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There's A B17 Buzzing My House

Couple hours worth of touch and goes on a nice, hot, August late afternoon will get you as green around the gills as can be.

Do me a favor and shoot one of those C-17's out of the sky. Those things are dangerous in untrained hands and have been causing a LOT of dented metal during aerial refueling. They ripped a boom off a -135 not long ago (ALMOST got mine a month ago). In a really bad one, the boom on a KC-10 struck the UNDERSIDE of a C-17 during air refueling. Just picture that. Ugly picture no?

I ****ing hate C-17's.
 
I'm told that a 747 is quite capable of doing a barrel roll but its highly unlikely that anyone will ever see it happen. Theres quite a legendary story of the Boeing test pilot of the 707 prototype doing a barrel roll over Lake Washington in front of all kinds of military and airline brass on the occasion of the public introduction of the plane. The pilot did not get fired.

Was this the plane you saw??
 
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Well, wasnt it Tex that did that stunt with the 707...i think I read so in his book,,,they just told him not to do it again...:-)
 
George, I know you're gonna love this...

Big article in today's Chicago Tribune about Airbus spending $90 million to develop a refueling boom. They already have contracts with several foreign countries, and they fully intend to bid against Boeing for the next USAF contract for tankers.

I can just see you climbing into an A-380 with USAF insignia on it!!

Not!!!

Clay

Edit: Here's the link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0505010308may01,1,788416.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
 
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White SE
Yes, his name was Tex Johnston and he was a bit of a legend. When they asked him what made him do it he replyed, "I was selling the airplane." He did it twice over the Gold Cup race course with 300,000 people watching. According to the book 'Legend and Legacy' he came in over the lake at 300 ft. at 450 mph, pulled the plane up into a 35 degree climb and did a complete 360 degree roll. Then he did a reverse pass back over the lake and repeated the maneuver. Apparently an Air Force pilot did a full loop in a KC-135, which was the military 707, and got away with it although he ripped off the outboard engine pods. Those, it seems, were the good old days.
 
I kept a camera on a tripod all day waiting for it to fly over. Nothing. Took the camera inside around 6:00PM and was on the phone when It flew over again. Back out with the tripod. It's pretty hard to get a decent picture of a moving airplane. Here's the best shot.

- Pete
 
You know, now that I look at the picture, this is not the B17 that was flying yesterday. Too many tail fins and not enough engines. Is it a B24 or B25?

- Pete
 
And to keep TA happy. Here's a shot of a C17 sitting behind the building they build them in. He may not like them, but there are a bunch of folks here in the Long Beach area that employed making them.

- Pete
 
Those were tough airplanes the 707...one plane over LA went into a dive and permanently bent the wings I dont remember how many inches, and also lost an engine pod...Boeing pilots/airline pilots said that the plane actually flew better with the wings bent...LOL
 
Here's an enlarged picture. I think it is a B24. It looks like it has two engines on the wing. Definately not the plane that was flying around yesterday.

- Pete
 
That is a B-24. The other picture with the moon shot is an A-26, a Douglas airplane. Anybody ever seen a single tail B-24? They're out there.

Fisherdude, I'll fly on anything they write me a check for.
 
TA, yeah some post-war Liberators (B-24) were single-tailed.Called: "Privateers" PB4Y's used by the Navy as patrol ships.
Coast Guard had 'em too. Civi-use as fire bombers, etc.
I don't know how it happened, but Winston Churchill had his own personal "single tail" Liberator DURING the war, about 1944.
Russ
 
The C-130 can be launched off the deck of a carrier in the length of the ship and they can also be assisted using the steam catapults. Hell, I've seen passenger planes shot off of the steam catapults loaded with personnel. They can land on a carrier deck too. In fact, here is a document that catalogs the first time they tried this:

http://www.navrescolorado.org/pdf/2004-01-03.pdf#search='C130%20landing%20on%20carrier%20deck'

The C-130 airframe is pretty much unchanged since the time those photos were taken. They have had electronics and guidance system upgrades and more powerful engines but if they could do it in 1963, they can do it now. As you can see though, it is quite a tight fit and the pilot most likely cannot see the edge of the flight deck due to the flight position of the flight crew. Takes some balls to do it!

It is also common practice for a carrier to turn into the wind, when possible, to launch a flight. Not only does it assist in take off but it makes the deck more stable in high winds. In other words, if they turn into the wind, the ship won't be kicked around so much.
 
Last time I saw one of those Privateers was 1992 up in Fairbanks. Powers & Booth Aviation was using one as a water bomber.

The A-26 somebody posted was a hot airplane. Next to the B-17, it would be my second favorite recip. They modded those to bust up trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail with something like 16 or 18 forward firing .50 calibers.
 
Its still buzzing around

I got home from work tonight and the B17 flew over just as I was getting out of the car. Set up the tripod and had real trouble catching it on its next pass. Then I got lucky. It came by again and flew right over the house.

Here it is on approach.


- Pete
 
Finally figured out the pattern. Tonight anyway, the B17 and B24 were alternating takeoffs about every 15 or 20 minutes. That would give each of them 30 minutes between takeoffs. A nice sunset cruise.

- Pete
 
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