The crews during WW2 were all very young and very frightened. It was extremely cold in most instances , well below zero. No pressurization, flight suit heaters that did not work, very little sleep trying to stay alive. Very few "naps".If it gets too bad, I'll set down and stretch my legs and get some coffee or a coke or something... It isn't like I'm flying a 747.
I can be down in ten minutes or less and land almost anywhere no higher than I fly. And the choices the STOL 180 give me are almost unlimited on aerodromes to choose from. Pavement, grass, oil field road, a farm or ranch, no problem. So I don't push it..I'm sure somebody will be along to quote an FAR about it.
We rode in the CAF's B-17, and I can understand how on a grueling long mission in that harsh environment, the crew could trade off catching some sleep. I don't think anyone would have a problem with that as long as someone at the controls stays awake.
sort of trying to push his fatness feet first through that narrow low area. I briefly panicked internally thinking what would I do if we had an emergency now with this human cork between me and an exit. 
He eventually had to give up and said "Don't think this is going to work". I just very politely said "you're probably right". 
I spent some time taking to B17 crew inside a B-17. The radio / top turret guy said you could tell when you got near the target and into the flack by the change in current draw as everyone turned down the heaters in their suits.
Hello,
As of late I have been watching ferry pilots on you tube claim to have been flying for 20 hrs straight from California to Hawaii in a Cessna 172. How on earth do they manage that?
WOOOHOOO I got it
I'm 6' 2". I fit great in the pilot's seat. I don't fit so well when standing up.
There is an exit down there. It's to the left and below when sitting in he navigator's seat. It's a panel that swings outward and was how some pilots entered the bird.Reminds me when I went for a ride in the B-17 last year at Oshkosh. There were 6-8 of us who went up and we all roamed around the B-17 during the flight to experience all the stations. Four of the passengers were really huge so they didn't try to go squeeze through to that front area below and in front of the pilots, that front turret area I forgotten the name for it. Anyway when I took my turn up front there, as I turned around one of the huge dudes was coming on through and he was wedged
From what I've heard, he designed he airplane to be quite unstable. Just keeping the bird in the air should have kept him on top of it.Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic crossing was 33 1/2 hours. I think he was awake quite a while before departing, too.
We lost more pilots to accidents than to the enemy during that conflict. Pulling stunts like Boyington talks about is a part of why it happened that way. Bottom line is the TV shows like that are not really "reality" -- just fantasy posing as reality. The reality is that there is no safe way for a solo pilot to nap in flight.
