Some old Photos for your enjoyment

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I had the opportunity to get into a Mitchell last year. Sat in the pilot's seat, then crawled forward thru
the tight tunnel to the nose position. No big or fat folks are going to the nose. Low tunnel below and
left of pilot position. They made a bunch of them here in KC.
Also crawled through the B17. Certainly more roomy up in the nose.

I have seen many Civil War photos since I was a youngster, living in Va and learning Virgnia History
in the 1950s and early 60s. Lots of it was right around us within short driving distance. First settlers,
Jamestown, and all the stuff at Williamsburg, Yorktown and then a number of CW battlefields, Chancellorsville,
The Wilderness, Petersburg, Manassas and the surrender at Appomatox. All places I know very well.

Always so sad to see all the dead littering the battlefields.

Bill
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
McKinley advanced to Brevit Major . My 3rd great Grandmothers first cousin .

I got to crawl around a lot at the air races in Reno .
On a road trip ....... I got to crawl through the Landcaster in Nanton AB Canada . There was in the nose / bombardier and cockpit or waist/tail/top turret .
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Fun and games until the flak and 23mm starts punching through that "aluminum armored skin"
about 0.032" thick.

Bill
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Silas was a lucky guy...not. Can you imagine? Bad enough you get sent to accompany your owner to a war to free you, but then you get sent a 2nd time with a different member of the family? Its a wonder he didn't kill them both. I really can't put myself in either of their mindsets.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I think there was an episode of "Wings", (back when the Military Channel had military stuff on it and not mob crap and ghost tales) on the B25. As I understood it, it was tricky to get into the air and an absolute bear to get back on the ground in one piece. Made a heck of a close air support platform though.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Fully loaded they were nose heavy , the B25 , and just really wanted to fly empty .
Lots of the war birds that don't fly the same stripped out as they did in combat ready . The P51 was lively like a pits armored but very nose heavy when they stripped them down after the war .
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
From Shorpy.com a treasure trove of old war plane photos:
October 1942. North American Aviation B-25 medium bomber 41-12823 over the mountains near Inglewood, California. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Mark Sherwood for the Office of War Information.
1a35397u1.jpg
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Somewhere out there exists a picture of a Df 3 Fokker over the Rockies with F15 or F16s in formation . The GIs took pictures then disappeared leaving my Dad's associate with his Fokker triwing over the Rockies nose down wide open 120 mph about 10 min later he set up his let down about 500 ft/min and 90 mph for Phoenix from 10,800 msl . He said it was a little bit cool even in June .
 

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
I've crawled inside two B-17s, two B-24s, one B-25, and a B-29. I'm 6' and a fraction tall, and the B-17 is a real head banger.

The attached photographs show how you get from one end of a B-29 to the other, so I stayed in the forward section and talked to the flight engineer.
 

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oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
I have a BUNCH of B17/24/25 photos, as well as a ton of photos from the Aviation Museum at Ft Rucker. More than happy to share if anyone is interested. Guess the easiest would be to burn them on a key or micro disk. If interested, pm me. I would do it for cost of key. A teaser photo for fun!
 

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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I would worry if I was going from one pressurized compartment into the other in the B29.
If one of them had a blowout of a window, you would be 'shot from a cannon' just
like in the circus, but no long flight and nice net.

I got to sit in the tailgunner position of Enola Gay, and the radio operator's position at
the Smithsonian. Very historic. Entirely original inside. Somewhere I have a piece of the
original fabric from the rudder. They were replacing it and it was just in a trash can. I asked
if I could take a sample and they agreed. Cut out a piece with my pocket knife. But, couldn't
put my fingers on it at this minute. Somewhere in the junk.:embarrassed:

Bill
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
From one of the air shows I took the boys to when they were little, I have a couple of pics of them manning the nose gun on a Mitchell.
 

Ian

Notorious member
the B-17 is a real head banger.

You got that right. Just a little turbulence if you're moving around in flight and those ribs will scalp you. Nose compartment is nice and roomy, though. Crouching in the bombardier's seat with an M2 on either side and the whole world right below your toes is an experience.
 

Wiresguy

Active Member
oscarflytyer’s photo of the Colling’s Foundation B-24 put a smile on my face.

Back in 2003 or 2004 they made a tour of SE Alaska with the B-24 and B-17, and my oldest grandson and I got to go through both planes.

Flights were offered (at $300 per person, as I remember) but we didn’t go on a flight.

The B-17 was a lot smaller inside than I had expected. The B-24 had a different logo painted on the Port side, but the same Dragon’s Tail on the Starboard side.

If anyone is on a trip to the middle of nowhere, a great stop is at Fagen Fighters http://fagenfighterswwiimuseum.org They have some very nicely restored aircraft and other WWII items.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
About 3 years ago my father and I went up for a flight in a Collins Foundation B17. Worth every penny.
 
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oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
I am told that The Dragon's Tail has been renumbered/repainted. Can't confirm. But certainly glad I got the pics I did when I did!
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Those old WW2 movies always made a B17 look like a gigantic monster inside and out. Seems the truth is a little different, eh? Worse was the portrayal of our subs being huge, sparking clean, well lit behemoths with unlimited space for everything but the mens racks, "Operation Petticoat" probably being the worst, even if it is a good old movie. Every first hand story I've read said they were unbelievably dark and cramped, the stink was awful and that they weren't called "Pig Boats" fer nuthin'. I briefly toyed with the idea of joining the (ack!) Navy and pursuing sub duty, briefly being like .00034875 nano seconds. Having been upside down, suspended by my feet, in a vertical culvert, waiting on the other guys to pull me and the object I was retrieving out for about a minute and half once, I was pretty sure it was for hardier souls than myself. Hats off to all those boys in tiny planes and tiny boats!
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry has/had a WWII German sub on display. I was in the 7th grade and not even full grown yet when I toured it and there was no place inside that sub that I could stand up straight. Very tiny & cramped. Can't even imagine spending months at a time in one of those things.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
That's a really impressive photo! Can you imagine the people coming out of the Depression and into jobs like that, with paychecks unheard of before the Depression! Must have been like Manna from Heaven.