Spring and Summer '95, two historic birds toured the nation in celebration of 50 years since the end of WWII. The Collings Foundation restored and maintains the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24J Liberator that have earned quite a reputation around the country at airshows and appearances. The B-24J "The All American" is said to be the last one still flying. The planes fly from one town to the next, piloted mostly by major airline pilots, and give tours and rides. For a mere $300 donation, one could enjoy an hour of pure history and "enlist" in a Dawn or Dusk Patrol. The pilots fly for free and all the money goes toward paying for fuel and the costs of maintenance.

At last the pictures are developed and scanned, I've stopped procrastinating, and have finally put together my adventure in images. My buddy Rich Dormer and I both went for a ride and these are the best of all the pictures we took. I was having so much fun, that I kept forgetting about the camera. Especially on that high speed pass 30 Ft. above the runway...and on the multi-G pullout at the end! No pictures of that, I was busy hanging on. There's no glass on those huge side windows and since they come up about mid-thigh, it seemed like it would be real easy to fall right out. The bomb-bay doors are designed to breakaway at 100 lbs., so if a bomb fell from the rack, it would fall clear. Needless to say, a person stepping off the narrow catwalk would also FALL CLEAR (yikes!). No parachutes on this trip. Watch your step! The Crewchief told us that they had not lost anyone yet, but if we were to leave the plane in this manner, would we mind snapping a few pictures on the way down? Sure, why not...

Our mission was a "Dawn patrol" that was to depart Corvallis Municipal Airport (CVO) at 7 AM. It was a beautiful, crisp, clear morning when I arrived at 6:30. We were briefed and boarded through the open bomb-bay doors. We strapped in, or rather lashed ourselves to a bulkhead, and the 4 huge 1200 H.P. Pratt & Whittney's were brought to life one at a time. The bottom of the plane was surprisingly "open"...we could see light and blue smoke coming in from cracks and crevices everywhere. The plane is so tailheavy by nature with no payload (BOMBS!) that a support must be placed under the tail to prevent it from tipping backwards and slamming into the pavement. Once the support had been raised, we taxied out to runway 35 with the accompanying B-17.

On the takoff-roll, we couldn't see out of the windows, but could see the ground get further and further away through a small hole in the floor. Once in the air, we were allowed to unbuckle and wander around as we wished. The noise was UNBELIEVABLE! I chose to stand and look out the large opposing side windows, a .50 cal machine gun poking menacingly from each. I grabbed the gun and took aim at a few cars below, but they were spared since the firing pin had been removed from each. I wondered what it would be like to stick my head out the window at 200 MPH, so I did it...I forgot about the giant radial engine in front of me. I got a facefull of wind and hot exhaust...COOL!

I then made my way to the tailgunner's bubble. With MUCH effort, I climbed in, grabbed the guns and watched the world go by...for a minute or two. I found receptacles to plug in an "electric suit" to keep warm. The plane was really drafty, and at 32,000 feet, it gets mighty cold I suppose! Oxygen bottles and regulator equipment were everywhere as well. There's not enough oxygen above 15,000 feet to sustain life, so these were found at every station aboard. Most missions were flown at these very high altitudes to avoid being hit by enemy flak. Today however, we would be cruising the Willamette Valley at around 3,500.

The belly bubble was retracted, and was the only place we weren't able to visit in flight. I manuevered around it as I made my way forward. I braved the catwalk through the open area in the belly. There were 4 bombs on the racks, the 1,000 pound variety, but of course they were just for looks or at least ballast. I climbed up onto the flight deck where the navigator sat (behind the cockpit). Nice little desk and window...I watched the pilot and co-pilot for about 10 minutes. Several modern instruments had been added to the panel so that it could be approved for instrument flight into IMC conditions. The pilot told me that the Liberator was a "...very stable instrument platform." I decended below the cockpit to the nose. To my amazement, the retracted nosewheel was still spinning VIGOROUSLY and creating quite a lot of wind. In order to pass by it, one must nearly brush it with one's shoulder. Shew! Made it!

I stood up in the radio-room and looked forward into the nose- gunner's position. A small "wart" above let in some sunlight as I studied the equipment and placards. Gotta tryout the guns! I tried and tried but COULD NOT sqeeze into the seat. I'm not a very big guy, but there was not enough leg or head-room to accomidate me. I stood behind it and stuck my head in...good enough. Twin .50 calibers here too. The view from here was terrific, things were really whizzing by outside.

I then returned to the mid-section in time to shoot at a small plane that had come along-side. "Sittin duck!" It's amazing how a 1/2" diameter slug of lead can rip and shred those aluminum control surfaces. He peeled off in a steep uncontrollable dive (or maybe he just got bored and went on about his business). Anyway, we were aligned with the runway, but no one told us to buckle up, so I didn't...we weren't ready to land yet! We couldn't have been more than 30 feet off the deck, and at that altitude the speed seemed double! That's certainly the fastest I've ever been down runway 35...at the end we pulled up 30 degrees of pitch and the G's really tugged us down, then we rolled over into 45 degrees of right bank and I felt I was looking straight down out of that huge window! What a rush! Flying over town, we rejoined the B-17 in formation, and a tight one at that...We circled, buckled up and came in for a very smooth landing. All of us "rookie" crewmen wore ear-to-ear grins as we taxied back to the ramp. The ride was most definitely worth every penny...next time I want a mission on the B-17!

I was somewhat hopefull before our flight that I may get to sit in the right-seat while airborne and get some "B-24 time" in my pilot's logbook, just for the novelty. I was told that if I visited the plane's homebase in Florida, I could fly left-seat with an instructor for only a $1000 per hour! Hmmm...