Docents Corner

Spring, 2004

About a year ago I was on the floor as a docent and noticed a man and woman standing in front of the B-17. They were looking at it with admiration. It is not unusual for our visitors to have an admiring look on their faces as they stand in front of our B-17. I strolled over to talk to the couple. As I approached them the man said, “I flew that airplane.” I said, “Oh, you flew B-17s?” He said, “No, I mean I flew that airplane. I used to own it.” I was really impressed to meet the person who had owned our B-17. He introduced himself to me. His name is Ray Elgin, from Cody Wyoming, and he had owned our B-17 and had flown it under contract to the forest service as a “fire bomber.”

He told me about how they had rigged the plane with the tank in the bomb bay to hold the fire retardant material that they spread into the areas adjacent to the forest fires. He described some of the close calls that he had while flying this airplane. Their retardant drops were at low levels and the fires caused some severe up and down drafts, so there were some really sporty times during their fire fighting flights. We chatted for quite a while and he told me that he comes here once a year to “see his old plane.”

Well, sure enough, this year he came again to see his old plane and brought a couple of his buddies along to show it to them. I just happened to be on duty again this year when he came to visit. (I guess he comes on Thursday each year,) He asked if he could take his buddies into the plane. I had them sign our normal release form and then allowed him to take them into the plane. They spent quite a while in the cockpit and we chatted a while after they came out. Mr. Elgin came back into the museum later in the day by himself. I jokingly asked him if he had left his hat, because he nearly did on his first trip into the museum that day. He said, “No, but I dropped a check into your collection box and I do not remember if I signed it.” I fished around in our collection box and got his check which was folded. I unfolded it and looked at it. The donation was for $2,000.00. He had signed it. I am sure that our shift on the floor as docents that day set a new record for donations, thanks to Mr. Elgin’s generous contribution. The board has approved him for a life membership in the 390th Memorial Foundation.

Richard Bushong
569th Pilot
Thursday Docent