About 20 volunteers gather regularly in Hangar C at Salem's McNary Field, rebuilding a World War II bomber one rivet at a time. Their goal: get the Lacey Lady, a B-17G Flying Fortress, back in the air.

The project drew fresh attention after Salem Reporter profiled the effort on Wednesday, Aug. 5. But the crew at 3278 SE 25th St. has been at it since 2015, when the hangar first opened to house the aircraft and the B-17 Alliance Foundation's museum.

The Lacey Lady's origin story is pure Oregon folklore. In 1947, Milwaukie gas-station owner Art Lacey bought a surplus B-17 on a $5 bet at his birthday party, flew it from Oklahoma to Troutdale and drove it to his station in the middle of the night because he lacked the proper permits. The bomber sat perched above the station, later the Bomber Restaurant, along McLoughlin Boulevard for 67 years before being removed in 2014 and trucked to Salem.

"Dad was at his birthday party in 1947 and I think he'd probably had a few adult beverages," Lacey's daughter Punky Scott recalled in a KATU interview posted on the foundation's website. "A friend told him he was out of his mind and could never pull it off. Dad bet him five dollars he could do it."

The restoration is led by project manager Lee Nielson and executive director Terry Scott, whose husband's grandfather was Art Lacey himself. Jerry Dugger, a former Navy aviation mechanic, joined after a neighbor brought him to the foundation's monthly Veterans Coffee Club at the hangar. He told InvestigateTV in May that every component must meet FAA airworthiness standards, with zero tolerance for imprecision.

Terry Scott, in the same May report, described what drives the team: "There's nothing like watching the B-17 fly. It is just not as beautiful sitting in a storage room. It needs to fly."

Work in mid-2026 is focused on the cockpit section, where seats, flight controls and instrument panels are being refitted. The two left-side engine nacelles are nearing completion after extensive corrosion repair, and the left inner wing panel is taking shape. Many parts are being manufactured in-house from original Boeing blueprints because surviving originals are too corroded to reuse.

The foundation says the Lacey Lady is the most intact wartime B-17 under restoration anywhere in the world, with the lowest engine hours of any surviving example. Fewer than 50 B-17s still exist; only about four remain airworthy in the United States.

The hangar's own future

The B-17 Alliance currently rents its restoration space but has a time-sensitive opportunity to buy it for $800,000. As of June, the foundation had raised more than half that amount and hopes to close the purchase by year's end. The total restoration is estimated at $9 million, funded entirely by tax-deductible donations.

How to visit or volunteer

The museum and restoration hangar are open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. No experience is required to volunteer; the foundation provides training in mechanical work, logistics and documentation.

The next Veterans Coffee Club meets Thursday, Aug. 20, at the hangar. Details: 3278 SE 25th St., Hangar C, Salem, OR 97302. More at b17alliance.com.