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re: Video from in the bombardiers compartment of a B-17
Posted on 7/2/17 at 9:41 am to mtntiger
Posted on 7/2/17 at 9:41 am to mtntiger
quote:
One of my great uncles flew on a B-17. Was shot down over Germany. Body never recovered, but about 10 years ago a kid in Germany found his Holy Cross class ring. It was returned to my family.
Whoa
1
Posted on 7/2/17 at 9:45 am to PillageUrVillage
I got to fly for free about 6 years ago with one other ATC coworker. Kinda scary as we flew low through the mountains around Asheville NC. The pilot looked like he was as old as the a/c. The P51 ride was close to a grand.
Posted on 7/2/17 at 9:48 am to PillageUrVillage
quote:
The Collings Foundation does a Wings of Freedom tour where you can take flights in the B-17, B-24, B-25, and a P-51 Mustang. They're about $450 per flight.
I thought this was my friends video. He's done this flight. Pretty awesome
Posted on 7/2/17 at 9:49 am to DevilDogTiger
My dad was shot down in his patrol bomber (PBM) in the Philippines in 1944.
Another flying boat (PBY) came in and made a daring rescue. I found the pilot on Youtube talking about picking them up.
He is still alive and I've spoken to him three times this year. 73 years ago! It feels surreal.
LINK
@3:30 mark
Another flying boat (PBY) came in and made a daring rescue. I found the pilot on Youtube talking about picking them up.
He is still alive and I've spoken to him three times this year. 73 years ago! It feels surreal.
LINK
@3:30 mark
This post was edited on 7/2/17 at 9:54 am
Posted on 7/2/17 at 11:21 am to ItzMe1972
quote:
My dad was shot down in his patrol bomber (PBM) in the Philippines in 1944. Another flying boat (PBY) came in and made a daring rescue. I found the pilot on Youtube talking about picking them up. He is still alive and I've spoken to him three times this year. 73 years ago! It feels surreal.
Wow. great that you were able to get in touch. Cool story.
Posted on 7/2/17 at 11:27 am to DavidTheGnome
Being in a bomber crew on B-17s was one of the most dangerous jobs. Many crews never made it. The lifespan of B-17s was 23 missions. Not many made it through. Things got much better once the P-51 Mustang was introduced and gave fighter support for the duration of the mission. Until then, you'd rather be on Peilelu than up in a B-17 over Europe.
ETA: Sorry about the monologue. I'm fascinated with this shite.
ETA: Sorry about the monologue. I'm fascinated with this shite.
This post was edited on 7/2/17 at 11:28 am
Posted on 7/2/17 at 11:28 am to Wrenchruh
quote:
have no idea if the project is still active but the released a teaser/proof of concept clip a few years ago.
I hope they do.
It's not that their story has been untold in history classes, but I definitely think the toll our bombers took over Europe is vastly underreported (for lack of a better term)
I think their casualty rate was among the highest, if not the highest, on the American side of the war.
Posted on 7/2/17 at 11:37 am to DavidTheGnome
Posted on 7/2/17 at 11:42 am to mtntiger
quote:
One of my great uncles flew on a B-17. Was shot down over Germany. Body never recovered, but about 10 years ago a kid in Germany found his Holy Cross class ring. It was returned to my family.
Wow. That is a legitimate cool story bro.
Posted on 7/2/17 at 11:51 am to DeafJam73
A friend of my grandmother was a waist gunner on a B-17... His crew was shot down and he was part of the famous Stalag 17... In fact, he was Jewish and they told the Germans he was Catholic..
Posted on 7/2/17 at 12:05 pm to DavidTheGnome
Their favorite cover was the Tuskegee Airman. "Red Tails"
Posted on 7/2/17 at 1:17 pm to namvet6566
One of my uncles was a top turret gunner / flight engineer on a B-17 in the ETO. 8th Air Force. He didn't speak about it much. I do know he was in a "rest area" for a few months after he completed his missions.
