Flying B-17s was remarkably dangerous duty . I am just reading the Manchester and Reid bio of Churchill and they tally the cost to the allied air forces of the bombing campaign over Germany:
Britain: 55,000 killed and 11,000 planes lost
US: 26,000 killed and 8,000 planes lost
TGT-
Very cool video! The P 51 Mustang is one of the quintessential Warbirds of all time. I'd really love the opportunity to fly one. It's one of my top 5 that I lust to be at the controls. The others are, in no particular order: Me262, Ar234, B25 Mitchell, and MiG21UM. Of course 2 of them are an impossible wet dream since there are no airworthy Ar234s or Me262s around.
I'll be getting my multiengine rating later this spring at the end of April in a Beech P58 Baron (Turbocharged and pressurized).
I'll be doing my multiengine rating towards the end of April with a friend who's then retiring from UAL as a Captain. He made me the offer of free instruction (he still has his MEI Rating) and the use of his P58 Beech Baron, if I pay for the fuel. What a can of whupass that is--twin TSIO 520s. I can get some turbocharger hours as well as the ME rating. All for about $210 an hour for the fuel.
I looked into buying one of those older Beech G18s, but the maintenance costs are horrendous. They are pretty cool, though, and BIG!
Broke, yeah you mentioned you were gonna go multi and I was wondering why,
other than for the fun of it. And a Turbo Baron definitely spells F-U-N!
At least that thing has enough power to actually fly with one turning and
one burning. ;-)
Next time we meet I'll tell you about my friend who was, pardon the term,
deadheading in a B-18 when the PIC fell asleep (about 0100) and drove them
into the top of Mt Tehachapi! Another 100' and they would have made it.
Well, happily, they both did make it, if only just.
Well, we had a great time this week with Fifi in town.
Went out right after they got in Wednesday afternoon, and got to spend a good hour poking around and in the bird without the crowds around. We went back out Saturday morning to watch her fly and then again in the afternoon as the better half wanted to see inside.
The warbird community being what it is, I ran into a couple of the crew who had mutual friends, so ended up having some great BS sessions about warbirds. Been a while since that happened for me.
Re: Fifi
I was in LA last month and heard the unmistakable sound of big piston engines, so I ran outside and was rewarded to see a B-29 lumbering past.
Thanks for clearing up the mystery of what it was doing there.
Let us know!