I Touched History

I had quite a week already. With a father’s day gift from my kids I was able to take a ride on a World War II bomber, a B-17. This is the same bomber that you see on many of the World War II movies with hundreds of bombers flying formation on their way to bomb Germany.

The Experimental Aircraft Association, also called the EAA (which I am a member) has one of the remaining B-17 bombers in flying condition and they travel the country during the summer months showing off this wonderful aircraft of a era long gone. Of the thousands that were built during the war there are only a dozen or so left in flying condition. An opportunity to fly in one of these pieces of history was an opportunity I did not want to miss.

As I arrived at the airport I saw the B-17 sitting on the tarmac shining in its bright aluminum skin. “Aluminum Overcast” is her name. After my check-in I was allowed to walk around and examine the aircraft. Thoughts of hundreds of these beautiful aircraft in formation came to mind. Every war movie I could remember, including the “Memphis Belle”, came to mind.

Since I was part of the first flight of the day, we, the passengers, had to help with the preflight of the aircraft. Those large radial engines must have their props hand turned for 9 blades to insure that oil did not fill the bottom cylinders of the engine during the night. If a cylinder had filled with oil, even partially, and the engine wasn’t turned to allow that excess oil to drain, during engine start the excess oil could cause severe damage to the engine and the aircraft. So, we lined up and each took a turn pushing the blades on each engine, one engine at a time, until 9 blades have passed over each engine.

After the preflight we boarded the aircraft for the flight and I was lucky to get the radio room. There is a hatch above the radio room designed for an emergency exit. Due to the lack of air conditioning in the aircraft, this hatch was left open to allow the breeze during the flight to fill and cool the aircraft.

Upon take off the Crew Chief signaled that we could unbuckle our seat belt and move about the aircraft, so I immediately stood up which put my head outside the top of the aircraft and I took a picture of the tail of the aircraft just as we left the runway. I thought it was a great picture.

The rest of the flight passed quickly has the passengers moved from the various positions in the aircraft. We moved from the waist guns, to the radio room, squeezed between the bomb racks (full of dummy bombs) and we crawled under the flight crew up to the nose of the aircraft, right up to the bombardier’s seat in the very front of the plane.

I knew that I had touched history. Just being in a bomber that had traveled to Europe and had bombed German targets was much to consider. Just the thought of the number of lives lost on the planes like these that were shot down during the war and the hundreds, if not thousands of deaths caused from the bombs dropping on factories, towns and cities was almost overwhelming.

During the flight I noticed a nice older woman standing next to the left side waist gunner position. She looked out the window and held the machine gun in her hands. She was wearing a picture on her blouse, obviously from World War II, of a young man in uniform. Later in the flight I asked her about the picture. She said that was her brother who died in World War II. He was as waist gunner on a B-17. She stood in the same spot on this plane that her brother stood on the plane he was shot down on.

History touched me.