The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 http://garfieldsteamhouse.org/History/WWII/WWII-B17-Survival-Story.php LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Cuttin it close for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Holy Crappola! A 24 probably would've come apart One mistake in the text though, maybe two. since they were on a mission toi Tunis, I don't think they were headed back to England. Maybe Libya( Benghazi). don't think they got a p-51 escort that early either. Maybe 40's or 38's. All in all a miraculous story of fortitude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quick Draw Granpaw #48525 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thanks for the post Lumpy! Happy trails QDG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 I could not help but think about my Mom when I first read the story.She logged many hours in B-17s as a WASP. LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I could not help but think about my Mom when I first read the story.She logged many hours in B-17s as a WASP. LG Thats a story well worth hearing in detail if you're a mind to tell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Dan Troop 70448 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thanks for posting. The B-17 is a remarkable plane, so many stories of damaged planes returning its crew safely, that probable another plane would not be able to do. I have such a love of this plane, anyone that has ever been at its control will tell you, she wants to fly and does it so majestically. To bad there are so few flying examples left. MT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 P-51's were in North Africa in the early spring of '43. Good point about returning to "England" remark. The desert in the background of the pictures, after the busted-up '17 landed, sure don't look like any part of England I have ever been to. LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Cherokee, SASS#48332 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Those were apparently some of the toughest planes ever built..My Dad, who trained in B-25s then flew in both B-24's and B-17's said they would come back in with the noses blown off, sections of the wings shot off, several engines out..Heroic birds flown by heroic people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thats a story well worth hearing in detail if you're a mind to tell it. Mom was a pilot all her life. She first flew when she was 14 yrs. old. Was, for a time, a WASP instructor pilot teaching other WASP's. She flew everything the military used in that day and she loved it. Her favorite 2 aircraft were the P-51 and the P-38. She would always laugh about "kids" and their "hot-rods" say'n they didn't have a clue about what real "horsepower" was Here's the funny part. Mom was 5' nut'n and never weighed more than 95 lbs. Lost her in '95 to cancer. She was so strong, that it took 3 different kinds of cancer to kill her over a period of 15 yrs. My folks were together for just over 50 years.......Lost dad in '97, also to cancer. I think he needed to be with Mom again. Dad was a Director for Western Airlines LAX. I still have Mom's WASP gear and her flight logs. LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 If I'd have been on that crew (or any other) and survived, a piece of that plane would be mounted on my mantle on the base of a cross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twelve mile REB Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 They didn't return to England the 97th Bomb Group was stationed at Chatraudun-du-Rhumel NE Algeria in Feburary 1943. The B-17 was a great bird but didn't have that much range. I was lucky enough to sit in the Co-pilots seat in Aluminum Overcast and I still cann't wipe the smile off my face. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 I was lucky enough to sit in the Co-pilots seat in Aluminum Overcast and I still cann't wipe the smile off my face.12 My daughter sat in that very same seat to honor where her Grandma would sit, when she flew them. Ain't much room is there LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twelve mile REB Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 My daughter sat in that very same seat to honor where her Grandma would sit, when she flew them. Ain't much room is there LG Not really, even less when your 6'4" and 245. I got in the seat but I don't think I could have gotten full up elevator. While I would have given most anything to have handled the controls in flight my favorite in flight posistion was the bombardiers, what a view. Its almost like sitting in space and no one else was interested in going down there from the flight deck. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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