B(17)IF - The Memphis Belle

[robbins.photo]

One of the very few operational B-17 Bombers flew in today - I was lucky enough to grab a few shots of the old girl strutting her stuff:

20140705 343 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

20140705 603 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

20140705 1071 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

20140705 1432 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

20140705 1171 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

20140705 774 by robbins.photo, on Flickr

 

[astroNikon]

awesome shots. I love those old warbirds !!

 

[pjaye]

Todd, these are really good. I have a thing for airplanes. However, I'm tired, (you know, petting a baby cougar today and all) and I thought you had posted 17 bird in flight pictures. I was totally lost for a minute.

 

[DarkShadow]

Nice warbird & shots.

 

[SCraig]

Lucky guy! I saw a B-17 fly years ago but there sure aren't many left flying today. Great shots of a beautiful old lady. Glad you got to see her, enjoy the experience.

The last flying B-29 in the world was here last year and I got to see it up close and personal. Even got to go in the cockpit.

 

[robbins.photo]

awesome shots. I love those old warbirds !!

Thanks Astro - big fan of the old birds myself, especially the B-17. When I found out the Belle was coming to town I made sure I'd have a day to go out there and shoot. Last time they came through they had trouble with one of the engines so she didn't fly. I was so happy to see her thundering down the runway, just did my heart good.

Todd, these are really good. I have a thing for airplanes. However, I'm tired, (you know, petting a baby cougar today and all) and I thought you had posted 17 bird in flight pictures. I was totally lost for a minute.

Lol.. Well hopefully you weren't too disappointed.

Nice warbird & shots.

Thanks DS - I found out shooting the old prop driven planes is a little harder than I would have thought, you have to be careful with the shutter speed. If it's too low you get motion blur on the plane but if it's two high it stops the props completely and it just doesn't look right because it doesn't look like their moving even though the thing is halfway down the runway.. lol. So turns out it's a real balancing act.

Lucky guy! I saw a B-17 fly years ago but there sure aren't many left flying today. Great shots of a beautiful old lady. Glad you got to see her, enjoy the experience.

The last flying B-29 in the world was here last year and I got to see it up close and personal. Even got to go in the cockpit.

I would kill to see a 29 take off and land. Always had a thing for the 17 though, absolutely love that aircraft. Absolutely had a great time today, I met a lady from one of the local news stations, she was out there interviewing some of the organizers and taking video. Also ran into a couple of guys from the 82nd Airborne - man they were a real hoot. We were out there swapping war stories and just having a hell of a good time.

So yup, all in all just a really fantastic day.

 

[robbins.photo]

Quick clarification here folks, got a PM from someone asking me about the ID of the aircraft so thought it might be good to explain there are actually two B-17's that are called the Memphis Belle. The first is the original that flew all of those missions over occupied Europe, that one is actually in a museum.

The second is this aircraft, she was delivered to the Air Force in 1945 and was eventually sold as surplus, after a stint as a fire fighting aircraft she was eventually purchased and restored and made to resemble the original Memphis Belle - because this is the aircraft they actually used when filming the movie.

Just thought I'd clarify that, I can bore you to tears with additional details if needed.. lol. Yes, this is what you get for standing next to the guy that organizes these things for an hour at the end of the tarmac waiting for a decent shot and listening to him ramble on about his favorite subject the whole time.. lol.

 

[baturn]

Excellent! These aren't at the zoo, are they?

 

[robbins.photo]

Excellent! These aren't at the zoo, are they?

Rotflmao.. thanks Brian.. and nope, no zoo this time around. They have some silly rule about not landing WWII era bombers there. Go figure..

 

[manaheim]

That's very cool, and I appreciate the info as well.
Fascinating old things, these aircraft. IT was a veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery different time.

 

[tirediron]

Very nice!

 

[vintagesnaps]

Very cool.

 

[robbins.photo]

That's very cool, and I appreciate the info as well.
Fascinating old things, these aircraft. IT was a veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery different time.

Very nice!

Very cool.

Thanks folks, I had an absolute blast and I can't wait for them to come through again. They have a P-51 mustang that's stored at the same airport, I'm hoping next time it will be going up as well.