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The B-17 Bomber gas station Shortly after WWII a veteran named Art Lacey went to Kansas
to buy a surplus B-17. His idea was to fly it back to Oregon, jack it up in the air and make a gas station out of it. He paid
$15,000 for it. He asked which one was his and they said take whichever you want because there were miles of them. He didn't
know how to fly a 4-engine airplane so he read the manual while he taxied around by himself. They said he couldn't take off
alone so he put a mannequin in the co-pilot's seat and off he went. He flew around
a bit to get the feel of it and when he went to land he realized he needed a co-pilot to lower the landing gear. He crashed
and totaled his plane and another on the ground. They wrote them both off as "wind damaged" and told him to pick
out another. He talked a friend into being his co-pilot and off they went. They flew to Palm Springs where Lacey wrote a hot check for gas. Then they headed for Oregon. They hit
a snow storm and couldn't find their way, so they went down below 1,000 feet and followed the railroad tracks. His partner
sat in the nose section and would yell, "TUNNEL" when he saw one and Lacey would climb over the mountain. They landed safely, he made good the hot check he wrote, and they started getting permits to move a
B-17 on the state highway. The highway department repeatedly denied his permit and fought him tooth and nail for a long time,
so late one Saturday night, he just moved it himself. He got a $10 ticket from the police for having too wide a load.
The family-owned forty-pump gas station was the largest single-volume gas station in the
United States in the 1960s. The station closed in 1986 but the family still owns the property and the bomber. Today the bomber
sits off to the side of their home-style restaurant that serves up Bomber Burgers, chicken-fried steaks, and thick shakes.
On most mornings, customers can find World War II veterans and their families dining in the restaurant, a ritual some have
followed since the restaurant opened. The property also has a children's playground
and a museum, which is dedicated to World War II and houses an extensive collection of war memorabilia. Veterans meet here
regularly to share stories. The Bomber is a one-of-a-kind establishment, a place
for classic American food and a reminder of times past and the men and women who served in World War II. Art Lacey died in 2000. |
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