B-17 Flying Fortress

BuzzStPoint

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
1,003
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

Last week end we had a B-25 at the air show.

b25_small.jpg
 

jay_merrill

Vice Admiral
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
5,653
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

One of the biggest thrills of my life, was in getting a ride in a B-24 Liberator. We flew about a 150 miles or so, from one airport to another, during the planes annual summer tour.

I've never gotten a ride in a B-17, but sure would love to. There is just something about those planes that is magic to an airplane nut!



???
 

JRJ

Commander
Joined
Sep 11, 2001
Messages
2,992
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

My Uncle was a B-17 pilot. I wish I had asked him more questions before he died. He was really a neat guy.
 

kenmyfam

Supreme Mariner
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Aug 10, 2006
Messages
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Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

Wonderful aircraft, a piece of history.
 

DaNinja

Lieutenant
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Jun 11, 2008
Messages
1,407
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

The B-17 and P-47 are my favorite planes from that era.
Growing up, one of the family friends had been a belly gunner on a B-17.
I loved reading the B-17 Operator's Manual as a kid.
It made me feel like I could actually fly one.;)
 

waterinthefuel

Commander
Joined
Nov 15, 2003
Messages
2,726
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

People see mustangs, corsairs, devastators and thunderbolts at airshows and don't realize they were killing machines. They were designed from the ground up to kill as efficiently and as quickly as possible. There are men in other countries that are pushing up daisies because of these planes. There original job wasn't airshow performances, it was killing. You have to respect an airplane with that in it's history.
 

DaNinja

Lieutenant
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Messages
1,407
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

People see mustangs, corsairs, devastators and thunderbolts at airshows and don't realize they were killing machines. They were designed from the ground up to kill as efficiently and as quickly as possible. There are men in other countries that are pushing up daisies because of these planes. There original job wasn't airshow performances, it was killing. You have to respect an airplane with that in it's history.
Definitely! Those planes won the war.
 

kend301

Lieutenant Junior Grade
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Jul 4, 2009
Messages
1,005
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

Not many planes that can have 1/4 of their aerodynamics shot off and still fly and land .. B17 is TOPS !!!
 

DECK SWABBER 58

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
1,913
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

What the Arizona Wing Commemorative Air Force is doing with this
flying museum is truly wonderful.

The few remaining WWII pilots come out to see this plane wherever
it stops. They climb in it and take their original positions. Some get
very emotional and then they tell stories that maybe have never
been heard. And will never be heard again. Living history, right
before your eyes.

Russ Gilmore said. "The men who flew these into battle were heroes. They were extremely brave to do what they did. They are our heroes."
The Journey, manufactured in 1944, was one of about 12,700 B-17s made, Gilmore said, and is one of about 12 remaining.
"We lost 5,000 in the war. The rest were chopped up," he said. "It's an honor, a true honor, to fly this plane."
 

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

I remember as a small boy having B-17s fly low over our neighborhood as a morale builder. It really worked; all of the neighbors came out and cheered them. They made thunder that vibrated our whole bodies. In early 1942 we needed all the morale boosts they could come up with.

When I first got to NAS Barbers Point in Hawaii in 1954 the Air Early Warning squadron that shared our parking area was flying B-17s (I don't remember the Navy designation) to patrol the central Pacific. It was strange to see what we had thought of as giant airplanes parked among the Super Connies that actually dwarfed them. They still made thunder as they flew over, though. It is unusual, because my memory is populated almost entirely by visual images. . . The B-17 is both visual and audio.
 

DECK SWABBER 58

Lieutenant Commander
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Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

I think tomorrow I might just have to go see this thing....

As of this month my father would have been 88, if he was
still alive. He died at 83.

He was a WWII vet, the image of his flag draped casket and
the folded flag being handed to my mother is forever embedded
in my brain............

I can't see the computer screen anymore..........
 

Philip_G

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
634
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

Go for a ride on the airplane if they're offering it.
Yes, it's expensive, yes it'll be hot and noisy but it's getting harder and harder to keep these old birds in the air and they see 60 cities because they have to just to get the revenue to keep the airplane going. I assure you they're not getting rich off of it. If we don't support them pretty soon the only way to see these airplanes will be on static display in a building they don't belong in. Support them if you can.

These old machines are neat to see fly, they're alive, they bleed oil and I think they deserve to be flown.
 

DECK SWABBER 58

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
1,913
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

:)
Go for a ride on the airplane if they're offering it.
Yes, it's expensive, yes it'll be hot and noisy but it's getting harder and harder to keep these old birds in the air and they see 60 cities because they have to just to get the revenue to keep the airplane going. I assure you they're not getting rich off of it. If we don't support them pretty soon the only way to see these airplanes will be on static display in a building they don't belong in. Support them if you can.

These old machines are neat to see fly, they're alive, they bleed oil and I think they deserve to be flown.
If I could ride on it, it would be one of the greatest moments of my life.:)
 

FBPirate95

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
840
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

My favorite aircraft of all time! We had one here a few months ago and I got to take the kids out to tour it. A B-24 came with it to the show.

When they come, they make reservations for 30 min flights. My wife has promised I could take a flight next year. Its about $450 for the flight. Well worth it in my opinion.
 

jay_merrill

Vice Admiral
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
5,653
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

I remember as a small boy having B-17s fly low over our neighborhood as a morale builder. It really worked; all of the neighbors came out and cheered them. They made thunder that vibrated our whole bodies. In early 1942 we needed all the morale boosts they could come up with.

When I first got to NAS Barbers Point in Hawaii in 1954 the Air Early Warning squadron that shared our parking area was flying B-17s (I don't remember the Navy designation) to patrol the central Pacific. It was strange to see what we had thought of as giant airplanes parked among the Super Connies that actually dwarfed them. They still made thunder as they flew over, though. It is unusual, because my memory is populated almost entirely by visual images. . . The B-17 is both visual and audio.


The Boeing B-17 is powered by four, Curtis Wright, nine cylinder, 1820 cubic inch, supercharged radial engines. There are no mufflers on them and the stacks are very short. They have the distinctive rumble that all radial airplane engines do.

This same engine later powered the Navy's Grumman S2 Tracker, which is an ASW aircraft. As a kid, I watched them all summer long, while at my grandfather's house. He lived a couple of miles away from a Navy training airfield, which was an auxiliary field to the one that President Bush (41) trained at. The planes would come down from the main field and practice "touch and go" landings at "our" field, which meant that they flew a pattern over our house, all day. The sound of those engines is something that was always a distinct feature, in my memories of my grandfather and the time that I spent with him.

Later in life, I became a Search & Rescue Aircrewman, flying primarily in another Grumman product - the HU-16 Albatross seaplane. The "Goat," as we used to call it, also had R-1820s in it. The sound of these engines, is I think, permanently etched in my brain. To this day, the sound of the rare radial powered plane flying overhead, will cause me to look up and watch the passing antique.



???
 

Philip_G

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
634
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

there's what appeared to be a B24 in town at my airport, I happened to see it lumbering along on final, neato
 

bigredinohio

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
604
Re: B-17 Flying Fortress

About a month or two ago, they had an anniversary for the Doolittle Raiders at the Air Force Musuem in Dayton. They had a large group of B-25's fly over and it was really great. My camera malfuntioned but I did manage to get some shots. This isn't mine but here was a video of the flyover from that day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pa0INoa9yM
 
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