Topic: Vintage airplanes: let's see your pictures

[BeSeeingYou]

This summer the Twin Cities had two "Big Bomber" weekends with the B-17's Nine O Nine and Liberty Belle flying in for the weekend.  The B-24 Witchcraft also flew in with Nine O Nine.  Got more pics to post if people are interested.  These give a good overview of the B-17.  They are a combination of shots from both aircraft.




Engine start up


You can see the hatch just below her foot.  That's where you climb in.


1200 HP Wright Cyclone


We were able to sit at the end of the runway on takeoff


This is the view as you climb in from the forward access hatch looking out the nose. The secret Norden bombsight in the center.


You crawl under the cockpit and then standing up under the top turret looking forward


View aft from the top turret


Looking aft through the bomb bay from under the top turret.  Imagine walking this at 20,000 feet with the doors open


Radio room just aft the bomb bay


Ball turret



View aft into the rear gunner position, tail wheel housing in the foreground

These planes fly all over the country and if they come to your town it is well worth it to check them out.  You can even go for a flight for around $400.  I did this several years ago and it was a great experience.  Even if you don't go for a flight just to hear those engines fire up is cool.  These planes seem to be little more than reinforced tin cans and to think of men fighting and dying in them at 20,000 feet is a bit humbling.

[Retro Rocket]

I am a huge fan of WW2 fighter planes and have hundreds of pics of P51's kittyhawks, spitfires, corsairs, bearcats, wildcats, fury's, avengers, thunderbolts, hurricanes, skyraiders, even Messerschmidt's focke wolfs, ju87 stukers and zero's,  just to name a few.  When i have some more time i will post some nice pics...

Mick  

[BeSeeingYou]

I am a huge fan of WW2 fighter planes and have hundreds of pics of P51's kittyhawks, spitfires, corsairs, bearcats, wildcats, fury's, avengers, thunderbolts, hurricanes, skyraiders, even Messerschmidt's focke wolfs, ju87 stukers and zero's,  just to name a few.  When i have some more time i will post so nice pics...

Mick 

Looking forward to it.  We visited in 2006 and spent a day in Canberra at the War Museum and I saw all the great aircraft there.  It was hard to get good photos due to the very subdued lighting and my cheap digital camera.  I was really bummed I could not get a good shot of the Me-262.

[bill440cars]

   Great shots of the old Bomber. Always enjoy them myself. I always enjoyed the old Movies with shots of the old planes. by today's standards, the 2 planes I crewed in the Air Force (F4C Phantom and the F106 Delta Dart), are OLD! The F106 was all right, but my heart was in the F4 (tail # 0595). The F106 was #063! Those were the days!    

[Retro Rocket]

Love the old Mcdonnell F4 phantom's Bill, when i was a young boy we had these huge Norfolk island pine trees just down the road and on Anzac day the Phantoms in the RAF used to do a low pass flyover and i would climb to the top of the pine trees just to get closer to them, they were awesome old planes.....

Mick

[mick7504]

Here are some photos I took at the Luftwaffe Museum at Gatow in Berlin last year.
Really is amazing place and there are several sites with a lot more photos for anyone interested.
Here is one of those links here.
http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/World/Europe/Germany/Berlin-Gatow/Luftwaffe_Museum.htm

[bucky katt]

anyone that has traveled I95 near the georgia/florida border probably recognizes this shot. best looking airplane ever built IMHO.

[dave500]

that waist gunner position looks a bit open,i thought they got a couple of heavy plates for token protection!!im lucky enough to have never been involved in anything like that,,and always remember how much so many have given and lost ,so we can all do this..

[mick7504]

Here is a B52 Bomber at the Darwin Aviation Heritage Museum.
This aircraft was kindly donated by the USAF.

[Retro Rocket]

Curtis Warhawk.

corsair

Grumman Wildcat

Republic thunderbolt

P51D Mustang


Mick

[bucky katt]

Here is a B52 Bomber at the Darwin Aviation Heritage Museum.
This aircraft was kindly donated by the USAF.

i've always wanted to see a B.U.F.F. up close.

