The left seat pilot of our B-17 wanted one other crew member, other than the co-pilot, qualified to attempt an emergence landing should the occasion arise. He selected me, a Bombardier, for that assignment. Consequently, I spent considerable time in the right seat on training flights when I had no other responsibilities. On our trip to the UK I did land the aircraft in Bangor, Maine. Did a pretty good job if I do say so. My interest continued and I signed on as co-pilot, with the pilots okay, on slow timing engine flights when not assigned to mission of the day. The word got out that I was available and several co-pilots contacted me to fill in for them. Slow timing engine flights of four hours were very boring but I felt it a good way to kill time. I actually crewed the first of two Continental Express Flights following the end of the war as co-pilot. Of course none of this was in keeping with military regulations but we improvised on a lot of things in those days.
