The 51 Year Miracle

Let's start with the least well kept secret of the lot. There are some aircraft that you just know we'll book every single time. In this particular instance it's simple as to why - nowhere in aviation has there been, or indeed will there be, such an improbable, brilliant and important tale for the ages.

For a start, the only B-17 Flying Fortress outside of the United States, Sally B, commemorates 79,000 Allied Airmen who fought in WWII in the skies over Europe. There are few more important and evocative memorials to their extraordinary courage, skill and sacrafice.

To be able to have a 29 tonne monster, larger than a building (in fact much larger than almost all aircraft hangars) in the sky is a feat requiring vast resources, huge teams, often Government money, and basically an organisation of serious size and scale. However, apparently it's also a feat which, now for 51 years, has been accomplished by a very small team led by a real-life superhero; the legendary Elly Sallingboe, BEM.

Those who've been to Old Buckenham before will know that the plan is always to start with the 'Star Spangled Banner' being sung whilst a Star Spangled Banner is raised over a War Memorial to 392 USAAF 8th Air Force servicemen from all over the United States who made the ultimate sacrifice in WWII. The anthem ends as (if we get the timing right) the flag is fully aloft and a four engined American bomber flies over a place created in 1942 for four engined American bombers.

So if you were expecting us to start with something completely new, tough. We're starting by confirming that the miracle continues into an unprecedented, completely impossible, unbelievable 51st year, in the presence of the real-life superhero, Elly.