The title is a little misleading today. I had every intention of spending today cleaning the lathe and the rest of the shop. But we all know where the road paved with good intentions leads us....

 

The day, however, was a complete success as I, along with a friend, spent the best part of the day at the Hagerstown Regional Airport. It all started yesterday when the friend called and asked if I saw the "old airplane" fly over- I had not (probably that happened while I was doing a computer upgrade). But a quick Internet search, of what he described, set the stage for today's activities.

 

The Commemorative Air Force is touring with the only flying B-29 Superfortress and it is only 20 miles away! This is something I couldn't miss. It was a beautiful day for plane watching, too, blue skies and puffy cumulus. 

 

When we arrived at the flight line, the B-29 was preparing for its' second "passenger ride". I would say that it was too bad the flight was sold out, but, at $1575 I'll watch from the ground.

 

The sound of those 4 radial engines is something to be experienced.

 

 

 

 

We really got lucky and found the exact spot to watch the plane return to the flight line.

 

 

 

As she turned, the tip of the left wing passed directly over our heads!

 

Once everyone disembarked, they setup for tours thru the plane. It looks big from the outside but there was absolutely no extra room inside. 

 

 

We entered thru the forward bombay and up into the "cabin". Up, between the bombs, is the craw space tunnel that allowed access to the rear of the plane. The B-29 was the first pressurized bomber so they needed a way to maintain the crew atmosphere fore and aft yet allowing the bombays to be open.

 

 

Pilot and copilot seats. Notice a couple of upgraded instruments.

 

 

The Hagerstown Airport grew up around the Fairchild Aircraft factory. Some of the early planes made by Fairchild were the "Flying Boxcar" C-119 and the C-82 Packet. Both were on display at the airport.

 

 

 

Of course most of know the A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthog). This plane was also built in Hagerstown, MD.

 

 

Oh, about that woodturning-

Carl Jacobson has started a new video series called "Back To Basics". Here's the first installment.

 

 

Safe turning and remember "Out of the clear blue of the western sky comes......."

Wow, wow, and wow!!!!!

Great photos Lew, thanks for sharing! Is this the same airplane seen in many WWII movies of the bombing runs over Germany and other enemy countries? This guys is awesome!

The B-29 is the type of plane that dropped the atomic bomb that ended WWII. I believe it was used primarily in the Pacific theater.

back to the top, one of my favorite Wed topics by Lew.

and more WOWs... a lot more...

Great pictures.  Thanks.

15 minutes ago, HandyDan said:

Great pictures.  Thanks.

Thanks, Dan and Stick!

Edited September 2, 20169 yr by lew

Seeing those old war birds  is always  a thrill. There was a B-17 at the Huntington airport a couple years and we went out to check it out. I can only imagine the sheer terror those young men must have felt, on both sides for that matter. You are right, those radial engines have throaty growl all their own. For several years, there was a confederate air force presence at Huntington as well. Nearly every weekend we would see T-6's(I think) in the air. Always stopped whatever I was doing to watch them fly over.

 

Steve

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 7:16 PM, John Morris said:

Wow, wow, and wow!!!!!

Great photos Lew, thanks for sharing! Is this the same airplane seen in many WWII movies of the bombing runs over Germany and other enemy countries? This guys is awesome!

The B-29 was developed FOR the atomic bomb, even though they had not finished the bomb yet, or even knowing if it would work. The B-29 was used in the Pacific Theater do to it long range capabilities. Quite a bit more than the B-17 or B-24. The B-29 started bombing Japan from bases in China, but it cost to much to fly EVERYTHING (food, clothes, parts, bombs, ammo, gas, etc) they needed over the "hump" in C-47's so that is why the Mariana Islands was a priority for Nimitz.

Like the B-17 and B-24, they B-29 had the Norden bombsight. The only problem was the Jet Stream. Over Japan, the bombers were not getting any accurate bombing results because flying with the jet stream, the planes were going so fast the bombsight did not have enough adjustment to compensate for the speed. And, crosswind bombing was even worse. So when a new commander was appointed to head up the B-29's he quickly saw the problem and since Japan's housing was made up of predominately paper and wood, incendiaries were used instead. The lowered the bombing altitude to around 10,000 to 12,000', sometimes lower, and bombed at night - giving the planes a little extra protection from Japanese fighters.

The island of Iwo Jima was sought after due to the fact it had the ability to land the B-29's and could be a haven for a B-29 that was too badly damaged to make the flight all the way back to its base.

I could go on.

 

I will say though, that flying in a B-17 is really, really cool. About 15 years ago, one came into Medford and the cost to fly was only around $300, so I did it. The guy on the plane who moved people around during the flight set me up so that I would be it the nose at landing. I really enjoyed that experience.  

Great information Chips. I guess I had kind of forgotten but I have several dozen hours in a C-47. As a naval airman I was a member of the base Admirals flight crew at NAS Jax in the early 70's. The pilots were two left over warrant officers, both were cigar smokers and neither could see very well, after a few minutes in the cockpit neither could anyone else. They navigated mostly by finding the coastline and following it until they saw something they recognized. Those were the days. LOL

 

Steve

 

 

55 minutes ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

I can only imagine the sheer terror those young men must have felt

You are so right, Steve. I, too, had an opportunity to walk thru a B-17. Those young men must have endured unspeakable condition of cold, oxygen masks and gunfire. The skin of those aircraft weren't much thicker than a soda can. The highlight of that particular day was I got the opportunity to shake hands with Captain Robert Morgan. He was the pilot of the B-17 called the "Memphis Belle". What an honor!

Edited September 3, 20169 yr by lew

18 minutes ago, Chips N Dust said:

The guy on the plane who moved people around during the flight set me up so that I would be it the nose at landing

Now that had to be the thrill of a lifetime!

5 minutes ago, lew said:

You are so right, Steve. I, too, had an opportunity to walk thru a B-17. Those young men must have endured unspeakable condition of col, oxygen masks and gunfire. The skin of those aircraft weren't much thicker than a soda can. The highlight of that particular day was I got the opportunity to shake hands with Captain Robert Morgan. He was the pilot of the B-17 called the "Memphis Belle". What an honor!

I think I'd find a desk job...

9 minutes ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

I have several dozen hours in a C-47

My very first plane ride was in a civilian DC-3 (C-47) flown by Allegheny Airlines. It was my trip to Great Lakes Naval Base for boot camp. My cousin and I got the rear most seats port side. July 1963!

3 minutes ago, lew said:

My very first plane ride was in a civilian DC-3 (C-47) flown by Allegheny Airlines. It was my trip to Great Lakes Naval Base for boot camp. My cousin and I got the rear most seats port side. July 1963!

 

That's cool! I also went to Great Lakes, then onto Lakehurst NJ for parachute rigger A school. I don't really remember but I suspect that's the plane I jumped out of to prove I knew how to pack a chute!

 

Steve

8 minutes ago, Steve Krumanaker said:

to prove I knew how to pack a chute!

Man, that's really making you responsible for what you do!

 

Never had to jump out of a plane but did go thru high altitude chamber and ejection seat training.