What It’s Like To Ride In a B-17 Flying Fortress
Ah, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. One One of the most famous warbirds of WWII and one of the most beloved. America’s Big Three Heavy bombers from that conflict, together with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator The B-29 Superfortress.
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I would rate this. “Flying Fort” As my #3 personal favorite warplane, after the B-52 Stratofortress The Douglas SBD Dauntless, and just slightly ahead P-51D Mustang.
SoIt is hard to imagine the thrill I felt when I rode in my #3 favorite back in August 2020.
B-17G Brief History Specifications
What Can I write about it? general history of the B-17 that hasn’t already been written? Made her maiden flight on July 28.35. The U.S. entered operational service. Army Air Corps (AAC) In April 1938. Dropped more bombs – 640,000 tons dropped on Germany and its occupied territories, i.e. Not even counting the tonnage that was dropped upon Imperial Japanese-occupied territory – than any other aircraft during WWII. Third-The bomber that was the most produced of all time, just behind the Luftwaffe’s Junker Ju-88 B-24, with a total production of 12.731. B-17 crews managed to produce 17 Medals Of Honor.
The Final edition of the Flying Fortress The B-17G was the first to be produced. The The G model’s most distinctive feature was the chin gun turretThis provided additional protection for the bomber against frontal attacks. enemy fighters; Previous models of the Flying Fort B-17F, the version that was used for the famous B-17F. “Black Thursday” Bombing raids on the Schweinfurt B-17E (such the legendary) and ball-bearing factories “Memphis Belle,” After 25 missions over, the first heavy-bomber to return home to the U.S. Europe) only had a single machine gun on each “cheek” The nose section is manned by the navigator and bombardier for frontal protection purposes.
The The plane was able to withstand the heavy armament of B-17. “Flying Fortress” sobriquet. The The G model, in particular, had a total 13 Browning M2 “Ma Deuce” .50 caliber machine gun; the four aforementioned cheek, chin, and waist guns, two staggered waistguns, and two in the upper the Sperry Turret, two at the Sperry ball turret In the belly, there are two in each tail and one so called “dorsal” Gun firing upwards from the radio box behind the bomb bay. Luftwaffe fighter pilots The experience of shooting down these bombers was likened to attacking a porcupine.
The The plane could accommodate a crew complement up to 10 people, had a fuselage length measuring 74 feet 4 inches and a height of 19 feet 3 inches. The empty weight was 36,134 pounds and the maximum takeoff weight was 65,500. Maximum Airspeed was 302 miles per an hour (263 knots), with a ceiling service of 36,400 pounds and a maximum range of 3,259 nautical mile. Payload was 8,000 pounds’ worth Of bombs.
“Sentimental Journey” Brief History
“Sentimental Journey,” the particular B-17 I got to ride on – so many thanks to the Airbase Arizona chapter of Commemorative Air Force (CAF), to which I’m a proud donor – is one of the G models, and now one of only four worthy Flying Forts There are still some people left in the world today after the tragic midair collision Between B-17G “Texas Raiders” And a P-63 Kingcobra During the CAF Wings Over Dallas airshow. The CAF info page tells us this About Sentimental Journey’s particular history:
“Sentimental Journey was originally manufactured and delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces for war service in 1944 where she flew missions in the Pacific Theater. After the war she flew for training, testing and at-sea rescue missions and was eventually sold for surplus and used as a fire bomber. In 1978 the aircraft was purchased by a Commemorative Air Force (CAF) member and donated to the newly formed Arizona unit of the world-famous CAF. She was meticulously restored and is today maintained in tip-top condition and operated by all-volunteer crews from the membership of CAF Airbase Arizona.”
Taking My Own Personal “Sentimental Journey”
‘Twas on August 29, 2020, nine days after my 45th birthday, that I had the tremendous honour and pleasure of hitching a ride in Sentimental Journey, using the Hagerstown Aviation Museum in Hagerstown, Maryland. As if that weren’It was already cool enough to be described, but it got even more amazing: I paid $475.00 for one. “cheap seats,” i.e. either one of the radio room or gunner seats in the fuselage’s main section. However, a couple of my would-be fellow passengers no-showed, so the delightful CAF folks gave me a belated birthday gift in the form of a complimentary upgrade to the nose section – an $850.00 value!
My A fellow passenger in the nose section is a seatmate Air Force veteran named Chris, was himself a bombardier during his flying days (I don’t recall if he was on the B-52, the B-1B “Bone,” or both), so I was more than happy to let him take the bombardier’s seat whilst I sat in the navigator’s seat.
One One of my lasting impressions from touring the interiors of the B-17 was the crampedness of the interior, especially when compared to a modern-day commercial airliner. Old Newsreel footage Hollywood feature films Both made the interior appear larger than it actually is in real life. But Then again, I had the need to remind myself that while I was doing this, Fort was a heavy bomber by WWII standards, it’s barely longer, and actually carried fewer bombs, than more modern fighter jets such as the F-105 Thunderchief F-15E Strike Eagle.
We I had to wait for the taxi to start and idling to finish for 7 minutes and 45 seconds according my video recording. Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone Turbo-Supercharged Radial Engines are spooled and warmed up; the purring, roaring and rumbling of those Wrights Was a song my heart could feel. And The view was simply breathtaking once we reached our cruising altitude at 1,000 feet. Words can’t do it justice, but hopefully the still photos and videos I’m sharing herein will do a better job of it.
I will conclude this article. the immortal words of Doris Day:
“Gonna take a sentimental journey/Gonna set my heart at ease/Gonna make a sentimental journey/To renew old memories.”
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Christian D. Orr Is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer and private military contractor (with assigned assignments). IraqThe United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris Holds a B.A. In International Relations From the University Of Southern California (USC and an M.A. In Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He Also published in The Daily Torch The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security. Last He is also a Companion The Order The Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).
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