Bob Green

A B-17 "Lands" in Iowa City

In 1942, as a student at the University of Iowa, Bob was witness to an early World War II mishap at the Iowa City airport.   A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber was on a transcontinental flight when they ran into adverse weather over Iowa.  In those days, weather reporting was sporadic at best, and springtime in the Midwest can be remarkably hard to predict.

Worse, at this point in the war, weather information was considered "classified information," and could not be obtained in flight. 

Deciding to set down in Iowa City, they selected the north/south runway, which was the longest runway available at the time.  According to Bob, the pilot came in too fast and too high, bounced twice, and ran out of runway, ending up in the springtime mud at the north end of the field.

The plane slid all the way to the fence -- which abutted the Elkhart family farm, where Ellinor -- Bob's future wife -- lived.  It took several days of grading and jacking by Iowa City government workers to return the massive bomber to the runway.

Flying out of Iowa City in 1950

Bob flew on a United Airlines DC-3 out of Iowa City in 1950, enroute to Midway Field in Chicago.  He remembers the Boeing/United hangar as a massive facility, with ticket offices and a waiting area.  However, on Bob's flight they loaded passengers and cargo outside, either because the weather was nice, or perhaps because the DC-3's wingspan was simply too great for the hangar by this time.