B-17 pics
 

Went for a ride in a B-17 on Sunday. It was nothing short of incredible. Here are a handful of pics.


http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_01.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_02.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_03.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_04.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_05.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_06.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_07.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_08.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_09.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_10.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_11.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_12.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_13.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_14.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17_15.jpg

Very cool! The B-17 is one of my favorites. :thumbsup:

That's awesome. Great pics too. So how'd it shoot :unibrow:

John

Lol it has t-tops!

Very cool.

Too cool!!!

How much extra to get to ride in the lower ball turret? :unibrow:

Wow! That would be incredible! Thanks for posting. I can't help but think of the guys that had to use that equipment in battle. Awesome.

Super cool stuff Scott :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Just wow! Thats awesome!

Hey Scott thanks for the wakeup call this morning. As soon as you fired up your car I sat straight up and was like :hail: Time to go to Como Zoo:lol:
lol I was gonna text ya and ask you about your flight but saw this thread and figured out right away it must have been cool:thumbsup:

Very, Very Cool! I was lucky enough to go up in the Texas Raiders B-17 years ago. Even got to fly it from the right seat for about 5 min. I can only imagine what it would be like to be flying in a formation of B-17s with ME109s or Flack all over the place. :_paranoid

Awesome Scott - very cool!

Cool, I saw that flying around...didn't you see me waving

Cool :thumbsup: Hope your son got to go with you.

man that must have been real fun!!!!
sweet pics:thumbsup:

That is a cool deal. I love old war planes. Just to hear the sound of those engines is music to my ears.

That's way cool Scott! Great pics too! :thumbsup:

Great pics, thanks Scott.

There was a fly-in a few years ago at Stewart and I went with my Dad who was a navigator on one. He never talked much about it but that day he kept everone spell bound with his stories. It was also very sobering to hear some of his tales.

The men who flew those things in combat were real men. Taking that flight really puts those WWII books I've read in perspective. It was thrilling and sobering at the same time.

Here's a quick little HD video looking out over the bombardier's seat, but since the HD file sizes are huge, I edited for length to keep it's resolution.

www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/B-17.wmv

It's 5mb, so saving it first might work best.



I have a ton of pics and could post more if you guys would be interested. :thumbsup:

Thanks for the intresting pics!! How was the engine sound?

The engines sounded awesome. It was music at WOT, and was really loud inside the plane.

Thats WiCkEd! Would love to go up in that.... Great pics too! :thumbsup:

Like riding inside a beer can? :lol:

Nothing like the sound of 4 Pratt & Whitney radials churning. gets my blood pumping everytime. We use to have a family friend who was left seat captain for FIFI, the B-29 Superfortress, retired airpleine captain that flew for the Confederate Airforce

I grew up with old airplanes and have restored quite a few of them as well. One of these days I will get my pics put on the computer and post a few of them up

Do you know Bill Klares out of Realto, CA?

Man I am jealous looks like you had a blast. How did you score the ride?

No I don't, there is a ton of people in the Confederate Airforce. The guy's name was Bill Thomas and lived here in OK until he pased away about 5 years ago. He quit flying FIFI about 10 years ago and flew the C-46 Tinker Bell for a couple years after that.

We have a bunch of other cool stuff based here locally like Miss America P-51, another P-51, Skyraider, 2 Douglas A-26's, and several others I am forgetting. Lefty Gardner's P-38 used to be kept here until it was sold a few years back. Another family friend takes care of alot of the privately owned warbirds in the area

It's a real bummer that there isn't much here in Vegas. Only a P-51 and you never see it. I love the Skyraider! Big, ugly and mean! :unibrow: I've always wondered what happened to Lefty's P-38.

Man I need to go to the Reno Air Races! :cheers:

It's a ride along deal from www.B17.org They travel around the country and you can book 30 minute flights.

I highly recommend it. What an amazing experience.

These have got to be the coolest pictures on the site.


Just AWESOME !!!!!:woot:

ME109s and Flack !!! You're way to spoiled to fly one of those old beer cans jetboy... no FMS, no INS, no EFIS, and no triple AFCS with A/L ! Barely a hot cup of coffee in sight - and you have to bring that !!!!

....but it would be REALLY COOL !!! :thumbsup:

Way to go Scott and Thx !

Jim

WOW!! Awesome pics Scott!! That had to be an amazing experience! We have a friend of our's that was in WWII. He has shared some stories that are unbelievable. He is 85 years old and still very active. We play gold together form time to time and he just a kick and a great story teller!

I've got a few classics in the log book. B-25, T-6/SNJ, Steerman, Beech Stagger Wing and a T-33. I spent a few years working airshows and got to know a lot of the owners. Never asked for a ride...just always there and always willing to help. :D

absolutely awesome. I want to do that one day, or a P-51 ride along...

Awesome pictures man, airplanes were my first love and I am also a HUGE history person. I am sure that was a blast!

Those are great pics! Once in a lifetime ride.

There's a guy here in Va Beach that has the largest private warbird collection in existance. Check out this link http://www.fighterfactory.com/

I saw the P-40 and the Avenger chasing a Zero last weekend! and no, I'm not kidding. He flies them every weekend, not uncommon to see the Corsair or the P-51 flying in formation down the beach.

I want to be that guy! I would give everything I own for a P-40!! :yes:

Here are 13 more random pics. :cheers:


http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_05.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_01.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_02.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_03.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_04.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_06.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_07.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_08.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_09.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_10.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_11.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_12.jpg

http://www.lateral-g.org/temp/B-17/g_B-17_13.jpg

Those catwalks sure are small, aren't they!

At Stewart they had a P-51 where they'd give rides (expensive).

One person who bought a ride was a Luftwaffe pilot who wanted to see what they were like.

Awsome pictures Scott :thumbsup:
Looks like a lot of fun!