Page 88 - EAA78.Newsletter.Archives.(February.2017-July.2021)

CHAPTER CHATTER, EAA Chapter 78 2

Lest We Forget a True Legend!

Known for his ability to tell one engaging aviation story
after another, Hoover loved interacting with pilots and
prospective pilots, often going out of his way to speak
to children, encouraging them to follow their dreams.
“Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do it,” Hoover
said during the presentation of the Wright Trophy.
“You learn how to do it. You figure out how to do it.
And you are the only one who can make it Betty as a young woman.
happen…. Don’t give up if that’s what you really
wish to do.”

EAA’s B-17 Aluminum Overcast hosted a special
Betty Lausch passenger at its May 11 tour stop in Olympia,
Washington. Ninety-two-year-old Betty Lausch
contributed on the home front during World War II,
helping to construct thousands of B-17 tails on a
Boeing assembly line while her husband flew as a tail
gunner on the very same airplanes in the 15th Air
Force over Italy.

In even a stranger twist of fate, the day of her flight on
Aluminum Overcast was the first time she had ever
seen a B-17 fully assembled. Numerous people asked
for photos and autographs from the real-life Rosie the
Riveter, and Betty said by the end of the day she felt
like royalty.

The B-17’s story is a remarkable one, filled with Though her husband made it home from the war, he
daring missions and personal sacrifice. More than passed away a few years ago, and Betty said flying in
just an airplane, the B-17 is a piece of living history EAA’s Aluminum Overcast helped bring her life full
that holds an unbreakable connection to the past. circle.
To many, the big bomber is among the most iconic
images of World War II. These are stories of those
who have or will come aboard EAA’s Aluminum
Overcast.