by Debra Levy Martinelli on
YOU MIGHT THINK it’s the real thing: A World War II Boeing B-17 bomber surrounded by crews preparing for takeoff. But this flying fortress—located on what once was Hobbs Army Airfield, where bombardiers and pilots trained—is a life-size, two-dimensional representation of the legendary aircraft created by Brian Norwood. The artist’s lifelong love of WWII aircraft propelled him to honor B-17s and the people who flew and maintained them at the Hobbs Airfield with the Fortress on the Plains. “The B-17 was one of the most widely produced airplanes in the U.S. during the war,” says Norwood, who lives in nearby Jal. “There are incredible stories about it, because it could take a beating and still bring its crews back.” Commissioned by the City of Hobbs and dedicated on Veterans Day 2008, the silhouette stands 19 feet high at the tail and 82 feet end to end. Norwood cut each piece from two sheets of 10-by-40-foot quarter-inch steel plate, which were assembled and installed at the airfield by a sign company. He also fashioned life-size crewmen, an officer, and a Women’s Army Corps member positioned near the plane. “It was a fun piece to do and definitely one of my favorites,” Norwood says.