Saw a Pretty Old Lady this weekend

[scarry scarney]

Was outside, doing chores, and I hear a distinctive rumble going overhead.192938






Sorry the crappy image, she had almost flown away before I could get my iPhone camera to snap a photo. A B17!!! What a glorious sight, wonderful noise.

[MaLar]

I've had this experience once some time ago. Worked as a carpenter when I was younger. We built some large fancy homes for people with more money than smarts. We where working on a bench over town and I heard that rumble you heard. Went to the window and looked out just in time to see a B17 rumble through the valley. At eye level no less. There was an air show in town and the B17 was a part of it. I'll never forget that sound or sight.

[Hardcast416taylor]

A friend of mine had an Uncle that was a waist gunner on a `17. He said that you never forget the sound of them and never quite forget the feeling of it quivering.Robert

[Blackwater]

Once you hear those huge engines roaring, you can never forget the sound. It's thrilling, rightly regarded! Thanks. What those planes and others like them did, with the men who flew them, will always be humbling and an example for every generation that follows. We are all so VERY much in their debt, and always will be!

[308Jeff]

We have a few B-17's around here, so I get to see those fairly often. Always a thrill though.

One of the greatest experiences of my life was seeing FiFi land at the Henderson airport in 2012.

I've been in love with the Superfortress since my grandma took me to see The Last Flight of Noah's Ark in 1980.

So thrilled that Doc is back in the air.

[Hawks Feather]

I saw this on a couple of years ago at the Goshen, IN Duesenberg Thunder Run. A few other can be found here: http://www.jerrylatta.biz/Duesenberg-Thunder-Run-0906201/Duesenberg-Thunder-Run-Planes/

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y274/JLx220/Jerry%20Latta-8188_zps9gmooosr.jpg (http://s7.photobucket.com/user/JLx220/media/Jerry%20Latta-8188_zps9gmooosr.jpg.html)

[Texas by God]

My dad took me to a CAF air show outside Breckinridge, Texas around 1981. I got to crawl around in a B-17 and watch it take off & land. Corsairs;P51 Mustangs; Jap Zeros and many others. I will not forget it.
Best, Thomas.

[bob208]

many years ago I heard the piston sound with a whining. looked up and saw a f6f flying over. he was low.

[Thumbcocker]

Think about being on oxygen and wearing heated coveralls a long way from friendly territory with nothing between you and the flack and 20mm from the 109's but 1/8" of aluminum. The greatest generation.

[Snow ninja]

My wife's grandpa was a Ball Turret gunner in WWII. She's told me some of the stories he told her. Sadly, I never got to meet him as he died when we were dating in high school. She said we would've gotten along great.
He still had his dress uniform with his medals pinned to it hanging on his bedroom door until the day he died. Said that he was very proud of what he was able to do in the war.
He apparently got the Ball Turret spot because he was the smallest one in the crew.
192979

[Multigunner]

Back in the 60's when taking flying lessons I saw a C-46 Curtiss Commando in full military trim pass by a few hundred feet above me. Kind of a Twilight Zone moment.

Oddest thing I've seen in the air was when walking near my home I heard what sounded like giant chainsaws and looked up to see what at first looked like a disk shaped object. Then the object tilted up and I saw I'd seen a Goodyear blimp nose down directly above me its engines screaming to right the craft. I couldn't have been even one hundred feet above me.
They got it righted but then the engines quit and it drifted away gaining altitude till it drifted out of sight many miles away. It looked to be streaming water or something as it drifted.

I later read of a Blimp crash a few years later in another state caused by a defect in their ballast system, the craft suddenly diving nose down into the ground. This blimp apparently suffered a similar failure but they corrected for it barely in time.

[fatelk]

I've been through a B17 several times, guided tour in a local museum, and each time am amazed at the guts those guys had. Interestingly the B17 they have here was in a James Bond movie.

I have a friend who is really into such things and has been up in them more than once. That would be an experience.

[gtrpickr]

Those old planes are awesome, love seeing them in the sky.

[Moonie]

Had an uncle that was a nose gunner on one in the South Pacific

[Duckiller]

Got $450.00 that you don't know what to do with? You can ride in a B-17 out of Long Beach Airport.. Saw the ad in today's paper. Anyone really interested let me know and I will find the ad.

