Simviation Forums

Okay, here we go... a recap for those who didn't hear: I decided to fork over almost $400 for a 25-minute flight in the EAA's very nice B17-G, Aluminum Overcast... she's on a national tour this summer; if you can't or won't pay for a ride, you can still visit and take a tour on the ramp. Check here to see if she'll be near your town soon...

http://b17.org/


I arrived over an hour early, having woken up before my alarm went off (unheard of on a Saturday!). And there she was, parked on the ramp at the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, Long Island (some museum pics to follow, BTW- excellent museum!!).









There were eight of us for the first flight of the day; and I had some interesting chats with some of them, and the Overcast's ground crew. Love that nose art... forgot to ask what the bombs signify; this baby was delivered early in 1945 and never saw combat.











I was first in the door by lucky accident, so I got one of the aft-facing flight deck jumpseats for takeoff. Ahh... legroom.

     




Shooting from here proved interesting, but I did my best reverse-periscope style, and got some decent snaps (and video- watch YouTube, coming soon) of the pre-takeoff activities, as well as the takeoff roll.
That's Yours Truly's noggin in the lower right, BTW... the mighty Wright 1820s are just coming alive here... we then taxiied away from the ramp for the runup.

     





Cycling the props... this is gonna be fun, I can tell...

     



Next: part 2!

Great fun  :o

[quote]Great fun

Blindin

Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod, you lucky dog! Now there is something different and rare...

looks like someone had a wonderful time

Well done Sean...glad you did it

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

Lucky. Mother. F***.
Geeez, well, if they let me take a camera, I'll get pics flying to Oceana, Virginia, for the Oceana airshow.
Damn you're lucky!

Well, with this post my jealousy is starting...

Lucky. Mother. F***.
Geeez, well, if they let me take a camera, I'll get pics flying to Oceana, Virginia, for the Oceana airshow.
Damn you're lucky!

Aboard what kind of aircraft?

That B-17 is one beautiful bird!

Aboard what kind of aircraft?

I dunno. Since its a long haul, I'd guess they'd send up packin in a C-5 to transport People and luggage, because with limited space, and four people a plane, a cessna would take quite a while to fly to Oceana.
Cheers,
Doc.

as i had mentioned my little tour in part 4, pic 3 reminded me of something...its still hard to believe the crew actually had to move along that little 4" wide beam (the shiny thing at the top in pic 3) to get forward and aft on, and, at times, with the bomb bay doors wide open, and you looking down at the enemy's doorstep!