How £10k ex-WWII B-17 bomber was transformed into ‘world’s weirdest petrol station’ after it broke down mid-flight

A BROKEN-DOWN ex-World War Two B-17 bomber has been miraculously transformed into one of the world's weirdest petrol stations.

For the past 70 years, a decommissioned WWII plane has sat on top of a huge 48-pump gas station in Milwaukie, Oregon and has stunned passersby with the unique look.

(One of the world's weirdest petrol stations has an ex-WWII B-17 bomber on top of the pumps.Credit: Alamy)

(The man behind the iconic petrol station Art Lacey with his wife Birdine)

(The petrol station was a huge success with locals and tourists that Art even added a restaurant and motel with the bomber theme.Credit: Wikipedia)

Gas station owner Art Lacey made the bold choice to stick the bomber up in the air in 1947 after he managed to bag himself one for just £10,000.

Lacey found an old and retired Boeing-17 for cheap and went to pick up the former US Army bomber.

In an interview in 1967, which has been posted on YouTube, he said: "When I bought this first B-17 I tried to fly it myself and I got it flying but in one bold attempt I decided to make a round-the-field trip with it.

He then picked up the second one for just under £1,000 after the seller admitted "wind failure" caused the crash.

Art said he had a "couple of boys from Portland" help him get the plane back home.

But he ran into even more issues getting it home after he couldn't get a permit to move the large plane across country and into Milwaukie.

To get past this problem, he had the plane split up into four pieces and put onto four different trucks.
He then sent the truck drivers on the road surrounded by men on motorbikes acting as a personal escort.

Art told the drivers to instantly flee the scene and dump the plane parts if police stopped them but luckily all four trucks arrived in one night.

After fixing up the battered bomber, Art stuck it above his gas pumps along Highway 99E and the B-17 became an instant hit with the locals.

Hundreds flocked to the now famous gas station to say they filled up their cars, trucks and bikes underneath a piece of WWII history.

Leading to the early 2000s, when Art Lacey died and the B-17 decayed further and became home to the local birds and wildlife.

It sat untouched and underappreciated for the next 14 years until the entire plane was disassembled, removed, and brought to a museum to be fixed.
It's currently still undergoing a long and in-depth restoration process.

More than 12,000 B-17s were built but over 4,700 were lost during the war leaving them a valuable piece of history for years to come.

Ref: How £10k ex-WWII B-17 bomber was transformed into ‘world’s weirdest petrol station’ after it broke down mid-flight (Thesun)

Photo Credit-Alamy, wikipedia