There is no such thunder in history -- nor ever will be again -- as the deep-throated roar of the mighty, four-engined B-17s that streamed across the skies in World War II. The long runways are silent now, the men and planes are gone. But out of the massive files of records available, and the memories of the men who flew, Martin Caidin has assembled this dramatic portrait of America's most formidable heavy bomber of the war. The B-17: The Flying Forts recreates a vanished era and a great and gallant plane -- a plane that could absorb three thousand enemy bullets, fly with no rudder, and...

Col. Chuck Maultsby was born in Greenville, North Carolina on June 7th, 1926. After his mother's death (when he was eight years old), and subsequent rejection by a callous father, he went to live with an aunt and uncle in Norfolk, Virginia. Chuck Maultsby was born to fly and was fixated on aircraft from the time he could walk. He spent much of his youth hanging around the small municipal airport near his Norfolk home doing anything he had to do to be near airplanes and their pilots, while hoping someone would offer him a ride. He worked multiple jobs after school to raise the money necessary...