Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: TwinEng on April 03, 2010, 01:53:48 AM
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The restored B-17 the Liberty Belle will be coming to town soon. I was thinking that I should go visit it and check it out, and take some pics.
But what about actually going up in a flight on it? Has anyone here ever flown on the Liberty Belle? If so, did you consider your $430 well spent??
I would be interested in your opinions.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3648700084_66599559bb_o.jpg)
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If it were my money, I'd spend it in a fighter where I could go upside-down and potentially get my hands on the controls.. :cheers:
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from everyone who has posted their experiences here, the answer has been an overwhelming yes.
i hope you have fun and share your experience here with us too.
:salute
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I had a good friend boggle that I paid ~2k for an hour in 'Crazy Horse' .. I told him it was worth *every* penny.
Like most of you, I had dreamed of flying a Mustang since I was a kid.
The fact that Lee let me fly it .. and go thru the flight envelope, exploring the low speed/stall and accelerated stall performance with combat flaps and without .. the aerobatics .. the low alt hi-speed pass over the gunnery range with 'simulated' ground attack runs . . ooo yaa .. it makes me smile every single time I think of that hour over Florida so long ago.
I would do it again in a *heart beat* .. all it takes is money.
So ya .. if you have dreamed of what it would actually be like ..if it is something that draws you,
..GO for it. Life is for the living of it.
I have ridden in a B-17G .. they are rather 'spry' for a bomber when lightly loaded :)
I highly recommend it for anyone who is an aviation nut, like we all are :)
Unlike the B-25, you can actually carry on a conversation in a B-17, albeit loudly :)
The B-25 is so loud inside you cannot hear the guy next to you even if he screams.
Gotta have headsets :)
-GE aka Frank
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Only if they let you fly. :rofl
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:rofl 430 bucks! Suckers born every minute. :rolleyes:
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:rofl 430 bucks! Suckers born every minute. :rolleyes:
paying for a b-17 ride, which in turn will help them maintain the airplane among other costs, is hardly "for suckers."
must be too early, gotta have your coffee first.
:noid :noid :noid
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The restored B-17 the Liberty Belle will be coming to town soon. I was thinking that I should go visit it and check it out, and take some pics.
But what about actually going up in a flight on it? Has anyone here ever flown on the Liberty Belle? If so, did you consider your $430 well spent??
I would be interested in your opinions.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3648700084_66599559bb_o.jpg)
That is a fair price.
When you consider how much MONEY and work went into that plane for you to have that opportunity.
Todd
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Yes! I'd take any chance I could get to ride along in a WWII plane.
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I went to the Air show with a b17, and a b24... I didnt have enough money to take a ride.... When the b17 came in and stopped,, they wheeled about 10 wheelchairs to the back.. 10 old timers got out and wheeled by me and one said "Best money I ever spent".. He had obviously been in a air crew in WW2... Was pretty cool.. :salute
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For most of us the chance to actually take a ride in warbird for most do not come around very often. The sad reality is that in the years to come those chances will become exceedingly rare. When is the last time you had this chance? If the answer is never than that should be an easy choice. I had the chance about 15 years ago for $270 and missed it because of work, I have regretted that ever since.
:salute
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Overwhelmingy..yes do it..Besides its tax deductable. :aok
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No it is not. I'd definitly not, As of today I have a better use of those $400 than going for a B17 ride. I'm not the type to wet my pants for maning a 50 cal, or wowing in admiration to some guys maning the controls.
If I had the extra $400 bucks, I'll give it to them only as a charity act to help keepping them in flying condition, much more than the thrill of riding in one ... because the'll be "no thrill" to me.
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I will definitely go see the old warbird when she comes. And I will be sure to post some photos of her.
I'm on the fence about taking the flight. But I have plenty of time to make my mind up about that.
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Personally I'd take the flight. Took a flight at Duxford last year in a Tiger Moth, got to take the wheel as it were. Given the chance to go up in a Spit/Mustang, I'd be in there like snot out of a sick childs nose.
