Hunting Bombers

[Revhendo]

So, what do you do when you see a B-17 winging over your house?
You run over to the airport and hunt it down.
Took some pics at the Lyon Museum. The only flying B-24 was there also.
Really impressive seeing these old girls up and flying over the house.

 

[Locomotion]

We had a B-29 fly over Daytona several weeks ago on its way to an air show. Don't recall if it was to Titusville or elsewhere. I was trying to figure out what it was but couldn't place it till I heard about the air show. I just never saw a B-29 from that perspective and didn't realize how skinny everything was - BIG overall, but skinny, especially when you compare it to a B-17 or B-24.

 

[mischiefdart]

Very cool. I was at an airshow in new York where they had 4 B17's and 10 P51's in the air at the same time. Also had a formation of 40 AT6's and Harvard's fly over. Nothing like the sound of 40 radial engines going over at the same time.

 

[ef8340]

when i was livin in Ft Myers Fl i was about 4 blocks south of there airport and they had a airplane show there were bombers,mustangs,hellcats, even some german and japanise planes flying about. when i first saw them i was in my carport workin on my dart just under a 12 pack i thought they might have came out of the bermuda triangle pretty much gave up workin on the dart the rest of the day and watched the show the next day they had old biplanes those mustangs and hellcats flew really close to the ground almost reminded me of nitro methane drag cars going by

 

[Denvermike]

There are only about 10 - 12 flying B-17S LEFT IN THE WORLD. If you ever get a chance to see one, DO IT!!!! If there is a fee to go though one, please pay the fee. It costs a lot to keep them flying. These are pieces of living history. Your fathers and garndfathers were 5 miles up in the air, it was -40F inside the plane, people were shooting at them, lots of the crew were still in their teens at the time. These are heros we MUST thank for our freedom before they are gone.
I was able to get a ride in a B-17G two years ago when one was in Denver. It gave my a feeling like I have never had and will have for ever. This is even after working on B-26s in the mid and late 1960"s

 

[Divenut]

Nice pics. Was a B17 the flew over my house several times a summer for years. Unfortunately, the pilot had to set her down in a corn field due to mechanical problems last year. She caught fire and was totaled. Just a shame. Pilot did a incredible job missing power lines and such before setting in the field. he was credited with saving all aboard. He credited the plane for getting them down in one piece. There still a B-25 and P38 that reside at the airfield in Aurora. But my wife and I will miss seeing that "Fortress" flying low and slow over the house.

 

[JDMopar]

Thanks for sharing the pics. rayer: My Dad was the top turret gunner and electrical engineer on a B-24 in WWII. They got shot down twice, and he survived both times. The 2nd time they were shot down, they were coming back from their 25th mission....and would've got to finish out their time stateside. They crashed behind the lines, and spent 2 years in a P.O.W. camp in Austria. He never said much about it, and I kind of knew not to ask. Thanks again for the pics.

 

[67Dart273]

The only flying B-24 was there.

I don't believe that is true It may have been the only flyable VARIANT of a 24

a B-29 from that perspective and didn't realize how skinny everything was - BIG overall, but skinny, especially when you compare it to a B-17 or B-24.

The B-29 is MUCH larger than either a 17 or 24. I think the "skinny" you refer to is simply that the wings and so on are so damn BIG. The fuselage of a 29 is MUCH larger than either of the other airplanes.

If you saw a flying 29, last I knew, "FIFI" was the only one in the world which currently flies.

I spent 400 bucks to be the "radio operator" on a 17 in Coeur d Alene last summer. If a different one comes I'll do the same. There aren't many of these left, and it IS AN experience!!

I always feel I must explain to people that those waist postitions did NOT have any plexiglass over 'em in battle. Imagine riding in the back of your pickup truck on the coldest below zero day you've ever experienced, as fast as the pu will go. Does not come close to operating waist guns at 20,000 ft over Germany

 

[Bigdummy]

Far out.I use to play in a B-17 when I was a kid at the front gate of Grissom AFB.Matter of fact I played in a bunch of planes

 

[SleeperScamp]

Awesome!!!!!!

 

[YY1]

There's a small town in Ohio- Moraine, and the mayor (Harold something..), back in the 80's used to do aerobatics in a B17. Pretty ballsy IMO.

There's a B17 display not far from me (Fantasy of Flight) that you can walk through, and it has a movie screen below the open bomb bay, of the German counrtyside going by. It's piped with engine sounds and radio "chatter". It's set at night and really puts you in a different place for a few moments.

The B29 that dropped the second A bomb used to be a walk-through display at the AF museum in Ohio. I bet only a few of the hundreds of thousands of folks that went through it took the time to crawl up and touch the "button", like I did when I was a kid.

 

[67Dart273]

The B29 that dropped the second A bomb used to be a walk-through display at the AF museum in Ohio. I bet only a few of the hundreds of thousands of folks that went through it took the time to crawl up and touch the "button", like I did when I was a kid.

Well, you got to see a real piece of history that most of us never will. In my health and financial shape, I'll never be able to afford going to the Smithsonian or Dayton or other important, interesting museums.

That would be "Bockscar" a play on words for aircraft commander Bocks, who interestingly, flew a different airplane "The Great Artiste" that acompanied Sweeney flying Bockscar. Some scheduling conflict and switching of onboard equipment? caused the men to switch aircraft.

According to Wiki, Bockscar is now at National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.

 

[Revhendo]

I don't believe that is true It may have been the only flyable VARIANT of a 24

If you saw a flying 29, last I knew, "FIFI" was the only one in the world which currently flies.

