Don't see one of THOSE every day..........

[machine shop tom]

So I'm working in the shop today and I can hear a plane flying overhead. I step outside and see.......

A B-24 Liberator flying overhead!

There's an air show this weekend. They had planned on having a B-17. Maybe the B-24 is in addition to, or instead of, the Flying Fortress.

Either way, I'm so excited. I'm taking my son (14yrs old) to the show. I don't know who's going to be the bigger kid. There will be a TBF/TBM Avenger there as well (among many other planes). I'm looking forward to seeing the Avenger up close 'cause they were on my Dad's carrier in the war.......

I am so NOT working this Saturday!

tom

[1989TransAm]

Pretty neat. That is something you don't see everyday.

[Alan Roehrich]

That's probably the B-24 from the Collins Foundation. They have one of each, B-17 and B-24. Usually costs between $5 and $10 to tour the inside, and worth every penny. They also sometimes offer rides, but at $350 they're expensive. It ain't cheap to operate one of those things, 8K HP worth of radial engines go through a lot of expensive avgas and oil. Always drop a little in their tip jar, so others can enjoy the treat that you enjoyed.

The coolest thing, if you hang around, and watch, you'll usually find one or more men, usually around 80 years old, with an entirely different look in their eye when they're around those planes. If you'll talk to them just a little, you'll probably get an incredible story about their time in one between 1941 and 1945. THAT is the best thing about those air shows. Those men are damned near all gone. Everyone needs to hear their stories before they fold their wings and leave us forever. If you get really lucky, and meet one or more, enjoy the story, and please, make sure you thank them for their service, as you might be the last person who ever does. If you have a camera, offer to take their picture with the plane and send them a print. Or if they have a camera, offer to take their picture.

I have a lot of friends I met that way, and more that they introduced me to. Most of them are gone now, but I keep them with me. A lot of them are up there with my Dad now, sharing their USAAF stories with each other.

[machine shop tom]

A few years ago the Collings Foundation had their B-17G and B-24 at a YAF museum about 50 miles from my town. I got to tour both of them. While they are large planes from the outside, inside they are cramped, especially for the 10 guys inside that were being targeted by flak and fighters.

I could have gone for a ride in the B-17, but it probably would have been a 350 buck down payment on a divorce.

Now it's 430 bucks.

Hmm, married life or a flight in a WWII bomber.........

Decisions, decisions.........


tom

[Procision-Auto]

[machine shop tom]

OOPS, my mistake. It was a B-17. I was fooled because the plane is natural aluminum (silver-colored) except for the tail. The tail is mostly brown-red, so it didn't show up like the rest of the plane from the angle I saw it. It was far enough away that I saw the four engines, but no tail. That's why I assumed it had twin tails, like the B-24.

I'm explaining this because I'm embarrassed. I should know these planes well by now, I've built dozens of models and have read many, many books on the subject of WWII aviation and have seen enough of both planes to know the difference.

Anyway, the airshow went well, weather cooperated and I got many pictures and about an hour and half of video.

And I got to tour through the B-17...........

tom

[Procision-Auto]

Pretty darn close...easy to mistake from a distance.

[machine shop tom]

Yep, it was this one in particular


tom

[SWR]

Yep, it was this one in particular


tom

Nice pic. I've only seen a B17 (Sally B) over here once, and then I was just 12 years old or so so I cannot really recall much other than sitting on my stephfathers shoulders and head-butting the barrel of a .50 in the nose of it, so I need to go to Flying Legends next year... in a DC3.

[dfree383]

That's probably the B-24 from the Collins Foundation. They have one of each, B-17 and B-24. Usually costs between $5 and $10 to tour the inside, and worth every penny. They also sometimes offer rides, but at $350 they're expensive. It ain't cheap to operate one of those things, 8K HP worth of radial engines go through a lot of expensive avgas and oil. Always drop a little in their tip jar, so others can enjoy the treat that you enjoyed.

The coolest thing, if you hang around, and watch, you'll usually find one or more men, usually around 80 years old, with an entirely different look in their eye when they're around those planes. If you'll talk to them just a little, you'll probably get an incredible story about their time in one between 1941 and 1945. THAT is the best thing about those air shows. Those men are damned near all gone. Everyone needs to hear their stories before they fold their wings and leave us forever. If you get really lucky, and meet one or more, enjoy the story, and please, make sure you thank them for their service, as you might be the last person who ever does. If you have a camera, offer to take their picture with the plane and send them a print. Or if they have a camera, offer to take their picture.

I have a lot of friends I met that way, and more that they introduced me to. Most of them are gone now, but I keep them with me. A lot of them are up there with my Dad now, sharing their USAAF stories with each other.

X2 I'm always amazed to hear the stories first hand too. It's a damn shame that generation is fading fast.