Wurzel
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I wouldn't take food out of my family's mouths to ride on the Belle, but if the disposable income was there I'd go in a heartbeat. I've ridden on the Belle, Aluminum Overcast and EAA's Tri-Motor. Absolutely nothing in aviation compares to the sensations of those glorious old birds.
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No it is not. I'd definitly not, As of today I have a better use of those $400 than going for a B17 ride. I'm not the type to wet my pants for maning a 50 cal, or wowing in admiration to some guys maning the controls.
If I had the extra $400 bucks, I'll give it to them only as a charity act to help keepping them in flying condition, much more than the thrill of riding in one ... because the'll be "no thrill" to me.
Don't be such a downer man... if you don't like it, leave us history buffs alone.
-Penguin
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The restored B-17 the Liberty Belle will be coming to town soon. I was thinking that I should go visit it and check it out, and take some pics.
But what about actually going up in a flight on it? Has anyone here ever flown on the Liberty Belle? If so, did you consider your $430 well spent??
I would be interested in your opinions.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3648700084_66599559bb_o.jpg)
she was in wichita, ks about two years ago. at that time it was only 350 for a hour ride.
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I went up in the Collings Foundation B24J with the brother of a B24 co-pilot who had been killed in a 24 over Vienna in`1945. To see him get a chance to sit in the co-pilot seat in flight for a few minutes and connect with his long lost big brother was worth every penny. Next to me on the flight deck was a former B24 Top Turret Gunner/Engineer on his first flight in a 24 since the war. Listening to him and seeing him react to the trip back in time was amazing.
If you've got the extra money to take such a flight, it's worth it.
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Damn right I'd pay good money for a ride on a B17. Anything to experience just a little bit of WW2 airborne history, and help keep that ol' bird flying. The folks that are restoring these aircraft and showing them around are doing a great service.
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Hell yes, and get some friends to go along and pay the same. Anything it takes to keep those birds flying!
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I recently donated $100 of my own money to Parafield Aircraft museum in Australia to assist in the rebuild of an F4U-1D which saw combat against Japan during those years we know so well.
In my own mind it is a privalige and an honour to be part of that history. And any endevour to further historical aviation is worth the pricetag. However high it may be.
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I would be interested in your opinions.
You only live once.
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So make it good!
-Penguin
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Don't be such a downer man... if you don't like it, leave us history buffs alone.
-Penguin
He asked, I answered. I'm an history buff too BTW. The flight will provide very little more than what I can get from the ground. Probably doesn't help that I'm airborne almost everyday. The only way I'll enjoy the flight is if I actually get to fly the thing, by that I mean take off and land, not weave around the sky for 5 min at 10,000 ft.
That's me, actually there's a B17 in salt Lake parked 200y away from my plane for the last 3 days, and I didn't even went to check it out. Don't feel like I have to, seen it already last year. The novelty and excitment of WB wore off long ago I suppose, I'm demanding now more than just "looking around" ... if that makes sense.
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He asked, I answered. I'm an history buff too BTW. The flight will provide very little more than what I can get from the ground. Probably doesn't help that I'm airborne almost everyday. The only way I'll enjoy the flight is if I actually get to fly the thing, by that I mean take off and land, not weave around the sky for 5 min at 10,000 ft.
That's me, actually there's a B17 in salt Lake parked 200y away from my plane for the last 3 days, and I didn't even went to check it out. Don't feel like I have to, seen it already last year. The novelty and excitment of WB wore off long ago I suppose, I'm demanding now more than just "looking around" ... if that makes sense.
I can kind of see your point.. it's kind of like going to a strip club... don't see much point in paying to 'look but not touch'.
But still... as for the B17 thing... I'd have to do it... but not sure I'd need to do it again, you know?
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I would love to take a ride in Fi Fi! One day soon I hope.
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The "Yankee Lady" was here a few years ago and I definitely would have gone up if I'd had the extra $400. The thought that I kept coming back to was how awesome an experience it would have been for my grandfather, who was a crew chief on a B17, had he still been alive. I would have done anything I could to have gotten him up in one one last time...