[MaryB]

This is only 17 miles away so I frequently get to see them flying over my house. I know the pilot and he will make a pass out over the field as low as he can if you wave at him.

http://www.fagenfighterswwiimuseum.org/aircraft/aircraft.html

[broomhandle]

Hi Guys,

My boss was a German Tool & Die maker when I was a apprentice. He was in a Hitler Youth Anti Aircraft unit. He lived in a small town, but it had a aircraft assembly plant near by. They had not been bombed.
He talked about hearing a large wave of B-17's coming over the town, it took about a hour or more for all the aircraft to hit the area! He talked about the sky getting dark as the planes came over! The planes came back one more time weeks late. After that there was noting left to bomb! No bridge's, no docks on the river, no factory, no water works, no railroad station & switching area. Took out a large section of the town too!

His dad was in the army & set word to go west to his brothers house, with the warning to get away from the Russians at any cost. He did not see his dad until Nov of 1946 after he was released from clearing mines & war damage in Yugoslavia & Serbia.

broom

[David2011]

Over 20 years ago (hope the details aren't too wrong here) I was out on my boat with friends sailing on upper Galveston Bay one Saturday morning and heard that same rumble. Texas Raiders and Thunder Bird were based nearby so the sound and sighting of a B-17 was not unusual. When I looked up it was not one of the familiar restored aircraft. I had heard on the news she would be arriving. This one was in bare aluminum and was circling the San Jacinto Monument celebrating the end of her final leg of a flight from England to an airfield in southeast Houston. The thrill of seeing her knowing where she had been lately was incredible. Another of the grand battleships of the sky was home for a restoration. Unfortunately her name is long forgotten to me.

[JWT]

My son an I just visited the Kalamazoo Air Zoo a couple days ago.

192990192991

Not bombers, but pretty awesome.

192992192993

Then we went to the USS Silversides.

192994192995

[10-x]

Historic A/C are a National treasure, fortunate to have been inside many at airshows in the 80s- 90s when wearing original WWII flight uniforms for displays. Never forget talking to the aircrews that flew them in WWII. " Fuddy Duddy" was one of the best and of course " Fi Fi" and the B-24 " All American".

[LAH]

Sgt. Bernard M. Gunnoe, 390th Bomb Group H, Waist Gunner, B-17.

I had the honor of preaching a revival in a little country Church. One member stood & gave his testimony how God had spared him during WWII. I'll not go into all he said but within a year he was dead. I spoke to him twice about the event & carry those things in my heart. I attended his funeral which was preached by a Korean War combat Marine, another hero I've been blessed to know.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Creekerpics/Military/20150426_124844.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/Creekerpics/media/Military/20150426_124844.jpg.html)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Creekerpics/Military/20150426_124813.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/Creekerpics/media/Military/20150426_124813.jpg.html)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Creekerpics/Military/20150426_124831.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/Creekerpics/media/Military/20150426_124831.jpg.html)

[richhodg66]

I got to fly in one a few years ago. Great planes.

[robg]

Years ago I was going up to Lincoln to visit some friends saw some thing flying towards us as it closed in I realised it was a Lancaster bomber what an awesome sight and sound .so slow seemed to just hang in the air.

[AZBronco]

The CAF has the Sentimental Journey B-17G based in Mesa AZ. About ten miles east of Phonix AZ. This plane is polished as bright as a mirror , and has four engines built by the Studebaker car company. You will never forget hearing and seeing her overhead. OH MY !!

[Silfield]

My wife's grandpa was a Ball Turret gunner in WWII. She's told me some of the stories he told her. Sadly, I never got to meet him as he died when we were dating in high school. She said we would've gotten along great.
He still had his dress uniform with his medals pinned to it hanging on his bedroom door until the day he died. Said that he was very proud of what he was able to do in the war.
He apparently got the Ball Turret spot because he was the smallest one in the crew.
192979

There is a museum and memorial to the 100th Bomb Group just down the road from home and it has a ball turret as an exhibit. I didnt realise how small they were! no way on earth I would squeeze into it but I am 6'4" and 240lbs, even my 11 year old son found it a bit claustrophobic.
http://www.100bgmus.org.uk/museum.aspx

[opos]

Born in 1937 and grew up near Lowry Air Base in Denver....I recall all sorts of WW2 aircraft..we had a set of "spotter cards" where we could identify what was going over by looking at the card images. Lots of B-17s flew there and then the B29's came to town...a 29 "pancaked" into a neighborhood not too far from us and almost lit on the home of some friends of my folks. Living in San Diego there is a great airshow called Wings Over Gillespie (Gillespie field at El Cajon)...the planes fly over our house a lot during show times..Lots of memories and really glad I got to be a part of the WW2 history.

