B17 fly over

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I've been lucky this weekend that the flight path of a magnificent American airplane, the B17G, is over my house. They are selling rides that fly over my house maybe every ~2 hours. I'm a huge enthusiast of WWI and WWII aviation. I differently want to add this to my "bucket list". It really is magnificent to see history still flying.

Whimsey
 
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If you ever want to appreciate the sacrifice Americans made in WWII you must go for a ride in a B-17 and imagine doing it in the dead of winter with enemy airplanes attacking with their guns firing. Then sit there waiting for flack to get you while there is nothing you can do to protect yourself. Actually, there was protection, a beer can between you and an 88 mm shell and a leather jacket.
 
I flew on one about 15 years ago a friend of mine got us a ride it was about a two hour flight. One of the best expierence of my life! Just fantastic! Go for it man you will never forget it.
 
Just crawling though a B17, and thinking about conditions crews experienced in WWII was very sobering.

Had similar thoughts looking at the Mercury capsule at the WPAFB Air force Museum.
 
You should definitely expedite that bucket list, these birds won't be flying forever!! Very unique and awesome sight and sound to witness one go floating past overhead. Only a relative handful of people today can say they've experienced that.

They're a lot smaller in person than I thought and very tight clearances inside. My great uncle was a bombardier on one, 8th USAAF, and either the 92 or 96th Bomber Group and I forget what squadron but they were based at Snetterton-Heath in Great Britain, made it 19 missions before shot down over Holland on way back, spent 1944 through end of war in Luft Stalag #(I forget the number, maybe 3) in Barth, Pomerania. POW camp was liberated by Russian forces.
 
Originally Posted By: knerml
Just crawling though a B17, and thinking about conditions crews experienced in WWII was very sobering..... Had similar thoughts looking at the Mercury capsule at the WPAFB Air force Museum.


Those guys had brass ones, for sure!
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
If you ever want to appreciate the sacrifice Americans made in WWII you must go for a ride in a B-17 and imagine doing it in the dead of winter with enemy airplanes attacking with their guns firing. Then sit there waiting for flack to get you while there is nothing you can do to protect yourself. Actually, there was protection, a beer can between you and an 88 mm shell and a leather jacket.


Just to clarify that description, add:

1. unheated cockpit in -65 degree air.
2. Up to a 25% chance of dying on any given mission.
3. Manning up day after day.
4. A 6% chance of making it to 25 missions and a rotation home.

Bomber crews had a lower survival rate than infantry second lieutenants in World War 1.
 
Collings Foundation has a B-17 and a B-24 you can ride in. They may be in your area, check their website. Went for a ride on the Flying Fortress. Unbelievable! Do it!
 
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Originally Posted By: knerml
Just crawling though a B17, and thinking about conditions crews experienced in WWII was very sobering.

Had similar thoughts looking at the Mercury capsule at the WPAFB Air force Museum.


I had the opportunity to "crawl" through several B17's and B24's on the ground and yeah for a 6'1" person they are "tight" quarters
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. You really needed some severe "brass" to go into combat in those. Wherever we travel we always try to find museums that house antique planes or automobiles, there are many small ones around the country. Gee, maybe us antiques like to hang out together
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. It's an important part of history that is unfortunately disappearing both physically and emotionally, sad
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. I was lucky enough to see the RAF museum where they have a fantastic collection of vintage war planes from multiple nations. I'm old and stuck in the past
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.

Whimsey
 
Was it "Aluminum Overcast"? Thats the one I flew in several years ago.
This movie did a decent job of depicting those heroes:
51CPSNKB80L._SY445_.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: knerml
Just crawling though a B17, and thinking about conditions crews experienced in WWII was very sobering..... Had similar thoughts looking at the Mercury capsule at the WPAFB Air force Museum.


Those guys had brass ones, for sure!


Yep! My Dad was a tail gunner on a B17. He came home with a Purple Heart.
 