I have another uncle by marriage who was a P-47 pilot in the ETO. Ninth Air Force. Still with us, but his health is failing.
I have another uncle by marriage who was a P-47 pilot in the ETO. Ninth Air Force. Still with us, but his health is failing.
Posted on 7/2/17 at 1:21 pm to DavidTheGnome
This video gives me goosebumps. My great uncle was a bombardier in a B-17 that flew missions over Europe during World War II. This is the view he would have enjoyed while on his way to and from missions. After one particularly hairy mission he sent photographs of his damaged plane back home to my grandmother and my great-grandparents. My grandmother, recalling the photo, believed it a miracle from God that the plane even made it back because there were so many flack holes in it.
This post was edited on 7/2/17 at 1:22 pm
Posted on 7/2/17 at 2:11 pm to LongueCarabine
quote:
rest area" for a few months after he completed his missions.
Your grandpaw is a badass!!!
Let me start there. But when I read that line I flashed to the rest home scene in Airplane. "He thinks he's Ethel Merman?" Lol
Posted on 7/2/17 at 2:21 pm to DevilDogTiger
quote:
got to fly for free about 6 years ago with one other ATC coworker. Kinda scary as we flew low through the mountains around Asheville NC.
I did that flight 8 years ago. No lie - I was standing behind the navigator's seat when they opened the bomb bay doors.
I had no idea they were doing that until I felt the cool breeze running up my leg.
I loved that flight. That plane doesn't fly. It floats. We hit turbulence, but didn't bounce around. Just sort of swayed back and forth.
BTW - there is no mistaking the sound of those engines. Just an awesome, deep, throaty roar.
Posted on 7/2/17 at 2:25 pm to DavidTheGnome
My dad was a gunnery instructor on a B-17 in Florida until D-day. He requested to get on a bomber crew because he said "the war was passing him by". He wound up as a radio operator on a B-24 with 19 or 20 missions over Germany, flying out of England.
Posted on 7/2/17 at 3:09 pm to Honky Lips
Posted on 7/2/17 at 6:25 pm to DavidTheGnome
Really cool! Thanks for posting!
Posted on 7/2/17 at 6:37 pm to PawnMaster
I think a lot of people underestimate the bravery of bombing crews
You can't hide behind a wall or into a hole
You can't nimbly evade
Flak exploding at you all around you
Bullets ripping into your plane
You could get actually shot, you could get blown apart by flak, or even worse your plane could be incapacitated and you spend your last minute on earth plunging towards it
You push head first towards hostile territory knowing you're going to get into some shite and you just have to pray your plane survives
frick that
I feel the same way about submarines
You can't hide behind a wall or into a hole
You can't nimbly evade
Flak exploding at you all around you
Bullets ripping into your plane
You could get actually shot, you could get blown apart by flak, or even worse your plane could be incapacitated and you spend your last minute on earth plunging towards it
You push head first towards hostile territory knowing you're going to get into some shite and you just have to pray your plane survives
frick that
I feel the same way about submarines
Posted on 7/2/17 at 7:56 pm to DavidTheGnome
Some great stories in this thread. My Uncle Bob was a B-17 tail gunner and survived the war, but lived across the country. I was a kid and didn't get to know him, but saw my Uncle Pete who was a Half Track guy with Patton all the time and I proudly inherited all his war memorabilia, including his Bronze Star.
Noticed the Norden Bombsight in that vid, a top secret device at the time.
Worth noting that after the Mustang's range was extended by the Merlin, B-17 crews were then sent on deliberately perilous missions as bait to lure the Luftwaffe into kill zones.
Brave m'fers all.
Noticed the Norden Bombsight in that vid, a top secret device at the time.
Worth noting that after the Mustang's range was extended by the Merlin, B-17 crews were then sent on deliberately perilous missions as bait to lure the Luftwaffe into kill zones.
Brave m'fers all.
This post was edited on 7/2/17 at 8:07 pm
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