So I crawled aboard the B-17 at the Airshow...

[warrprayer]

Last edited Sat Aug 24, 2013, 04:25 PM - Edit history (1)

... 5 bucks to walk through the aircraft. What could go wrong?

Except maybe this....



my 300 lb girth would not go through this crawlway. My cellphone fell into the belly of the plane when crawling out backwards. Gave a nice donation to crew member for retrieving it....

the plane...



DID NOT get stuck in this one -







They even let me sit in the pilots seat!



Big Momma always treats me right...

Big and Beautiful C-123 Fairchild Provider!

[Sherman A1]

1. Did a walk through on one years ago with my wife

she hit her head in the bomb bay. Still reminds me of the Bombay Bump she suffered for my need to go inside....

[warrprayer]

2. I understand

that in flight the Bombbay doors would open under the weight of 100 lb. for emergency bailout. I found out you WEREN'T going through that catwalk wearing your parachute... that had to be a scary feeling in combat. They tested crews for claustrophobia before letting them fly in these things. I can understand that perfectly. It's like cawing into an aluminum coffin. No such problem on the C-123 "Thunderpig".

edit- "Yankee Lady" picked my pocket!

[bif]

3. My dad was a navigator on a B-29 in the Pacific

I had a chance to walk through one at the Wright-Patterson AFB a few years back. Wow! I couldn't believe what a small space he had to sit in! I would have gone bonkers.

[warrprayer]

5. no doubt

considering the missions could be quite long!

[panader0]

4. My dad had more than two planes

One was named "The Desk Dodger" and the other "Auxillium Ab Alta" (Latin for 'help for on high')

[warrprayer]

6. cool

there are some interesting names for planes. Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper went down on this one similar to this named "Miss American Pie"...

[loli phabay]

7. if you think thats tight try a whiskey class submarine for cramped

[Blue_Tires]

18. I'd freak out uncontrollably on a sub...

I don't even like being below the water line on a boat

[warrprayer]

8. In my defense...

a guy just as big as me, perhaps bigger, was one of the most (in)famous fighter/cargo pilots in American history...

<snip>

"NEW YORK — More than half a century after he died in the flaming crash of a CIA-owned cargo plane and became one of the first two Americans to die in combat in Vietnam, a legendary soldier of fortune known as “Earthquake McGoon” is finally coming home.

The skeletal remains of James B. McGovern Jr., discovered in an unmarked grave in remote northern Laos in 2002, were positively identified on Sept. 11 by laboratory experts at the U.S. military’s Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii."

"
Larger than life
Six feet and 260 pounds — huge for a fighter pilot — McGovern carved out a flying career during and after World War II that made him a legend in Asia. An American saloon owner in China dubbed him “Earthquake McGoon,” after a hulking hillbilly character in the comic strip “Li’l Abner.”

He died on May 6, 1954, when his C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo plane was hit by ground fire while parachuting a howitzer to the besieged French garrison at Dien Bien Phu. “Looks like this is it, son,” McGovern radioed another pilot as his crippled plane staggered 75 miles into Laos, where it cartwheeled into a hillside."

<snip>

McGovern was one of the original "Flying Tigers" who fought the Japanese in China.


http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15335924/ns/us_news-life/t/earthquake-mcgoon-finally-flying-home/

[trof]

9. I wonder at what point in his life he weighed 260?

I've been in the P-51 cockpit and it was a tight squeeze for me back then at 6' 3" and 220.

Yeah, if you weren't in the cockpit those old bombers could be claustrophobic as hell.

[warrprayer]

10. from what I read...

most of his entire flying career, and the guy was fond of his beer like I am. They modified the seat in the Tiger Shark seat so he could pull the stick back!

[trof]

13. The ideal fighter pilot (before 'G' suits) was a short wiry guy.

In high 'G' dogfights, momentary blackouts were common.
I've experienced that.
The blood drains from the brain into lower regions.
The shorter distance from brain to lower extremities was a plus.

The 'G' suit I wore later on was a pair of chaps with rubber bladders that automatically inflate at higher 'G' loads.

[warrprayer]

14. see post below

it also seems like you were right about McGovern flying the P-51! You are certainly in a position to know! Thanks for your service!

[warrprayer]

16. library time is up!!!

I'm 10-7! Thanks for all who contributed their service to country, and knowledge to this thread!

[warrprayer]

11. also

McGovern was flying the P-40 Tiger Shark for the Tigers. Probably not a lot more room though!

[warrprayer]

12. !!!!!

It looks like you might be more accurate THAN I AM! there is controversy that suggests McGovern may indeed have flown the P-51!

<snip>

Editor's note: When I first did this story about Jim McGovern in October and November 2006, the sources I used all said Lt. James B. McGovern, Jr. first went to China in 1944, assigned to the 75th Fighter Squadron (FS) "Tiger Sharks," 23rd Fighter Group (FG), 14th AAF, flying the P-40 Warhawk. Several of these accounts said he shot down four Japanese fighters in aerial combat and destroyed five more on the ground. Nearly all summaries I saw of McGovern's early days in the AAF tell this story. Since the time I first published the story, Bob Bourlier alerted me that while it is possible that McGovern flew P-40s with the 75th, for a fact he was assigned to the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (TRS) "Black Lightnings" of the 23rd FG, flying the P-51 Mustang. I followed up on this and have confirmed Bob is right. Once he tipped me, I found I would have to re-accomplish the section describing his WWII experiences.

<snip>

http://www.talkingproud.us/Military/Earthquake%20McGoon/EarthquakeMcGoonIntro.html

[Populist_Prole]

15. I was fortunate to do the same thing some years back. I enjoyed soaking it all in.

Pay 5 dollars each to spend all the time walking through a B-17 ( Nine O Nine ) and one of the few fully armed "real" ( not an LB-30 ) B-24 Liberators around. For as long as I wanted. What struck me was how much much more cramped they were compared to depictions in movies and documentaries. It's a wonder the crew didn't bump into each other just doing their jobs. The way the interiors of those planes were depicted in some of the movies, that is, if the interiors were as big as the screen-set mock ups were, the plane would have to be about a thousand feet long and 40 feet wide.

[warrprayer]

17. it was instant

claustrophobia for me, and mri's don't bother me. It was like a hand grabbing my throat.

[davidpdx]

19. That is pretty cool

There is one plane in particular that I dream of someday being able to walk through. I've touched the fuselage of the plane.