On Saturday 10th August 2002, "Sally B" the last airworthy Boing B17 Flying Fortress in the UK, flew into North Weald Airfield, Essex for a 2-day fund raising event.  Sally B is kept airworthy by a team of volunteers lead by Elly Sallingboe.  The project operates as a charity and is funded entirely by donations. Sally B serves as a flying memorial to all the US aircrews who lost their lives flying from the U.K. during the Second World War.
 

On the first day of the event, several torrential downpours caused the grass parking area to become too soft for Sally B to be positioned where orginally intended.  However, due to the fact that Perfo had previously been installed as a hard standing for smaller aircraft, it was possible to park Sally B with her tail wheel on the section of ground reinforced by Perfo, with her main wheels on the taxiway.
 

The Perfo reinforced area provided ample support for the tail wheel of the mighty aircraft, despite the surrounding area being well and truly waterlogged.
 

That evening a special event was held in Sally B's honour at the aircraft was floodlit to create a tremendously nostalgic atmophere.
 

The next day the tailwheel was still effectively supported by the PERFO and the aircraft was easily moved off the grass to be relocated to the concrete apron.  The Sally B team were so impressed with PERFO that S2T Aviation agreed to donate several large sections to the aircraft, sufficient to support both the main gear and the tail wheel. The pictures show the flight crew loading the PERFO into Sally B's bomb bay.
 

The sections will be installed at the aircraft's home base and possibly also be used when she is parked on grass at displays at other airfields, to prevent the undercarriage sinking into soft ground. 
 

With her cargo of Perfo safely stowed on board, Sally B's engines are fired up prior to departure from North Weald.
 

Sally B departs North Weald to return to her home base at Duxford Airfield, in Cambridgeshire. 

S2T Aviation are proud to have been able to help the Sally B team in their admirable efforts to keep this impressive aircraft and flying memorial in the skies. If you would like to learn more about Sally B, would like to make a donation to her preservation fund or support the organisation in some way, visit their website at www.deltaweb.co.uk/sallyb