In the final moments before the World War II plane took off – its engines rumbling and its cabin shaking – Robert Akerley rested his hands against the steel fuselage and listened.

“I love aircraft noises,” said Akerley, a pilot from Lewiston. He sat buckled into a makeshift seat on the floor of the plane, his feet stretching to the opposite wall. This time, he was a passenger.

In another moment, the B-17 Flying Fortress lurched forward, exceeding 100 miles per hour before its wheels lifted off the Portland runway.

“Here we go,” shouted crewman Steve Weigandt above the noise.

Once again, the “Nine O Nine” flew.

This plane’s namesake flew 140 bombing missions over Europe during World War II, defying the odds by avoiding mechanical failure and enemy gunfire to stay aloft during daylight raids.

Today, this rebuilt plane travels the United States. Sponsored by the Collings Foundation, the B-17 is one of only 14 still flying. On Monday, it flew to Auburn.

There was no enemy gunfire. And its own weapons, including several .50-caliber machine guns, remained silent.

That didn’t matter to Akerley.

“You think about the generation that came before,” he said. “You think about all those stories, the war movies and all the people gave up.”

Before the plane left, he compared the trip to winning the Megabucks. It was a surprise gift from a buddy in Lewiston, who made a donation to the Collings Foundation in return for the ride.

Akerley, 62, wore his leather bomber jacket and gazed at the aircraft like a child at an unopened Christmas present.

“It’s a World War II bomber,” he said. “That says it all.”

It’s a reaction pilot Mike Walsh is accustomed to. He hears it in the voices of the normally laconic air traffic controllers of every airport he visits.

“Just taxiing out on the runway, I could hear it,” said Walsh.

Most folks respect the iconic plane. Pilots worship it.

He too feels that awe, even after five years and 1,400 hours of flying the plane.

“Every time,” he said.

In the sky Monday, he enjoyed a show of his own. Going from Portland to Auburn, he was accompanied by two other Collings-owned aircraft: a B-24 Liberator and a Corsair fighter.

As they flew over New Gloucester and Poland, the World War II fighter circled and banked around the slower bombers.

Akerley watched from the gun turret behind the B-17’s cockpit.

Back on the ground, he tried to describe the experience.

“It’s not just watching it on TV,” he said. “I lived it.”