Flying the Fortress

[MrMurphy]

I meant to post these some time ago in the "bucket list" thread, and forgot. I have to post links, because the site won't show the full pictures. Too much awesomeness for one post apparently...

I don't post pics of myself here as a general rule. I will make an exception in this case.
I've wanted to fly on a B-17 for over 25 years. I've been on them on the ground over 10 times, including one time with a professional TV camera.
My wife, at that time my fiance, wanted to add an exclamation point to the 'yes', give me a birthday gift I'd never forget and surprise me. I'm hard to surprise.
Also this actually got a visible reaction from me, she described me as a hamster on crack. I had more on this flight than when I found out she was pregnant, it was a boy, or when he was born. My defense there (never expecting to have kids) was the first thought that went through my mind was "Oh God, don't let me screw this up!"....


This occured 1.5 years ago in Texas, on the B-17G Texas Raiders. I was in the bombardier's position in the nose.
I found out, too close to takeoff to do much, that one of our passengers, Merl, was a 8th AF veteran and a bombardier who'd flown 1 mission before they stopped strategic bombing. I told him if we'd had more than 10 minutes notice and I'd paid for the ticket not my fiance, I would have switched spots with him (he was in back with his sons) right there. The man earned the right to ride in his old position. Before the flight, he thanked ME for MY service (which was pretty humbling). His family said he had never mentioned, for 60 years, what he had done in WW2 except 'bombardier on a B-17'. The night before the flight he told them a whole lot of stories they'd never heard and probably never will again.


Walking out. The guy on the left's grandpa was a navigator, shot down on I think his 14th mission and became a POW. He specifically requested the nav seat, even though you can't see as much.
I'm the one in black.
http://tinyurl.com/lfyh4rn

We kept looking for Messerschmitts, we only saw parking lot. Left waist gun.
http://tinyurl.com/m2f9joh

Top of the ball turret mechanism.

http://tinyurl.com/kxy2hw4

Cockpit view.

http://tinyurl.com/l5qgbtw

Top turret with dummy guns mounted. The gunner's stand was not installed on this flight. I've been on another 17 with it installed and the view is spectacular (especially compared to a Humvee turret...)

http://tinyurl.com/mqspu54

Me. Yeah, i'm ugly. Looking through the nose tunnel. The wood slide is to shimmy along and get in position. The hatch for the nose is to the left. I'm standing in front of the nav seat, the other guy is taking pics in the bombardier's seat (where I flew). The seat's at a permanent backward lean and 'springy' so rolling down the runway it felt like we were going "boing boing boing" to me....

http://tinyurl.com/kr5py3r

Actually crawling into the nose area. Tight fit, not for large mammals.

http://tinyurl.com/kmmqyqv



Imagining being over Berlin.

http://tinyurl.com/m8s5jz8

http://tinyurl.com/lmm3xmz
Nose hatch from the ground view.

http://tinyurl.com/ny7gakv

Tail guns. Tail gunners kneeled on a pad.
http://tinyurl.com/mvdeazx

Bombardier's position with nose guns. The control for them is the green pipe on the left with a twin yoke setup. Norden bombsight in place. Sitting down, there's your feet, and plexiglas, and NOTHING ELSE.

http://tinyurl.com/le6fdw7

Ball turret. They put those guys on the bottom of the plane because their huge nuts would screw with the balance otherwise.....

http://tinyurl.com/kx2da9m

Startup.

http://tinyurl.com/lpwvdg2

Preflight group shot. Merl, the bombardier was in plaid. It was his 88th b-day present.
http://tinyurl.com/l2umxyw

Waiting on takeoff. I think the Southwest pilots were jealous.

http://tinyurl.com/lc8mv95

Revving up:
http://tinyurl.com/l9lulv7

Flight! Holy *^*^)*^! the view is amazing.
http://tinyurl.com/mo6y53f
http://tinyurl.com/mbxtm5j

http://tinyurl.com/mppsz5h

Nav and bombardier's seat from the nose hatch.
http://tinyurl.com/n46wybv

That's my legs up there.
http://tinyurl.com/lxssd7b



Video from landing.
http://tinyurl.com/lajcg3r

[KirkD]

That was a treat and a-half!!! To actually fly in one would be a dream come true. I got to go inside a B-17 once at an airshow. It brought back memories I don't even have! I trust you had your seat belt on up there in the plexiglass nose.

[vancelw]

I can't bring myself to look at the rest of the photos.....I'm so jealous I could spit nails right now...

I showed the first pic to my wife and suggested she could get me a ride on it for MY birthday....All she heard was blah blah blah

[MrMurphy]

I have over a hundred photos, these were just some of the better ones. I also had a Go Pro camera on my chest so I have the entire flight from takeoff to landing on one continous recording with good audio.

I've been on multiple B-17s, a B-24 and a wide variety of other planes. I actually shot an interview with the guy who really blew up the bridge over the river Kwai while he sat in the B-24's bombardier position and I sat on the nosewheel with my camera. Considering on a B-24 you have to get down to ground level and crawl up in the nosewheel opening, or go in through the rear of the plane (not possible at that time), he was pretty spry for a 90 year old retired colonel.

