very unexpected surprise!!! PICS INSIDE TAKE A LOOK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ttaowner]

yesterday was wednesday which means my buddy and i make our routine 100 mile 1 way trip to our local racetrack 2 states away, well on sunday i talked my buddy into going to a airshow up in MA. in my buddys hometown of oxford ct for the last several years i seen the signs of the b17 was in town and i let him know it was coming to town and our plan was on the way to the track we were gonna just stop by and get check it out well it didnt end there because my buddy dan twisted my arm to go for a ride which we did. there are only something like 48 b17's left in existence left in the US out of those about 13 are able to fly and something like only 3 that that actually fly. well out of all the people in CT only around 50 people actually got to ride the plane in the 2 days it was here so i feel kinda special.the plane pictured never actually got to see battle because it was delievered to late in the war the fact that it still exists at all is a miracle because most all these planes were scrapped.

my buddy is the tall guy and the short guy. the ride was about a 1/2 hour actually up in the air and the whole experience was around a hour. cost was $475 for non eaa members or $435 for members

 

[ttaowner]

my buddy is 6'6'' and i'm 5'4'' so it was funny to see him manuever threw the plane it was made more for people my size lol

 

[ttaowner]

here are some more. any questions feel free to ask

 

[Kurt04]

That's awesome!

 

[Red C5]

That is so cool. Talk about an experience that most will never have the opportunity to enjoy.

 

[Pronto]

We have the Warbirds show here in Nashua often. I have toured the big bombers. They are cramped and pretty primative for comforts. They loop around my house since it's pretty much right in the flight path. The sound is awsome.

 

[coach]

Very very cool. Did you sit in the underhanging gun turret?

 

[TR Custom Parts]

That turret would be a perfect fit for James! Damn, so you had $500 in your pocket to take a ride?

 

[87chrisss]

Looks awesome

 

[QWICK6-MA]

That must have been a great experience. Something to remember. Great pics.

 

[salvageV6]

Cool.

 

[fitz3820]

Not sure if you went with the b-17 of the Collings Foundation but they are having an event in Mass in a few weeks.

http://www.collingsfoundation.org/cf_RofC2012.htm

 

[charlief1]

One of these days I need to take a visit to Harlingen to take a good look at the Confederate Air Force planes. My favorite WWII plane is the P38 Lightning. Glad to see you got a chance to go up in a B-17 James.

 

[ttaowner]

heres a link if anyone is interested

http://www.b17.org/

they didnt let anyone in the belley turret and to be honest with you i think you need to be about 18-24 years old and fairly short and limber to fit in there and not be afraid of really small places or hanging off the bottom of a plane while others are shooting at you from all directions. those guys had big balls no doubt and have total respect from me to do what they did to defend the freedom that we now all have!!!! that whole airplane was all fairly thin aluminum. and the tour guy said those engines have both a turbo and a supercharger on each engine and i believe he said they were 1200 hp each which was a real lot considering that they only learned ho to fly 30 years before

 

[T-CHRGD]

The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading PA has B-17 and B-25 rides every year at their WWII Weekend, first weekend in June (D-day).
This year you could also go on a B-29 (FIFI). Eventually, you will be able to ride on their P-61 Night Fighter. The only one in existence flying.
www.maam.org

 

[ttaowner]

The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading PA has B-17 and B-25 rides every year at their WWII Weekend, first weekend in June (D-day).
This year you could also go on a B-29 (FIFI). Eventually, you will be able to ride on their P-61 Night Fighter. The only one in existence flying.
www.maam.org[/quote]

thanks for tipping me off to that museum. i looked over their site briefly and i'm gonna take the ride. the p61 story is pretty cool. thanks again

 

[Guess]

Great way to spend $500! I wish they had mothballed most of those fighters and bombers in the desert after the war instead of scrapping them.

 

[groumoutis]

In 1999 I got to fly in a C-5! Talk about a one massive airplane. During the same trip I got to fly off the ship in a CH-47 chinook helicopter and then flew in a C-130.

 

[charlief1]

Just wait until you hang out of the side door of a Huey with an M-60. Some scream and I was trying to keep the beast fed. Once you've gone 90 degrees and hanging you can't go back.

 

[87we410877]

That is really awesome. I am an aircraft mechanic and had the pleaseure of meeting some interesting people in aviation. One man in particular who is named John, 97 years old now and still driving and kicking was a B-24 pilot in WW2. I could listen to his stories all day how he speaks of lindbergh and emilia eirherdt (spelling) as we would speak of our neighbors. He alsways said the 24 was a hard ship to fly and how he had to teach it to 18-19 year old kids who "couldnt fly a kite." He ditched one plane and survived it during the war. His stories and the detail was AMAZING!. The most memorable line from him was "This congress aint worth a fiddlers f**k" and "emilia was a piss poor pilot" ha.

My boss (67) was asked to issue a ferry permit for a b-17 about 15 years ago. (permit to transport by air to another air facility where maintenence would be performed). He did and when the plane left, they asked him to go. On approach to the destination they lost both engines and came in dead stick. haha. So crazy.

Check out the movie "frozen in time" about the b-17. really good but sad ending.