That’s rather sad, as the P-51 wasn’t the “Lightning”. The P-38 was the Lightning.
:smack:
I was eating lunch and typing at the same time.
Anyone in the Indy area… the flyover for the 500 is being done by 2 B-25’s and if you know the right places to look you can probably catch them doing some practice runs.
I took my Mom up to see the Collings Foundation’s “Nine-O-Nine” at Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, CA a few years ago. She thought we were just there for a tour but I had secretly purchased her a ride. She finally got a clue when they asked her to sign an insurance waver for the flight. She said, “What am I signing?” :eek: She had the thrill of her life during that ride!
Average Joe pilot with no tail wheel experience and no remarkable skills? Probably not, but then they’d probably have difficulty stepping into a Piper Cub. I’d think that someone with some relevant experience would do ok though.
bloncebear, picture me olive drab with envy. Those engines surely sound gorgeous on the nose section, I could go to sleep with that sound!
Yes, oh yes I did!.
I remember that I was so eager to play the B-17 game that I didn’t bother to read the manual, so I didn’t now that there was a time lapse key to speed up the game in between action parts. So the first several missions I flew them real time, 4, 5 or more hours straight. It was a real bummer to miss the target in one of those!
One of the things that really surprised me was the sound of those engines. I expected a deafening roar, but the noise wasn’t bad at all. I didn’t have to yell at the person sitting next to me or anything. Of course we were cruising at low altitude at only 150mph or so. The ambient sound would be quite different in formation, with flak bursts all around and machine guns blasting away!
P.S. Johnny L.A., thanks for the heads up on my bad 262 link–let’s see if I can get it right this time: Stormbirds ME 262 Project
Yeah, and also the re-released version from about 6 or so years ago. (better graphics, smoother gameplay, better AI)
And, how sweet is this? It’s my grandfather’s squadron insignia! http://t-shirts.cafepress.com/item/549th-bomb-squadron-light-tshirt/147364327
http://toonsatwar.blogspot.com/2007/12/549th-bombardment-squadron-insignia.html
Another excellent book about the missions flown by the B-17 over Europe is Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer*, *by Brian O’Neill. Riveting accounts by the men who flew perilous missions over targets like Schweinfurt, Bremen and Ludwigshafen.
I had the chance to ride in a 17, but am too cheap. Got to look at it up close and walk around it. Like most things in my life, I regret it. Eh, thats why I drink…
Very cool thread, and I loved the footage of your flight in the B17.
My wife and I recently took a flight in this wonderful DC3 Dakota. It belongs to the Dutch Dakota Association, and was built in 1944. Despite the current livery (period KLM on the left side, period Air France on the right), it did see action in Operation Market Garden, aiding in the liberation of the southern part of The Netherlands.
Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands purchased the plane after the war (hence it’s still active registration PH-PBA), and the plane served as official Royal Family aircraft as well as government aircraft until 1961. After a few further small roles, it was decommissioned in 1975, and was stood outside the Aviodome Museum on static display. Bernhard, a patron of the Dutch Dakota Association, always expressed his wish to see PBA fly again, and he lived to see his wish come true in 1998, when it took to the skies again after a thorough restauration. The aircraft has been modified to allow passenger flights, and since 2003, people can just book a flight and hop on.
It was awesome. The sheer noise this thing makes - unbelievably beautiful.
Not my footage, but this is the old lady being fired up outside the DDA hangar at Schiphol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umrqe4yV6gI
I’ve never flown in one, but I have seen a couple at airshows, and got to go into one once. It could take a pounding and still make it home.
From Coldfire’s link, here is a B-17 start up/taxi.
I absolutely LOVE the B-17. When I was 16, my father took me to a local air show in Columbia’s Owens Field. The “Nine-o-Nine” was there along with the B-24 “The Dragon and His Tail” (which I’ve heard has changed to “Witchcraft”) and the B-29 “Fifi.” I went straight to the B-17. Back in those days, they let you get right up to them. I was gawking at it pretty good when the pilot / owner invited me to come on in and take a look. I found three veteran crew members sitting in the waist talking about their missions during the war. I sat there for at least an hour listening to their stories. I wish to this day that I had a tape recorder at the time.
My FIL was on B-24’s, so the family is attuned to, and a little resentful of, the 17 getting all the glory, including all the movie roles.
But they sound the same in person - the Fort that the Collings Foundation takes on tour (909), along with its Lib and its Mitchell, sounds just gorgeous with all those radial cylinders firing. Nothing like it (except other warbirds).
The EAA’s Aluminum Overcast is on solo tour every summer, too - I once went flying on a day that it was visiting my home 'drome, and had the rare fun of seeing it take off from up front while I was taxiing out to the active runway. It uses surprisingly little runway, but it would certainly have eaten up a lot more carrying a Berlin load.
The Swoose is now in the hands of the Air Force Museum, and there are, at long last, plans to restore and display it.
Meanwhile, you can see early B-17s in I Wanted Wings (1941) and Air Force (1943).
One last bump by yours truly
Inspired by my post, I went to a used DVD store and found a copy of the 1944 Memphis Belle documentary – for only $3.95! What a deal!
I got curious about the other B-17s I had seen, and discovered that Castle Air Museum was having an “open cockpit” day. So of course I drove down to check it out. The highlight for me was getting into one of the last examples of a B-36.
If you’re interested, I put together a small collection of B-17 images here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/yawndave/Fortress?feat=directlink
One of my faves. I probably have three copies on VHS and DVD.
So is the Memphis Belle now, after too many decades out in the weather in a city that couldn’t be bothered to put the appropriate museum around her.
Other B-17 flicks not yet mentioned include Flying Fortress, Command Decision, Above and Beyond (early part), The War Lover, and no doubt others. The Lib? Not so much. 
But feel free to peruse this.
I’ve been an aviation freak since I was a kid. But after shooting aerial footage for two documentaries on a B-17 and B-25 I have a newfound love for those bombers.
I flew in the Colling’s Nine-O-Nine last year and the Pacific Prowler B-25 as well. Rides of a life time. After the B-25 flight I attended the Goblet Ceremony where the surviving Doolittle Raiders reunite. That experience is overwhelming.
Johnny L.A., right after the B-17 flight I checked out the Heavy Metal B-17 sequence to see how they portrayed the bomber. Very, very accurate.
Here are some stills I shot:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2016646&id=1426122458