Started out a B-17 tailgunner, retired a full bird colonel flying B-52s on nuclear patrol.

I'll post more when I get a minute.

[Rusty]

Between Orlando and Tampa there is a museum called "The Fantasy of Flight." They have several B-17s in a display. I've always been amazed at how small they are when you consider how many pounds of bombs they could carry.
The total lack of creature comfort shows just how tough those guys were that flew them.

[MrMurphy]

Flight pics.
http://tinyurl.com/lggs65g
http://tinyurl.com/lvrcql2
http://tinyurl.com/k6j5f56

http://tinyurl.com/m7bpp3f
Cockpit seen through the astrogation dome where the navigator can take sun/star shots.

http://tinyurl.com/nx58b8l

Norden bombsight. In their day, highly classified. I've seen pics of guys walking them out to the planes where each guy had a drawn pistol in their non-carrying hand.

More flight pics.
http://tinyurl.com/m2stnfl
http://tinyurl.com/l96889f
This was out the right 'cheek' windows, that's the right side navigator's gun.

http://tinyurl.com/n7584ja
Left cheek gun, as close as I could get to down the sights considering I was strapped into a seat in the middle of the nose. I'm flexible.

http://tinyurl.com/m5m9rda
The other guy at the navigator's position. The wood is the nav desk for maps, etc.

http://tinyurl.com/mjmxa4v
Nose gun control yoke. Earlier models just had holes in the nose plexi with .50s mounted in them, ranging from 2 (standard) to four+. Considering how much room one M2 .50 takes up with the feed belts, etc.... it had to get crowded in there fast, especially as the bombardier still has to use the bombsight.

German pilots figured out the nose was the least heavily gunned spot, and if you had good reflexes you could do a firing pass and then dive/turn without hitting them, one good pass could kill the pilot(s) or bombardier and put the plane out of action for an effective bomb drop. Earlier B-17s didn't have the upper turret, just the radioman gunning back at an angle, which didn't protect the top too well, but the top turret/flight engineer just behind the pilots could also shoot forward. One account I read said the .50s right over the pilot sounded like cannons going off, but the pilots knew why they were there, and found it comforting.
http://tinyurl.com/lysqpv8
A view from the top turret. I had to stand and brace on a seat to get this shot since the gunner's stand was missing.


http://tinyurl.com/lqtl6jz
Another left cheek gun shot, while on the ground.

http://tinyurl.com/mpabkyj

Top turret, radio compartment upper gun position (the 'skylight') and right waist gun.

http://tinyurl.com/ktlrkrs
One lever alone could not control all the awesome.

Taxi out:
http://tinyurl.com/l3g6dqn

[MrMurphy]

The F-4 Phantom (and several other later fighters) with 1 or 2 guys on board had four or five times the power and the same bomb load at triple the speed.

Lack of creature comforts was more of a 'we can barely get in the air as it is' thing, every excess ounce was left out.

The B-29 which replaced it was pressurized so a bit nicer inside (no heated flight suits with oxygen) but just as crammed. The B-36, which replaced the B-29, had an onboard galley and bunks because a typical B-36 mission lasted as much as 40 hours.

The cockpit on a modern B-1B when fully manned with all their gear has a bit more stretch-out room per man, but it's still like cramming four guys in winter parkas inside a Honda Civic for 16 hours with a backpack of paperwork for each of them more or less. I sat in one before a strike on Afghanistan and even stripped down wearing none of my tactical gear except a pistol, it was snug.

[Blaine]

[El Chivo]

Cool stuff; if you make it to the Oshkosh airshow or their route of towns in Wisconsin, you can also purchase a ride (and get to fly it, too) I think it's called the Confederate Air Force. I didn't do it because it was a chunk of money, but probably should have. Glad they are still flying.

Seeing one take off was thrilling. Enough for me I guess.

[Borregos]

Thanks for sharing that experience, enjoyed it

[MrMurphy]

The Texas Raiders is also part of the CAF.

[vancelw]

Cool stuff; if you make it to the Oshkosh airshow or their route of towns in Wisconsin, you can also purchase a ride (and get to fly it, too) I think it's called the Confederate Air Force. I didn't do it because it was a chunk of money, but probably should have. Glad they are still flying.

Seeing one take off was thrilling. Enough for me I guess.

It USED to be Confederate Air Force. PC pressures (and fear of losing sponsorship) caused them to the change the name to Commemorative Air Force. ....<sigh>.... Some people just can't recognize a joke and simply laugh.

[gamekeeper]

Thanks for sharing that experience, enjoyed it

+ 1...

[MrMurphy]

Yeah, when we rolled up and I signed the roster, I referred to it as the Confederate Air Force.

The crew just unofficially smiled. We all know why they changed the name. Doesn't mean they liked it either, but they appreciated that most of us still used the original name........