And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Wings of freedom. I've been for a ride the B-17 "909". Also got to sit down and talk at length to a navigator who flew two of his missions on the original 909.
took instruction in a b17g from a guy in texas west of waco. $750/hr. got my taildragger endorsement in my logs from that. the "runway" was a five~six foot wide strip of asphalt he laid down to accommodate his p38 and b25s(ex-catch22 movie props-pun intended). 1972 was a very very good year
as I recall the ailerons were very effective and not very heavy as you would expect. balance panels? that rudder-you had to really put your boot into it. the engines were great! back then, in texas, one could get 115/145 avgas. you paid for it but it was there. we had two hundred gallons of 100/130 in the mains and the engines were just fine with it. cockpit was a lot smaller than I expected but then I was 6'4" and 230#. and unlike the movies, we used a ladder to board in nose hatch. curling up into the aircraft is so undignified. amazing what we write in our log books when we are young.
when you are young, savings are considered worth only what you are saving it for. three of us thought an hour of B17 time in our logs was a worthwhile investment. I never regretted cost.
North American Aviation was a GM Division until 1948. Pratt & Whitney did not have the manufacturing capacity to keep up with the demand for their engines, so Chevrolet made them, too. That is a lot of General Motors cruising along there!
Supposedly, one can rent time on the port side flex-mount ANM2 .50 cal beam gun on certain select flights in the Liberator, for shooting at ground targets. Now that is good thinking, and I intend to do just that before I kick the bucket!
Collings Foundation:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.collingsfoundation.org/
I've seen all of 'em at my home airport on their tour.
Wings of freedom. I've been for a ride the B-17 "909". Also got to sit down and talk at length to a navigator who flew two of his missions on the original 909.
ReplyDeletetook instruction in a b17g from a guy in texas west of waco. $750/hr. got my taildragger endorsement in my logs from that. the "runway" was a five~six foot wide strip of asphalt he laid down to accommodate his p38 and b25s(ex-catch22 movie props-pun intended). 1972 was a very very good year
Deletefirst oil crisis made him a lot of money.he had acres of aircraft. not one jet. he thought helicopters were some kind of sin against God.
Deleteas I recall the ailerons were very effective and not very heavy as you would expect. balance panels? that rudder-you had to really put your boot into it. the engines were great! back then, in texas, one could get 115/145 avgas. you paid for it but it was there. we had two hundred gallons of 100/130 in the mains and the engines were just fine with it. cockpit was a lot smaller than I expected but then I was 6'4" and 230#. and unlike the movies, we used a ladder to board in nose hatch. curling up into the aircraft is so undignified. amazing what we write in our log books when we are young.
Deletewhen you are young, savings are considered worth only what you are saving it for. three of us thought an hour of B17 time in our logs was a worthwhile investment. I never regretted cost.
DeleteNorth American Aviation was a GM Division until 1948. Pratt & Whitney did not have the manufacturing capacity to keep up with the demand for their engines, so Chevrolet made them, too. That is a lot of General Motors cruising along there!
ReplyDeletePoetry in motion.
ReplyDeleteI also took a ride in the 909. It left me in awe of the young men who flew those birds to war.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly, one can rent time on the port side flex-mount ANM2 .50 cal beam gun on certain select flights in the Liberator, for shooting at ground targets. Now that is good thinking, and I intend to do just that before I kick the bucket!
ReplyDelete