The Grouch goes flying! Part III

After my flight in the T-6 was done Young Daughter treated me to viewing some other warbirds from a competing group known as the Collings Foundation.  Their planes arrived the same weekend as the CAF's B-29 and let me tell you, the CAF boys were not happy about it.  They explained to me that the Collings foundation is much better funded than the CAF and having them show up at the same time as 'Fifi' was pulling potential revenue away from the CAF's efforts.  I was told that they lose over $100k a year flying Fifi based on revenue for rides v. operating costs.

Young Daughter and I were able to view many planes and actually climb aboard the B-24 and B-17.

The B-24 holds a place in my heart because my father was a Norden bombsight tech during WW2 and although fortunately never leaving the U.S. flew frequently in bombers as part of his technical duties.  I had a picture one time of a B-24D that he flew in.  He told a tale of causing a B-24 to sit back on its tail when he walked to the back while it was sitting on the ground.  Since the plane was empty his weight was enough to tip it back!

the B-24 never received the publicity that its competitor the B-17 received.  The B-17 crews called the '24 'the crate the B-17 was shipped in' due to its plain looks.  It lacked the ruggedness of the '17 but it could fly further, faster, than its more glamorous competitor.  It excelled at long distance missions over the Pacific and the Atlantic patrolling for submarines and surface ships.

Actor James Stewart flew more than a dozen missions as a pilot of a B-24 over Germany and suffered from PTSD for the balance of his life.  He went on to become a Brigadier General in the USAF reserve, finishing his career with at least one B-52 mission of North Vietnam.  That is when Hollywood stars were real men!

A truck salesman that I knew when I worked in Chicago was a flight engineer in a '24 near the end of WW2. Because the fuel tanks leaked on the plane when descending to land, the bomb bays (which rolled up like garage doors) were opened first to vent the plane of the gas fumes.  His job was to go back on the narrow walkway to inspect that all was copacetic before they started the landing.  He wore no parachute as there was no room to squeeze through the confines of the plane.   As he stood on the catwalk the plane lurched and his foot slipped and he was left hanging on dangling over the abyss.  He managed to pull himself back up and in and reported back to the pilot that all was good.  The pilot snarled at him 'G-damn it, what took you so long'?!

A beautiful P-51 painted as one of the 50s Air Guard Mustangs.  It was configured with a second seat where the fuselage fuel tank would be to give a lucky person a ride.

B-25, another WW2 fav of mine.  I've liked them since I saw the movie "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" as a kid.  Great flying scenes.  The '25 was a workhorse of North Africa, Italy, and the Pacific.

The B-24.  A later model than the one my father flew in, this one has a power nose turret which forced the bombardier to crawl under the turret to use the bomb-sight.  Later in the war, the use of the bomb-sight was abandoned and all planes in the formation dropped their bombs when the lead ship did.  There was no accuracy and massive civilian casualties resulted.

Oxygen tanks for the crew, looking forward to the flight deck.

Young Daughter contemplating the belly ball turret.  At 5'4" she didn't think she would be able to fit in it.

The waist gun view of the B-17

Here's that catwalk I mentioned!

The flight deck and flight engineer's position when not manning the top turret.

the B-17.  I used to watch these planes weekly in the TV show, "12 O'Clock High".  A childhood friend's father was a bombardier for  a '17, was shot down over Germany and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.  To me, he was just my friend's dad.

The Bombardier position in a '17 was a lot more spacious than in the later B-24s.  Not much protection from German fighters making their favorite head-on attack except a single .50 gun in the nose.  Another gun is positioned on each side of the nose to deal with passing fighters.  I wonder how many friendly planes in the formation took hits from other U.S. planes in the excitement and fear of leading a German fighter hurling through the formation?

The loneliest positions in a bomber.  In a previous job I met a fellow employee who had been a tail gunner in a B-52D during the Christmas raids over North Vietnam.  25 years later he still spoke in hushed tones of seeing B-52s on fire dropping from the formation.  Another 'greatest generation' but sadly much under appreciated.