When the war ended, and before they took away our B-26 Marauders and replaced
them with A-26 Invaders, it was announced that we could buy a B-26 Marauder
for $150. That idea fired our imagination. We could actually own Willie The
Wolf and fly it home to the states for a mere $150. Paul, Bob and I, along
with Griego, began to seriously discuss the idea. Of course they wouldn't
sell us a combat ready B-26. The guns, bomb bays, Norden bombsight and turret
would all have to be removed, at our expense of course. But still, Willie the
Wolf for $150! The mind boggles. We could fly it back over the Atlantic and
go into business hauling freight or starting a small air service. The
possibilities in our mind were endless.
Now we needed to do some serious planning. We would need some stuff that
wasn't included like bomb bay tanks, and an octant and astro tables because
no way would I cross the Atlantic with nothing but dead reckoning. As we
studied the problem it became a lot more complicated that we firs thought.
Willie engines were due for a 100-hour check. That would be about $1,000
added to the $150. Then we would need fuel, 1100 gallons of 100 octane at a
buck gallon, that's another $1100 so the cost is climbing. We are now at
$2250 so far. Then we would need 50 gallons of hydraulic fluid and oil. And
of course we then discovered in all our innocence that you just can't get
into any airplane and fly it across the Atlantic, Willie would have to be
inspected and certified. Another grand at least.
It was clear that we just couldn't afford this. Broken dreams shattered
fantasies. Of course if we had brought Willie back we could have auctioned it
at today's market for somewhere near $500,000 or more. But we were kids. What
did we know about stuff like that?
Copyright © 2002 Art Kramer and Coastal Computers, Inc.