I've been lucky enough to go for a few flights in B-17 'Fuddy Duddy' on my two trips to Oshkosh back in 2004/2005. Thought you might like to hear about my rides and look at a few pics as well ? I wondered about going for a flight and ummmed an ahhhed for a long time before taking the plunge... My advice ?...Dont think...do it !. Talk about sensory overload...when you get to sit down in a live Fort with the engines running and feel the whole 'plane living, smell the smell, hear and feel the noise, sense the excitement of the other passengers, its quite a moment. You see the exposed control cables moving as the guy up front throttles up from tickover to move and start the turns. The taxi out to the active, with creaks and groans of the undercart, the odd dab of brakes and a slight increase in revs to go around the taxi corners. Then the final turn onto the active. You know, its funny, but nobody... not one single person.... says a thing as the levers are advanced to take off power..... You dont just hear the noise, you feel it !. Its a roar, its a rumble, its everywhere. Everything is alive and the feeling of tremendous power pulling you forward...totally different to a jet airliner acceleration, not as fast but in a league of its own !....its magical. After a while, there's a slight sway and you realise your'e actually up in a 'Fort !. The signal is given to to undo the lap straps and go walkabout. You suddenly realise that you're surrounded by grinning idiots !. Every one, but every one has gone into silly grin mode....and that includes you. First trip is under the pilots and upto the bombadiers station at the pointy end. To get to the pilots you have to cross over the bomb bay and yes, its a mighty narrow bit of 'plane you have to walk over the bomb bay to get to the office. My hat goes off to the boys who had to do that walk in full flying kit and a walkaround oxy bottle !. You can see the ground below through the cracks where the bomb doors meet. Then you get to enter the front and see that solo sit waiting for you to sit in, directly behind the Nordon. When you finally get to sit in that seat...and you look around... and realise that you are sitting in a 'Fort, with the roar of air through the fresh air vent vieing with the roar from the four big radials seemingly an arms length away though the side windows, it truly a humbling feeling. Oh yeah, your grin is now threatening to go into 'flip top head' mode !. You feel like a dog with five tails...you dont know what to do first or next so instead you've gone into machine gun fire rate on the camera shutter clicking away, trying to capture every moment. You wont, but....and its a very inmportant BUT, you will never, ever forget that time that you sat up there...trust me (anyone who'se flown in a 'Fort whether as crew or a fair paying passenger will back me up on this) every time you see a 'Fort in a film or in the flesh, you'll be instantly transported to its inside, cos you've been there. Then its time to get back into the office and get the pilots views. Standing up behind the crew seats, taking in the fairly cramped positions, with outstanding views looking over the leading edge of the wings with the Cyclones rumbling away at arms length....and just soaking up the atmosphere. What a lovely noise !. Back across the bomb bay catwalk and back through the radio section and into the waist area to see view while holding onto the waist 50 Cals'. Relax, there will be other fanatics there to use your camera to take the obligatory shot of you crouching down behind the 50 cal.....and the guy with the camera never ever has to say 'Smile' !!!. 25 to 30 odd minutes of sheer sensory saturation, then its back to the seat and the final rumble as the wheels kiss the tarmac and you slow down for the short taxi back. When you get out through that rear door, your feet dont seem to touch the ground....and they dont for a few weeks after either !. The trip back by mini bus to the pick up point is strange... on the bus trip to the flight, everyone is non stop chatting.....on the trip back, its like sitting in a library, no one speaks, all lost in their thoughts. If you are looking for flight in one of these babe's, its not as expensive as you might think (average price I've paid so far has been just over £200.00 for each flight) , go to an airshow, nope, go to a big, really big airshow and then arrange for your flight half way through the event. You may get the odd 51 / 47 form up for a whil which is a fantastic sight to see....instead of on a film on the telly !. I absolutely guarantee you will not regret it. I have one bit of advice, take plenty of film or lots of storage cards. ....and then you can have a cracking screen saver that'll be the envy of anyone you know, cos you where there, you took the pics and you wont be able to stop talking about it. Trust me.
Thats awesome GeeDee, some lovely pics as well. I have had the pleasure of being able to fly in a Lancaster which was as you say, totally idiotic smile on your face right through the flight. I wasn't expecting a flight so i didn't take my camera along with me. I was working on the Lanc for about 3 months and at the end the pilot came in and said come on lets go for a flight. It was a great experience, one that i will never forget. I can't imagine what our bomber command boys went through flying those kites night in night out, winter or summer. I know it was really cold the evening i went up on it and it was only an hours flight. Sniper eep:
You're all baskets! LOL. Unreal memories for life, guys. Unfortunately, I've only flown in one aircraft I worked on - a Tiger Moth. The others either won't fly or are still a long way off!
You lucky lucky lucky..... Awesome. Had the chance of a flight in the CWH Lanc at the GOML back in Sept last year.....a little voice in my heart said 'YES YES YES'....then an even bigger voice in my cheque book said 'NO WAY, NO WAY' ! The only other option or chance for us mere mortals here in the UK have, is to blag a taxi ride in 'Just Jane'. Not quite the same but something on my list of things to do.
