General Apathy Posted February 12, 2010 Share #1 Posted February 12, 2010 Hi Forum Members & Readers, whether or not the B-17 is your favourite bird then take a look at the many photo's at the link below of the battle damaged ones that still made it home. :thumbsup: Many of the shots have the aircrafts name attached http://www.daveswarbirds.com/b-17/contents.htm Cheers Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ashooter Posted February 12, 2010 Share #2 Posted February 12, 2010 Thanks Lewis. This is the reason you buy Boeing designed aircraft and yes the B17 is my favoriate WW2 bomber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
517th Posted February 12, 2010 Share #3 Posted February 12, 2010 Some sobering pictures there Lewis, Could never imagine myself being in that environment at that time..........517th Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted February 12, 2010 Share #4 Posted February 12, 2010 Great link Ken! What a tough ol' bird the B-17 was! I've been in Sally B but can't begin to imagine how it must've been to be at 30,000 feet with a gaping hole in the fuselage. Thank God it brought so many of them home safely! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted February 14, 2010 Author Share #5 Posted February 14, 2010 Hi Shooter, 517th and Sabrejet, thanks for taking the time to look at the link and add comments. The mention of what it must have been like being in an aircraft with a gaping hole in it, when flying in normal passenger aircraft I have often tried to imagine the aircraft as a basic shell such as the B-17 without all that plastic and insulation which gives you a sense of security that the walls are much thicker. I remember being told by an American airman that was a crewmember in a C-47 converted to puff the magic dragon gunship flying and shooting up the Ho Chi Minh trail, that he was stood in the open doorway and saw return fire coming up at his aircraft and he moved from the open door to stand behind the thin aluminum of the aircraft to feeling more protected, to which he added a complete waist of time as protection. Cheers Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1ashooter Posted February 14, 2010 Share #6 Posted February 14, 2010 I remenber the first time I had a chance to crawl through a B17. I simply stood there and said these guys had some nerve to fly through flak and fighter attack and have nothing but some very small armor plate to stand behind, At least the infantry could dig a hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted February 14, 2010 Share #7 Posted February 14, 2010 I remenber the first time I had a chance to crawl through a B17. I simply stood there and said these guys had some nerve to fly through flak and fighter attack and have nothing but some very small armor plate to stand behind, At least the infantry could dig a hole. Or to sit on a flak vest in order to afford some perceived protection for the more "delicate" parts! Sabrejet :pinch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeecup Posted February 16, 2010 Share #8 Posted February 16, 2010 Great link Ken! What a tough ol' bird the B-17 was! I've been in Sally B but can't begin to imagine how it must've been to be at 30,000 feet with a gaping hole in the fuselage. Thank God it brought so many of them home safely! Ian About 15 years ago I had the chance to hear about that experience from the co-pilot of a plane shot down in 1944. He said the hardest part of the experience was trying to maneuver around the holes in order to safely evacuate the plane, while knowing most of the crew was dead or wouldn't make it out. Next to that the rest of the experience--breaking his jaw in the jump, coming down at night in the German countryside, interrogation, and time in a POW camp--was "easy." Another time I was helping him repair the roof on his barn. When I fired a nailgun through several layers of flashing, he jumped and nearly fell off the ladder. The only thing he'd say was that it sounded like a bullet coming through the floor of a B-17. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Posted February 18, 2010 Share #9 Posted February 18, 2010 All I have to say is WOW!!!! Puts things into persepective when I talk to my wifes Grandpa about flying a B-17 during WW2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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