I was also looking for this thread again after reading it first time a couple of nights ago.
Tim,
Here it is:
http://downloads.hyperscale.com/guides/B17log.pdf
I'm not sure why it was deleted, perhaps a copyright issue of some kind? I read it fully and it made me appreciate my father more, and so many others that served in that conflict..
[ed. Might have been in the 'Temp/Test' area and got auto-deleted after two weeks. dr]
Doug et al, I'm pretty sure it wasn't there > 2 wks - I read VAF "Today's Posts" on an almost daily basis.
Anyway, I went looking for it again because I wanted to ask the following here:
The author makes numerous references to "swung compass". Seems he did it several times on their B-17 and assisted others to do the same on their a/c. Just out of interest, can anyone pls explain what this means? Did their compasses require some sort of regular calibration?
Just curious.
BTW, I found that item to be fascinating reading. I'm an ICU nurse and have been working nights for years. I once had an ex-Lancaster pilot as a pt. He and I chatted for hours over the course of a week or so, him doing most of the talking, relating all about various missions. There were the sad parts, ie the time his navigator was hit in the head by flak and he had to fly back, across then-occupied Belgium and France, alone and out of formation due to first 1 and then 2 engines out, doing his best to navigate and fly as well. And the time he landed in recently liberated Belgium to get a gunner to urgent medical attention (he survived but never rejoined the crew). But his eyes really lit up as he related other aspects, including the first time he ever set eyes on a 4-engine bomber and wondered how the heck he was going to be able to fly it. And the commaraderie and dedication of the crew. And when I googled and found his squadron on the web, and printed off diagrams showing their paint schemes and other aspects, he nearly cried as he recognised his "own" squadron's markings etc. I don't think he'd seen them for many many years. He took me instrument by instrument through the panel when I aslo found and printed off a pic of a Lanc cockpit.
I would love to have been able to record our conversations but the circumstances didn't seem right. None of his family seemed to want to know much if anything about his war time experiences. He never got around to writing any of it down. Sadly all that info disappeared the night (on my nights off) when he passed away. But before that happened he made me bring in and show him the Vans RV-8 preview plans and manual I'd just bought - he was fascinated, and we pored over the diagrams etc together at about 3am. If I had "magic change-the-world potion" I would have stirred the pot and (a) started the RV-8 5 years earlier (b) fixed his health problems and (c) taken him flying as one of my first few passengers - he would have been an awesome flight companion.
It's great to be able to read these old logs.
