B-17 photo

[armydriver]

I love the photo of the B-17 in the spotlight photo today. It brings back memories of flying Texas Raider and the thrill of hearing those Wright Cyclone engines roar to life as you shove the throttles forward and feel the big ship shudder beneath you as you roar down the funway and lift off.
Where was the photo taken? It is really a nice scene.
A number of years back we had taxied and parked Texas Raider off of the hardstand onto the grass at an airshow in Harlingen, Texas. The we got two days of heavy rain and she sank up to the axles. We placed a board drive under her mains and several men( actually about 20) got under the tail section and on signal lifted up the tail as we powered up to blow her out of the mud. The tricky part was to get her totally up on the tarmack without going too far and hitting some other planes, as the engines were at full power while she inched slowly onto the boards leading to the ramp. We made it and that was the last time we parked her on the grass. Two TBM's had to be moved the same way but were not as heavy and the job was a little easier.

[Bill_Wolf]

AD,

Tony Corbin provided the photo last night. (Tony is a viewer of the site but I am not sure if he is a member of the message board).

Is is a picture of his M5 Bomb Trailer in front of that beautiful B-17G at Duxford on August 8.

I try to change pictures on the lead page every Monday night. Tony's pic reminded me I was late so I put his trailer up.

(While it is not a CCKW it can be towed by a Chevy and I love B-17's too so webmasters choice here )

But don't worry I have more than enough great pics to last over a year at 1 per week.

Bill

[armydriver]

Thanks Bill, It is a great photo .

[Degsy]

I agree, great pic of a lovely aircraft, the sad thing is that due to stupid legislation she and other historic air craft will be stopped from flying.They will be classed as passenger aircraft and the cost of insurance will be astronomical forcing them to be grounded.Yet another senseless law.

[armydriver]

For years the CAF and other WWII flying museums in the U.S. have fought rising insurance prices untill the insurance has become the most expensive part of flying these historical aircraft. Fuel costs are the second most expensive part. For years everyone has know that insurance will be death of these flying museums even though the incidence of accidents in these well maintained birds is very low as compared to other forms of general aviation, say helicopter crashes and small airplane accidents.

[UK Jack]

I ws lucky enough to climb up inside Sally B last year on June 6th at Duxford. I took my boy in with me have a great picture of him on the waist gunners 50cal.........needless to say that his smile was broader than Sally B's wingspan

What I was most surprised about was how small the bomb bay was.

Cheers.

Jack.

[armydriver]

Really all of the interior of the aircraft is small, and one can imagine 10 hour missions in sub zero temps in that crowded space. Real men in a real situation that were willing to give all they had to give for freedom and democracy.

[dr deuce]

I have a picture of my cargo CCKW in front of Fifi the CAF B29 at Manchester NH airport in 1983.

I tell people about the significance of the photo, pretend the CCKW is me and the B29 is the Pope and this is a private audience!


Steve AKA Dr Deuce

[joel gopan]

My wife and I had an unbelieveable adventure on the B-17G Sentimental Journey, during its' recent visit in Maine. Nothing like a takeoff on a short runway while seated in the nose. I plan to donate B-17 items I have to their display. I hope to come up with a NOS Heated Flying Suit for it.
Joel