Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Last week I was scheduled to fly on a B-17 bomber. After waiting several hours for the plane to show it finally did a fly over.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

The plane had cracked a cylinder on the flight in. The crew decided to test the engine to see if they'd be able to take us up. It was decided that the cylinder would be replaced and we would try again the next day.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

The next day the engine was fixed, and we were allowed to fly. On take-off and landing you have to be buckled in inside the plane. We were some of the last people in, so we were seated in the tail. The seats consisted of a couple of pads and a seatbelt, but essentially we were seated on the floor. When the engines were started the plane shook like a washing machine and exhaust smoke drifted through the plane. I had a view out of the rear door as we rolled down the runway. The crew warned us to be careful near the doors. "The doors were made to be used in emergencies and if you lean on one it will think you want to bail out and will come off of the plane. Please don't fall out of the plane, it is a lot of paperwork."

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Right after we took off we were given the signal to stand and walk around the plane. The first view I had was of the snaking Au Sable river, which I had canoed many times (now I know why it takes so long to navigate) and Lake Huron.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Next we buzzed town. This is the mouth of the Au Sable where it meets Lake Huron in Oscoda.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Next I walked forward and sat in the radio operator's seat. The compartment that the radio operator sat in is just behind the bomb bay. On this particular plane there is a large open area over this compartment. I didn't think it'd be smart to stick my head or camera out of it, but it did manage to blow a couple of people's caps off. Next to the radio operator's position is a small window that looks out over the wing. I decided to move forward to the front of the plane. You have to walk across a narrow catwalk between the bomb racks in the bomb bay to get to the front of the plane. This wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. The other end of the bomb bay opens behind the pilots.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Behind the pilots is the roof turret. you stand on a platform and your head and shoulders go up into the bubble above the plane. This is the only spot on the plane where you can get a 360 degree view of the outside world. Well, you could also get such a view from the ball turret on the belly of the plane, but that was not one of the areas we got to explore (also I don't think most of the people on board would fit in it anyhow).

Roof turret rear view:

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Next I went down the passageway behind the pilots into the nose area. This takes you to the bombardier's seat in the nose of the plane. He had the best seat in the house, and with good reason.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

The plane has four Wright engines, but one of these (seen outside of right side nose window) has a plate on the front that says it a Wright engine manufactured by Studebaker.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

I moved back to the back of the plane, and noticed oil on the tail on the left side of the plane. I assumed it was from the flight in from Holland, MI when the cylinder had cracked. The plane seemed to be running fine.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

When our flight was first postponed we were given the option of flying on a B-24 which travels with the B-17. The B-24 is actually the only one still flying in the world. Most of us said that would be fine, but there were some older men who said they would wait until the 17 could fly. This man said he had waited 50 years for this flight. He was never on a B-17 crew, but he said he had friends who were. He drove 3 hours just to fly on the plane (twice, because of the delay).

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Here is the nose art of the B-24. It is painted as "The Dragon and His Tail," which is said to have had the most extensive nose art in WWII. The dragon's tail goes all the way to the end of the plane. This plane was actually sold to the RAF and saw action in the pacific. After the war it was abandoned in India, where it was used by the Indian military for decades before being brought to the US and restored. The real "Dragon and His Tail" was scrapped after the war. The B-24 took off before we did and landed before us. My mom said a 75 year old couple walked off of the plane after it landed. She said she was suprised to see an older woman aboard it and asked her how she liked it. She said, "It was a once in a lifetime experience, my husband used to fly these planes." Then my mom asked the huband who was walking behind her how he liked it. He said "It was awesome, just awesome." My mom said his wife was trying not to cry. It was amazing to see these planes and meet some of the people who flew them. One of the women who came to see the planes flew them from the factory.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

The B-17 was painted as Nine-O-Nine, another plane which was also scrapped after the war. This plane was built in 1945 and actually put into service too late to see any action. It lived out its service as a fire bomber, a search and rescue plane and as a test plane which was subjected to the effects of atomic weapons testing.

If you ever get the chance to take one of these rides, I definately recommend it.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 10232

schweet. how'd you hook this up? was it a one time thing?

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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Oakland-ish
Posts: 6032

very nice dm, thanks for sharing.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: LfuckinA
Posts: 3375

lucky bastard

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Registered: Oct 2001
Location:
Posts: 18157

the B-17 was my favorite plane in the world growing up. Awesome, Dmoon.

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location: library
Posts: 19584

I hate you.

-m

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location: The Bottom of the Toyem Pole
Posts: 9456

Details on how this came to be!

My dad flew in a P51 once. We were on the ground and they buzzed us. It was pretty cool. I was too young at the time to really appreciate how neat it would be to actually fly in it, but I was always impressed when the guy who owned would fly over our house (it was a locally owned plane).

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 10232

strangely, after posting in this thread last night i went to bed and flipped on the tube and there was a show on history about these.
The swastikas represent how many nazi planes it took down.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: the heart of an awl
Posts: 3692

reason #378 why DM is cool.

the B-17 show makes it's rounds. I know they've been to spokane twice, once while I was working at the airport. At the time, six years ago, i thought that seemed like an expensive plane ride. I never really thought of it from the living history perspective, which is the damn point.

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Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 16728

quote:

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Originally posted by WastedPotential
reason #378 why DM is cool.

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location: The Bottom of the Toyem Pole
Posts: 9456

I used to think he was cool, until he never showed up in Philly. I don't think he even works at that job still.

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Registered: Jun 2002
Location: All over the place
Posts: 2803

So cool. I've been inside some Brit heavy bombers (Lancaster, Wellington and a Halifax) but never in one that's been flying.

Have gone green.

I love Liberators though - the original 'Dragon And His Tail' was the centrepiece in my book on nose art. They were amazing planes and in fact (arguably) could be said to have turned the war more than the B-17.

If it wasn't for them and their colossal range, the Atlantic air gap would not have been closed, and the U Boats would still have had a whale of a time picking off troop convoys on their way to Yurp.

Beautiful planes all.

B-29s are tres wonderful as well.

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