[Alstep]

Back in the early 50's, our neighbor's son was a flight engineer on a B-36. They did a treetop buzz over the farm homestead, and down our valley. Heard this huge rumbling noise and looked out the kitchen window. And there was this huge B-36 at treetop level. The whole house rumbled, everything in the whole valley rumbled. Never forget it!

[308Jeff]

Back in the early 50's, our neighbor's son was a flight engineer on a B-36. They did a treetop buzz over the farm homestead, and down our valley. Heard this huge rumbling noise and looked out the kitchen window. And there was this huge B-36 at treetop level. The whole house rumbled, everything in the whole valley rumbled. Never forget it!

Now that must have been something to behold.

Two planes I wish I could see/hear fly are the B-36 and the XB-70.

[scarry scarney]

Next time they come into town, I might just need to find that stashed cash. I had a Great Uncle who was a side gunner on B17's. Didn't talk much about it. I do remember telling me one time about rounds ripping through the skin of the aircraft, killing his buddy on the other side window.

talk about coincidence, is just the day before, I watched "Red Tails." I still remember watching the TV series "12'oclock High" as a kid. Grand ole planes, flown/manned by true hero's.

[tallwalker]

My Uncle was the pilot of a B17 named "Holy Mackerel" during the early days of daytime bombing missions over Germany. He was shot down on the way back over Holland by 109's. They were straggling behind after being hit by flack pretty badly. The townspeople watched as they fought back and were peppered until they spun in. Took more than 30 minutes. Three of the crew were able to bail out and were picked up by the Germans and sent to POW camps until the end of the war. All three of them visited my Grandmother way down south of New Orleans in a town with less than a hundred people at the time when they got back stateside and told her the whole story and what they thought of him. I am amazed at the effort it must have taken for them to just find her in those days.

He arrived East Anglia England in August 1942 and shot down in November same year. 4 months, 9 daytime missions over Germany. Can't even imagine the guts it took to climb into that plane every time knowing how few came back from every mission. He is buried in Holland. The dutch townsfolk adopt each of the graves and maintain them themselves as a family, take flowers. Believe it or not, there is a waiting list that want to adopt graves! I get letters and pictures from the family that visits my Uncle there every so often. 36 year old young man, his wife, and 5 year old little son. The Dutch truly have class when in comes to honoring and remembering why they are free today.

[shaper]

Some years ago my wife bought me a ride in a B-17. Her father took the first Norden bomb sight to Europe and taught the maintenance crews how to calibrate it. He became a bombardier on the B-17. On my flight I carried his folded flag and and set it in the bombardier station. Msg. Milford Christian There were tears on that flight.

[Greg G.]

The CAF has the Sentimental Journey B-17G based in Mesa AZ. About ten miles east of Phonix AZ. This plane is polished as bright as a mirror , and has four engines built by the Studebaker car company. You will never forget hearing and seeing her overhead. OH MY !!
That is a beautiful bird, got a ride on it back in 1985 or so when it was at an airshow in Utah. they are a lot smaller on the inside then you would think, but all business.

[woodbutcher]

:D Back when I was about 10 or 11(1955 or 6)Was outside helping Dad do some yard work.Three B24`s came over mosquito spraying about 300 ft off the deck.Were line abrest about 300 feet apart.What a glorious sound.Dad was grinning like a little kid in a candy shop.Me too.What a sight.He said that reminded him of the daily fly overs during WW2 there in Vero Beach,Fl.He worked Civil Service at the Naval base there.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[rondog]

I shot this here in Denver a couple years ago, I love this video! Worth watching. The Memphis Belle (movie plane) starting up.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DZc9xe-2_78

A couple more favorites.

B-29 Fifi taxiing in.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=havGOF1tjF4

P-51 The Brat III starting up.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P0m2C5LN3IQ

[gatortommy]

Love the B-17. My Uncle was a tail gunner in WWII and lived through it. He had some stories!

[LAH]

Love the B-17. My Uncle was a tail gunner in WWII and lived through it. He had some stories!

I'm sure he did.

