B-17 info for those interested

[doug hodder]

Thanks Tom...I really enjoy that history...unfortunately, they censored all of the photos back then, so I got lots of clouds and tiny airplanes scattered all over the sky....but then once they got over their targets it got a little busy to be taking pictures...it was a whole lot different back then....Doug

[s4son]

Here are some pictures I took a few years ago of the B-17 Texas Raiders when it came through Kansas City. I have also seen the Collings Foundation's airplanes and they are truely works of art.




The least desirerable place to be in a B-17. Large men need not apply.




Scott F.

[madjack]

...good pics and good stories y'all...now you know why I always say..."we just luv da pics"
madjack

[asianflava]

OK guys here's what I have:
At a Vegas Airshow


The interior of one in Polk City, FL


Saw this one in Fort Worth.

[doug hodder]

Scott/ Rocky...great pics...and there's nothing better than hearing those big radials roar huh? I just can't imagine sitting in one of those aluminum cigars and hearing them for hours on end...but when I hear something like that I'm craning my head all around to see where it is....I was camping in Colo...up near Aspen and heard 2 engines about 6AM I thought...than ain't a Cessna!!!...ran out of the trailer and saw a P51 and a Corsair going over to Aspen for an air show...they were down in the valley and I was up on a ridge...what a site and a sound...I loved it!!! made for one of my best camping memories... Doug

[Lazybones]

Here are some picture of the B17 at Minden Oregon. My friend Bill and I went up to see them move the Spruce Goose into it's new museum. they did a low altitude high speed fly with a zero hot on it's tail. Right down the center of the highway as the Goose crossed it. It is an awsome sight!






Last August I went flying in the Fuddy Duddy over the Napa valley. It was raining so we flew about 500 feet off the ground it was soo cool! I sat in the nose for a large part of the flight. I will try to get those pictures up also.

[doug hodder]

Awesome pics!!!! I finally found one that I could post...my dads crew by the Bad Egg...Dad is second from right in the back row....only 1 of these guys left alive today, photo is 61 years old....Lee, check out the Mopar in the background!!! probably on the same chassis as yours....Doug

[asianflava]

Doug
I know exactly what you mean. Ever since going to that airplane nerd school, I know the sound of those radials. One time in class, a convair took off. My teacher stopped class and opened the door. He said, "Ya fellers hear them round motors?"

Another time in turbines class, we heard something scream over our lab. I said, "That ain't no Chicken Hawk."

Everyone ran outside to see what it was. It was a Mustang and Corsair, with a Sea Fury was bringing up the rear. They were comemorating a guy who was killed in a Skyraider at a local airshow.

We had a few perks at school. Had a P51 (Crazy Horse) park on our ramp, they let us climb all over it and sit in it. A B-24 came by but I missed it. A Navy SeaHawk landed on our soccer field. A Beech Starship (one of the coolest looking planes) also came by to show us how the upper crust travel.

Another time after an airshow, all the military planes were leaving on Monday morning. We didn't get anything done because everyone was at the fence watching the planes leave. They would take off and come back around for a fly-by. Even the C-5 came back and waved his wings. The best was the Tomcat, with a shock cone surrounding it.

This is a F-18 but it looked like this:

[doug hodder]

What a shot!!!! ....it looks a lot like that when the Rambler shifts into Overdrive!!!! doug

[asianflava]

I wish I could take credit for that shot but I can't, I found it on the net. I didn't have a camera with me cause I was supposed to be in class. My roomate got some good pics tho.

[bledsoe3]

:thumbsup: I remember living in Portland and a gassing up at a station near Portland, it had a B-17 suspendid over it.

That plane is still there. They are suppose to be restoring it. Not too long ago a delivery truck backed into it. Luckily it was a part that had not been restored yet.

[kirtsjc]

Attention all: I have received a private message expressing concern about my topic being hijacked:

Partially it says: "Hey, I'm sorry if I hijacked your thread on the B-17..."

I post my reply here: "Name Deleted", my GFather served in WW I, as a navy corpsman; My dad was an FBI clerk in WW II; I was 4F for Vietnam...

I think the thread is really more YOURS than mine -- I just mentioned something that you and others would have wanted to, and properly deserved to know...

John

[Loader]

Great pictures guys, and Spad, Doug, love the personal photos/background of your grandfathers. I just love the old warbirds, and I think most people with a true love and/or respect for aviation enjoy the old WWII era aircraft, I know I do!

[Joanne]

Hi all,

Although my dad wasn't on a flight crew, he spent the war as a B-17 propeller mechanic at the gunnery school in Kingman, AZ. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Fortress. I've been fortunate enough to see a couple of them flying at different times through the years. What a majestic sight. I am always glad to hear about efforts to restore these important pieces of our history.

Joanne

[Spadinator]

A few years ago I worked at the Hill AFB museum when I was in the Air Force. I was a sheet metal guy and our assignment for a summer was to assemble some of the birds in the museum. I got to assemble the B-17, SR-71, F-101, F-100, F-84f, F-84g, and part of a B-29.

Doug.... I love to hear those radials start up!!! In fact it is the start up sound on my computer!!!!