nddons
Touchdown! Greaser!
I'm had the honor and privilege to fly a short cross country in Aluminum Overcast today. It was one of the highlights it's of my aviation life, and ranks with my first solo for the thrill of being in such a beautiful, historical aircraft.
Four of us were asked by Kurt, the president of Wings over Waukesha, to accompany this fantastic B-17's pilots and crew when this bomber repositioned from Waukesha to Springfield, Illinois.
My dad was on a B-17 base in England before the invasion, and talked his way onto a mission as a waist gunner. So I spent a good portion of the trip there.
Sitting in the nose, i could see that the bombardier had the best show in the house. Until the flack started exploding around him. To be able to control the aircraft on a bombing run, with your face pressed on the Norden bombsight, and then hitting the .50 cal machine guns to hit the Messerschmitts doing a head-on attack at the formation ..... I just sat in awe over what these men went through.
Pictures to follow.
Four of us were asked by Kurt, the president of Wings over Waukesha, to accompany this fantastic B-17's pilots and crew when this bomber repositioned from Waukesha to Springfield, Illinois.
My dad was on a B-17 base in England before the invasion, and talked his way onto a mission as a waist gunner. So I spent a good portion of the trip there.
Sitting in the nose, i could see that the bombardier had the best show in the house. Until the flack started exploding around him. To be able to control the aircraft on a bombing run, with your face pressed on the Norden bombsight, and then hitting the .50 cal machine guns to hit the Messerschmitts doing a head-on attack at the formation ..... I just sat in awe over what these men went through.
Pictures to follow.
