On final. |
After having my look around I moved back to the waist for the remainder of the ride. We had only flown to 4,700 feet and had a cruise speed of 150 kts. The temperature was cool, but tolerable. The aircraft vibrated, pitched and rolled. The noise was beginning to become intolerable. The picture might have been different at 25,000 ft. The rarer atmosphere would have muted the sound. The buffet would also have been less, but the engine vibration didn't care about altitude. The temperatures would have been extreme: -30 and colder. Born and raised in Wisconsin I knew how -30 felt. I experienced frostbite first hand and almost lost 10 fingers in the learning process. After 1/2 an hour I had had enough. Flying for 8+ hours, under combat conditions, had to be grueling for a healthy crewman. I couldn't comprehend enduring this while laying on the pitching deck, in the cold, wounded and clinging to life. |
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The signal came to take our seats. As the pilot let down, the engines were throttled back lowering the noise to tolerable levels. Buy this time, however, my ears were feeling abused and hearing was still difficult (I should have taken the ear plugs!) This had been a great learning experience for me. I had gotten what I had hoped, and it was well worth the price. I had a sense of what the air crewman went through. The only thing missing was the fear. |
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I no longer think of the B17 in the same way. The glory was gone, and I had a new found respect for those who flew these bombers into combat. This was an experience of a lifetime! |
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