VINTAGE: Lightning Jim, Sebring’s First Endurance Champion

Le Mans / ALMS

VINTAGE: Lightning Jim, Sebring’s First Endurance Champion

Long before Juan Manuel Fangio, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney roared down the concrete of Sebring International Raceway, it was the roar of B-17s that thundered through the orange groves of Highlands County Florida...

SPEED Staff | Posted January 31, 2012

Hendricks Field would train over 10,000 combat airmen for service on the European and Pacific fronts during World War II. (Photo: Ken Breslauer)

By Ken Breslauer

Long before Juan Manuel Fangio, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney roared down the concrete of Sebring International Raceway, it was the roar of B-17s that thundered through the orange groves of Highlands County Florida.

Sebring International Raceway celebrates the 60th Anniversary of its 12-hour classic on March 17th. The legendary central Florida circuit evolved from a World War II Army Air Force (USAAF) B-17 training base named Hendricks Field.

Hendricks Field officially became active on Jan. 29, 1942, when the first B-17 arrived. Within a year, the base was indeed a little city, complete with housing, hangars, churches, dining facilities- even a bowling alley, swimming pool and a baseball field.

Over the next four years, Hendricks Field would train over 10,000 combat airmen for service on the European and Pacific fronts. Many would make the ultimate sacrifice.

Training combat crews to fly, navigate and service B-17s required a fleet of training aircraft and experienced instructors. The workhorse of Hendricks Field was a B-17 known as “Lightning Jim.” This one aircraft logged over 8,000 hours of flying time, representing 335 days in the air!

In total, the Hendricks Field aircraft fleet recorded an astonishing 488,936 flying hours, covering over 98 million miles.

Hendricks Field was officially closed on January 1, 1946, and turned over to the city of Sebring. Sports car enthusiast and Aviation entrepreneur Alec Ulmann conducted business at the expansive facility, and eventually organized the first race held at Sebring in 1950 (more on that in the next installment).

Today, a few important remnants of Hendricks Field exist. The front straight is original Hendricks Field concrete, and the flagpole behind turn 4 was the center point of the base. The original control still exists, moved slightly so that it is now only a few hundred feet from Bob Tullius’ building (containing a fine collection of his race cars and airplanes)!

To think of the many B-17s and incredible race cars that have sped across the unforgiving surfaces of Sebring International Raceway is truly amazing. But there will never be another champion like “Lightning Jim.”