Well, I just got back from the EAA's B-17 flight. It was meant to be a birthday gift, and it was, just a few weeks early (I think it leaves CA before my birthday....). I got the first flight of the day, nd had alot of fun.
Before the flight, we had everybody gather around the tail section. My dad got lost, and got got in trouble for lor looking at classified projects he helped work on (its their fault, its within view of the B-17....). We got a basic saftey breifing (how to put on seatbelts, when we could )walk around, and where to exit in case of an emergency).
After the pre-flight breifing, everybody gathered into the plane. I chose a spot in the radio room, with a good view of the engines. We spent about 15 minutes waiting for the engines to warm up and taxiing around the airport. Then, the engines hit full throttle, and we finally lifted off the ground.
During the flight, we all got to get up and move around. I took several trips to the bombadier/navigator area. Great photo oppertunity area, big plexiglass window, best view from the plane. It was really cool, looking around all the windows, listening to the loud engines, etc...
We eventually returned to solid ground, with a big thump. Engines cooled down, the plane did a quick u-turn, and we were back where we started. Went to the gift shop, got a model and a shirt.
Here's some pictures (and a few videos) from the flight.
Here's a video form my view (radio room) at takeoff
If you havent seen aluminum overcast, here's some pictures from before entering the plane.
This strange view is from peeking in through the gun slots in the tail gun position
Finally inside the plane
Looking over Van Nuys from I dont Know which window
me, wedging myself back into the radio room
Im not sure which windo, again. I think it was one of the waist gunners
Ball turret, the area around it was the loudest, as it has a 1" gap all the way around it
My dad...the plane shook alot, and cut off the top of his head
from the navigators window
My favorite area in the entire plane- bombadiers window
Looking down on van nuys again
from my view...again
back on solid ground
After we landed, while the plane was waiting for more people, the port engines were still running
"Flying is more than a sport and more than a job; Flying is pure passion and desire, which fill a
lifetime" Adolf Galland
