[ApS]

I'd seen these old Warbirds before, but I'd missed their signature "arrival sound" above Lake Winnipesaukee. When the family asked me to reconsider staying home—I did end up going after all.

There was a big crowd of about 100, continually refreshed by new arrivals. The cashier kept an impressive wad of 10s and 20s in his grip. ("Gas money", he said).

Only a handful stayed outside the perimeter ropes, most wanting to listen to a veteran's operating instructions for the tiny gun turrets, and to touch and peer inside closely. Rows of 500-pound bombs were arranged above the viewers' heads in the bomb bay. The B-25, much smaller by comparison with the B-17, had the somewhat smaller 100-pounders, according to a WWII aviator in attendance.

The B-24, the plane I most wanted to tour inside, got a delayed start elsewhere and hadn't arrived by lunchtime and our departure from the show.

At the end of the day, the absence of the B-24 was forgiven when the B-17 departed Laconia at sundown. Even indoors, there was no mistaking "that sound" as the B-17 approached directly over The Broads, flying low over a serene Lake Winnipesaukee.

"The Plane! The Plane!", was all I could muster.

It flew eastward, directly over our house, and made a big left arc over the Ossipee Mountains. Right from the front porch, we watched with awe and admiration as its brilliant strobe lights gradually dimmed into the sunset.