"This restoration isn't just for show. Mike Kellner wants to fly the 'Desert Rat.'"

Project page: https://www.facebook.com/12595DesertRat/

Good for him. That's a hell of a project.

Well well… had no idea this was going on a few miles from me.

"The military wanted a new breed of bomber that would be able to travel beyond enemy lines at great distances and drop bombs with precision. It needed to be able to reach altitudes high enough to fly outside of the range of enemy antiaircraft artillery."

The precision was never what it might have been, and there were substantial losses to flak. But it was an impressive machine for its day.