My B-17 crewmember encounter this week was at the Palm Springs Air Museum. I had the chance to chat with USAAC Staff SergeantRalph Peterson, one of the docents for “Miss Angela”. He was a ball-turret gunner for 33 missions. I said he seemed a bit tall for the job, and he explained the assignment process: they looked at a photo of the gunner crew and the smallest guy in the picture got the job. I asked if he ever encountered a ME262, he said one flew past so close that he made eye contact with the German pilot.
I toured one ages ago at an air show in OKC. Actually not that crowded as most people wanted to see the jets.
A friend of mine flew on that same B17 several years ago. He actually paid for some stick time and logged .25 hours. I think it was $500. Way cool. I met a guy at a bar on Veterans Day who claimed (and I have no reason to doubt him) to have been a waist-gunner on a 17. Says he was shot down three times in France. Two jumps and a forced landing. I was happy to buy him a beer.
Will you get to bomb anything? Unless you get to actually drop live bombs I refuse to be impressed.
Here is some info on flights in warbirds from the Collings Foundation.
If you wander around their site, you will find that they also offer rides in their F-4D and mention future flight training in their Me-262 from the Paine Field project.
If you live in the Upper Left Hand Corner of the map, you have a chance to fly in a B-17 this weekend.
I heard that. I so want to do that! Maybe next year.
Ideally on some unreconstructed Nazis somewhere. The flight radius might reach Illinois…
Indeed - by even the strictest standards.