Thursday, May 19, 2016

Flying the B-17

A unique production about B-17s, and their crew.
(https://youtu.be/Z8mJ6ZaqVYA)




In memorium

8 comments:

brinster said...

There aren't nearly as many of us like those guys any more. Who knows their names? We know names like Prince, Michael Jackson, Kurt Kobein (sp). We're a very different or should I say "fundamentally different" country now. A country that's on it's last days. Those great men are probably spinning in their graves.

Anonymous said...

Capt. Donald L. Gambrill, my father’s best friend, best man and my Godfather,
485th Bomb Group (Heavy), WW2
55 missions as B-24 pilot over Germany, Romania & Italy
Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart
KIA 10-Apr-45, leading his squadron's next to last mission of the war. Only two of eleven men escaped his plane before it exploded. He is buried in the Florence American Cemetery in Florence, Italy
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/find-a-grave-prod/photos/2015/149/56363663_1433010008.jpg
Lt. Col. Gen. Tailgunner dick

Esteve said...

Saw a great documentary about these planes a few years ago. The thing I will always remember is the number of men that were killed in them. Typical was a 50 plane mission and 10-15 wouldn't make it back which meant 100-150 men were killed or captured. And the ones that made it back just manned up the next day and went again.

Anonymous said...

Serenade to the Big Bird ~Bert Stiles

Casca

rwnutjob said...

My Dad flew these bad boys, just not in combat. He changed from artillery, to B-17s, to gliders, all in order to get the best chance to get in the fight. They kept making him an instructor in every type. The good news for me is that he survived to procreate.

Anonymous said...

Not widely known, but the Army Air Forces lost more men in the European strategic bombing campaign alone, than all the Marines killed in the Pacific.

Anonymous said...

Best account I ever read was "A Real Good War" Jimmy Stewart was his wing commander. -Anymouse

http://www.amazon.com/REAL-GOOD-WAR-Sam-HALPERT/dp/B001I0L9OM

Anonymous said...

Information for the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/MuseumExhibits/FactSheets/Display/tabid/509/Article/196270/boeing-b-17g-flying-fortress.aspx

Here is a virtual tour of the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE US AIR FORCE.
This links starts you near their B-17G.
http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/full/z-031.html

I used to live near Dayton OH and have been to the NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE US AIR FORCE at Wright-Patterson AFB many times. I remember watching B-52s and many others flying in and out of the base. June 8 they are opening their new 4th building of exhibits.

Here are some 360 deg Cockpit Tours of WW2 Aircraft, including a B-17 and others.
http://www.airspacemag.com/airspacemag/wwii-cockpits-180954748/?no-ist

CF in CO


Post a Comment

Just type your name and post as anonymous if you don't have a Blogger profile.