[Blackwater]

If anyone loves these old planes, and the men who flew them, and you happen to be in the vicinity of Savannah, be sure to drop by the 8th Air Force Museum, just outside Savannah. They put it all up on a shoestring budget, but a lot of those old guys, who I think all flew with the "Mighty 8th," knew how to stretch a dollar and how to improvise and overcome, and they really did an awesome job! They have sections with sandbags built up to kind'a recreate a little of the "atmosphere" they did what they did in, and some very good videos play. It's quite an inspiring experience. And they have many old planes there, some hung from the ceiling by wires. I'm always amazed and awed when I go there. I think they operate only on donations, IIRC? Don't quote me on that because it's been a while since I've been back. If I find myself nearby and with nothing pressing, I'll often stop by and make a small donation. Never seem to stay long enough to really "soak it up," but it keeps bringing me back again and again.

There's also AF museums at Warner Robbins AFB just outside Macon, and another in Atlanta. I haven't been to the one(s?) in Atlanta, but have been to the one in Warner Robbins, but prefer the Savannah one because of the interactive nature of the presentation there. You'll really love any of these, though, if you love these old birds, and the "old birds" who flew them. Just a FWIW, for any who find themselves in the area, and have a little time and a love for these old planes.

[Echo]

Thirty-someodd years ago I was out at Sabino Canyon (NE of Tucson) enjoying the view, and heard a familiar sound. Looked up, and there was a P-39 doing an aileron roll! A couple years later, I was in my backyard, and heard a different, but still familiar sound, looked up, and there was a P-51 at about 2,000 ft cruising along. Allisons & Merlins - love 'em both!

[Rick N Bama]

This past November my Daughter gave me a ride on the "Aluminum Overcast". It was the roughest and most noisy plane ride I've ever been on and I absolutely loved it!

194474

[fecmech]

I took a ride in this one a few years ago.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=106894&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1403163019

[MaLar]

My Uncle was the pilot of a B17 named "Holy Mackerel" during the early days of daytime bombing missions over Germany. He was shot down on the way back over Holland by 109's. They were straggling behind after being hit by flack pretty badly. The townspeople watched as they fought back and were peppered until they spun in. Took more than 30 minutes. Three of the crew were able to bail out and were picked up by the Germans and sent to POW camps until the end of the war. All three of them visited my Grandmother way down south of New Orleans in a town with less than a hundred people at the time when they got back stateside and told her the whole story and what they thought of him. I am amazed at the effort it must have taken for them to just find her in those days.

He arrived East Anglia England in August 1942 and shot down in November same year. 4 months, 9 daytime missions over Germany. Can't even imagine the guts it took to climb into that plane every time knowing how few came back from every mission. He is buried in Holland. The dutch townsfolk adopt each of the graves and maintain them themselves as a family, take flowers. Believe it or not, there is a waiting list that want to adopt graves! I get letters and pictures from the family that visits my Uncle there every so often. 36 year old young man, his wife, and 5 year old little son. The Dutch truly have class when in comes to honoring and remembering why they are free today.

http://www.303rdbg.com/gc-holymackerel.html

[Don Purcell]

Have loved aircraft since a wee lad. Remember the first time I saw "12 O'clock High" with Gregory Peck when 8 years old in 1962. I was doing some genealogy work a couple years ago when a Lt. William Purcell turned up on the 303rd Bomb Group website. There is a photo of him and his crew. My "Twilight Zone" moment came when I saw he looked exactly like my high school senior class photo. I'm talking like my twin! He and his crew arrived in November of 1943 and were shot down and all killed January 11, 1944 en route to Oschersleben Germany. The Mighty Eight lost 60 bombers that day. I dearly wish I could have met him.

[legend 550]

Yankee lady part of the Yankee air force based at Willow run near Detroit Mi. Her and a B25 tour around in the summer and you can buy a ride. Check the schedule on the Yankee air force Web site. http://yankeeairmuseum.org/

209131

[texasnative46]

To All,

Fwiwe, my dad was "in B-17s" & the USAAC during WWII. - He always told the story of a Major, who was the OPNS Officer of their wing & who daily demanded that the crews who were being used as flying gunships for close air support in North Africa, "GET LOWER. GET LOWER. You MUST get down in the weeds to accomplish the mission today."

My dead always laughed & said he never said that again, after a B17 came home from a mission with an entire palm tree hung in the landing gear.

yours, tex

[Echo]

Yankee lady part of the Yankee air force based at Willow run near Detroit Mi. Her and a B25 tour around in the summer and you can buy a ride. Check the schedule on the Yankee air force Web site. http://yankeeairmuseum.org/

209131

I was on a job in the Flint area, driving to the airport to catch my ride home, when a -17 flew over me - remember it well...