Collings Foundation

In Memory of the Nine-0-Nine

by barbarawhitaker

My husband and I flew on the Nine-0-Nine on Feb 23, 2018, at Cecil Field near Jacksonville, Florida. The flight was amazing. I was thrilled to be on board the B-17 and to share a tiny bit of the experience the men had who flew in it during World War II. As a writer of historical romance set during World War II, I’ve done a lot of research on the B-17. My first published novel, Kitty’s War, features a hero who is a navigator with a B-17 crew flying bombing missions over Europe. Since both the B-17 and the B-24 flew from England to Europe during that time, I researched both, finally selecting the B-17 for my novel. So getting to see a B-17 in person was incredible, but getting to fly in one was a spectacular event in my life.

I’m writing this post to honor the crew and passengers of the Nine-0-Nine who were on board when it crashed in Connecticut on October 2, 2019. Both pilots and five of the ten passengers died that day. Seven others had severe injuries and are still recovering. The crash was such a tragedy, especially for the families and friends of those who were killed and injured. It was also a tragedy for the Collings Foundation and for all of us history buffs who yearn to have the first hand experiences these flights offer.

I am posting here some of the pictures I took the day we flew in the Nine-0-Nine. Some I have posted before and some I have not.

The pictures above show where we entered the plane for our flight, the seats in the waist gun area and the exit door from the inside.

These are pictures of the crew while in flight. We weren’t supposed to bother the pilots. Note that the co-pilot on our flight was a woman. The nice guy standing was the “flight attendant.” He got us all situated and told us what we could and could not do.

During the flight we were allowed to unbuckle our seat belts and walk around in the plane.

I walked around the ball turret and through the radio room.

 

Then I walked through the bomb bay, alongside the fake bombs, on a very narrow metal bridge with only ropes as hand holds. When the B-17 is in flight there is more motion in the plane than on a modern commercial jet. The motion made it more difficult to walk around. These two pictures show the view as I started through the bomb bay and one that didn’t get quite focused due to the motion of the plane.

 

I stood in the Flight Engineer’s position behind the pilots before dropping down to the “tunnel” leading to the nose. I had to crawl so I was glad to have the polished wood for my knees.

The bombardier and the navigator sat in the nose. They had quite a view.

 

 

 

I started back to my seat in the waist. Here is a view through the bomb bay toward the waist.

 

Back in the waist area we looked out the windows.  As you can see we weren’t very high.  Nothing like the flights at 20,000 feet requiring oxygen.

After a smooth landing we were back on the ground safe and sound.

It was an incredible flight. Every time I talked about the flight I said I would do it again in a minute. And I would, still, after the crash. It was so sad to lose the Nine-0-Nine, but all the other historic military planes should keep flying and keep taking people like me for the ride of their lives.

 

B-17 Nine-o-Nine

by barbarawhitaker

This is a re-post of a post published in March 2018 after our flight on the Nine-O-Nine. I want to honor this beautiful airplane and all those who were killed or injured this morning when the Nine-O-Nine crashed in Connecticut. This is a sad, sad day.

 

As promised in my last post, here are more photos of the B-17 Nine-o-Nine that we flew on a couple of weeks ago. These were taken on the ground as we walked around and examined the plane before our flight. I’ve seen so many pictures of B-17’s, but a picture does not compare to seeing the airplane in person.

On Feb. 23, 2018, we drove out to Cecil Field to see the Collings Foundation’s Wings of Freedom 2018 tour. The main attraction for me was the B-17 G Nine-o-Nine. I’ve been fascinated with the B-17 from the time I began researching for what turned out to be my first published novel, Kitty’s War. In my novel, the hero is a navigator on a B-17 stationed in a fictitious air field in England as part of the U.S. Eighth Air Force.  

The B-17 G is a later version of the famous bomber which had the “chin” turret added in the front just below the navigator’s perch in the nose of the airplane. Since the German fighters often attacked the bombers from the front, flying straight into the formation, the designers added a gun position on the nose to fire at oncoming fighters.

 

The Plexiglas surrounding the bombardier giving him maximum visibility. He used the closely guarded Norden bomb-sight to zero in on the target and drop the load of bombs. When under attack from fighters, the bombardier fired the 50 caliber machine guns in the “chin” turret.

While the plane was still on the ground, I climbed inside to look around. This is the entrance the pilot, co-pilot, bombardier and navigator would have used to enter the plane. In movies and newsreels I’ve seen them jump up, grab hold of the top of the opening and pull themselves up into the bomber. The ladder makes it much easier.

Once inside, I moved forward into the nose. Straight ahead you see the bombardier’s seat. Note the ammo belts for the guns and the big wooden box for extra ammunition.  To the right of the bombardier’s seat are the controls for the “chin” turret guns. The navigator’s desk is behind the bombardier on the left. The navigator was also responsible for manning a machine gun.

