The Denver Botanic Gardens is transformed this holiday season

 

 

into a winter wonderland at the 19th Annual Blossoms of Light.

Photos taken May 17, 2007 - Centennial Airport, Denver, CO

One of nine remaining Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress - - - an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the US Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 planes, the Boeing entry outperformed both the other competitors and more than met the Air Corps' expectations. Although Boeing lost the contract due to the prototype's crash, the Air Corps was so impressed with Boeing's design that they ordered 13 B-17s. The B-17 Flying Fortress went on to enter full-scale production and was considered the first truly mass-produced large aircraft, eventually evolving through numerous design advancements, from B-17A to G.

The B-17 was primarily employed in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and civilian targets. The United States Eighth Air Force based in England and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in Operation Pointblank, to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord.  The B-17 also participated, to a lesser extent, in the War in the Pacific.

 

First flight: July 28, 1935 (prototype)	Cruising speed: 150 mph
Classification: Bomber	Range (max): 3,750 miles
Gross Weight: 65,000 pounds	Ceiling: 35,600
Top speed: 287 mph	Accommodation: 2 pilots, bombardier, radio-operator, 5 gunners

 

Walk around Kendrick Lake Park on July 1st.   Jefferson County Colorado

Several photos have been added from my July 4th trip to Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Morrison, CO.  Additional photo added from a day of venturing into the Colorado Mtns. west of Denver.