6 min well worth the time to see this B17 fly

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  • 340six

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    5   0   0
    Apr 12, 2012
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    What a great plane and the guys that flew them back then were tops.
    I know I had a great day at the hospital, once I was getting blood work and then Chemo.
    It was gonna be rough. But they also did infusions. Some guy my size hight and the weight came in for blood infusion and stuff.
    He was a WW2 vet. After his wife left he saw i was looking at some gun mags and I shared them with him.
    He talked about getting hit on the beach, But not bad. He said he fought threw as he would have died on the beach if not. He loved the 45acp.
    Said do to his size they gave him a grease gun. He said it was junk pressed bent steel. I alreadt knew what it was but let him tell his story. He said it was not so good and jammed once. So as soon as someone was no longer in need, he grabbed that Thopson he realy wanted. Fought with that wound till it was over. They fixed him up and he was dropped back off at a later date. And yet again he got hit, and was timmed out. They fixed him up and said he was going home but would not go. He want back as he said he wanted to finish it. Tells me he had it easy as he was out and dropped back off! That the others had to walk/ride the whoel way getting hit let him cheat. LOL What a way to think.
    Yes, he did finish the war till the end. Said he did get a small wound a 3rd time! But just had it patched up so he could see it through 100%.
    Made the statement that he was not scared bad when they had a firefight! As it would have been it and not even know it. Stated that when they entered a town or area that was supposed to be empty they would have K-98's scoped that would pic ya off. He said that really meeded with him bad. That it was his wose fear. Sorry I did not sleep amd proberly wote that up kinda silly. But ya get the jist of it I hope
     

    dougstump

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    Nov 22, 2010
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    What do you get when you leave a B-17 out in the sun?

    A Frying Fortress!


    What does a B-17 say when you make a bad landing?

    Boeing, Boeing, Boeing!
     

    john17427

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    Oct 23, 2010
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    Baton Rouge
    I love that plane. Paid to fly in one a few years back and it was worth every penny. And what a lucky chance encounter with a WW2 vet. I could have sat there for hours listening to every story he cared to tell. It saddens me that they are mostly gone and we’re losing the wisdom of their experience. It’s one thing to read it. It’s another thing to see it in their eyes. Thanks for sharing this.
     

    dougstump

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    Way back in the 6th grade, just about the time I was getting interested in military history, my Dad started working with a gentleman who was a B-24 pilot in the Pacific. The stories that Smitty had! From New Guinea to Truk! Oh, how I wish I can tape recorded them.

    There were many small islands with Japanese garrisons that were simply bypassed, not worth the trouble to take, so the plan was to simply starve them out. The Navy would periodically send a destroyer in close to the beach and see if they were hungry enough to surrender, if they took fire they would just sail away. Someone discovered that if you dropped an empty beer bottle from 10,000 feet it would whistle like a 500 pound bomb on the way down, and Smitty's bombardier worked out the proper settings for the Norden bomb sight. When they would overfly some of these islands at night, the bombardier would say "Now" and the waste gunners would chuck a couple handfuls of beer bottles out. The tail gunner would watch the lights on the island go out and tracer fire come up, of course the B-24 was long gone by then. On one medium sized island, the Japanese figured out what was going on and decided to ignore these "attacks". Of course this lack of respect upset Smitty's bombardier who layed a real live 500 pounder right in the middle of their cook fire!

    The B-24 was a better bomber than the B-17! Let the fight begin!
     

    rocko

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    Nov 4, 2008
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    Greenwell Springs (Central)
    My dad was the top gunner on one in WWII, he would never talk about the war though. In 2001 right before his death there was one in B.R. offering rides but I couldn't get him to the airport for a flight.
     

    Abby Normal

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    Apr 16, 2014
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    Metry
    B-17 vs B-24. I toured both in the past but only rode on the 24. Before the flight a WWII Vet that was a navigator on both the 17 & 24 said he rather fly in the 17 and after the ride I know why. It's much harder to move around(much less jump from) a 24 than a 17. The 24 has One door up by the nose and the bombay that's it. I think the 17 had 3 or 4 and the bombay. The 24 you had to climb up and around and under the control panel to get to the bomber seat in the nose. The 24s had a problem with gas leaks inside the planes, that's why on take off & landing the bombay doors are open on the 24. The Smooothest landing i had in a plane was that 24 the bomb doors were open I didn't know we touched down.
    If you want to get your Old Plane Geek on, a Ford Tri-motor is flying out of Reserve April 26-29. For more info go to Flytheford.org.
     
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