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Plane Ride Today -- B-17
Rocky Raab
Member Posts: 14,503 ✭✭✭✭
I was able to take one item off the bucket list today and had a flight on a B-17. The Liberty Foundation's Madras Maiden. Come along with me in photos...
Firing up the Pratt and Witneys.
Right turn after takeoff from Salt Lake City International. Taken from the open turtleback hatch. Hold onto your hat!
Seated across from me was a guy who actually flew B-17s in WWII. It was too loud to talk much, and he didn't remember many details, but he was lost in other memories the whole flight. Crisp salute, Warrior!
Top Floor: Menswear and Funny Clocks!
The real front office, where the actual business was conducted.
The fabled ball turret, which was surprisingly the safest place to be during combat - if you could squeeze yourself in there.
Pretty day over Utah.
No bogeys today!
Mission complete!
Firing up the Pratt and Witneys.
Right turn after takeoff from Salt Lake City International. Taken from the open turtleback hatch. Hold onto your hat!
Seated across from me was a guy who actually flew B-17s in WWII. It was too loud to talk much, and he didn't remember many details, but he was lost in other memories the whole flight. Crisp salute, Warrior!
Top Floor: Menswear and Funny Clocks!
The real front office, where the actual business was conducted.
The fabled ball turret, which was surprisingly the safest place to be during combat - if you could squeeze yourself in there.
Pretty day over Utah.
No bogeys today!
Mission complete!
I may be a bit crazy - but I didn't drive myself.
Comments
Pretty sure that's where my grandfather would have sat. He was a radio operator.
[8D] I got a chance to ride in these 2 back in 2010 was a christmas present from my wife
Both you lucky dogs. That top one Savage is a B25 Mitchell? Cant remember when I seen one of those.
I would think your bucket list would be a short one [:0]
but always glad to see some one get to check one off there list
congrats on a nice day
I would think the older pilot is one of the few we have left
nice to see he got to take a ride I would guess his mind was a flurry of memories of days gone by
That You, Thumbs up?
I was the airfield ops officer of Robert Grey AAF in Texas around 74 75 time frame. We had one of the last and largest stocks of 115/145 av gas around. The air guard was still flying KC 97's at that time and would land and RON just fill up on the 115/145 that they could not get from the air force. It was the only way they could run full power on their engines. A large crowed would usually gather just to see them fire the things up.
KC 97's had R 4360 engines. That's 4360 cubic inches for you car guys.
When seeing the picture of the Bombardier position brought to mind, only recently read, how a local died from a direct ack ack to the front of the plane directly in the plexaglass
I'm glad you got to do it!!
Now you can go home and throw rocks at your Cessna!
[8D] I got a chance to ride in these 2 back in 2010 was a christmas present from my wife
Let me know if you die, I want to marry your wife just before Christmas.
BKW
Thanks for the pictures. [:)]
Thank you for sharing your ride and pictures with us.
The plane was used as a fire ant spray bomber in Georgia for a while, then sat as a museum piece before being bought by the Liberty Foundation and refurbished for flight. It's the third B-17 the Foundation has flown.
I was able to take one item off the bucket list today and had a flight on a B-17. The Liberty Foundation's Madras Maiden. Come along with me in photos...
Firing up the Pratt and Witneys.
Good to hear you had a good time, Rocky.
I took the first trip of the day when I flew in the 'Aluminum Overcast' a few years back, and they did the complete start up and run-up of the engines after they boarded us. Shook the old girl up quite a bit.
I thought it interesting that one of the Wright Cyclones she was sporting at the time was manufactured by Studebaker. Had never known that Studebaker manufactured big radial engines during the war.
Brad Steele
The two questions I didn't get to ask the pilots (because they were going right back up on the next hop) were about control pressures and fuel consumption. I recall reading that guys who flunked out of B-24 school because they weren't strong enough to handle its very heavy controls went to B-17s, so I assume the Fortress was lighter to fly.
I'm also going to assume that the engines burned roughly 50 gallons per hour (per engine) at cruise, based on DC-3 performance. But I could confirm neither.
Here is a front view of Aluminum Overcast No. 1.
Brad Steele
The Aluminum Overcast was back in town, and I snapped a photo of the plaque on the Studebaker engine. Is was in position 4 this time, and I believe it was in No. 1 two years ago. Either it is a different Studebaker, or more likely has been rotated through a maintenance cycle.
It is a fairly bad cell phone picture, but you can make out the Studebaker name and logo. An incredible amount of re-tooling when a county gears up for total war.
Brad Steele