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Long Beach Pages by american_tourister
 american_tourister's Long Beach Travelogues | | | |
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| Page Views: 682 Last Visit to Long Beach: 2001 | B-17 "Aluminum Overcast" by american_tourister - last update: Dec 13, 2001 |
A visit from a flying museum This flying B-17 made a visit earlier this year. I made a tour and wish I had been timely enough to book a flight. There were several WWII vets on hand, in uniform, who were conducting the tours and signing photos of the plane. One thing really struck me. You had to be small to be an airman. Nothing in there is designed for anyone over 200 pounds in weight or over 5' 10" in height. I banged my head several times and had to really squeeze a lot but I am 6' tall and weigh 250 pounds. |
Looking Aft inside fuelage from waist gunner's po The wooden board is what the tail gunner had to crawl along to get to his station. |
Ball Turret from outside The gunner in this turret had to enter from the top and be strapped in. They controlled the turret movement with their hands and feet and fired two Browning .50 caliber machine guns. It is really cramped in here and the gunners were all 5' 4" or less in height. |
Ball Turret from aft This is the top of the ball turret from inside the fuselage. |
Waist Gun Two gunners stood in the fuselage and fired these single .50 caliber Browning machine guns. They frequently had open windows and were bundled up in sheepskin and leather and wore oxygen masks while at their stations. It was altogether very uncomfortable. this particular B-17 was manufactured late in the war and had sealed windows. |
Radio Operator's Post This is located just behind the Bomb Bay and before the gunners stations. He also was the top turret gunner. |
Taxiing Forward A shot of the plane as she came towards us. |
Starboard View A good overall shot of the plane as she taxiied down the runway after landing. |
Port View Another shot of the plane on the runway. |
Cockpit view Pilots were usually college educated men from 20-22 years old. Both pilots were fully qualified but only one was in charge. |
Looking aft from upper gun turret This is the view the top turret gunner would have. |
Tail guns The gunner here was in a crouching position and fired two .50 caliber Browning machine guns. He was the most remote person in the plane and had the least chance of escaping if the plane went into a flat spin. |
Tail Markings All bombers in the 8th Airforce had tail markings such as these which indicated what unit it belonged to. |
Norden Bombsight This was a highly secret device in WWII and all aircrew had orders to destroy this instrument before bailing out. |
Bob Bay The plane could be configured with many loads but the most typical was a load of Twelve 500 pound incediary bombs for runs over Germany. Here we target a man in a red tee shirt. |
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 Comments for american_tourister about Long Beach | | | | |
jennwerner Mon Apr 30, 2007 13:16 UTC
Great Long Beach Page. Hubby and I going in July and cant wait thanks for the tips.. Jenn | malianrob Thu Apr 6, 2006 20:04 UTC
hey, long beach grand prix this weekend! i will take some pictures for you! | cazz38 Wed Feb 1, 2006 20:04 UTC
What a fantastic place to have lived,enjoyed reading your page James. | erikatheskysailor Sat Jan 1, 2005 20:24 UTC
That's really neat to get such an up-close inspection of the B-17! I enjoyed the photos. :) It was here at our airshow one recent year but I didn't get a chance to tour it. :( |
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