yea it was here a few years back went to look at it and they let us walk/crawl through it,not alot of extra room in there but very cool.
What a beautiful machine. I'm glad to see her up and flying again. When she came to visit the small airport where I work here in Phoenix a couple of years ago, I rolled my '48 Ford Fordor out on the ramp just after sunrise for a few pictures. I shot both a full roll of color and a full roll of black and white. I got some really great shots, espescially the black and white stuff. When she visted again the following year, I did the same thing with my '52 Ford F1 pick up. The week after that visit here, she had the gear collapse over in So Cal.
Are you going to make us beg to see those pics? post 'em up bro! I fricken love those things. Here at my work, our building is an old WW2 hanger at an old army air base.
chromedRAT needs to see this. Thats the name of his little venture he has going, the one where he makes crazy cool skull knobs for the HAMB.
The Liberty Belle was here for the last couple weeks and it just headed up to Canada. I'll try to post some pictures. I landed my 152 behind it when they were taking off. It was probably a little too close but I'm a lousy pilot anyway. It was a fun ride. I was too busy watching that beautiful plane. It's a big doggie. The rides here were $375 for 45 minutes. Truly a life experience. I think they are bringing a B-25 back for the airshow on the 24th of August.
Ironically I found that plane was just in KC a few days AFTER seeing the B17 model plane video on the HAMB list. I was googling and found b17.org and missed seeing this old bird locally. Ugh! Great old plane, I'm digging a bit more into history on WWII stuff. I'm reading "Flags Of Our Fathers" by James Bradley -- the account of the flag raising on Iwo Jima. I have a feeling that there is a huge disconnect with what our fathers / grandfathers / great-grandfathers went thru in WWII . . . I can only imagine what coverage of the war would be like back then if it was covered like the wars of today. Ugh!
Killer deal! Liberty Belle stopped by here (Addison Airport in north Texas) last month. We saw it flying overhead while wakeboarding in Lewisville. I had to make a stop on the way home, but I was unprepared and all I had was my crappy cell phone. Kerry, the only flying B-17s are all G models. The Fs were very similar (no chin turret, waist gunners stood back to back instead of slightly offset like the Gs) and there are a few of those left, including the original Memphis Belle which is under restoration. A very few earlier Es, Ds, and Cs remain but most of those are in a sad state.
Very cool! I went for a ride in this one a few weeks ago, talk about fun. 1943 Twin Beech El Toro warbird.
man that's cool... anybody know if that's its original name, or is it a rechristened plane? when i started messing with aluminum, one name popped into my head and i couldn't think of anything else that would make any sense or sound half as cool as aluminum overcast... for like a week i tried to come up with something original and couldn't do it. pretty sure i picked the name up from a book or documentary as i don't think i've ever seen that particular plane in person before.
Here is a link to a website with more info on Aluminum Overcast. The site includes tour stops for this summer. Good stuff. http://www.b17.org
Flags Of Our Fathers is coming to the big screen soon.......and it's being directed by Clint Eastwood.
They were in Cedar Rapids a couple weeks ago. I was mowing the lawn and could hear those four radials winding up for takeoff at the airport five miles away. Then they flew right over my house three times. All three video camera batteries were dead and the still wouldn't focus so I just stood and stared. That thing sure doesn't look like it's moving fast enough to fly. But the sound is really enjoyable.
My Uncle is a trucker who delivers Jumbo Jet engines for Pratt & Whitney. He also volunteers for the New England Air Museum (formerly Bradley Air Museum) in CT. When I was a kid he used to take me on runs to pick up all kinds of planes and parts. At the air shows he knew all the pilots. He got me access to all the planes and the back sheds where they keep all the really cool stuff that's not ready for display. They got hit by a tornado years ago and my dad sent me down there with his tractor to grade off an area for them to set up the damaged planes for a telethon to raise repair money. Their B-17 was totaled (midsection gone from wing to tail) as well as a C-130. Many others damaged; B-47, B-29, Connie, and my favorite the B-25H. They've bounced back, but just thinking about those damaged planes still sickens me. Kinda like watching footage of cars caught in the Hurricane of '38' or an old junkyard.
Got to go make some money right now BUT tonight I'll post the inflight photos I took from that B-17 flight.
http://www.flagsofourfathers.net/ -- trailers should be coming along shortly for the movie. After this I'll probably snag Flyboys also by James Bradley.
I remember that. My field trip got cancelled because of that tornado. Now I live in Kansas- go figure... Cool!
a book that's geared more towards the amphibious war in the pacific that will make your head spin is "D-Days in the Pacific." dude REALLY lays it on the line and covers every major amphibious campaign of the pacific. i knew alot of the history but having it all there in front of me was simply amazing.
It reminds me of a story of mine. When Lake County still had thier gun shows, I was bebopping around when a Browning M2 cought my eye. These this aren't exactly common. So I strike up a talk with its owner. The man, Allen Hines, tells me that its a replica, and that its for a B-25 project down in Aurora. Well what do I see up at Oshkosh but that very plane. The crew were very nice, but they wern't letting people look inside becuse they hadn't completed it yet. I said how I met Allen and he sold me about it. Long story short, I got to go up inside UNESCORTED because I "knew" Allen. Its not what you know but who you know. Yup, its the only cannon nosed B-25 flying.
just checked around via google search, and the sentimenatl journey will be visiting my town in august. price for a flight is 450 bucks. man, if i can swing it, i'm gonna do it...
The Jalopy Journal
