I've been going through old photographs and found this one. It was taken back in 2011 while I was photographing a Salt Lake Real soccer game. I was walking from one end of the field to the other during half time when a Commemorative Air Force B-17 bomber flew over the stadium on its way into Salt Lake International Airport (I know that due to it's location and flight path). I didn't have the right lens on for the shot and no time to change things. I just reacted quickly to record this piece of history flying above my head. The B-17 was famous for it's roll in the European theater during World II. Those birds carried a lot of bombs into Adolf Hitler's Germany. Many of the bombers never made it back and I laud the great men who were onboard. Not just the pilots, but the bombardiers, navigators, and gunners as well. Some time after witnessing this warbird fly over that stadium I read an article in the paper about a B-17 that made an emergency landing in a cornfield in Illinois. She hand an engine fire that must have been uncontrollable. They crew landed the airplane and got out safely, but the plane burned not leaving much to look at other than the tail section. There are not many of these planes left so I checked the tail number I could see in the news article against the one I had photographed. The bird I witnessed overhead was the same plane that landed in the field. I was sad to see it happen. These are a part of history and can not be replaced. This reiterates the importance of cameras in our lives. More important than airplanes are the people around us. You never know when you will see them for the last time. Please take the time to photograph them or have it done professionally. You will be forever grateful for the memories. 

If you would like to know more about Ted York Photography click here,