The navigator would have carried maps marked up with the day’s mission. These would have been given to him in the briefing prior to taking off. Although the flight path for the primary target and the secondary target were already worked out, if something went wrong, the navigator would have to use the maps and his training to get the crew back to their base, or at least back to England.

Climbing back down I continued my walk around the airplane.

Behind the wing, the ball turret is visible beneath the fuselage. In this swiveling device, the ball turret gunner could swirl around and shoot in almost all directions. Shorter airmen manned the ball turret due to the cramped space in this position.

The tail gunner guarded the rear of the airplane. My husband is pointing to the gun sights in the small window. The sights would have been used to aid the tail gunner in aiming his guns. The Flying Fortress, as the Boeing B-17 was called, had thirteen 50 caliber machine guns which covered every direction to defend itself from enemy fighters.

The bomb bay doors were open as the B-17 sat on the ground. So I stooped down and looked up to get this shot of the “fake” bombs. Cool view!

Inside at the waist gunners’ positions you can see the seats added for those of us who would fly. The seats consisted of a small cushion to sit on and a larger one to lean back against. Looking through the plane from here, at the rear entrance, you can see the top of the ball turret, then through the radio room and into the bomb bay. The large yellow bottle-like container in the center of the photo is an oxygen bottle. This airplane was not pressurized. When the altitude reached about 5,000 feet the crew had to put on oxygen masks so they could breathe. The oxygen masks were attached by long tubes to numerous oxygen bottles throughout the plane. This aircraft was also not heated. The crew wore bulky, padded, electrically heated suits and gloves to stay warm and prevent frostbite at high altitudes.

.

The contraption pictured here is the “put-put.”  If you have read my novel, Kitty’s War, you will remember my reference to it during a mission when the plane is damaged. It is the back-up electrical generator used to provide vital power to systems if the main power supply from the engines was lost.

Here is a close up of one of the four, powerful, 1200 hp engines.

Finally, a parting shot of this beautiful bird. We had a great day both touring and flying in this fantastic B-17. Thanks to the Collings Foundation for restoring these historic aircraft and for keeping them in flying condition so that the public can see them and experience flying in a World War II vintage airplane.

Flight in a B-17

by barbarawhitaker
View of the St. Johns River from the Bombardier seat

What an incredible flight! My husband and I recently flew in “Nine-O-Nine,” a WWII vintage B-17 G owned and operated by the Collings Foundation. The B-17 along with a B-24 and a P-51 are touring the country as part of Collings 2018 “Wings of Freedom” tour.

Since I took so many pictures that I want to share, I will split them up into more than one post. I’ll start with the in-flight shots on “Nine-O-Nine.” The on-the-ground pictures will be in a later post.

Let’s start with me waiting to take off.  Notice that we are sitting on the floor in the waist gunner positions. No luxuries here.

Once in the air we were allowed to move around in the plane so that’s what I did. Here is the waist gun position looking out over the wing. 

Next comes a view of downtown Jacksonville way in the distance. We flew out of Cecil Field so we were a few miles west of downtown. It’s in the mist but if you enlarge the picture you can see the skyline.

After getting my flight legs in the moving plane, I managed to find hand holds and made my way around the ball turret.  Looking down I could see daylight around the unoccupied gunner position. Not wanting to drop my cellphone when the plane made unexpected movements,  I decided to put it away and only use the camera hanging around my neck on what was proving to be an unsteady journey through the plane.

I moved from the waist gunner area forward into the radio compartment. There were eight passengers on board for our flight. This lady sat in the radio operators position. 

Beyond the radio compartment is the bomb bay. Notice the narrow walkway, just wide enough for my foot, and the small ropes to hold to steady yourself. The v-shape of the bomb supports made for a tight fit as I squeezed through grabbing for something solid to hold onto. Imagine having to do this at 20,000 feet with the bomb bay doors open. Not for the faint of heart.

Beyond the bomb bay is the flight engineer’s position right behind the pilots. Here the top was open. Very windy for the passenger looking out. Out to the side the flight engineer could view the engines from his spot behind the pilots.

We were told not to talk to the pilots during the flight and, believe me, we all wanted them to focus on flying this large, four-engine airplane. They did a fabulous job. Notice that the co-pilot is a woman. Reminds me that the WASP pilots flew B-17’s around the U.S. during the war.

Now down into the small passageway leading to the nose. I had to drop down to the wooden surface, and then get down on my hands and knees and crawl into the nose where the navigator and bombardier sit.

Straight ahead is the bombardier’s position surrounded by Plexiglas.  Notice the gun sight in the center and the machine gun that he operated.

On the left side of the nose is the navigator’s desk. This would have been where the hero in my novel, “Kitty’s War,” sat. Again, there is a machine gun, not in the picture, that he fired when needed.

Back in the waist gunner positions my husband and two other passengers look out the windows. 

Another view out the windows at the river below as we head back to the airfield. 

And, finally, me standing in front of the gun at the waist gunner position with my wild “bomber” hair style. What a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience.