Spotted: Not A Marauder But . . .

[JMan]

. . . A Liberator and a Flying Fortress. We have both in town for an air show. It is truly awesome to see these historic aircraft flying around! They pay homage to the brave men who directed these craft for the sake of liberty and freedom in a time long passed. They should never be forgotten. :beer: Awesome!

J

http://www.warbirdalley.com/b24.htm

http://www.warbirdalley.com/b17.htm

[magindat]

Super cool.
I webmastered the Stuart Air show back in the early 90's and got to get up in some of these things. Very impressive machines!

[TRP460]

. . . A Liberator and a Flying Fortress. We have both in town for an air show. It is truly awesome to see these historic aircraft flying around! They pay homage to the brave men who directed these craft for the sake of liberty and freedom in a time long passed. They should never be forgotten. :beer: Awesome!

J

http://www.warbirdalley.com/b24.htm

http://www.warbirdalley.com/b17.htm

I hope you don't mind but I just e-mailed the link to this thread to my 83- year old father... he was a waist-gunner/radio operator (the top turret behind the cockpit) aboard his B-24 "Liberator" in early February of 1945 when it was shot down over Nurenburg, Germany.

It was his 18th mission over occupied Europe (7 shy of completing his tour of duty) and he was forced to "bail-out" through the bomb bay doors because his ship was on fire, along with 4 other crewmen (the pilot and co-pilot didn't make it out). He was immediately captured and detained as a POW at a Luft/Stalag.

Dad has often said that he wished he had had a camera to record General Patton's 3rd Army crashing through the front gates of his prison camp with a half-track vehicle...of course the German army troops guarding the prison had vanished sometime during the night before...probably a wise decision!

Anyway, thanks for your kind words... despite my father's age, he's still very sharp-minded and depends on NO ONE other than himself to get around, and I know he will appreciate the recognition as well!

[jimlam56]

J, they passed Right Over my house last week here in Macclenny, on their way to the Keystone Heights airport. Way cool!
Hard to imagine 100s of them in the air.
I remember many years ago taking my (then) young sons for a tour of the planes at the Ft Lauderdale executive airpark.
They will never forget it...
Jake, you would have to fold over double to get in that rear gunner seat...:D

[jimlam56]

I hope you don't mind but I just e-mailed the link to this thread to my 83- year old father... he was a waist-gunner/radio operator (the top turret behind the cockpit) aboard his B-24 "Liberator" in early February of 1945 when it was shot down over Nurenburg, Germany.

It was his 18th mission over occupied Europe (7 shy of completing his tour of duty) and he was forced to "bail-out" through the bomb bay doors because his ship was on fire, along with 4 other crewmen (the pilot and co-pilot didn't make it out). He was immediately captured and detained as a POW at a Luft/Stalag.

Dad has often said that he wished he had had a camera to record General Patton's 3rd Army crashing through the front gates of his prison camp with a half-track vehicle...of course the German army troops guarding the prison had vanished sometime during the night before...probably a wise decision!

Anyway, thanks for your kind words... despite my father's age, he's still very sharp-minded and depends on NO ONE other than himself to get around, and I know he will appreciate the recognition as well!

Please thank your Father from me for his service to our Country.
His generation truly was the Greatest, IMHO.

[JMan]

Please thank your Father from me for his service to our Country.
His generation truly was the Greatest, IMHO.

Ditto!

J

[Jeffh]

I took a ride in the EAA's B-17 called the Aluminum Overcast. It truly was awesome. It wasn't cheap, but well worth every penny, and I would do it again in a heartbeat if given the chance. I can't imagine being on one of those things while getting shot at, shot up and shot down. It was loud and windy. At 25K feet, it had to be miserable. My neighbor while I was growing up a Navigator on a B-17, and he loved to talk about it. Everytime I had my RC planes, just about all scale warbirds, out in the yard he would come over and talk about his days.

[vegasmarauder]

I was able to do the ride in a B-17 and a B-24. Amazing to think these guys flew those things for hours on end in freezing conditions. You are right, they are windy, noisy, vibrate a bunch, and smell of hydraulic fluid. I will be forever impressed with the fortitude of those guys...