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How it happened.
On the 4th of
July weekend, Boise was visited by two unique aircraft: a B17G Flying Fortress and a B24J Liberator. These WWII Heavy bombers were two of the key weapons used by the Army Air Force; the B17 in Europe and the B24 in
Europe and the
Pacific. These two visiting aircraft are rare. The B17 is one of few left flying. The B24 is one of two flying Liberator left. Each of these aircraft were produced in about 15,000 units, each. At
the end of the war, it was a race to destroy as many as quickly
as possible. Not that war is an event to celebrate, rather, these aircraft repersented some of the best of the United States of America during a
difficult time in our history. Thousands of Americans were employed in designing, building, flying and dying
in these aircraft. It is a shame that there are so few left as a reminder of the best and the worst of
what people are capable of. It was a time of opportunity, and Virginia urged me to pay the price of a ticket to take a ride. What a gal!
I chose the B17. On the night before the big day, I was informed that
the B17 had lost an engine and would not be flying. Would I be willing to fly in the B24...OF COURSE. So the next morning, a windy, cold July 4th we were at Gowan field for the flight of a lifetime.
The B24
and B17 are similar in size and performance. They were friendly rivals for top spot as high altitude bombers. By today's standards they are both small aircraft.
4 radial piston engines, turbosupercharged to
enable bombing from over 20,000 feet. Noise beyond belief from 56 cylinders pounding out almost 5,000 horsepower, and looking out the waist gunner's open window, those engines are about 20 feet away, OBOY, what a
sound! The wind blowing through the fuselage is a gale, the smell of burned gasoline permeates the air. Vibration is everywhere, but in the tail gunners seat, it is like riding over a chuck-holed dirt road with no
springs. The tail pounds up and down and vibrates fiercely. The seating for the gunner is so small; this job was made for special, small people. Everything about the B24 is not what a neophyte like me would expect.
If you are claustrophobic, or sensitive to noise, don't ride in it.
Of the others that rode with me, some were veterans of WWII and flew in the Liberator. One waist-gunner flew many missions and was shot
down by flak over Rostock. The flak took out 3 engines, and the B24 cannot fly on one. So they all bailed out and spent the rest of the war in a prison camp. Another was a pilot of the B24, and just the way he
looked at this airplane was enough message to all of us to not interrupt him in his rememberances.
Anyway, I took the ride, and here are some pix to go along with it. If you would like some .AVI movies from
the flight, I will E-mail them to you. Each movie is from 1mb to 3mb, and there are 4 of them. E-mail your request to:
tuku@tuku.com
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