| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
This Sunday morning at 9:00 AM, I and two lifelong friends are boarding the Collings Foundation's B-17G "9-0-9" for a half hour flight at the Worcester (MA) Airport. This is going to be a Bucket List experience! Oh Boy; I'm quivering with anticipation!  | ||
| Tombo |
That should be quite an experience. I use to live close to the Collings Foundation in Stow and once in awhile they would fly the B-17 over the Foundation and over my house. The loudest plane to fly over the house was the Foundation's F4 Phantom. Enjoy the experience. TJ | ||
| Nittanyxt |
Awesome! Think you can squeeze into the ball turret? | ||
| Rick_a |
That's awesome. I miss flights on random military aircraft. | ||
| Uncle |
Crusty, is there some kind of airshow there Sunday or is this just a privately arranged flight? I've been keeping an eye out for any shows in the area featuring the old birds. I went to one a few years ago in Nashua. There were a lot of amazing planes there including the Collins' ones. The men who flew them in the war already had my respect but they got a little more after I saw the inside. I would imagine it was very noisy and cold. Never mind that you were occasionally getting shot at. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Yeah, that's on my list, too. Hope you enjoy every minute Crusty. Dress warmly, there's no heat or insulation in those things and this weekend is going to be cool. | ||
| Svh |
On my list as well. During EAA a B-17 flies over my house 3-4 times a day. Makes me happy. By the way if EAA Airventure is not on your list add it if you are a fan of aviation. I am lucky and can go every year with it 20min away. This year there were not any current military airplanes(thanks Obama) but still plenty of great Warbirds, home builts, helis, ultralites, float planes, etc. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Oooh you jammy sod, I'm extremely jealous, have a great time. | ||
| 46champ |
Uncle if it is a normal Collins foundations flight it is an open to the public event that is usually not part of an airshow, they are the airshow. My ride in their B-17 was a one of those events in Aurora Or. The bestest of all the rides to go on is passenger on one of the ferry flight between stops. Mine was the flight between The Dalles Or and Aurora Or down the Columbia Rive George on the B-24. A memory for a life time. Crusty make sure you guys wander aroud the whole plane in the flight. I have seen people just stay in the waste gunners position the whole flight. That is like getting half a Christmas present. (Message edited by 46champ on September 12, 2013) | ||
| Bluzm2 |
John, on my bucket list too! Too cool, enjoy! We want a full report when you get back. Remember, no pictures? It never happened.... | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Now that is a proper method of destroying excess gasoline!  | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
http://www.b17.org/tour/ | ||
| Etennuly |
I have no idea what a "jammy sod" is, but I agree with the grumpy one!  | ||
| Crusty |
The flight happened this morning. The weather was perfect and the flight was magnificent! I can't describe how much admiration I have for the men who climbed into these planes repeatedly and flew through hostile skies on a regular basis. They were truly the Greatest Generation. My friend Ernie has the pictures and as soon as he sends them to me, I'll post some here. If you ever get the chance to fly in one of these Magnificent Aircraft, don't pass it up. The flight was worth a lot more than it cost, and now I have a memory that won't go away. | ||
| Ltbuell |
..one of my uncle's ,who just turned 89 and still sharp as a tack, was a B-17 CO.Was stationed in Foggia,Italy and flew with the 97th Bomb Group.Some of their fighter escorts were the 332 nd.....Red Tails(Tuskeegee Airmen).LT | ||
| Crusty |
Here's Ernie, me and Bill posing with the plane after our flight:  Here's a view of the ground as the Bombadier would see it:  The rest of the photos are on a disc that I won't have for a couple of days. Bill's camera died and lost all the pictures he took, and I don't have a camera. Fortunately, Ernie has nearly 50 pictures that he and others took with his camera, so he's going to make a couple of discs for Bill and I. Once again, if you get the chance, take the flight. There were 10 passengers on our flight, and everybody was wearing a huge grin when we landed. | ||
| Chauly |
Crusty: I thought of you Saturday down in Richmond. I was in a meeting, the back door was open (being a beautiful day) and I heard a magnificent sound overhead, not one that I hear often. Of course, I was too mature to leap up and run to the door, so I finished the meeting to head home. I hopped on my bike, stated it up, and thought "why is this so loud?" then looked up: B-17! Flying around RIC for some event, but I didn't have the time to find out... |
