Iconic WWII bomber 'Memphis Belle' to fly in NC

Sanford, N.C. — An iconic bomber plane of World War II immortalized by Hollywood is coming to North Carolina.

A replica of The Memphis Belle, a Boeing B-17 famously known for flying 25 missions over Europe and safely returning every crew member, will be available for flights this weekend at the Sanford-Lee County Airport.

Thirty-minute flights are available at a cost of $450.

To schedule a flight, call 918-340-0243, or visit the Liberty Foundation website.

Only 12 B-17s are still in operation.

According to the Liberty Foundation, which handles flights of the bomber, the original Memphis Belle downed eight enemy fighters, dropped a payload of more than 60 tons of bombs over Germany, France and Belgium in 1942 and 1943 and flew more than 20,000 miles.

In 1990, an eponymous motion picture, starring Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz and Harry Connick Jr., depicted a fictionalized account of the plane's remarkable history.

It was based on a 1943 documentary of the bomber's final flight that same year.

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It's a real B-17, just not the original "Memphis Belle". That is in a Memphis museum. Cost is about same as that of the Commemorative Air Force that flies another B-17 and a B-24.