Historic B-17 roars over Front Range

Frank LaBlotier remembers his first mission as a B-17 waist gunner. He was five miles over the submarine pens at St. Nazarre on the French coast, huffing oxygen from a bottle, wrapped badly against temperatures in the 50 degree range-below zero-watching German fighters line up to attack his bomber.

"I thought 'what am I doing here?'" recalled the Denver native, then 19-years-old.

On Monday afternoon, LeBlotier joined a group of journalists for a ride in a historic bomber decked out to resemble the famous "Memphis Belle." The flight was a precursor to this weekend's public display of the iconic...