What I did on my lunch hour today...

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Neal
    Established Member
    • Apr 2012
    • 181
    • Williamstown, WV (Mid Ohio Valley)
    • Ryobi BT3000

    What I did on my lunch hour today...

    Sometimes you just have to play hookie and take a long lunch. Especially as your kids are growing up and your time with them gets shorter and shorter. My son is 15. It won't be long until he is off to college.

    Today, we had a unique opportunity. A B24 Liberator, A B17G Flying Fortress, and a P51 Mustang flew in to our little Rinky Dink Airport, hair care and Tire Center (I'll send Mr. White my $.25 for using his line). You could take tours of the two big birds. So I got to climb on board with my Son and take a look around.

    Here are some pics from the outside...





    At 6'4" tall and a slight 250lbs, I can tell you At my current size, I would not make a very good crewman on one of these. (Now when I was 18-20 and under 200lbs, maybe, but I was still 6'4")

    Can't imagine climbing into that belly turret or the tail gunners seat for anything.

    They were doing "rides" on the b17 this evening, at about $450 a crack. Told my son, for $450, it better land on a tropical island somewhere. Besides I have router bits to buy.






    Last edited by Neal; 08-12-2014, 12:38 PM.
  • Black wallnut
    cycling to health
    • Jan 2003
    • 4715
    • Ellensburg, Wa, USA.
    • BT3k 1999

    #2
    Very cool. I have been lucky enough to have gone through Boeing's Museum of Flight in Seattle. They have a huge display of WWII planes although can't get this up close and personal as you were able to.
    Donate to my Tour de Cure


    marK in WA and Ryobi Fanatic Association State President ©

    Head servant of the forum

    ©

    Comment

    • TB Roye
      Veteran Member
      • Jan 2004
      • 2969
      • Sacramento, CA, USA.
      • BT3100

      #3
      In 1994 during the 50 anniversary of "D Day" my cousin and I took his now late father who I am named after (Tom born 1942) on a flight on a visiting B-17 and B-24. He was a crewman on a 17 and flew 30 missions before they would let him go. It was an amazing experience. How they did it was beyond me. He simply said " We were young and didn't know any better, at least at the start" A late member of our Church was a pilot on a B-24 in the Pacific and he never said much like my uncle until later in life when I guess the horrors had diminished it enough it was same to talk about. I was an honor to know both of them and their families. We are all still close today.

      Tom

      Comment

      • mpc
        Senior Member
        • Feb 2005
        • 979
        • Cypress, CA, USA.
        • BT3000 orig 13amp model

        #4
        Was it the "Collings Foundation" visiting your "Rinky Dink" airport?" If so, they've repainted the B-24 since I saw it at Long Beach Airport several years ago. Back then it was shiny silver with "DRAGON & HIS TAIL" nose art (celebrating another B-24). The B-17 had the same "Nine O Nine" name. Mom and I tried to take a ride on the B-17 as it was built in the then-Douglas Aircraft Company plant even though the B-17 is a Boeing design - one of those cross-company built airplanes during the war. And I started my career at Douglas.

        We didn't get off the ground though... the tail wheel steering link busted during the high-speed taxi to the takeoff end of the runway. The wheel shimmyed something fierce, shaking the whole airplane. Mom commented "boy, they're giving us the whole experience!" during the crazy ride - before we knew WHY it was crazy. Then came a sudden lateral heave followed by fairly violent up/down bouncing. Turns out we'd veered off the taxiway, through a grass field... after running over one of those airport runway/taxiway marker signs. Flattened it good. Though it got its licks in too: the left tire had a nasty gash in it and the #1 engine prop had a pretty good ding in it too. I'm amazed (and thankful) that the tire didn't actually blow. LB airport police and an FAA rep drove out and grilled our pilot and checked his papers... while the other LB officer took personal pics of our stranded airplane. In the end we were allowed to taxi back to where we started and the airplane was grounded for the rest of the day. Got a refund, a good story, and some pics. Since there was damage to airport property and the total dollar amount airport + airplane damage estimate exceeded some magic number it was officially called a crash. So mom and I survived a B-17 crash!

