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#11
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B-17 ride in Galveston
I coulda gone in a Mustang years ago for about 50 bucks for an hour! Seemed
expensive at the time. NOOOOO!!!! I climbed all over this one, took a million pictures and some video, but missed the ride: http://www.b17.org/ Next time it's in Georgetown I'm going. Cost be damned. I couldn't quite grasp that a human being actually FIT in the ball turret. I sure couldn't have. I took a long stare out it's view plate. There's a decent book about flying B-17s in WWII I will mention he "Bloody Skies A 15th AAF B-17 Combat Crew: How They Lived and Died", Melvin McGuire and Robert Hadley. This book really brought to life my tour of the fortress. They supply some of the post combat reports in facsimile. The reproductions aren't very good but I found them really interesting, especially since I've never been in the military. There're all kinds of good stories in the book. One of the most riveting is a detailed account of a raid in which an entire squadron McGuire had just been assigned to was wiped out in a single day (the day McGuire arrived -- thus he escaped and was a member of the only crew left in the squadron). In the space from 1046 to 1053 hours during the mission a massive German fighter force destroyed his squadron and got some other planes as well. The Germans came in flying in American fighter formation and weren't recognized until they were only 200 yards out -- they came in firing rockets, cannons, and of course machine guns. Three of the formation went down after the first pass alone. Seven minutes -- seventy guys. |
#13
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B-17 ride in Galveston
wrote in message
... ... I couldn't quite grasp that a human being actually FIT in the ball turret. I sure couldn't have. I took a long stare out it's view plate. I was on a tour of a museum at Flying Cloud MN (Ain't there any more) - there was a bunch of people following the guide, so at one point they turned right, I nudged my brother and we (and the kids) turned left... They had a B-17 with a bunch of guys in it that had flown during WW-II and since we had disconnected from the group we had time to sit and chat with them while they waited for the next tour group to march through. They ball turret gunner let us get in the ball- I was able to get in and get the back closed behind me (with help) but at 6' there was no way I could get down enough enough to look through the sights - you had to be small. I commented on how hard it would be to get out and he told us that when he had to bail out once he made it out the door before the waist gunners - said it helped to be motivated. The radio operator (and I think top gunner) talked about the cold and how they wore electric suits - when they got near the target and started into the flack he said you could see the electric demand go down on the meters as everyone got nervous and turned down the heat in their suits. The bombader talked about having to arm the bombs - he had to step off the catwalk and climb down on the bomb rack (you would straddle the space between the rows of bombs) to remove the safety pins - he said the bomb bay doors wouldn't hold your weight, so you couldn't fall. He said he had to being the safety pins back to prove that he had climbed out there to arm them. Apparently some guys wouldn't do it and the bombs would be dropped with the safety's still in. The waist gunner talked about the 1000 bomber raids and watching the streams of bombers flying back as they were on their way into the target. We missed the "official" tour. I just hope the kids got half as much out of it as I did. -- Geoff The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate. |
#14
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B-17 ride in Galveston
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe wrote:
I was on a tour of a museum at Flying Cloud MN (Ain't there any more) - there was a bunch of people following the guide, so at one point they turned right, I nudged my brother and we (and the kids) turned left... They had a B-17 with a bunch of guys in it that had flown during WW-II and since we had disconnected from the group we had time to sit and chat with them while they waited for the next tour group to march through. I did my primary training next to that museum. It was intimidating to be a student pilot doing touch and gos in front of their grandstand on show weekends with all the old-timers hanging out watching. But we got to see all kinds of interesting old aircraft flying. Taxiing behind a PBY, for instance. Or being cleared into position and hold with a caution for wake turbulence from a P-51 making a very low pass right over your head. |
#15
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B-17 ride in Galveston
Rich Ahrens wrote in
. net: Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe wrote: I was on a tour of a museum at Flying Cloud MN (Ain't there any more) - there was a bunch of people following the guide, so at one point they turned right, I nudged my brother and we (and the kids) turned left... They had a B-17 with a bunch of guys in it that had flown during WW-II and since we had disconnected from the group we had time to sit and chat with them while they waited for the next tour group to march through. I did my primary training next to that museum. It was intimidating to be a student pilot doing touch and gos in front of their grandstand on show weekends with all the old-timers hanging out watching. All the old timers had been there! Bertie |
#16
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B-17 ride in Galveston
"Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" The Sea Hawk at wow way d0t com wrote in message news:8cednaeev_mmpR3anZ2dnUVZ_hadnZ2d@wideopenwest .com... wrote in message ... ... I couldn't quite grasp that a human being actually FIT in the ball turret. I sure couldn't have. I took a long stare out it's view plate. I was on a tour of a museum at Flying Cloud MN (Ain't there any more) - there was a bunch of people following the guide, so at one point they turned right, I nudged my brother and we (and the kids) turned left... They had a B-17 with a bunch of guys in it that had flown during WW-II and since we had disconnected from the group we had time to sit and chat with them while they waited for the next tour group to march through. They ball turret gunner let us get in the ball- I was able to get in and get the back closed behind me (with help) but at 6' there was no way I could get down enough enough to look through the sights - you had to be small. I commented on how hard it would be to get out and he told us that when he had to bail out once he made it out the door before the waist gunners - said it helped to be motivated. The radio operator (and I think top gunner) talked about the cold and how they wore electric suits - when they got near the target and started into the flack he said you could see the electric demand go down on the meters as everyone got nervous and turned down the heat in their suits. The bombader talked about having to arm the bombs - he had to step off the catwalk and climb down on the bomb rack (you would straddle the space between the rows of bombs) to remove the safety pins - he said the bomb bay doors wouldn't hold your weight, so you couldn't fall. He said he had to being the safety pins back to prove that he had climbed out there to arm them. Apparently some guys wouldn't do it and the bombs would be dropped with the safety's still in. The waist gunner talked about the 1000 bomber raids and watching the streams of bombers flying back as they were on their way into the target. We missed the "official" tour. I just hope the kids got half as much out of it as I did. -- Geoff The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate. One of my father's jobs as engineer was to free up bombs that were "hung up" in the bomb bay. Sometimes the bombs dropped far enough to clear the arming wires and the little arming propellers started spinning off of the bombs while they were still stuck in the bomb bay. He mentioned that he fashioned a tool to facilitate releasing a stuck bomb so he wouldn't have to climb down with bombs to free them. He said that participating in the bombing of a designated target didn't bother him too much but he always wondered and worried about where the hung bombs went when they finally did come loose and fell to who-knows-where. I'll have to get more details about the "tool" and the procedure he used to free the bombs with it. Tony P. |
#17
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B-17 ride in Galveston
Well worth the price.. just to meet and ride with the WWII Veteran and hear
his stories.. sounded like the wife made an excellent decision in the gift BT "Lee K. Gleason" wrote in message . .. Just got back form a B-17 ride at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston. It was a Christmas present from my thoughtful wife, Susan. I'd mentioned that they were selling rides to the public a few months back, and she arranged one for me as a surprise. For a lifelong fan of WWII aviation, it was the ride of a lifetime. The sound of the four Wright Cyclones was like a symphony of power. The swoops and curces of the aluminum body work was like art deco compared to the designs of today. There were four other passengers on the flight, and after takeoff we were allowed to roam pretty freely. I started off in the radio compartment in the waist. As I headed forward, I couldn't believe how narrow the walkway through the bomb bay was - if I hadn't lost 20 pounds lately, I flat would not have been able to get through it. As it was, I was afraid that I'd get stuck, but, fortune favors the brave - I managed to squeeze through. The entire plane was a lot smaller inside than movies or TV would make you think - at 5'11'', I could only stand up in a couple of spots. Got all the way forward into the bombardier's compartment. Looking out at Galveston, I imagined it was Schweinfurt and I was looking for the ball bearing factories. Up there with me was a youngish guy, and an 80-ish fellow. During the pax safety briefing, the pilot had asked if anyone had ever been on a B-17 before. This elderly gent raised his hand, a twinkle in his eye. The pilot smiled and asked "how many times", seeing what was coming...the old timer said, "35 missions worth". He'd been a B-17 crew member and had toured Germany extensively from the air, during the 40s, courtesy of the 8th Air Force. The crew treated him like the hero he was, and I felt fortunate to be able to hear his first hand stories while actually flying on the plane with him. When the other guy up there with us said he felt lucky to have gotten to take the ride, the old timer replied that he felt lucky just to be alive. It was good to see him enjoying the flight just as much if not more than us newbies. Soon enough the ride was over - seeing the numbers float up from the bombardier's perch was a treat. We flared and floated in soft as a feather for a bit, then the gear thumped home with authority and we taxied back to the museum. It was a bit pricey, at $400.00 - but, if you're a fan of that period of aviation, you'd agree it was money well spent. With only a handful still flying, it's an opportunity I was glad to have. -- Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR Control-G Consultants |
#18
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B-17 ride in Galveston
On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 16:32:07 -0600, "Lee K. Gleason"
wrote: Just got back form a B-17 ride at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston. It was a Christmas present from my thoughtful wife, Susan. I'd mentioned that they were selling rides to the public a few months back, and she arranged one for me as a surprise. It was a bit pricey, at $400.00 - but, if you're a fan of that period of aviation, you'd agree it was money well spent. With only a handful still flying, it's an opportunity I was glad to have. find out what the fuel flow is for one of those engines in climb and cruise. my bet is that you contributed no more than 10 minutes of the flying cost in fuel alone. Stealth Pilot |
#19
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B-17 ride in Galveston
Hi,
In article , Bertie the wrote: there's a few people in the UK doing stuff like this, but it's probably outrageously expensive because of the fuel costs there. There's a local airfield with at least one Jet Provost. Ok, not a classic warbird, but still likely to be light year's better than anything I'll ever fly. As you say, likely to be prohibitively expensive. I'll stick with the Warrior for now Andy |
#20
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B-17 ride in Galveston
Hi,
In article , wrote: "Andy Hawkins" wrote Ok, I guess I could stretch to a whole circuit. Count me in That wouldn't do. g That would be like having the chance to have sex, not having had it for many years, and being in your prime, still. I know. At $1000 an hour, I'd definitely stretch to at least an hour in something exotic. We pay about $250 an hour for dual in our Warrior (go on, get the violins out) anyway! Maybe one day... Andy |
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