I spent 400 bucks to be the "radio operator" on a 17 in Coeur d Alene last summer. If a different one comes I'll do the same. There aren't many of these left, and it IS AN experience!!

I always feel I must explain to people that those waist postitions did NOT have any plexiglass over 'em in battle. Imagine riding in the back of your pickup truck on the coldest below zero day you've ever experienced, as fast as the pu will go. Does not come close to operating waist guns at 20,000 ft over Germany

"FIFI" is the only airworthy B-29 at the moment. I believe "Doc" is the only one that is close to being operational, but the restoration has been stalled for quite some time.
http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=17557&highlight=&sid=c1

My understanding is that the B-24 "Witchcraft" is the only flying Liberator of any variant.

Talking to one of the vets at the museum, he told me that there are roughly 6
B-17s flying in England and 11 or 12 flying in the states. He said that once a year, the US ones gather in Michigan.

 

[Revhendo]

I forgot to mention the P-51 that was there was a two seater. For just over 2 grand, you could get a half hour ride.

When we were there, there was a very senior gent getting a ride. He used to build Mustangs during the war and his family pony'd up the dough to get him a seat. He got a little banged up, but you couldn't take that smile off of his face.

 

[longarm]

5 miles from my house, they fly over and around for a week.
I'm right in the patch.
Also restoring a B-17 at the site.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NzjnugI0RU"]70th Doolittle Raiders Reunion B-25's at Grimes Field April 15 2012 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[YY1]

All sorts of stuff used to fly around in SouthWest Ohio, between WPAFB, all of it's incredibly diverse aircraft types stationed there, and it's test wings (developed B1 while I was there), and the "Air Fair", which IIRC, was every thing that the US took to the Paris air show. Not to mention "Project Blue Book", and hanger 18 (hey, I thought sure there was a UFO smiley).

 

[ocdart]

I saw the notice in the OC Register newspaper last week about the bombers flying into John Wayne for the weekend but knew with it being Mother's Day weekend that it wasn't a good time to break away to get down there. I would have loved to shoot some pics from the end of the runway as they were taking off.
If you get the chance, head out to the March Field Museum at March AFB in Riverside. They've got a good collection of aircraft to wander around. They have a B-29 outside with open bomb bay doors so you can see inside. The B-29 was pressurized so they could fly at higher altitude, but only the front and rear portions of the aircraft. Obviously the bomb bay could not be pressurized. The only way to move between the front and rear portions of the aircraft was through a tube that ran through the top of the bomb bay (remember the underground tunnel scenes from "The Great Escape"?).
Inside they've got either a nose or tail turret from a B-24. Those gunners had to be the size of a jockey to get inside. And only thin aluminum and plexiglass skin - absolutely no protection. The men that flew those missions during WWII were true heroes and absolutely the Greatest Generation.
Also, if you're in Dayton, OH, make the time to visit the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB. It is truly outstanding.

Thanks for the pics!

 

[Brad426]

Very nice pictures. Name this bomber/Interceptor?

 

[Locomotion]

Very nice pictures. Name this bomber/Interceptor?

Tornado?

 

[moparlover]

there is a decent movie about B-17's called "Memphis Belle" if you are interested

 

[scamp360]

That is an AVRO Arrow.

 

[comoxian]

I've had the CF-18 Hornets flying over my house for the last few days. It's really cool to see them screaming through the air.

And we just had the Snowbirds in town for their annual pre-Airshow practice.

It's great living close to the base, CFB Comox.

 

[BigWhip]

I was lucky and got to go inside the Memphis Bell while she was being restored in Memphis.
Those men were men. What I remember the most was the size of the supercharger or turbochargers. (old here) any way they were setting a 55 gal drum and hung over the side. Also we could not touch the plane or we would make more dents to be smoothed out. Not long after that the government removed the plane and trucked it to Ohio. It seemed a dirty way to do the people doing all the work.

 

[pishta]

We got a B-25 over here at John Wayne airport (SNA) and we get a few bombers a year flying over my house which is in the glide path. I always run out and look up when I hear radials flying overhead. My neighbor Gale Cunningham (RIP) was a co-pilot in a 24, told me of a Italy mission once that made him shake to this day, said the flak was like flying into a black cloud and their were more holes in his Lib than he could count, got him home though he said chuckling. I also had a customer that flew P-51D's in WW2 Europe. His was a wingman to a 5+ ace, himself had 1+1/2 kill. Amazing old men, just in their early 20's when it all went down. My great uncle, USMC was a Jap POW for the ENTIRE war, was a embassy radio operator in China and was taken prisoner 12-07-41 and was liberated 2 weeks after the war ended..the guards just disappeared one day and 2 weeks later the Americans arrived to find everyone POW that was still alive just standing around, not knowing what the hell was going on...Got an appendectomy (?) with nothing but a double shot of sake from an English POW doctor, that was one hard core Marine! Ooh Rah!

 

[67Dart273]

My understanding is that the B-24 "Witchcraft" is the only flying Liberator of any variant..

I don't believe that's right. "Witchcraft" seems to have been renamed from "All American" by the Collings Foundation. The wording on their website is a little vague

(I found another hit that confirms the above)

I went aboard both of Colling's 17 and 24 a few years ago

The thing that is "ONLY" about this A/C is that it is a "J" variant

The confederate/ commemorative AF, unless things have changed, operate B-24 "Diamond Lil" and I saw that A/C in Spokane a few years ago when FIFI the B-29 was in town.

And, the Fantasy of Flight down in Florida has a B-24J, which seems to be listed as "flyable" "but has not flown recently."


You can bet your a$$ that if any of those show up in this area again, I"m PAYIN