JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 I am doing something Sunday that has been a life long dream of mine. I will be taking a flight in the B17 Flying Fortress Bomber "Aluminum Overcast". I have been in this plane before a couple years ago and was scheduled to fly then but weather scrubbed it. Rose surprised me today with the plane ticket and a membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association. I will do my best to get pics and video of the flight. Edit - the video of my ride on the B-17 (cell phone vid, so not the best quality, turn those speakers up) 8 Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidCore89 7,402 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Awesome, I bet you are stoked . The glass area at the front is insane. Flying is my biggest fear, it's something I can never do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locust_cnd 166 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 thats pretty sweet dude, experimental aircraft association sounds prettttty risky but aint fun without a little bit of fear Quote Future is nothing but a series of probability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 Awesome, I bet you are stoked . The glass area at the front is insane. Flying is my biggest fear, it's something I can never do. Oh yeah, I am about as stoked as I get. thats pretty sweet dude, experimental aircraft association sounds prettttty risky but aint fun without a little bit of fear Risky is what makes it fun. 1 Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumdig 957 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Hell yeah that's awesome! Do you get the gunner's view? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyork-nightmare 698 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 (edited) nice, sounds fun. Hope the weather is good for you. Edited May 15, 2014 by newyork-nightmare Quote "You have enemies? good, that means you stood up for something in your life" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rofur 209 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 That looks brilliant! Hope you get good weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyork-nightmare 698 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 closest I have gotten to doing this was a glider ride Quote "You have enemies? good, that means you stood up for something in your life" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G37 3,444 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Make sure you come home with the long rumored GTA 5 Jetpack. I hear it's there. Secret code or something needed. Quote "If you ride like lightning, you're gonna crash like thunder." - The Place Between The Pines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 Hell yeah that's awesome! Do you get the gunner's view? Waist gunner I think. They don't allow passengers int eh nose or ball turret, not that the ball is the place to be anyway. I am for risk but the idea of being locked in it and a landing gear failing to come down doesn't get it for me. Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumdig 957 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Waist gunner I think. They don't allow passengers int eh nose or ball turret, not that the ball is the place to be anyway. I am for risk but the idea of being locked in it and a landing gear failing to come down doesn't get it for me. Any gun turret would be nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullittblitz 148 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Sounds fun...cant wait to see the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 All I can say is that this was the most amazing flight I have ever had and was more than I expected. I will start by saying the entire flight team and ground crew were as about as friendly as anyone could be.When I checked in I found out that once in the air we would be able to move around he plane and even able to take a seat in the nose of the plane which is all plexiglass where the bombardier position is. Getting to it is the trick. After a safety briefing and learning where the escape hatches, fire extinguishers and first aid kits were I started the ride in the tail of the plane in the waist gunners position. This thing is loud in the plane, not in tolerable but you can not hear shit of anything else.Let me tell you that moving around in that plane is a challenge, first off it is close quarters, but it moves like it is under major turbulence all the time, while working my way to the front of the plane it jumped sideways and I lost my footing and bashed my knee into the ball turret. Got up and worked my way through the bomb bay which is only a 6 inch catwalk with little to grab other than the bombs. Past that to get to the nose you have to go thru a crawl space (and I mean crawl) under the pilots. All this is tough to do but well worth it and even though I felt and feel like I took a major ass kicking after that ride I would go again right now if they would let me.I took a few pics, but shot a lot of video of the entire flight which I will get uploaded to FB or youtube soon.A few interesting notes, that particular plane turned 69 today, May 18 1945 she rolled out of the assembly line (we did sing happy bday to the plane). This one never saw combat and after the war it was used for mapping and forest firefighting before being restored to combat condition.The plane is drafty and the pilots say when it rains it leaks alot and that all B17's do that (12 left that air flight worthy).Here are a few pics taken today, when I get to the shop I will add a few of this plane that I took 2 years ago when I walked thru it. I will also add some pics of the B17 'Nine O Nine' that I took last year. 6 Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revbouncer 1,431 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 AWESOME Hatched :D Quote Rev's Races Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumdig 957 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 That's so damn cool! Hell yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 2,34 gigabite video will take a while to load on my net connection Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newyork-nightmare 698 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 bombs and all damn. sweet!! Quote "You have enemies? good, that means you stood up for something in your life" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey 1,680 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Very, very jealous! Original Memphis Belle documentary made me fall in love with these beauties, you're a lucky guy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortround 1,160 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 That is so fucking awesome, would love to do that, was a big fan of that plane when I was a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 VIdeo if the landing. My phone was having issues recording after taking vid of the whole flight. That big video is coming, problem is it is so large that youtube says it will take about 1900 minutes to upload it. Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 After my flight I got a couple vids of the next flight Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matusware 608 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 *manly man voice* pfff i do that every day... Cool Hatched ^^ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fido_le_muet 5,197 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 That must have been awesome Hatch ! I'm sure you had a hell of a great time ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 Here is the flight video. It is rough as moving thru the plane hanging on while holding the phone was tough but if you watch the whole thing there is some good footage in it. Nose of the plane at 3:15 and and towards the end Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustHatched 12,103 Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 The B17 was damaged in a hail storm and is still in the area waiting repair. Here is the quoted news article "The Experimental Aircraft Association’s B-17 Flying Fortress “Aluminum Overcast” will remain at Willard Airport for a few more days while repairs are being made to it. A hailstorm that rolled through the Savoy area at about 6 p.m. caused some “minor” damage to the B-17, according to George Daubner, operations manager for the B-17 tour. “There has been some damage to the fabric control surfaces,” Daubner said. “The regulations that we have to live by will not allow flight with those surfaces damaged.” A crew was already working on the plane on Wednesday night, but Daubner said his organization was cancelling the next scheduled stop for the B-17 tour at Columbus, Ohio. “We were supposed to be going to Columbus on Thursday, but we will be pulling the plug on that tour stop because there is no way we will have it to a point where we can put people back on it,” he said. “We want it to be 100 percent repaired to FAA standards.” Meanwhile more than 100 cars and trucks in the parking lots around Willard Airport received some damage to the hoods, roofs and/or trunks." Quote The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything it's to late to stop reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.