Hangar Thirteen was founded by Ray Moore as a means of paying tribute to the thousands of US Army airmen who fought in history’s largest aerial confrontation. Inspired by his great-uncle, Marvin Hudson, Ray began rebuilding the Boeing B-17F Lucky Thirteen of the 384th Bombardment Group. Hudson was the line-chief of the group’s 546th Bombardment Squadron, and the sole surviving photo of Lucky Thirteen shows him supervising repair work nearby.
Lucky Thirteen will indeed be a unique aircraft. She will be one of only two surviving late-B-17Fs, and the only one of the two to have ever seen combat. Furthermore, she will be the only surviving B-17 to pay tribute to those aircrews who fought and died in the bombing campaigns against aircraft factories and ball-bearing plants in the autumn of 1943.
The Team
Hangar Thirteen's goal is to honor veterans of the US Army Air Forces by rebuilding Lucky Thirteen, a 384th Bomb Group aircraft that participated in the bloody 1943 campaign against Schweinfurt, Regensburg, and Stuttgart, Germany.
The Aircraft
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is perhaps the most iconic military aircraft in American history. Featured in such films as Twelve O’Clock High (1949) and Memphis Belle (1990), the B-17’s clean lines are reminiscent of an age gone-by.
The History
The Allied strategic bombing offensive against Nazi Germany remains the costliest aerial conflict in military history. The bloodiness of these campaigns demand remembrance and it is our intention to do just that.