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Originally Posted By: Whimsey
I've been lucky this weekend that the flight path of a magnificent American airplane, the B17G, is over my house. They are selling rides that fly over my house maybe every ~2 hours. I'm a huge enthusiast of WWI and WWII aviation. I differently want to add this to my "bucket list". It really is magnificent to see history still flying.

Whimsey


We must be close, I was flying RC planes at my spot in Pine Brook and on the way home I caught a huge grey bomber taking off, it looked like from Essex County Airport. So lucky I got to see it!
 
I took a flight about 10 years ago in this plane's sister B-24 when we lived in Louisiana. My dad had been a tail gunner & waist gunner on B-17's & B-24's in WWII.
 
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My grandfather survived life as officer/weathermen on a B17 during World War II. A great memory at age 9 was watching him light up when he took me to tour one at an airbase show.
 
My Dad served in the 8th Air Force, 96th Bomb Group, based out of Snetterton-Heath. He was ground crew on the Flying Fortress, a ball turret mechanic. He said they used to wash their overalls in trichlorethylene, or something like that. That'll change your DNA! He was just 19 years old when he got there! Proud of him.

One of his war stories was about the Schweinfurt ball bearing factory. IIRC, Dad said all the various Bomb Groups put up over 300(!!!!!) B-17s in the air for that mission. Something like 75 of them were lost.

Crazy stuff,

Scott
 
And they were 18 to 25 year olds...many just 21 flying those planes. I know two local soldiers, 93 and 94 YO, one served in Pacific and one in Germany; the stories they can tell if they feel like talking about it. Jack was captured in New Guinea, escaped, then made 4 island landings, the last being Luzon where they fought their way down to Manila. He said when they needed fuel for their Zippos, they'd take a bayonet and punch a hole in 50 gal can of gas! Howard was in late winter war in Germany, got frost bite on toes which troubles him a lot these days. He likes to tell of being responsible, right after the war ended, for keeping the rec rooms (or whatever they were called) well stocked with booze. Said he'd check out a truck and drive over to Belgium where they had plenty of supplies. Both are getting frail but have remarkably good memory's. I see them frequently, being 83 myself, we do a lot of [censored]'ing. LOL
 
I wanted to take my son when he was younger on some flights (had my share in the military) and we started out on the Collings Foundation B-17 and B-24 flights. (Don't pay attention to the oil leaks). Psstt... the flight were an hour, but catching the last flight each of the day got us nearly an extra half hour longer so on return they don't have the time for another hour flight. Don't know if they do that anymore. And should you get to stick yourself out into the wind, don't loose the camera (son!).
Then went on a sea plane tour (2 of us plus young gal pilot). Got up, then she said any more wind and it would be over. Lucky it didn't get worse. But dropping below the levee with the side wind was thrilling from having that side wind to the levee wind break. Land on the river water with current was weird, then up and when we broke the calm into the side wind at levee level, thrilling. A good few hours tour flight dropping to points of interest and she would tell us history for each point. Only thing I didn't like was the return to land. Coming in, Those little tiny wheels that stuck out from the pontoons, on my side the front wheel was frantically jerking left and right in the wind, fast, just like a bad shopping cart wheel. Actually it almost looked liked a shopping cart wheel. I told her the wheel looked like it was about to break off. She said don't worry about it. I liked to drop a payload in the shorts seeing such a tiny shopping cart wheel on a plane pontoon that didn't run true in flight.
Then my son was on his own for some commercial flight after that.
 
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Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
...He said they used to wash their overalls in trichlorethylene, or something like that. That'll change your DNA! He was just 19 years old when he got there! Proud of him....

Crazy stuff,

Scott


That. [censored]. Is. BAD!
 
Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies
Was it "Aluminum Overcast"? Thats the one I flew in several years ago.
This movie did a decent job of depicting those heroes:
51CPSNKB80L._SY445_.jpg



Yes it was. Got a picture over the house, I'll try to post it.

Whimsey
 
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