Thursday, November 13, 2008

B-17 Pics

I posted a few months back that Husband and I took a flight on the B-17 that came to Leesburg. I never got around to posting those pics... so here they are.

The crowd was pretty big (at least bigger than we expected!). The next shot is Husband strapped in and ready for take off.



Looking out the rear gunner's window. And then looking down the main part of the fuselage.


I think the next is a picture of the radio operator's station... though it may have been the navigator's station. And then the place where they stored the bombs.


The other station- either radio or navigator... this one was on the right side of the plane.


There was a place in the middle of the plane-- where the clear hatch would be-- that you could stand with your head sticking out of the cockpit and look all around. This was one of my favorite parts. Cool to see straight up to the sky with nothing over top of you while flying along.

The gunner's hatch at the front of the airplane-- underneath the cockpit... surrounded by plexiglass.


This is the view from the seat. You feel pretty exposed here. We also noticed how close to the ground these guys were flying. Surprising since the B-17 was used for high-altitude bombing runs.

The engines and props seem very close from the gunner's seat.

View from the cockpit-- notice the different perspective.


And a view from further back in the plane.

The pilots-- and the panel, of course.


And-- a picture of the B-17 taken from our plane as we taxied past!


2 comments:

Matt said...

That looks like it was an awesome experience. My grandfather was a navigator on the B-17 and I would love to have an opportunity to do what you guys did!

Aviatrix said...

E-mail me and I'll give you a better answer to your question. You know where to find mine.