Lest We Forget

Technology is a tool, a methodology to accomplish more, faster, more efficiently. But, like fame, technology is fleeting; what was once cutting edge is quickly obsolete.



This was brought home to me Sunday afternoon as I was working in the yard. Since we live near the former Mather Air Force Base, it isn't unusual to hear a lot of aircraft of all sorts. The sound was a prop plane but louder than I normally hear. Thinking it might be the Coast Guard's C-130 that occasionally does flyovers, I waited to see it. But, no, what flew over was a B-17 Flying Fortress; the plane that won the war in Europe. The plane that destroyed the German war machine.





The B-17, crammed with a crew of nine and powered by four prop engines, is roughly about the same size as the current Air Force F-15/F-16 or Navy/Marine F-18, all single seat fighters. It had nominal radar, little armor, relied upon machine guns for defense and the only thing remotely stealthy about it was if it flew at night in a thunderstorm. But from 1942-45 it was, second only to its larger kin, the B-29, THE BOMBER.

And now? It provides rides and nostalgia. Much like the cell phones of the late 80s (except for the rides part).