OT - Ride in a 4 Engine Taildragger

Baja_Traveler · #1 04-12-2007, 08:22 PM

Thought I'd share pictures of my ride yesterday from San Diego to Torrance. Is there such a thing as a B-17 grin? I'm still smiling!

You can click on the slideshow button in the upper right corner.

Aluminum Overcast Ride Pics

jtrusso · #2 04-12-2007, 09:22 PM

There is only one word that comes to mind when looking at those pictures....WOW!

I can't wait to see it on Saturday. Thanks for posting the pics!

jbDC9 · #3 04-12-2007, 09:43 PM

Great pics! Note to self; always take a camera along to an airshow or fly-in.

Example #1. As kids back around '82-83, my twin brother and I got a ride back from a show (thanks Dad) in B-17 "Chuckie" from Denton to Gainesville, TX (nonstop!). Yup, you guessed it; no camera.

Example #2. A few years later as a teenager I bagged a ride (Dad again...) from a show in Breckenridge to Redbird and then home to Addison in a TBM Avenger. For the BKD to RBD leg we had a Corsair tucked in tight off the wing... and guess what? No camera!!!

Seriously, thanks for the photos, they gave me a flashback to 25 yrs ago.

Baja_Traveler · #4 04-12-2007, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbDC9

...... For the BKD to RBD leg we had a Corsair tucked in tight off the wing... and guess what? No camera!!!.

The whole time in the air I was thinking how great it would have been to have a few P51 fighter escorts to take pictures of - especially through the top gun turret.... But the Corsair still is my all time favorite WWII fighter. And yes - the camera is always with me everywhere I go!

AltonD · #5 04-13-2007, 02:36 AM

Many years ago, I had the privilege to fly a big war bird, Lockheed PV2D. I had never flown a large plane where passengers could actually get up and move around. I trimmed it out and it would start to climb. I would retrim, and it would start to dive. Then, it occurred to me that the mechanic was moving from nose to tail with a video camera. 200 pounds moving from one extreme to the other. I asked the mechanic to find a place and sit down.

pierre smith · #6 04-13-2007, 06:12 AM

One thing that always comes to mind is just what an incredible heritage we have!! ....."From the mountains, to the prairies..........God bless America, my home sweet home". I adopted this beautiful land as home back in 1961 as a fresh graduate from high school in what was then Rhodesia.

I love this land for sure....thanks,

WSBuilder · #7 04-13-2007, 07:56 AM

One of the elderly men at my church was a B-17 pilot who flew many missions over Germany. He's an irratating man who causes a lot of trouble, but every time I want to be mad at him I think about his service and what he did for me before I was born.
Those pictures are the best I've ever seen at giving me a slight perspective of his contributions to our freedom. Thanks!

Brian Denk · #8 04-13-2007, 08:08 AM

I can relate to the "no camera" issue! I got to ride in the B-17G "Sentimental Journey" back in the mid 90's....including 30 mins in the left seat. No pics to archive the wondrous experience but it's burned in my brain forever. While I was flying, the pilot leaned over the back of the seat, pulled the earcup off my right ear and said, "I hope you realize that I've had guys offer me dates WITH THEIR WIVES to sit where you are right now."

Oh yeah, I can just imagine!

That airplane was so huge and took real effort to handle. Maintaining formation for 8 hours, while Nazi fighters and flak are trying to kill you, must have been absolutely exhausting both physically and emotionally. Those guys are MY HEROS and is why my RV8 has Army Air Corps and 8th Army Air Force patches in the cockpit. It's because of them we get to do what we do today.

Oh, and I now carry my digital camera with me all the time.

the_other_dougreeves · #9 04-13-2007, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baja_Traveler

Thought I'd share pictures of my ride yesterday from San Diego to Torrance. Is there such a thing as a B-17 grin? I'm still smiling!

I had The Grin when I took a ride in Liberty Belle last year. My face hurt the next day

jbDC9 · #10 04-13-2007, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Denk

No pics to archive the wondrous experience but it's burned in my brain forever.

Exactly... even though I was just a goofy kid (but a Warbird nut), I knew that a ride in a B-17 was pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I soaked it up and burned it into my brain as well. I rode in the nose, bombardier's seat for takeoff... man, the noise and power from those 4 R-1820s blew me away. Since my brother and I were the only passengers on that hop, we wandered the ship from nose to tailgunner seat, just taking it all in. Good stuff. Perhaps one day I'll spend the $4-500 bucks to go for another ride, but my "adult" brain tells me that's a whole bunch of avgas in the tanks of my RV-8. Eh, who needs to grow up anyway?

And speaking of these old bombers on tour and hopping rides, I had a happy coincidence with 'em 3 weeks ago. The Collings Foundation had their B-17, B-24 and B-25 at Addison, TX for the weekend, and as bad luck would have it, my Dad died suddenly from a heart attack a few days prior. At the funeral home in Frisco, just after his memorial service we walked outside in time to see the Collings B-24 thundering directly overhead some 1500-2000 feet up. Perfect and coincidental timing, as if planned and prearranged. My Dad wasn't old Army Air Corps or even Air Force, just a former Navy P-3 driver who went on to fly 35 years for Delta, but still... he would've liked that old B-24 overhead at his service.