Hi Michael,
As we don't have any 17's down here in Aus I would be greatfull to learn how you came by a flight in one, the cost and any current contacts with the operators.
I know it's "off topic" but would also be interested in learning what your thoughts were about the flight and seeing any images, thanks in anticipation
Treedoc,
The particular B17 I was on is named "Aluminum Overcast"
http://www.b17.org/ and is owned and operated by the EAA out of Oshkosh, WI. In 2001 (actually it was the entire week prior to 9/11) they had the plane at Willow Run Airport
http://www.willowrunairport.com/ here in Michigan, giving rides. It was part of some particular celebration having something to do with Ford Motor Co., and Ford people were able to buy rides. My wife indulged me. When my neighbor and friend heard about it, his wife bought him a ride, too. Unfortunately, we could not get on the same flight. I was on the 11AM, and he was on the the 1PM. However, he was lucky: when they were doing preflight for this 1PM flight, Jack Roush
http://www.cebudanderson.com/jroush.htm comes up in his P51 and
takes off with them, and was flying
wing to wing. They got some great shots on that flight, talk about a photo op!
Interestingly enough, Willow Run is the home of the Yankee Air Museum,
http://www.yankeeairmuseum.org/ which ALSO has a B17, called "Yankee Lady". We didn't fly in that one but it was nearby in another hangar! Like our Pagoda's, you can't keep these flying things
sitting. Generally on Thursdays, when there is a nice high-pressure weather pattern around, I can be anywhere in my home and sure as shooting, I'll hear the unmistakable drone of a 4-engine piston powered bomber flying at 3,000 feet overhead at a slow cruise. It's unmistakable--and I see it quite often, probably 6 times a year. At my other home in central Michigan, the airspace above it was used as a training area for an A10 wing of the Michigan National Guard based out of Kalamazaoo, so when I happened to be up there during the week--you could often see A10's in mock dogfights. Much higher altitude but the jet roar was astounding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=JP&hl=ja&v=bFsRLr2XdeI That wing was closed down (budget cuts), and the A10's moved to Selfridge and are now part of the Michigan ANG (Air National Guard) 127th wing.
You should note that Willow Run is the site of the factory that Henry Ford built to build B24's, and at the peak of production they were flying out of the factory at the rate of ONE PER HOUR.
http://www.strategosinc.com/willow_run.htm Later the plant went to GM, and they built Corvair's there. But, it is still there. Interstate I94 which runs from Detroit to Ann Arbor was built along a highway connecting Detroit to Ypsilanti where the plant was located. At the time of building that plant, there was little means of getting the workers there so they built a road.
If you want an easy ride in a B17, you'll have to come to Oshkosh or Michigan (or a couple other places)--while these planes do travel they don't often go too far. There are others around too. The Commemorative Air Force
http://commemorativeairforce.org/ has B17 I believe, in Texas and in Arizona. Mike Hughes referred to them by their old, and socially-unacceptable name of "Confederate Air Force". Their history in and unto itself is an amazing story, particularly about their B29.
http://www.cafb29b24.org/a/B-29-FiFi_History.htm Photos during the flight were kind of useless--just flat Michigan farmland and terrain from 3,000 feet. No big deal. These photos predate my purchase of a digital camera, and I don't even know where the originals are; I did have these though, in my computer. I know I took a lot more for when the plane was on the ground we had free unfettered access to it all around. Even under the oil-dripping engines. Going up in the plane was eerie; I had many thoughts of the young kids who were plucked from the farms and fields of 1940's America, trained to fly and crew these things, and how many of them never came home. The pilots told me that when loaded for bomber duty with fuel and ordnance and a full crew, it took every bit of horsepower at full throttle, and every inch of runway to
just barely get these things airborne. On that pleasant day in 2001, we simply
popped up in the air, relatively speaking. I had the lucky seat of radio operator for the takeoff, just behind the pilot/captain. A good reference to what happened with those planes are the two movies made about "Memphis Belle" which you can probably buy or rent locally even in Australia. There is the one from 1990, and also the original made in 1944 as a documentary; you can see that here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMDSFAYDV-Y The Hollywood version from 1990 is fictionalized of course, but was so spellbinding it kept my wife awake to watch the entire movie--something she almost NEVER does!
One thing I really liked was being able to see the famous Norden Bombsight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norden_bombsight I used to live very close to Norden's headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut about 50 miles outside of NYC. They are now part of Northrop Grumman.
Hope that keeps you happy for a while!!
