[PappyB]

Hey all,

Watched the trio of Collings Foundation bombers take off and land yesterday up in the Lincoln, CA airport. Lousy location to photograph them in the air as the runway is far away from the ramp, and the border fences are also to far from the start and end of the runway to get 'em leaving or coming back.... But...

It's the best place I've seen to watch the bombers taxiing in and out of the ramp area as you can get really, really close to them when they start up -- perhaps too close, I almost lost my favorite ball cap and nearly got hit by a bit piece of debris from the B-25 wash (but what a way to go, I guess....).

It's also a tiny airport, and as it was the middle of the week there were no crowds so you could tour the B-24 and B-17 at your leisure really, which was well worth the $10.

Talked to an 8th Airforce B-17 vet that flew in Europe from 44 to the end of the war or just abouts.... 33 missions -- never saw an enemy plane, and not one of his gunners fired their weapons.... Was a great guy, talked to him for a while. One story he related was pretty funny, in a sick sort of way -- pilot humor I suppose.

He told us about how the Lib was really an inferior plane to the B-17 (to him) as due to its thin wing it could not carry as much payload at the same altitudes as the Fort, which was flying at 25K to 30K when he was going on missions. The Libs had to fly almost 10K lower with the same payloads, right in the sweet spot for German AA -- he said his group often joked that when they hit a target they should trail a banner that said "Don't waste your ammo on us, the Libs will by by shortly" ...

[djjeffhall]

PappyB,
Great story, thanks for sharing and posting the pictures.

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by djjeffhall

PappyB,
Great story, thanks for sharing and posting the pictures.

Those guys should get free rides for life -- seems a shame he had to pay $400 for a bit of nostalgia. But it does take a lot of $ to keep them in the air -- I wasn't aware the Lib was the last one flying in the world

[mustangdriver]

It is not the last, but one of the last. Ex-diamond lil now ol' 927 is a real B-24A

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by mustangdriver

It is not the last, but one of the last. Ex-diamond lil now ol' 927 is a real B-24A

Hmmmm, CF needs to update their marketing pitches then

[STARMAN 352ND]

Great Pictures and story Pappy....Just got me thinking about this......
If only 2 B-24's are still in the air today how many B-17's and B-25's are still flying after 60yrs ?
JP

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

Great Pictures and story Pappy....Just got me thinking about this......
If only 2 B-24's are still in the air today how many B-17's and B-25's are still flying after 60yrs ?
JP

I dunno about B-25s... but I believe there's 10 B-17s.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Thanks Pappy.....10 B-17's that's not a bad number....I was just told they have 34 B-25's still flying today....Man that is alot more then the other bombers.
JP

[STARMAN 352ND]

I did a google search and found this web site:http://www.warbirdalley.com/b24.htm

More than 18,000 B-24s were built during WWII, more than any other American aircraft.
only three remain airworthy, all in the United States.
JP

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

I did a google search and found this web site:http://www.warbirdalley.com/b24.htm

More than 18,000 B-24s were built during WWII, more than any other American aircraft.
only three remain airworthy, all in the United States.
JP

Zoiks, so both the CFA and CF are "fibbing" -- what's the third one?