Twice years ago when this plane flew through the San Francisco area I worked on this bird. Both visits were mid-tour inspections of some sort (maybe 100 hour). We changed #3 motor on the first visit and on both we chased a laughingly large number of cracks. Boy, these things can sure shake themselves to death, like a nitrous equipped DC-3 missing a blade from each prop. Well ... maybe ... not ... quite ... that bad ... maybe. Now that I think about it, the shaking was really only at takeoff power (and that at today's peacetime pansy-*** MAP) ... but still ... lol. There are much more authentic B-17s out there than this one but they are all worthy of being checked out if one comes to your area. Awesome plane.
Yep, saw a lot of welded cracks and some stop-drilled in the oil cooler intakes on the outer engines. And I agree with you on the authenticity. I wished they didn't put the fictitious nose art on it and that they rather completed the plane to look fully like the 601 Bomb Squadron aircraft that the serial number depicts.
A couple of other interesting birds joined the festivities, a rather nice 70% Spitfire replica whose lines are very well done, considering, as well as a Stearman with a Lycoming engine. The Spit pic is done with my cell phone so pardon the quality. I also attach a short video of it in better light.
Northern English as in Canadian......There may have been a Brit standing next to me in the crowd when I took that. The Spit is owned by a local pilot and is currently not flying - just taxiing - as it has issues with engine reliability. It's powered by a 1962 215 cubic inch Buick V-8 and was built from scratch over between 1970 and 1994. It was purchased by the current owner in 2005 and underwent a 3000 hour restoration, modification, and refinish between 2005 and 2011.
Sounds like an interesting combination of engine and airframe. Back in the 1980s, there was a company producing kits for, I think, 7/8th scale Spit MkIXs (maybe slightly smaller than 7/8th scale), which used the Jaguar V-12 engine. I think the company were either Australian or from New Zealand, and the Spits really looked the part, very like the one you posted, apart from being the 'MkIX' replica, and much more like a Spit than some of those small replicas currently flying.
Andy,
Great pics and vids! Lucky devil -a true life experience.
We are expecting Sentimental Journey here, 29 Aug- Sept 5, hope to have an experience as great as yours.
I'll close with these last few pics of the B-17. For those of you interested in getting coated with oil, try taking pics from behind like the last one below! Thanks for your interest everyone.
Great shots of her Andy, She comes home in a couple of weeks for Air venture where she is home based at EAA's Museum in Oshkosh. I have climbed through her many times and loved every minute of it.
Glad you were able to get some time in with Aluminum Overcast, even though she never saw angry skies, it's still awe-inspiring to see and especially ride in!
We get visits from her typically every other year here at Redding (RDD) and as a bonus, the Collings Foundation arrives about a month afterward with their fun stuff!
Thanks for sharing your photos and experiance, Andy!