One of the most remarkable items at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans is My Gal Sal, a restored B-17 bomber suspended from the ceiling in the Warbirds gallery of the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center.

The plane on display hangs as if in flight. Visitors can take an elevator to the fourth floor and by strolling along walkways, view the plane up close. It’s an exhibit not to be missed, and the plane is a remarkable subject for photographers.

Along the walkway, plaques and small exhibit cases tell the story of how the Boeing B-17 was the backbone of the U.S. Eighth Air Force, the fleet of heavy bombers that became legendary as “The Mighty Eighth.”

While viewing the plane, visitors can look down at the bombardier’s station in the nose, where a mannequin in a flight suit tends the Norden Bombsight, one of the great secret weapons of the war. Also visible are mannequins depicting the bomber’s waist gunners, tail gunner, and pilot and co-pilot.

By going down one flight to the walkways of the third floor, visitors can get a close look at the underbelly of the bomber. Clearly visible is one of the most dangerous battle positions of the war, the ball turret made of plexiglass and steel.

That spherical gun station, powered by a hydraulic system, would spin about under the plane. The gunner, sealed inside the turret in a cramped position, would aim his twin 50-caliber machine guns at oncoming enemy fighters.

Looking up at that incredibly dangerous battle station, one can’t help but be reminded of one of the great poems of the war, Randall Jarrell’s “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner.”

Though B-17s are a familiar sight in old newsreel films, and in war movies such as “Twelve O’Clock High” or “Memphis Belle,” the plane on display, “My Gal Sal,” is the only restored B-17 hanging as in flight in a museum.

History of “My Gal Sal”

The B-17 proudly displayed in New Orleans had a remarkable history. In 1942 it was on its way to Britain when it was forced to make an emergency landing in Greenland. Its crew managed to radio for help, and was rescued. But the bomber was abandoned to the elements.

In the 1960s the plane was located, and was found to be surprisingly intact. After spending more than 50 years abandoned on the ice, the plane, which its original crew had named “My Gal Sal,” was transported back to America and eventually restored.

During World War II more than 12,000 B-17s were manufactured, and the bombers saw service in both Europe and the Pacific. By any reckoning they were one of the most important airplanes of the war. And it’s appropriate that a remarkably restored example of a B-17 is one of the must-see exhibits in the National World War II Museum.