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| B-17 Ride |
| Dana Brejakova, Contributing Writer & Photographer |
| Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
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What is one of the coolest things you can do while in AirVenture Oshkosh? Hop rides! So, guess what we did. We hopped one too. And what ride it was!
A few weeks before the EAA AirVenture opened its gates again, Jimmy the Squirrel booked a ride in the 1945 B-17G Yankee Lady. I could not believe the news when I received my confirmation e-mail. We were going to ride in a B-17, the Flying Fortress!!!!
Owned and operated by the Yankee Air Museum, the flights were taking off from Appleton International Airport that is 17 nm to North of Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh. The flight took approximately 25 minutes and accommodated 12 passengers and a crew of four.
After we were properly introduced to the aircraft and briefed on safety, we boarded the airplane and let the crew create one of those memories that get imprinted in each and every cell of our body.
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| I have seen photos of this bomber before and I have always been mesmerized by its elegant silhouette. You have no idea how grateful I was to be able to snap one just as well. |
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| What a stunning looking bomber. No doubt, this bird was in excellent condition. |
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| My camera and I got hypnotized by the massive turbosupercharded nine-cylinder radial Cyclone R-1820-97 engines. Look how well preserved and maintained they are! WOW. |
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| Beautifully polished bird was shining in the morning sun and I was circling her like there was no tomorrow. I had to capture every angle of this aircraft. I could not believe this was our ride. Thank you, Jimmy, for arranging this! |
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| Of course, the detail of the nose art could not be missed. Yankee Lady was looking pretty and ready to kick some enemy butt. |
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| My office today: radio room. |
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| I knew I should have learned how to use telegraph at school but no no, I had to choose computers instead. "Commander, I may be transmitting gibberish ..." There is no doubt I would be fired on the spot. |
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| The Light Switch Settings table captured my attention and I was trying to read the instructions on the positions of the switches not knowing exactly what I was looking at. |
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| My position in the radio room offered a view that deserves some serious bragging. The massive wings (103 ft. 9 in span) with the two Cyclone engines on each side were about to take us up in the skies. The minute the engines started screaming, I felt incredibly humbled and excited at the same time. That powerful roar will stay with me forever. I did not even wear my ear plugs, I wanted to hear those engines purr loud. |
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| After we got airborne, we could unbuckle and move around the aircraft. My first steps led me straight to the cockpit. Old school systems together with modern technology. I like seeing views like this. Who says that this old lady cannot put some new modern elegant looking instruments on? |
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| Another million buck view. Bombardier's seat in the nose. To get to this spot, one had to crawl on hands and knees through a tunnel. Mind you, this is a military aircraft designed for combat not a comfortable airliner. Well, I could not care less about slight discomfort, the awesomeness of this whole experience was all worth it. |
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| Still in the bombardier's seat in the nose - to my right, I could see one of the twelve machine guns with a load of plenty ammo. |
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| To my left, there was another machine gun and a box with indicators and switches. |
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| Closer look on the machine gun sticking out of the aircraft on my right. |
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| I returned back to my seat in the radio room, I sat down and peeked out towards the pilot's seat to capture the view. |
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I looked around and I saw Jimmy smiling from ear to ear sponging every detail of the flight. Suddenly, the time stopped for me up there. Seeing everyone's eyes sparking, smiling at each other, and taking each other's photos, threw me back to my childhood years. It was just like when I was six years old and all around me was only about genuine excitement and playfulness while experiencing new things. That early Tuesday flight in B-17 was where we all got to be those kids again for 25 minutes.
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| Walking through the fuselage I encountered another set of machine guns with massive ammo belts. The arrangement on this aircraft is twelve 0.50 caliber Browning M2 machine guns that can fire 750 rounds per minute. |
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| Detail of one of the machine guns. |
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| And more bullets for the enemy. Along the fuselage, there were wooden boxes filled with these bad boys. |
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| And that would be me with my "this is war" expression imagining shooting at enemy squadrons. |
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| As I was walking through the aircraft, I noticed a very detailed plan of the whole bird. I had to capture it. Not only was this "blue print" impeccable in detail, it also helped me match each section with a proper description. |
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| Another interesting print that was placed in the bomber. This one portrayed the position of the crew member who had to squeeze in the ball turret on the belly of the aircraft holding and steering the gun with his legs, I presume. Imagine shooting that fast 750 rounds per minute caliber scrunched like that. |
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| It was time to sit down and buckle up, we were going to land. The blissful 25 minutes were over. This time I got to sit along the fuselage with a view on the door and a red plaque giving honor to all who fought over Europe. |
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Gosh, those were very different times, huh? Tough times. War is always ugly and many of those who flew and fought in these airplanes were dealing with so much hardship that today's generations cannot even fathom.
When I try to imagine it all, I do not think we give these brave men and women enough credit for what they have done for us. They were and are the greatest generation. The evidence of their fierce fight for freedom must stay well preserved so we do not forget and do not make their ultimate sacrifice go to waste.
Hands down, the Yankee Air Museum did an outstanding job restoring this bomber to its excellent condition and returning her back to the skies. Thanks to all the hard work of the restoration team and donations, this Flying Fortress does not sit in the museum looking all sad, instead it lives and promotes the spirit of aviation. And imagine this, Yankee Lady even appeared in the famous movie Tora! Tora! Tora! She was one of the five B-17s that were flown to Hawaii for the movie that portrayed the story about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The money paid for the tickets help keeping her flying so if you can, go and spend that 525 USD per person or 425 USD if you are a museum member and be a part of this marvel.
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| Sometimes I get playful when I work on my photos. This time I could not help it but dressing these shots in 1945 postcard style. |
| By Dana Brejakova, Contributing Writer & Photographer |
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