Slightly OT: Of all the times not to have a camera

[Shark7]

While driving down I-20 today you can imagine my pleasant surprise to get a wonderful view of a Silver B-17 with a red tail as it made approach for landing. It was on the end of its landing approach, so it was close enough I could clearly see the glass panes in the nose.

So I did a bit of research, seems it was 'Aluminum Overcast', a restored B-17G, and man is she a gorgeous plane. I just wish I could have snapped some photos. [:(]

[chemkid]

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[btd64]

There was a airport near my job about 20 years ago. Anyway, I was coming back from lunch and heard the drone of a set of a large prop engines and looked up to see a beautiful B-17 flying over the parking lot towards the airport. Breath taking and No camera [&:]....GP

[Lecivius]

I was fortunate enough to get a ride on this aircraft last year. I posted some pics, I can again if you wish. It cost @ $100 a seat for a 20 minute flight, definitely worth the cost if you can afford it [;)]

[bomccarthy]

15 years ago, I was working on the creative team of a recruiting/ad agency in Long Beach, CA. We were on the 7th floor of a building at the southeast end of Long Beach Airport and the creative team's windows faced north, with the final approach path to the airport's small plane runway 500 feet away. I used to watch a DC-3 twice each day coming back from its regular mail run to Catalina Island. One day, I heard something bigger - I looked up from my monitor to see an olive drab B-17 500 feet away and at eye level. I don't recall which one it was, but it was giving "tours" of Long Beach/LA Harbor and the surrounding area all that week. I didn't pay the $500 for the flight, but I did walk through it one afternoon, and spent the rest of the week mesmerized as it came in for a landing 3-4 times each day.

[m10bob]

Have been around the world twice and always had access to a Leica, or a pocket Instamatic.

Now...they have the portable camcorders which fit in your pocket.

I cannot convey the lost opportunities in my life.

[JohnDillworth]

I work in NYC and we have Fleet Week each June. I had a conference room with a view of the lower Hudson River. Anyway, way back in the 1988 or so we were having a meeting and the USS Iowa went cruising up the River. NYC is like that sometimes

[spence]

Back when I was a kid back in the late 50's in CT Pratt & Whitney a/c had an experimental B-17 (which even in my tender years recognized as such) with a single engine in the nose. I asked my father who worked at P&W about it as a test engineer and he remarked that that one engine in the nose had more horsepower than the other 4. The 5th engine sure wrecked the lines of that plane though.

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: m10bob

Now...they have the portable camcorders which fit in your pocket.

I think they're called smart phones. [:D]

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: spence

Back when I was a kid back in the late 50's in CT Pratt & Whitney a/c had an experimental B-17 (which even in my tender years recognized as such) with a single engine in the nose. I asked my father who worked at P&W about it as a test engineer and he remarked that that one engine in the nose had more horsepower than the other 4. The 5th engine sure wrecked the lines of that plane though.

[geofflambert]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: spence

Back when I was a kid back in the late 50's in CT Pratt & Whitney a/c had an experimental B-17 (which even in my tender years recognized as such) with a single engine in the nose. I asked my father who worked at P&W about it as a test engineer and he remarked that that one engine in the nose had more horsepower than the other 4. The 5th engine sure wrecked the lines of that plane though.

Did it use up more fuel than the other 4 combined? Sorry, stupid question.

[wdolson]

Turboprops are used more than piston driven props today. There are trade offs to each. Piston engines tend to be cheaper to maintain because they don't require exotic high temperature metals. However, turboprops tend to be easier to maintain as they have fewer moving parts. Turboprops operate more efficiently at altitude than piston engines and with better power to weight ratios turboprop aircraft usually fly faster than piston engine aircraft. Piston engine aircraft are usually somewhat more efficient at lower altitudes, but that can vary depending on the situation too.

Turboprops also burn the same fuel as jet aircraft, so it simplifies the fuel storage at airports that operate both turboprops and jets.

Bill

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: m10bob

Now...they have the portable camcorders which fit in your pocket.

I think they're called smart phones. [:D]

Well...part of the problem is that I have thus far refused to join the 21st century, IE no 'smart' phone. [:-]

[Mike Dubost]

Reminds me of the time in the 1990s when I was working for a company that did civilian contract work at a local Air Force base. A B17 came in on Friday for a weekend air show, and after work I paid the entrance fee to go in and have a look. There was a moderate line, and I was the only adult male in it NOT trading stories about "Flak so thick I could walk on it over [insert German city here]."

