Traveling exhibit allows rides on WWII bombers

[cec]

Traveling exhibit allows rides on WWII bombers




The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jun 24, 2007 17:35:15 EDT

SEATTLE — When John Hull learned that a B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber was coming to town, the World War II veteran made sure his family got a ride on the type of plane he flew during the war.
“I just wanted them to experience the same exhilarating experience I had,” said John Hull, 82, who flew 34 missions during as a gunner. “Us veterans didn’t think about [the war] until we got old. This is history that has to be recorded.”
The Hull family’s flight was part of a traveling exhibit from The Collings Foundation, which promotes “living history” by restoring relics like the B-17 and allowing people to experience them firsthand.
The 130-city tour stopped at Everett’s Paine Field before coming to Seattle, where veterans, history buffs and families got a taste of World War II.
“It’s the history,” said Heijo Kuil, an engineer at Boeing who saw the planes in Everett. He volunteers at The Museum of Flight restoring planes. His interest in the planes is tied to his own family history — his father flew for the Dutch air force.
Once airborne, the planes provide a window into the conditions in which crews flew. Open windows for machine guns allow cold air to rush in, making the metal plane chilly. And these aircraft are not soundproof so the ride is loud.
People are allowed to walk around the planes once they’re flying at a safe cruising speed. In the B-24, that includes trekking on a narrow catwalk at the central bomb bay, where one wrong step could send someone tumbling out of the plane.
After landing, Richard Hull described his first trip in the B-17 his dad loves.
“It was quite an experience, exhilarating,” he said. “The head room was cramped. We got to go to the nose of the plane, where the view the gunner got was even better than the pilot’s. Everybody enjoyed the ride.”
Hull’s father told more stories outside the plane. He served as a “waist gunner,” manning a 65-inch-long machine gun mounted midplane. Sometimes, he said, the piles of spent shell casings reached his knees.
He recalled losing one plane, crash landing twice and bailing out three times.
Growing up, Richard Hull did not grasp what his father did during the war, but after flying in the B-17, he knows better.
“Now, I understand what he did,” he said.



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[sfga6970]

A friend of mine from the Legion took a flight on the B-17 when they were here in NY. He sid the 45 minute flight cost him $425.00. But, he said it was worth it, the flight was amazing and exciting.

[filthybeast]

I got my FIL on a B17 when it was at El Toro years ago. He was training to fly one when the war ended. As I recall it was named the Ninty-O-Nine or Ninty nine.

[Snowden]

The "Flying Fortress." Somehow the magic is still there. Bob saw 1000 of our planes fly overhead when he was fighting in France. Probably not all B-17, but too high to tell, because he really only saw their com trails.

I'd love to fly in one of them.

[KBay84]

Originally Posted by filthybeast

I got my FIL on a B17 when it was at El Toro years ago. He was training to fly one when the war ended. As I recall it was named the Ninty-O-Nine or Ninty nine.

El Toro was a great place for air shows. We'd haul folding lounge chairs up on the Power Plants roof, talk about a grand stand view!

Love to get a ride on a B-17 or -24...

[filthybeast]

You bet KBay El Toro was a great base. Out here at Edwards the Air shows are good but nothing like El Toro.