Author Topic: My flight on a real B17  (Read 340 times)

Offline Fury

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My flight on a real B17
« on: February 09, 2002, 11:09:40 AM »
I'm not sure if I have the code properly so if this is not working, bear with me while I fix the links.

Last summer, my wife bought me a ride on the Texas Raiders B17 at the Muskegon Air Show.  I finally got a scanner and have some pics up at Homestead.  I'm a terrible n00b at this and didn't crop them, pluse there are quite a few, so I'm doing image links instead of posting the pics here in the thread.  Also, I'm a forum code n00b when it comes to these, so please bear with me if I mess it up.  These were all taken with a disposable camera.

This is an outside shot of the Texas Raiders on the tarmac.

This is a shot of the nose.  I got to sit in the bombardier position during takeoff.

This is the ball turret.  I'm not sure how even a small person could fit in there.

This is a shot from the bombardier position after takeoff.  I was looking through the Norden and had the crosshairs on the factory as we passed.  Then I pulled back and took this shot looking down at the factory.  The tip of my shoe is that brown thing at the bottom.  Part of the Norden is on the left.

This is a shot of me searching for enemies from the upper turret.

This is a shot of me searching for enemies from the left waist gunner position.

Here's a shot of the Norden bomb sight.

Here's a shot of the radio station.

And a shot of the engines.

Here's a shot of the cockpit.

Here's a shot of the bomb bay.  You can see the walkway down between the two metal bars.  It's really not much wider than your feet.  Imagine the bay doors open and looking down!  The cockpit is in the background.

Here's a shot looking down at the ball turret hatch from the inside.

Lastly, here's a shot looking to the tail  of the plane from the waist gunner area.  Imagine trying to crawl back there to get to the rear gunner position.

Hope this works right.

Offline Toad

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2002, 11:17:16 AM »
Not bad. Enjoyed the shots.

Tail Gunner:  My father in law.. a rather small guy... flew tail gunner with Hell's Angels. He said he tied his clip-on chest pack chute to his waist with a clothes line because he couldn't get around the retracted tailwheel to get back there with it clipped to the harness. He also said that he left it that was because there was no room to wear it once he got seated on the little bitty bench.

He figured if he had to bail, he'd reel it in on the way down, clip it on and pull the ripcord.

Those guys were a rare breed. them all.
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Offline Raubvogel

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2002, 11:27:46 AM »
Nice pics! Thanks for sharing

Offline Pollock

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2002, 11:34:06 AM »
Fury, nice pictures.

I also had the priveledge of going up in Aluminimum Overcast.  If I can figure out how to post some pics I will.  The thing I will remeber the most was the roar of those 4 engines whta a rush!

Offline mrfish

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2002, 01:41:45 PM »
yeah thanks! that is some great stuff.

Offline SOB

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2002, 02:32:56 PM »
Nice Pics!  :)
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Offline pimpjoe

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2002, 04:27:23 PM »
hey fury! you should have came to the michigan mini-con we had today! was open cockpit weekend for the wildcat.

nice pics BTW:)

Offline texace

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #7 on: February 09, 2002, 04:46:46 PM »
That reminds me...I remember a few weeks ago they had the annual air show out here at Carswell. I couldn't afford to go again...so I did the next best thing. Out here...one of our schools (an "intermediate" school. 5th and 6th grades) utilizes and old fallout shelter. It's one of the few undergrond schools in the US.

     Anyways...on top of the school is a large concrete slab. The fligt path to Carswell goes right over the center of this slab. The day before the air show...I parked my car there and waited.

     Lo and behold...the first aircraft to arrive was "Sentimental Journey", the 457th B-17. He couldn't have been more than 200 feet over me as he passed. I tell ya...I never felt that good in my life hearing thosr 4 P&W radials rumbling overhead...;)

Offline airspro

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2002, 07:36:19 AM »
Nice pics , thanks .

Was in one at Oshkosh in 2000 but only on the ground . I was suprised how small the pilot , copilot seats were .

Looks like you made some nice memories .
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Offline Curval

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My flight on a real B17
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2002, 09:15:06 AM »
Great gift from your wife Fury..

A friend of mine and I were bidding on a B17 ride on one of those telethons we accidently came across on TV.  We bid $500Cnd and our bid was the highest until about 5 minutes before the end of the auction.  But, there was a flurry of bidding right at the end and the ride went for $1,500US!  We were pretty disappointed.

This is something I really wanna do someday.
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