In May 2014 Spitfire Spares visited the USA.
The trip was sponsored by John Kennedy MD from New York who owns his
own extensive collection of WWI and WWII memorabilia.
During the trip we visited the Memorial Day Air show
at at Macarthur Airport Long Island,
and thanks to Dr John Kennedy we lucky enough to fly in a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
a trip of a life time.
On entering the aircraft we took up
positions around the aircraft , I was strapped into the navigators
position. The engines roared into life one by one and we taxied to
the end of the runway. The B17 looks like a huge aircraft but with
all the crew on board guns and equipment it was quite cramped. Once
on the runway the Pilot and co pilot throttled up to full power. I
was expecting a gradual acceleration but was surprised by the real
kick in the pants not much slower than the jet we travelled to the
USA in. Soon we were airborne flying over Long Beach. We were
allowed to unbuckle and move around the various crew stations, this
B17 still carries all her armament and the engines retain there
original turbo chargers hence the rapid acceleration on take off.
To gain access to the cockpit and upper gun
turret you have to pass over the bomb bay, this is achieved by
walking along a narrow walkway which is a tight squeeze, the view
back over the tail from the upper turret is awesome and its quite
apparent it would be quite easy to shoot holes in your own tail. I
wonder how many times in the heat of battle the gunners shot pieces
from their own aircraft.
By far the best position in the aircraft is
in the bomb aimers position looking out of the big Perspex dome
straight down onto the sea, the view was amazing and with the
engines roaring around you just a fantastic experience.
The flight lasted a good forty minutes and
the landing was perfectly smooth with a squeal from the tyres as she
touched down. This really was the experience of a lifetime and gives
you a great appreciation for what those brave aircrews achieved.
There was a large number of other WW2
planes and military vehicles on display around the airfield
Vought F4U Corsair with Wings Folded
Vought F4U Corsair Close Up
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Douglas C-47 Transport Plane
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
North American B-25 Mitchell
SpitfireSpares Crew with Douglas C-47 Dakota
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Close Up
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Jacky's
Revenge
M4 Sherman Tank
This Has Some Serious Firepower
North American P-51 Mustang
Boeing Stearman Model-75
SpitfireSpares Crew
and Dr John Kennedy with B-17
Pre-Flight Checks outside the Plane
Dr John Kennedy MD in front of the B-17
B-17 Undercarriage
The Back end of the B-17. You can see the guns
pointing out the back North American B-25 Mitchell on the Runway
Flying Fortress Controls
Dr John Kennedy At the Controls of the Flying
Fortress
The Flying Fortress is not a matter of Easy Wiring
In the Cockpit Before Take Off A pilots eye view from the Flying Fortress
A Nice View of the Hudson River
A View of the Engines in Flight Bomb
Aimers View During Flight
note the Norden Bombsight
Dr John Kennedy in the role as bomb aimer
Looking Back Front the Upper Turret
Radio Operators Station
Ball Turret
This is the Walkway
over the Bomb bay that separates Bomb Hoisting Safety Diagram
the cockpit from the rest of the aircraft.
Sighting Down the Waist Guns Its a Long Way Down
The View From the Cockpit Back
A Front View of the Flying Fortress
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk Close
Up
North American T-6 Texan ( Harvard)
