美国国家公共电台 NPR At 75, A World War II Legend Gets A Full Makeover

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

A legendary¹ airplane that helped America win the Second World War is being reborn at age 75. The Memphis Belle² is undergoing patient and precise restoration. NPR's Noah Adams went to take a look.

NOAH ADAMS, BYLINE³: I've come to see this airplane here at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, just outside Dayton, Ohio.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRILL)

ADAMS: We're inside the restoration hangar. It's a vast, bright workspace, and there's the Memphis Belle, a B-17F Flying Fortress⁴, a four-engine bomber⁵. The bear aluminum⁶ is gleaming. After eight years of work, the plane is still to be painted. This is the actual aircraft that I've watched in a documentary from 1944. William Wyler, the Academy-Award-winning director, went to an Army Air Force base in England, and he and his team could take their cameras on the bombing runs. Riding with the pilots, the gunners, the bombardier, navigator, they were inside a dangerous war.

(SOUNDBITE OF ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)

ADAMS: The Memphis Belle was named for the pilot's girlfriend. Ten young men made up the crew. One was only 19. They started flying missions in November 1942, dropping bombs on targets in France, Belgium, across into Germany, hitting aircraft factories, submarine bases. Once the Belle went out with 27 other planes, and six of those failed to return.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "THE MEMPHIS BELLE")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Three planes, 9 o'clock - coming around. Keep your eye on them, boys.

ADAMS: When you watch this movie now, you can see the German fighter planes streaking⁷ right toward you.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "THE MEMPHIS BELLE")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: This is what a gunner sees - a speck⁸ in the sky. That's a fighter. And then a blink - that means he is firing at you - 2,300 rounds a minute.

ADAMS: For the B-17s flying from their base in England, the Army Air Force had set a goal. Men were told fly 25 missions, and we'll send you home. The Memphis Belle crew accomplished⁹ that and then flew back across the Atlantic to celebrate. They landed at 31 American cities for big, happy crowds. And, in a way, that spirit returns about a year from now when the restored plane is unveiled. It's estimated that 12,000 hours of work are still ahead.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRILL)

ADAMS: A special tool is available - extra film from the Wyler documentary - 11 hours of outtakes in Technicolor. Jeff Duford is the lead curator. He's been examining all of this frame by frame.

JEFF DUFORD: I can't think of any other event or restoration where we have this much color footage. It was as if somebody knew that we would need this. And one of those cameramen, Harold Tannenbaum, was killed flying on a photo mission.

(SOUNDBITE OF GLENN MILLER¹⁰'S "IN THE MOOD")

DUFORD: Big band Glenn Miller music from the early 1940s - Steve Markman, one of the restoration volunteers, has it playing on his boom box while he works.

What do you have on your bench here?

STEVE MARKMAN: This is a Norden bombsight - top secret during World War II. It's got about 70 years' worth of dust on it. And I'm just using some alcohol and some scrubbing pads and a toothbrush to very gently remove that grime.

ADAMS: And we meet a former Air Force pilot who's now standing¹¹ by his sewing table.

RICHARD ISSAAKS: Can I show you?

ADAMS: Yeah.

ISSAAKS: I've made all the cushions.

ADAMS: Bright yellow flotation cushions for the crew. This is Richard Issaaks. He was a B-52 pilot in Vietnam and then flew for American Airlines.

ISSAAKS: Since I'm over 65 now, I'm a retired-retired, so...

ADAMS: You get to come in here.

ISSAAKS: Yeah, and hang around with the boys.

ADAMS: The Memphis Belle goes on display, practically new, May 17, 2018, at the Air Force Museum near Dayton. Noah Adams, NPR News.

1 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

2 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

5 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

6 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

7 streaking   

n.裸奔（指在公共场所裸体飞跑）v.快速移动( streak的现在分词 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• Their only thought was of the fiery harbingers of death streaking through the sky above them. 那个不断地在空中飞翔的死的恐怖把一切别的感觉都赶走了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Streaking is one of the oldest tricks in the book. 裸奔是有书面记载的最古老的玩笑之一。 来自互联网

8 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

9 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

10 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。