[CaptBeefheart]

ORIGINAL: bomccarthy

15 years ago, I was working on the creative team of a recruiting/ad agency in Long Beach, CA. We were on the 7th floor of a building at the southeast end of Long Beach Airport and the creative team's windows faced north, with the final approach path to the airport's small plane runway 500 feet away. I used to watch a DC-3 twice each day coming back from its regular mail run to Catalina Island. One day, I heard something bigger - I looked up from my monitor to see an olive drab B-17 500 feet away and at eye level. I don't recall which one it was, but it was giving "tours" of Long Beach/LA Harbor and the surrounding area all that week. I didn't pay the $500 for the flight, but I did walk through it one afternoon, and spent the rest of the week mesmerized as it came in for a landing 3-4 times each day.

I used to work at that airport on the Douglas side. I hear it's all gone.

Still, I heard the Thirsty Isle is still nearby, where I enjoyed many a long Friday lunch shooting stick and ordering Coors Extra Gold liters from the old blonde witch behind the bar. To the uninitiated, the Thirsty Isle was built in the early 40s, when B-17s were rolling off the Douglas line (built under license).

Cheers,
CC

[bomccarthy]

ORIGINAL: Commander Cody

ORIGINAL: bomccarthy

15 years ago, I was working on the creative team of a recruiting/ad agency in Long Beach, CA. We were on the 7th floor of a building at the southeast end of Long Beach Airport and the creative team's windows faced north, with the final approach path to the airport's small plane runway 500 feet away. I used to watch a DC-3 twice each day coming back from its regular mail run to Catalina Island. One day, I heard something bigger - I looked up from my monitor to see an olive drab B-17 500 feet away and at eye level. I don't recall which one it was, but it was giving "tours" of Long Beach/LA Harbor and the surrounding area all that week. I didn't pay the $500 for the flight, but I did walk through it one afternoon, and spent the rest of the week mesmerized as it came in for a landing 3-4 times each day.

I used to work at that airport on the Douglas side. I hear it's all gone.

Still, I heard the Thirsty Isle is still nearby, where I enjoyed many a long Friday lunch shooting stick and ordering Coors Extra Gold liters from the old blonde witch behind the bar. To the uninitiated, the Thirsty Isle was built in the early 40s, when B-17s were rolling off the Douglas line (built under license).

Cheers,
CC

Gawd, I'd forgot about the Thirsty Aisle. By 2000, it mostly attracted a mix of local tech workers, the few Boeing people that were left in the C-17 and Phantom Works programs (all concentrated in the few buildings on the south side of the airport), and some bikers. They served some good burgers at happy hour, but you were never sure what the cook might have done to them.

You can't even tell Douglas was there anymore - I think the logo is still on one building (Long Beach declared it a historic item). All that land is sitting unused because of contamination over the course of 60 years. Ironically, that B-17G might have been built there. Douglas built something like a third of all B-17Gs (I think) at Long Beach. My dad was a Douglas/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing engineer for 45 years, first at El Segundo then at Long Beach. He used to take us to the open houses as kids in the 70s, letting us sit at his drafting board.

[geofflambert]

ORIGINAL: Shark7

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: m10bob

Now...they have the portable camcorders which fit in your pocket.

I think they're called smart phones. [:D]

Well...part of the problem is that I have thus far refused to join the 21st century, IE no 'smart' phone. [:-]

I'm the proud owner of a 'smart' rock.

[m10bob]

ORIGINAL: wdolson

ORIGINAL: m10bob

Now...they have the portable camcorders which fit in your pocket.

I think they're called smart phones. [:D]

Well yer "durn-tootin'"!

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

ORIGINAL: Shark7

ORIGINAL: wdolson




I think they're called smart phones. [:D]

Well...part of the problem is that I have thus far refused to join the 21st century, IE no 'smart' phone. [:-]

I'm the proud owner of a 'smart' rock.

It must have an extremely high IQ, as it is obviously very 'sharp'. [:D]

[m10bob]

ORIGINAL: Shark7

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

ORIGINAL: Shark7




Well...part of the problem is that I have thus far refused to join the 21st century, IE no 'smart' phone. [:-]

I'm the proud owner of a 'smart' rock.

It must have an extremely high IQ, as it is obviously very 'sharp'. [:D]

Nice point.