Going for a B-17 ride tomorrow

don't get stuck in the belly turret....

 

Good for you!!

Enjoy the time but bring earplugs just in case.

KevFla

 

I did that 2 years ago. It's fantastic. You can walk around when inside. People take turns getting into the nose. You can't get into the cockpit but you can see the guys.

It's a terrific experience. I remember the cartoon-ish sound of the tires squeeching when it touched down. You can see the wires move in the inside that make the rudder work. I'm in shock that guys actually got into these things and flew for hours in freezing cold while being shot at. I guess you had to be 18.

It's noisy inside so you have to yell at one another. Mine lasted about 20 minutes with about 10 pre-flight.

Have a great time!
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If you don't post pics it'll come back to haunt you !!!!

 

At one point during the ride remember to stop, look, and listen!

I am so jealous.

 

Place your hand on the fuselage when it turns over. See what the vibration feels like.



Fire the .50s if they let you. JK


Beware the slipstream if the waist positions are open.

Enjoy it. I would love to go up.

 

Sweet!
Which one?
VIN? LOL

My fabulous wife bought me a ticket on the EAA's Aluminum Overcast 3 years ago at Oshkosh.
Unless you've got ear issues don't bother with earplugs. Just about the only machine I've ever been in that tops the 308 for sheer aural pleasure.
They wouldn't allow us in the tail gunner's seat or ball turret for fairly obvious reasons, but we rotated between every other gunner/bombadier/radio operator's position in flight.
I sat in the radio operator's seat for takeoff and explored that area for ~5 minutes, then waited 5 minutes directly behind the pilot for my 5 minute turn in the nose (I stretched this into 7 or 8....), then spent the final 15 minutes back in the radio op's station and then in the belly/waist section.

If it's a 30 minute flight like I had it will seem to go by in 10 (it really was 30, checked my watch). Don't get too hung up on taking pics/video; chat with other passengers on the tarmac, make a deal to take a few pics of them with their camera and have them take a few of you with yours, then spend as much time as possible soaking in the experience. There are better pics and vids on the web than you can take yourself.

Here are my pics, including the Oshkosh fly-in 2008:
http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x155/kedelbach/2008%208%201%20Oshkosh/?start=all

You have to crawl in between the pilot and co-pilot to get to the nose, don't know how much closer to being in the cockpit you can get without sitting behind the controls!
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That is VERY cool.
I am there with you in spirit!
Pics!!!

 

Mark,

Enjoy your ride.

I flew a few times, in an ANG Convair T-29. I believe it has the same radial engine, as the T-28B/C and B-29 ? At full power on take-off, it sounded like a WW II movie, on full blast. I am sure you will have a lot of fun

 

well I stand corrected on my statement that there will be better photos on the web than you can take yourself... those are fantastic shots!
If you wouldn't mind emailing me higher-res photos I'd greatly appreciate it - that's the same B-17 I had my flight in.
[email protected]
thanks in advance!!!

 

Aw.... was hoping for a shot of a certain mud hole out the front turret

 

Mine too! What a great ship. Those are great shots!

 

Very cool; I'm jealous of all that have done that!

 

Thanks for the pics Mark.....!!!!!

 

The B-17 and T-28 are powered with R1820 Wright Cyclone. The B-29 is powered by an R3350 Wright but not the same engine as the Dc-6 or 7.

 

First, A WW2 B-17 interior was not painted with zinc chromate. It was bare cold aluminum. The nacelles usually had a layer of carbon from oil cooked on them.The interior was a below zero wind tunnel and loud as hell.Early models had open waist windows and there was no way to get warm except by electrically suits and the fleece lined leather B7 suits. The electrically heated suits usually had shorted wires in them that could leave you with some nice little burns in areas that were subjected to bending. Movement inside the airplane was limited and difficult and exhausting. The oxygen masks sometimes didn't fit and chaffed your face. The oxy dehydrated your mouth, gave you a headache. The Cold made your nose run and many times you could have a snot sickle hanging off your chin. It was a lot of fun.
I never saw action overseas but I got enough exposure at Langley Field and lived with ex-combat crews. Add flak and fighters to this and one could see why my friends were totally spent.

 

even without ferocious German fighters and flak cannons trying to blow you up.
Before our flight on Aluminum Overcast, while still at Oshkosh, I stood with a small group listening to an older gentleman talking about what it was really like to be part of a Fortress' crew. Really set the tone for our flight and contributed greatly to the goosebumps all of us had on final approach. Thinking that as nice as our 3000' cruise over the warm Wisconsin countryside was, planes just like this one often came back riddled with bullet holes and dripping blood, if they came back at all.
Thanks for sharing that Bob, quite a bit different than air combat these days....

 

Multiply that altitude by 10 and unwind the thermometer down to -20 or-35 and lower sometimes. My bunkmate was a B-17 tail gunner who rode the tail section of his airplane down 15.000 feet after it had been severed by another airplane that slid out of position.His crew went down with the forward section. he had to be cut out of the wreckage and had a scar from his crotch to his breastbone where the British field surgeons opened him up to fix the damage. The barracks were full of guys like Joe Frank.

 

To amplify, here are radial engines used on some notable U.S. aircraft:

R-1820 (Wright): B-17, Boeing 307, DC-3 (some), F4F/FM (some), SBD, S2F, T-28

R-1830 (P & W): B-24, DC-3 (most), F4F (most), TBD

R-2000 (P & W): DC-4

R-2600 (Wright): A-20, B-25, SB2C, TBF/TBM

R-2800 (P & W): A-26, B-26, DC-6, F6F, F7F, F8F, F4U, Convairliners (including the T-29), Martin 4-0-4, P-47

R-3350 (Wright): B-29, Constellation, DC-7

R-4360 (P & W): B-36, B-50, Boeing 377