OT:Flying B-17 and Lancaster Bombers in Air Show!

[Footslogger]

Have a look Gents.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=93b_1475910152

[patrickl]

Thanks for sharing. I wished I can sit in that B17.[:)]

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: patrickl

Thanks for sharing. I wished I can sit in that B17.[:)]

The Collins Foundation B-17 and B-24 travel around the US every year and you can buy a ride on one of them. I did the B-24 once when they were in Seattle. It was definitely worth the price!

Bill

[Lecivius]

I was fortunate to get to fly in a B-17 a few years back. Definitely worth the price [;)] Gave you a different perspective on what those guys went through back then. Example, as the plane navigated about the sky you would see the wires move as the pilot manipulated the ailerons or rudder and realize that it would take far less than a 20mm to cripple the aircraft. Or how precious little ammo these bombers carried for it's guns. Or that you could drop a complete Websters Dictionary from the 'waltz plate' in the bomb bay, and it probably would go thru the bomb bay doors [X(] You get to thinking these were forts in the sky, until you actually flew in one [8D]

[patrickl]

Thanks guys for the tip! Sure hope can link up my trip with the flight.

[PaxMondo]

There are a couple of touring B-17's, and yes worth the flight.

[patrickl]

Yes, I should work on this. Maybe the year after next I should be in US. I love those propeller planes.

[Ostwindflak]

I never got the privilege to fly in one of these bombers, but I did get to go through them both at an air show about 18 years ago. I remember how small the B-17 seemed when I got inside of it. It was a lot more cramped for space than I had imagined it would be.

The movie Memphis Bell made them look so enormous! [:D]

But being inside of a real B-17 was worth the price of admission and then some. Such a cool feeling and experience.

[rustysi]

I remember how small the B-17 seemed when I got inside of it. It was a lot more cramped for space than I had imagined it would be.

That was my take away as well. Got to get inside a Lanc too. My impression of that A/C.... Its a flying bomb bay, the thing was huge.

[Dixie]

I've had a look around a B-17 and spent many hours flying in Lancasters. I've been lucky enough to fly on both airworthy Lancasters and been sick on more than one occcassion! It was cold and draughty in the air (even at only a couple of thousand feet) and hot on the ground. It vibrated and shook in the air and suffered from a build up of exhaust fumes in the fuselage (which is why the BBMF usually fly with their escape hatches out) especially by the W/Op position. But I wouldn't have missed any of the trips I did.


The Lancaster was built around the bomb bay and then packed with fuel, ammunition and other equipment. The only place I could stand up straight was by the rear door. The Canadian based Lanc has a bit more room inside, the BBMF one hass a mostly wartime fit inside, with ammunition tracks, mid-upper turret mechanisms, dummy parachutes and oxygen bottles, wartime radio and a partial bomb sight in the nose.
I wasn't a big fan of the B-17 and the open baomb bay though. [X(]

It's basically a reverse TARDIS, far smaller on the inside than it appears from the outside [:D]

Summer 2014 was a good one.

[biggins89]

I too had a chance to take a ride in a B24 back a few years ago. The Confederate Flying Assoc. guys were in for a show and had a problem with one of their generators. It just so happens that the voltage regulator for that acft. is the same as a Huey- who knew? I happened to have many on hand and helped out. Got offered a free ride, but turned it over to the two new guys in the shop. They loved it. A lot different then what they imagined.

[rustysi]

Got offered a free ride, but turned it over to the two new guys in the shop. They loved it. A lot different then what they imagined.

Very magnanimous, good for you.

[littleike]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

I was fortunate to get to fly in a B-17 a few years back. Definitely worth the price [;)] Gave you a different perspective on what those guys went through back then. Example, as the plane navigated about the sky you would see the wires move as the pilot manipulated the ailerons or rudder and realize that it would take far less than a 20mm to cripple the aircraft. Or how precious little ammo these bombers carried for it's guns. Or that you could drop a complete Websters Dictionary from the 'waltz plate' in the bomb bay, and it probably would go thru the bomb bay doors [X(] You get to thinking these were forts in the sky, until you actually flew in one [8D]

I agree that touching with hand can surprise about things one have always seen only in images, but
take a look at the damage that this airplane sustained without crashing and you will really change idea about the strength of this bomber.

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/b-17/contents.htm

(PS: Congratulations!! Very fortunate to live that experience!!!)

[Anthropoid]

Fascinating thanks for sharing. My paternal grandfather was a gunner in a B-17 in Europe who was wounded and spent a long time in hospital in England (no idea specifically which unit/dates etc.), so I always appreciate learning more about the B-17. Those pics of the battle damage are astounding. Getting a ride on one someday sounds like a great plan.

[Lecivius]

ORIGINAL: littleike

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

I was fortunate to get to fly in a B-17 a few years back. Definitely worth the price [;)] Gave you a different perspective on what those guys went through back then. Example, as the plane navigated about the sky you would see the wires move as the pilot manipulated the ailerons or rudder and realize that it would take far less than a 20mm to cripple the aircraft. Or how precious little ammo these bombers carried for it's guns. Or that you could drop a complete Websters Dictionary from the 'waltz plate' in the bomb bay, and it probably would go thru the bomb bay doors [X(] You get to thinking these were forts in the sky, until you actually flew in one [8D]

I agree that touching with hand can surprise about things one have always seen only in images, but
take a look at the damage that this airplane sustained without crashing and you will really change idea about the strength of this bomber.

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/b-17/contents.htm

(PS: Congratulations!! Very fortunate to live that experience!!!)

I have seen dozens of pictures of planes shot to doll rags & getting home. I have also flown in one where the aircraft NCO threatened it's passengers a swift trip back to earth for just touching the control wires while in flight [;)]. And I have personally touched a bomb bay door on a B-17 that 'flexed' to the touch. However you want to look at it, the guys who flew combat in these have my unending admiration.