My Routine

[billrunnels]

Here is a nut shell version of my routine on mission mornings. The bomb bay doors were open when we arrived at the hardstand. I grabbed a pair of pliers out of my kit and straightened the fuze cotter keys in the bombs slung below the Cat Walk then went inside the aircraft and did the same on the rest of the bombs. This made them easier to pull when in the air. While there I checked the release units location, shackle settings and armature wire extension(4") beyond the fuze.

Picked up two gun barrels, parachute, bombardier's kit swung up into the aircraft through the nose hatch. Installed the gun barrels, preflight the Bombsight (18 operational components), Preflight the auto pilot and check settings on Intervalometer.


check oxygen mask, oxygen level in emergency tank and add from aircraft system if need be, check Interphone and spread flak suit on floor under bombardier seat with parachute on top in arms length.

Joined other crew members in " walking through props". The prop on each engine was rotated(counter clockwise) three complete rotations.

The minute the wheels left the runway I headed for the bomb bay to pull the fuze cotter keys then back to the nose to go on oxygen at 10,000 feet and test fire my guns over the North Sea.

If the ground was visible do Pilotage navigation and take drift readings though the Bombsight to assist the navigator. Start oxygen checks at 18,000 feet.

Program the Bombsight just before reaching the IP(Initial point) to begin the bomb drop run.

Continue oxygen checks and assist the navigator on return flight. Ate my sandwich and frozen candy bar at a lower altitude following crossing enemy line. The warmer temperature and removal of oxygen mask sure felt good.

 

[Crimea_River]

That's very Interesting Bill. I hope I have as good a memory when I reach your age!

 

[at6]

Just love your recollections Bill.

 

[billrunnels]

That's very Interesting Bill. I hope I have as good a memory when I reach your age!

My memory goes just so far.

 

[rochie]

Great insight Bill

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[pbehn]

The landing Bill? Tell me that landing was part of your routine.

 

[billrunnels]

The landing Bill? Tell me that landing was part of your routine.

It was the best part

 

[airminded88]

It's amazing to hear this detailed and gripping account!
Many thanks for giving us these invaluable insights of your wartime experiences Bill.

When I reach my 90s I pray to God that my memory is as good as yours to tell my great grandkids the fascinating stories I heard from members of the Greatest Generation!

Cheers

 

[herman1rg]

 

[Tim Moore]

I have a video that I made on the Norden Bombsight Preflight and Bomb Run Checklist. I haven't posted it before as it is somewhat dry and technical. Maybe it will helpful.

 

[billrunnels]

That's very Interesting Bill. I hope I have as good a memory when I reach your age!

That period was special and remains vivid in my mind. Wish I could remember other things as well.

 

[pbehn]

Bill, where did yourself and the rest of the crew sit on take off?

 

[billrunnels]

Bill, where did yourself and the rest of the crew sit on take off?

In our positions with the exception of the ball and tail gunners which were in the waist area. Both got in their positions after take off. The tail gunner put his gear in the tail position before take off.

 

[herman1rg]

This was while you were based at RAF Molesworth?

 

[billrunnels]

This was while you were based at RAF Molesworth?

Yes. During State side training we took off and landed in the radio room of the B-17

 

[Jimbob]

Very cool. My dad was in the USAAC 11th AF and stationed in Alaska when the Japanese attacked the Aleutians. He was a 19 year old and volunteered just after Pearl Harbor. He was a radio operator/gunner on B-17s. He told me that on his first mission all the crew peed in the bomb bay just before take off and froze the bomb bay doors closed. They had no navigational aids so during bad weather they would head to Mt. McKinley as a fix. They could dead reckon to their base from there. We are spoiled these days with GPS, but back then there were no good maps of most of the Earth. Keep the stories coming. My dad has past without telling me much about his experiences during the war so it is good to hear yours as I am sure they were very similar.

 

[billrunnels]

Very cool. My dad was in the USAAC 11th AF and stationed in Alaska when the Japanese attacked the Aleutians. He was a 19 year old and volunteered just after Pearl Harbor. He was a radio operator/gunner on B-17s. He told me that on his first mission all the crew peed in the bomb bay just before take off and froze the bomb bay doors closed. They had no navigational aids so during bad weather they would head to Mt. McKinley as a fix. They could dead reckon to their base from there. We are spoiled these days with GPS, but back then there were no good maps of most of the Earth. Keep the stories coming. My dad has past without telling me much about his experiences during the war so it is good to hear yours as I am sure they were very similar.

I am not surprised the bomb bay doors froze. At mission day breakfast I avoided coffee. Like your father, I was 19 so my kidneys could handle the punishment

 

[Tim Moore]

This comes from Martin Caidin's book, "Flying Forts", and refers to the problem that the Britrish had with their B-17C's which had been converted to the British "Fortress I" with poor results:
"There had been one problem plaguing the British which, since it never showed up on the American Fortresses sent to very high altitude, mystified the Boeing engineers and AAF specialists assigned to B-17 development. RAF crews had complained, on enough occasions to make the matter one of alarm, that at high altitude the bomb-bay doors would jam. There was never a pattern to the jamming. Before takeoff the doors would cycle properly. Everything checked out. Then at high altitude with its subzero temperatures, the doors refused to open.
'We went out of our minds trying to get a fix on it,' a Boeing engineer told the writer. 'But we could never get the same kind of problem that seemed to be giving the British fits. Then we had a chance to talk directly to one of our people who was assigned to England as a technical representative on the Fortress I. When he heard how we were trying to solve the problem of the jammed bomb-bay doors, he stared at us in disbelief. Then he doubled up and roared with laughter.
'It turned out the British had already solved their problem. You know what it was? It didn't have a damned thing to do with the Fortress or its electrical system or its bomb-bay doors. It seemed that while the airplane was climbing out to altitude the crewmen took the last-moment opportunity to relieve themselves. Some of them urinated into the bomb bay because there's a slight opening where the doors meet. And when the plane climbed to where it was anywhere from thirty to eighty degrees below zero, you'd better believe those doors were frozen solid...'"

 

[billrunnels]

This comes from Martin Caidin's book, "Flying Forts", and refers to the problem that the Britrish had with their B-17C's which had been converted to the British "Fortress I" with poor results:
"There had been one problem plaguing the British which, since it never showed up on the American Fortresses sent to very high altitude, mystified the Boeing engineers and AAF specialists assigned to B-17 development. RAF crews had complained, on enough occasions to make the matter one of alarm, that at high altitude the bomb-bay doors would jam. There was never a pattern to the jamming. Before takeoff the doors would cycle properly. Everything checked out. Then at high altitude with its subzero temperatures, the doors refused to open.
'We went out of our minds trying to get a fix on it,' a Boeing engineer told the writer. 'But we could never get the same kind of problem that seemed to be giving the British fits. Then we had a chance to talk directly to one of our people who was assigned to England as a technical representative on the Fortress I. When he heard how we were trying to solve the problem of the jammed bomb-bay doors, he stared at us in disbelief. Then he doubled up and roared with laughter.
'It turned out the British had already solved their problem. You know what it was? It didn't have a damned thing to do with the Fortress or its electrical system or its bomb-bay doors. It seemed that while the airplane was climbing out to altitude the crewmen took the last-moment opportunity to relieve themselves. Some of them urinated into the bomb bay because there's a slight opening where the doors meet. And when the plane climbed to where it was anywhere from thirty to eighty degrees below zero, you'd better believe those doors were frozen solid...'"

I can believe it