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First meeting with an old friend.

         Over forty years after first imagining the inside of one of these beasts of war, I finally got to see one for myself. The bombs are dummies (darn), the guns are mock ups or dewats (double darn), and the cockpit now has some computerized nave gear; but it is a B-17. This aircraft, Aluminum Overcast, travels all over the country, for air shows and various events. Tours are offered, and test flights (it would be undignified to call them rides) are given. For a fee, you too can ride in a B-17 and yell "bombs away!"

        The aircraft has a dedicated team of volunteers, and even has its own web site at http://www.b17.org/

Above:
The place where heroes were born, or at any rate one of the places. The cockpit of the B-17 was where many a young boy's childhood heroic fantasies were played out.

Left:
Looking back from the cockpit. From here you can see past the bombay, radio shack, and rear compartment, all the way to the rear bulkhead of the aircraft.

Below:
This was where the bombardier sat. the Norden bombsight at the front of the nose was so secret that it was made removable so that it could be jettisoned to destruction, should the aircraft be in danger of capture or forced landing.
A view out of the pilot side window at the left wing and engines.
A view up, through what was a gunner's position. No guns here now; but this is just as well. We are no longer fighting wars with these planes, and the spaces are cramped enough. Back in the day, there would have been a pair of fifty cal machine guns here, and the whole copula would rotate.
Left:
Anxious faces peer up into the bombay, as I look down through the open bombay doors. These aircraft carried a minimum of 4500 pounds of bombs, and were designed to carry as much as an 8000 pound bomb load. If required by a desperate situation, the HB-17 could be forced into the air with a 17,600 pound load. A very narrow walkway passed between the two bomb racks, and led to the rear area of the aircraft. It was not a journey that was made easily or lightly, in a bouncing aircraft in the freezing cold of 35,000 feet.

Below:
Looking back, for another view of the cockpit. The bombardier compartment was reached by going underneath and forward of the cockpit.
Above:
Looking forward towards the cockpit, from the back of the bombay.

Left:
The Port side of the radio/navigation area.

Below:
An overview of the radio/navigation area. This was sited just behind the bombay, and just forward of the rear compartment which held the gunners the endless ammunition that movies and television always showed being expended in shooting down attacking enemy fighters.
One of the classic Browning M-2 fifty caliber machine guns. Though the sights and trappings seem to be authentic, the gun itself is certainly a mockup.
A rear view of a Browning M-2, showing the fancy sights that could be set for speed and range fo the B-17, and of the oncoming aircraft. IN their own way, these were quite as sophisticated as the Norden sight itself.
Above:
The gunner's compartment, with the top of the ball turret at the center of the photo.

Left:
A close up of the mechanism of the ball turret.

Below:
The inside of the ball turret was cramped, to say the least. The man packed tightly into this little space was cramped, exposed, and uncomfortable.
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