. By now, you’ve probably realized I do a lot of drooling. Stick a B-17 bomber in front of me and I’ll fill a bucket. This thing is, to me, as beautiful as the Avro Lancaster.
There, standing talking to a small group of people, was a tall, thin man. It couldn’t be . . . ? It was! It was Robert Morgan, the original pilot from the war. I’d seen him in a documentary made about the last mission. I ran over and asked for his autograph. He gave me a photograph of the original crew and signed it. He was softly spoken, and genuinely embarrassed by his celebrity. I wish there were more like him. I take my hat off to him and all the boys who flew and died in these wonderful aircraft.