I saw this afternoon a B-17 landing on my lil airport here in Douglas, GA....they got scraps of other Boeing's to use....

So given that I am in my offseason for coaching...they accepted my self invitation to volunteer for whatever they needed...

B-17's name is Liberty Bell..

http://www.libertyfoundation.org/images/Photos/August-1C.jpg

Very, very cool!! :thmbsp:

-Dave

Hey, WhiteSE, when you get done with that, here in Windsor, we have a Lancaster bomber that is being brought inside for restoration, having spent about 40 years on a pedestal, like a model. They'll be looking for volunteers, and you will have some expertise to share. (I've got a sofabed in the basement, next to the stereo. :D )

'Liberty Belle' ! too cool. :thmbsp:

Is that part of the Confederate Air Force ? Looks GORGEOUS. I got to walk thru a B-17 a few years ago, & was amazed how SMALL they are on the inside. Best way to describe it is a great big, little-bitty airplane. And they are so-ANTIQUE- I also got to go thru a B-29, & they don't give you that "antique" feeling quite the same as a Seventeen does. Enjoy yrself-you are about to get intimate w/a piece of history, something I'd give anything to be able to do. The CAF's B-29, Fifi, is truly a labor of love for the old guys who fly it around. What will eventually ground it is a lack of nosewheel tires-they were specific to B-29s & B-50s, & are used on no other plane. Engines are not a problem, neither are main gear tires-B-29s used the same size as 737s. Anyway, enjoy yrself ! Maybe they'll take you up & let you hold the wheel...-Sandy G.

Around 10 years ago I was fortunate enough to see the CAF's Sentimental Journey B17 land at Buchanan Field in Concord CA (east bay near San Fran). Somehow I finagled my way onto the tarmac and was standing perhaps a hundred or so feet from the runway and it turns out I was at the exact spot the gear touched down!

As Sandy mentioned, they're amazingly smaller than you imagine....very cramped inside too. My favorite model is the F with the Cheyenne tail, they're the prettiest to these tired eyes. As antique as they appear, the predecessor (YB-17) were thought to be too powerful for anyone to fly......part of this was due to the fatal crash of the first test flight (turns out to be pilot error as the flight crew failed to unlock the controls during pre-flight check).

Here's some more useless info, most of the B-17 engines were built by Studebaker (under contract from Pratt & Whitney) in a new plant built outside of South Bend (where the cars were built). This factory later became their truck plant and is now part of the Hummer factory complex although it's only used for storage at the moment.

What else do you not want to know? LOL

Anthony

I'm 6 feet tall & uhhh-BIG-and Seventeens seem to be set up for someone who's about 5'7" & NOT big....Everything seems like it's 2/3 or 3/4 scale... you have to see one to know what I mean...the B-24 is the same way. But the B-29 while still cramped inside, doesn't seem so small & fragile. Never been even close to a B-52-what I wouldn't give to bollix around one of THOSE....-Sandy G.

I had the strange opportunity to see B-52s flying VERY low as near stall speeds........it was a fluke that I was in the right place at the right time....I WAS LOST!! This was near Fairfield CA and there's a base nearby, was lost out in the hilly area near that and in the middle of nowhere. Lo and behold what should I see but one after another of these lumbering behemoths!!!!!!!!! Really spooky, could practically count the spot welds on them. I could FEEL their presence, no foolin. Sure wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of their anger LOL

Anthony

So cool!!!! :thmbsp:

Please post lotsa pics.. I just love those classic aircraft.

Have fun

Jealous regards

gerrit

Back when I was a kid, during Vietnam, BUFFs used to make practice bombing runs thru here. They were lotsa times so low, it looked like you could stick a broomhandle up & hit 'em. Wasn't unusual to see the pilot, you'd wave, but they never would wave back.-Sandy G.

Seen many a history show on those baby's. Never seen one up close though! Nice!!!
Alot of those guys went through hell and back...my hats off :thmbsp:

Pretty cool WhiteSE !

