The well-recognized painting of Bill Boeing’s first airplane, the 1916 Bluebill, is the centerpiece of a new exhibit in the Museum of Flight’s Red Barn. It was unveiled at a reception June 23 for 250 guests, members and friends of the Bluebills.

In a place of honor at the Museum of Flight, it introduces yet another tale of Boeing, World War II, the B-17 and the war’s heroes. In accepting the painting into the exhibit, Museum of Flight President Bonnie Dunbar thanked the Bluebills for their part in preserving history for future generations.

The painting exists because a particular B-17 was shot down over Germany in October 1943. One of the surviving crewmen was bombardier Phil Janney, who became a renowned painter of fighter aircraft after the war, his artistry developed while he was a prisoner of war. The exhibit identifies the crew of the Patsy Ann III and commemorates their sacrifice for posterity. More than 4,500 B-17 bombers of the 12,726 of all models built were lost in the European theater of war.

In 1995, Bluebill Bob Lambert, a former Air Force officer, Janney’s childhood friend, and a recent retiree from Boeing, got reacquainted when Janney asked him to identify a piece of the Patsy Ann’s wreckage. In thanks Janney created the painting of the Bluebill and gave the original to the Bluebills with the proviso that it would never be sold. . He also authorized 250 prints, which he signed and which Bluebills present as individual awards to outstanding volunteers.

The evening was billed "Celebrating 90 years, from the B&W to the 787 Dreamliner." It concluded in the William M. Allen Theater where guests were treated to an update on the world’s newest and most exciting commercial aircraft by Mike Carriker, chief 787 test pilot.

Next time you go to the museum, bring your friends and check out our exhibit in the Red Barn: west end, second floor.

The history of the Bluebill painting and its importance to the Boeing Bluebill Retiree Volunteer Organization has been painstakingly chronicled by Bob Lambert (clicking on the link above will download the Word document which tells these stories). The hanging of the original painting and the accompanying exhibit at the Museum is the culmination of his years of personal devotion to this project. The Bluebills owe him a thunderous standing ovation for his accomplishment in our behalf.