Re: B-29 & P-51
We went up in "Fifi" a few days ago. Our friend was a B-29 bombsight and navigation specialist in WWII. This was the first time he's been in a B-29 since 1945.
I sat in the upper turret (or Central Fire Control Gunner position) while we were in flight. The upper turret was fired remotely by the gunner, who sat just in front of the turret. I also crawled all the way back into the tail gunner position. What an incredible view! It was extremely noisy back there, and a lot of buffeting. I can't believe so many young men endured this environment for hours on end, in freezing cold temps, while looking for Japanese fighters bent on killing them. Truly the Greatest Generation.
We were fortunate enough to have the P-51 escort us for about a minute. I captured some great photos, although I wish I'd brought a better camera!
It was a thrilling experience I'll never forget. One thing that really surprised me was the acceleration takeoff. Once those giant engines wind up, I was always under the impression it was a gradual acceleration until it lifted off the tarmac. But it was more like a commercial airliner. It lurched and accelerated pretty hard from a dead stop.
The other thing that was surprising is how this aircraft was still in its 1945 mode. It wasn't converted to make passengers comfortable for these rides. You climb into the belly of the beast via a ladder. You ducked and bent your body to get through bulkheads. There weren't any modern signs or padded railings. It was a true warbird. Everything was as it was in 1945. Still had the original crew seats, lots of sharp corners and steel in the interior. You get banged up a bit crawling or moving about as the plane buffets. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]
Mike
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