I to have a soft spot for these ole girls. My Father was a B-24 and B-29 pilot during the end of WWII

We used to go to every air show in the area. Oshkosh a couple of time etc...

Watched an F-4 PhantomII crash at the air show here, when I was about 14. At first I thought it was something new that the Blue Angels were doing until I saw the guy punch out at the end of the runway and then a huge fireball. Damn brave pilot he stayed in his plane till it cleared the crowd of thousands, when his landing gear failed.

I frequently see old Warbirds around here. Collins radio has a hanger at the Eastern Iowa Airport, and they come in quite often for new radio gear etc...

Have fun with the project, wish I was there !
Cheers
Army

Never been even close to a B-52-what I wouldn't give to bollix around one of THOSE....-Sandy G.

They're not all that big inside either; the crew compartment is the front twelve feet or so of the fuselage, divided into an upper and lower deck with maybe five feet of headroom on each deck. This is then stuffed with six to ten crew dogs, each with a couple of dufflebags full of flight gear, briefcases, box lunches etc. and the whole sent out (on a typical training mission) to go from point A to point A in the maximum amount of time consistent with fuel load.

Also, the cabin air conditioning system is designed to keep the radar cool, not the crew warm. It can be a bloody cold ride.

Spent 12 years on the damned things. Dependable airplane, though.

Incidentally, the correct acronym for the B-52 is BUF, not BUFF; the Air Force has spent years trying to convince the mothers of America that their sons referred to it as the "Big Ugly Fat Fellow", not the "Big Ugly Fornicator" (more or less).

Man, that is COOL!! No doubt!!! :thmbsp:

The Memphis Belle, probably the most famous B-17, is also being restored!!!

http://membelle.gmotion.com/get_involved/

I donated some money to the cause. :yes:

Enjoy your time working on it, what a honor!!!

I met Capt Morgan at Oskosh in the late 90's....fun guy to talk to. Well, Still havent been able to start because my wife is having surgery on one of her hands (bone spur)..Hopefully today or monday...

I have over 8,000 hours in KC-135 tankers, and I'd trade all that time in for a 1 hour ride on a B-17G. At 67" vertical, I am perfectly suited to the ball or tail.

About 4 years ago, the Collins Foundation was touring my area with a B-17. Ran down, wrote out the check for $275, and they told me where to stand, and who to stand with. 4 or 5 other guys all much older than me. Anyhow, the crew started engines, taxied out towards where we were waiting to board, and then shut down #3. They couldn't get full power out of it, and as an aircraft with an "experimental" classification, no PAX are allowed onboard with less than a full complement of functioning engines. They gave us back our checks and departed . BUMMER

Doh! that must have hurt!

I have been pretty lucky in that I have been able to wiggle rides in all kinds of choppers, transports, and a short ride in an F-4 Phantom at Patuxent Naval Air Station...But never a warbird..

I havent been able to work with the airplane because my GF had a bone spur/cyst removed from her hand, and with a 3 week old baby, I have to stay put!!

Hurt like a .......! I came home really feeling down. So close. They've been around since, but the timing with my schedule has been off. Soon.

I am completely fascinated by the B-17 and the men who crewed it. The Eighth Air Force bomber crews (1942-1945) are the greatest guys who ever lived. We owe those guys a bunch. Every branch of the service was instrumental during WWII, but nobody suffered a higher rate of attrition than the Eighth bomber crews. The German U-boat community suffered the highest attrition rate of both sides. 75% of the U-boat guys are still in the water. 3 out of 4 didn't come back.

The old war films always show a high degree of camaraderie and esprit de corps among the bomber crews. You have to wonder though with those loss rates, like 60 airplanes in one day at Schweinfurt. 10 guys to a bomber. It wouldn't surprise me if the crews had to be awoken and led to the airplanes at gunpoint to fly the missions, and it wouldn't change my opinion of them one iota. They were magnificent.