        The P51 Mustang wasn't part of their touring collection back when I (tried to) ride the B-17. And the price for rides has gone WAAY up too! I think $450 is close to what two tickets cost when mom and I did it.

        Love those old birds too.

        mpc

        Comment

        • LCHIEN
          Internet Fact Checker
          • Dec 2002
          • 20914
          • Katy, TX, USA.
          • BT3000 vintage 1999

          #5
          those planes from WWII were amazing and so were the men who flew in them. It was just crazy dangerous.

          Not to belittle the Navy - those ships were amazing and could be just as dangerous.

          And the Army and the Marines... slogging it out on the ground, those guys had to be the bees' knees.
          Last edited by LCHIEN; 08-13-2014, 12:26 AM.
          Loring in Katy, TX USA
          If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
          BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

          Comment

          • Neal
            Established Member
            • Apr 2012
            • 181
            • Williamstown, WV (Mid Ohio Valley)
            • Ryobi BT3000

            #6
            Yes it was the Collings Foundation.

            They were supposed to be somewhere else, and their appearance was canceled, so they ended up in the middle of nowhere.

            Comment

            • sailor55330
              Established Member
              • Jan 2010
              • 494

              #7
              First, thanks to all that served and are serving this country in the armed forces.

              Thank you for the pics! WWII aircraft have always fascinated me as they are a balanced between technology, brute power, and guts. I always found it hard to believe that the B24 did the same thing as the B17. The 17 was always sleek, sexy, and just plain mean looking while the 24 was much less so. I think I remember reading that it was not a favorite of the crews who had it, often calling it the "constipated lumberer", yet it got the job done and I think actually had better range and payload than the B17.

              As for the P51--purely an awesome machine. 450mph in a dive and the first plane to shoot down a ME262 jet in combat. Not bad for a piston driven airplane.

              AGain thank you

              Comment

              • eccentrictinkerer
                Senior Member
                • Aug 2007
                • 669
                • Minneapolis, MN
                • BT-3000, 21829

                #8
                During the 2012 and 2013 tours of the Collings Foundation, my nephew, Whit Coyle was Chief Mechanic for the two bombers. The summer of 2013 Whit was was also Chief Pilot of the B-17. All this and he was only 27!

                Whit worked for a warbird restoration company in Daytona, FL starting at 16. He's now a Chief Mechanic for a large private fleet company.

                Two nine month gigs of flying those birds around the U.S. was enough. He really enjoyed meeting all the old WWII and Korea veterans. When he was here in Minneapolis he introduced me to one of the Tuskegee Airmen. Great stories!

                B-24 clips

                Startup of a Ranger V770-11 that Whit restored

                I'm a pretty proud uncle!
                You might think I haven't contributed much to the world, but a large number
                of the warning labels on tools can be traced back to things I've done...

                Comment

                • Knottscott
                  Veteran Member
                  • Dec 2004
                  • 3815
                  • Rochester, NY.
                  • 2008 Shop Fox W1677

                  #9
                  The air museum near us used to own a B-17 by the name of Fuddy Duddy. Every 4th of July they'd host an air show, and many WWII era aircraft would participate. Back in the early 1980's on a 4th July weekend, I was at the north end of Conesus Lake, and saw Fuddy Duddy flying low towards me being escorted by a couple of P-51's.....I was standing on the dock enjoying the site (along with several dozen neighbors), when the P-51s starting firing blanks like they were strafing us! It was one of the most bazaar and memorable moments of my life. I suspect that many a folk soiled their britches that day!
                  Happiness is sort of like wetting your pants....everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth.

                  Comment

                  • Richard in Smithville
                    Veteran Member
                    • Oct 2006
                    • 3014
                    • On the TARDIS
                    • BT 3100

                    #10
                    Fantastic pictures. It's fantastic to see the old girls up and flying still. Our local Avro Lancaster ( only one of two in the world that still fly) is over in England right now touring with the other only flying Lancaster Bomber.
                    From the "deep south" part of Canada

                    Richard in Smithville

                    http://richardspensandthings.blogspot.com/

                    Comment

                    Working...