[mick7504]

Bucky
They are big mothers and look awesome on take off and landing.
Merry Xmas mate.
Just gotta get the young one to sleep now.
She's on Rudolf patrol in the bedroom. 
Mick

[Bob Wessner]

The Cobra is a 'personal' favorite since a brace of them came to our aid in '68. They [and their mini guns] scared the crap out of us, and they were on our side. 



Other than that, I always like the P-38.

[demon78]

I mostly worked on vintage A/C The Lancaster I'm reasonably sure I've fixed, the Neptune I can see the numbers and know I've worked on it, the Harvard on or two like it and the same for Exploder (Twin Beech) they had them at station flight and every once while we'd go and get them ready or fix them.
Bill the demon.

[demon78]

Sorry I buggered that up.
Bill the demon.

[demon78]

One more time.
Bill the demon.

[demon78]

The last
Bill the demon.

[BobbyR]

A friend of mine that drives a newschopper sent me this:

 

[BeSeeingYou]

This is my favorite aircraft, the Messerschmidt ME-262.  The worlds first operational jet aircraft.  Beauty and lethality all combined it one spectacular package.

[mick750F]

  
   I had one of the biggest thrills and best experiences of my life when I got to fly with my dad in the Collings Foundation B-24 several years ago. At the time it was painted as the "All American", it's now painted as "Witchcraft" as seen in the first post. The "All American" is the plane that my dad was shot down in so there was an extra thrill in it for him. Twenty years old at the time he was the radio operator/waist gunner. When we flew together he was in his mid 70's but that day he seemed to be 20 again, it's about the most excited I ever saw him.

   The Collings Foundation restores military aircraft and tours the country with them. If they ever come near you I highly suggest you check it out. You can tour the planes on the ground or if you want an experience you'll never forget you can take a flight in one...it's not cheap, but it's worth it. A link to their site... http://www.collingsfoundation.org/menu.htm

   And here's their B-24 painted as the "All American" with the B-17 behind it.




   All of my pics from the day I flew are on film. Someday I'll transfer them and post some here.

Mike
  

[Bob Wessner]

There's an annual air show here at Willow Run Airport associated with the Yankee Air Museum. I was out working in the yard one day this past summer and heard and unusual aircraft sound. It was a fairly low flying B-17! Quite distinctive sound it was.

[BobbyR]

They brought their Bombers to my local Airport and I took my son to see them. I was surprised at how small they are inside. Hollywood gave you impression they had some room in there. The bombs were the size of bowling pins. No wonder they sent 100 planes on raids.

[demon78]

Ive probably said it before but when my sqdn converted to Neptunes they got all the Lancs together for a final flypast all 12 Ac, in formation it was an slightly overcast day, slightly cool, when the formation went over the hair on my neck stood up and I could imagine that we were all in southern England in 1944 watching them formating up on the bomber stream. I'll remember it until I pack in. When I worked at Kuhn Airmotive in California we overhauled engines For Stearman's and Grumman Gooses



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[techy5025]

I flew into Oshkosh for the EAA convention in the late 80's. The weather was bad so I had to fly IFR from Chicago and was in the "soup" until late in the approach. There were a lot of arrivals and we were vectored all the way out to Lake Michigan. They kept asking us to keep the speed up and after landing I saw that they had a B-17, a B-24, a Qantas 747, several other planes, and me all in trail.

That was an exciting day and a great show!

Jim

[BobbyR]

The Cobra is a 'personal' favorite since a brace of them came to our aid in '68. They [and their mini guns] scared the crap out of us, and they were on our side.  



Other than that, I always like the P-38.

Bob, the Cobras they sent over to Nam in 68' looked like this. Twice as fast as the UH1 and far more firepower and range. Charlie crapped his pants when they came calling. The air conditioning was the icing on the cake.