One of the few remaining B-17 Flying Fortresses was on display at the Caldwell, Idaho airport.... about 10 miles from my house.... and I drove over and took a few shots of the old bird. We were even allowed to tour the inside! Take a close look at the diagram of the belly turret gunner's position! Simply amazing!


The plane did not have a pressurized cabin and while flying at 20,000 feet, temperatures often reached 20 below zero. One can only imagine what it must have been like, standing behind one of the waist guns, blasting away at buzzing ME-109s, with 200 MPH winds whipping in the window and it's 20 below! Men of steel, indeed!


For those who have heard the old saying, "The Whole Nine Yards," but didn't know the origin.... well, the waist gunner's ammo belt was exactly nine yards long, so if you were trying to shoot down the German Messerschmits (sp?) who were trying to kill you, you'd give 'em "The whole nine yards!"

[Aaron28]

cool!

[old4570]

Way cool !

[RobA_Oz]

Some nice detail in your shots. Did you use a kit lens? The EXIF FLs hint at that, but aren't specific (and your PP software thinks your K-50 is an Olympus, BTW).

The interesting thing I find looking at these is that the B-17 seems to be not much bigger than a modern-day fighter-bomber!

[Dewman]

Some nice detail in your shots. Did you use a kit lens? The EXIF FLs hint at that, but aren't specific (and your PP software thinks your K-50 is an Olympus, BTW).

The interesting thing I find looking at these is that the B-17 seems to be not much bigger than a modern-day fighter-bomber!

Yes, it was the WR version of the kit lens. I've found my particular copy to be far superior to my non-WR version. I use the Olympus Viewer II editing software that came with my little Olympus P&S camera, so that's why the confusion. I've found it to be the most user-friendly of any I've tried and it gives me results that I'm more than pleased with. Don't laugh unless you've tried it!


And yes, the plane is rather small compared to modern-day, fully dedicated "bombers." It had a payload of only 4,500 lbs. on long-range missions! The interior was very tight and cramped. The ball turret in the belly was totally insane! I can't imagine being in that cramped space, in that position, for a 8-10 hour flight! Especially in 20 below zero temperatures!

[Aaron28]

Olympus has great stuff....if they didn't go m4/3 on me I may have stayed.......I still use my E-510 but mostly for time lapse of sunsets and startrails........be nice to find an inexpensive om to k mount adapter as om glass is very nice

[plantej]

That belly gunner job took some brass nuggets. Cool shots.

[Janse]

Very interesting serie!

[silver_dragon]

That belly gunner job took some brass nuggets. Cool shots.

I feel sorry for the poor blokes stuck inside them when a crash landing had to be made without the landing gear out.

Great photos! The B17 is one plane I NEED to see in my lifetime

[plantej]

I feel sorry for the poor blokes stuck inside them when a crash landing had to be made without the landing gear out.

Great photos! The B17 is one plane I NEED to see in my lifetime

Yeah it is definitely a legendary warplane type with lots of action. There is a beauty that flies around my area. 300.00$ a 25 minute ride. Something I must do someday. But then I could buy a lens or something.

[Scorpio71GR]

Great shots of a piece of history worth saving. I saw one years ago at an airshow. You can only stand there in awe at something like that.