Not really an airshow, per se, but a cool experience nonetheless.
Today I had an opportunity to spend a lot of time, unencumbered by kids, exploring the CAF's B-17G. It is spending this week at a small municipal airfield about 30 minutes south of my home. So, I played hookey for a couple of hours, braved the midday sun, and took a trip to check out this classic.
The plane is awesome (see pics) but what really made my day was the handful of vets in their 80's who also braved the heat to spend time with this old warrior (the plane, not me
).
I met a veteran pilot from the 92nd BG who flew 30 missions in -17s. He must have spent 45 minutes sharing tales of his experiences while we explored the plane together. But what really struck me was his recollections of his crew- boasting 6 different religions among them- and how they were a real
family.
I met another former B-17 pilot whose plane is one of the B-17s depicted in
Fortresses Under Fire by Keith Ferris, an amazing 25' x 75' mural hanging in the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum.
Another vet was a groundpounder who was in 13th Armored and related an amazing story about being ambushed and pinned down by a German machine gun nest in 1945, hitting the ground so hard his helmet separated itself from its liner and his head.
Finally, I had a nice long conversation standing in the bomb bay with an 85-year-old who was a belly turret gunner in B-24s in the Pacific (13th AF) who wanted to check out the counterpart belly turret in the B-17. He must have been perfect for the job as I don't think he reached 5' 6". I watched him for a long time just crouching under the plane gazing at the ball turret (see below).
What a great day. Sure wish I had a tape recorder with me.