Gearing up for a new flight

The B-17 Art Lacey flew to Oregon after WWII became a landmark for his familyÍs restaurant. Now his heirs are revving up the Lacey Lady for another flight to renew the Bomber Inn.

By Mark Fischetti

Fifty-two years ago, Art Lacey concocted a grand scheme to promote his business. He would buy an enormous WWII warplane and park it over his enormous 48-pump gas station on McLoughlin Blvd. in Milwaukee, Oregon. His quest brought him to Altus Air Base in Oklahoma, where several B-17 bombers had been retired. The base commander questioned his sanity but sold him one anyway.

Art rounded up local farmhands to help him prepare the bird for flight. An amateur pilot, Art was green behind military controls. Base regulations required a co-pilot, so he stuck a mannequin in the seat beside him, put a cap on its head, took off for a test run, and crash-landed. He survived, but the plane didnÕt.

Undeterred, Art convinced the base to hand over a second plane for his original $13,750 check. Two of his friends, pilots from Oregon, joined him for what turned out to be a perilous flight home. Heading north along the Sierra Nevadas they got caught in a blinding snowstorm. Suddenly a mountain stared Art in the face. ÒI threw the throttles against the pegs and we climbed for the sky,Ó he recalls.

When the clouds broke hours later he spotted a town and descended on what turned out to be Fall River Mills, California. ÒPeople were running out of their houses in nightgowns,Ó Art says. ÒWe were just trying to read the road signs.Ó They followed railroad tracks to Klamath Falls in southern Oregon, then hit another snowstorm and flew at a mere 800 feet to Troutdale Airport in Milwaukee, Oregon.

Getting the plane across town to ArtÕs gas station proved to be a tougher chore. The authorities wouldnÕt let him haul it over the roads. Frustrated, Art disassembled the plane into four big pieces, loaded them on trucks, and drove them across town at 2 a.m. one Saturday morning. He got away with a $10 fine for driving an overly wide load. Art and friends reassembled the plane, dubbed it Lacey Lady, and parked it over the pumps as a giant canopy.

The plane looked so outrageous there it became an instant landmark. Tourism maps made note of it. In the 1950s thousands of people climbed a ladder to peer inside while getting gas, or eating in the small restaurant Art and his wife, Birdine, subsequently built on the four-acre property.

 

Refurbishing a symbol

The Bomber Inn, serving American fare, expanded through the Õ70s, but the plane had already been closed to visitors. The Oregon weather, birds, corrosion, and vandalism continued to take a relentless toll. ArtÕs daughter, Punky Scott, took over the restaurant, and her son, Jayson, and his wife, Terry, later joined her. They dismantled the gas station in the mid-1990s and concentrated on building a catering business to complement the inn.

One spring day three years ago Jayson climbed inside the plane to see what it would take to spruce it up. He started cleaning and repairing. ThatÕs when he got the idea. He would restore the plane to flying condition, and fly it at air shows. Meanwhile, he would redevelop the property, erecting a large building where the plane could be housed. The restaurant, catering business, new meeting rooms, and a museum exhibit would all be located inside, with the plane visible at the center. The plan would require more than $1 million and take 7 to 10 years.

A crazy burden for a local restaurant? Not to Terry, 37, Jayson, 33, or Punky, in her 50s. ÒArt did everything in the extreme to get and reward customers,Ó Terry says. ÒThe restoration is our way of doing the same.Ó

The family also knew that the business had to be revitalized. ÒThere are a lot of civic proposals to renew the face of McLoughlin Blvd.,Ó Jayson says. ÒWe want to be ahead of it.Ó Furthermore, he says, ÒThe bomber is the basis for our advertising. We canÕt let it decay any longer.Ó The plan will also take the business upscale. ÒWe cater three to four functions a day, but have to travel to them,Ó Jayson says. ÒThose functions could be held here, and with such a superb, historic plane at its center, people will come. Later we could add retail shops, even entertainment.Ó

Jayson says there are only seven to nine B-17s left in the world capable of being refurbished to fly. ÒIf I could fly this plane on a summer circuit, it would generate tremendous publicity for our new facility.Ó

Right now the planeÕs nose is being painstakingly restored in a local hangar. Much more money will be needed. The family got a $100,000 grant from a regional tourism development agency to begin the work. They are now making a video about the restoration and the concept of the bomber complex, which will be used to lure corporate sponsors. TheyÕre also designing promotions for patrons. The remaining funds will come bit by bit from cash flowÑone reason the project may take so long.

Jayson, Terry, and Punky are not daunted. ÒWe feel as if we are taking a new journey, like Art did,Ó Jayson says. And what does Art, now 86, think of the new scheme? ÒHeÕs very supportive,Ó Jayson says, Òalthough when I take him to the hangar where the nose is being restored, he looks around and says, ÔIÕm glad itÕs you guys and not me.ÕÓ