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DesertFox4
07-25-2009, 01:50 AM
Friday the 17th showed up windy and cloudy. Gusts to 35 mph and cold. Tom's Citabria would stay safely tucked in it's hangar at the Fairmont Airport. The rental car would have to get us to Rochester,MN on time. We arrived with all of 5 minutes to spare for the mandatory one hour before flight check in. Signed a waiver, who knows what it said, and got my "boarding pass" for the 2nd flight of the day in the EAA's Aluminum Overcast B-17. I've been wanting to take a flight in her for years now. Passed up a couple opportunities when its tour brought her to the Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix. I cannot recall any good excuse for not flying then but I'm sure whatever excuse I had seemed rational. Too busy, not enough spare cash, too hot, it'll always be there when I get round to it. When my brother Tom called me and offered to buy me a ride in the EAA's B-17 during my visit to Minnesota something told me I better "Carpe Diem" like crazy. I booked the flight ASAP. On the drive over to Rochester I called the flight crew just to confirm they were flying this morning. Yes. The wind is right down the runway.
It was overcast, how appropriate, and windy with a threat of rain as we drove in the Rochester Airport entrance and there she was , roped off but beautiful. Lots of silver with a big red tail. Very majestic looking yet stern with all those Ma Duce's pointing every which way.
475

A 50 cal. porcupine if you will. Who would ever be crazy enough to attack one of these much less a flight of them? We took lots of photos while they readied her for the first flight. They always brief the flight and ask if any WW2 vets are present especially vets that had served on a B-17. They get the seat of honor up front with the pilots on take off and landing. The first flight had one. My flight had one also. The odds of that happening are getting slim these days. First flight lasted a good 30 minutes.
Our turn to climb aboard. Eleven of us loaded from the back, I was last in so I got custody of the escape door and a briefing on it's use just in case. Ear plugs were handed out but no way. I'm soaking up all the decibels of this I can stand. I was not alone in my decision.
Take off was surprisingly quick but of course the 30 mph wind did aid a little. They really baby these engines so the take off could have been much quicker. They don't have the turbo chargers installed anymore as these missions are all at substantially lower altitudes than any mission undertaken during wartime. At gentle cruise the engines consume 50 gals. of 100 LL an hour, each. I make it a point never to do math in public but you get the idea of what it costs to operate this girl per hour just in fuel.
476
Our flight crew gives the signal to unbuckle and roam the aircraft. Great views out of every direction. The noise while high was tolerable and brief conversations at very close distance were possible. I know everyone wants into the cockpit but I found the nose to be the best seat in the house although it was unavailable during take off and landing. The tail gunner position was sealed off and would have been difficult to get back there anyway as I'm not as skinny as those young men that manned the tail guns. It was tight enough just getting through the bomb bay.
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No one on our flight could have fit into the ball turret. That is a scary looking place to fight an aerial battle. I'm guessing you had to be under 5' 6" and 140 lbs. to fit. Hats off to the men that manned that position. To experience the ball turret click on this link.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvuChgh4fGg
473
The flight lasted at least 30 minutes as we cruised over the Rochester area and then came the signal to buckle up for landing. The big bird handled the wind and a very smooth landing was the result of some good foot work as I watched the tail's control cables move up and back above my head.
We were honored to have aboard a B-17 veteran (see photo of him navigating the bomb bay). Also one man about my age mentioned after the flight that his dad had served on B-17's during the war. He tried for years to get his father to take a flight in the EAA's B-17 but could not, for whatever reason, get him to fly again. His father passed 4 years ago. He confided to me that just then while he had his turn up in the nose, we happened to fly directly over his fathers final resting place. I recall he had a much different look on his face during the entire flight than the rest of us.
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Thank you Tom for the chance to fly the famous B-17 and a very grateful thank you to the men that made it so.

Nathaniel
07-25-2009, 07:05 AM
Thanks for sharing. Heck of a thing getting to ride on the B-17. Standing in the footsteps of history. Now if you can just get shot of the Kitfox pulling escort duty...

SkyPirate
07-25-2009, 08:14 AM
Awesome.....................