There’s one small door near the tail to enter or exit the plane. Inside, the B-17 is cramped for what appears to be a fairly large plane. Producer Mike Plummer takes a selfie as he pokes his head out of the top of a B-17 in flight.The view from the bombadier’s position as a B-17 circles over Tallahassee.But there are stories that they’d perspire and then, they would just, the electrics would short out, so…thirty degrees below zero up there at that altitude so, you can imagine what they went through, and they would fly day after day after day,” says Goldstein. The crew members had heated suits which they could plug in and get some heat. They would fly at altitudes in the high twenty thousands. And they had, there were many raids with hundreds of airplanes and many airplanes lost so you could just imagine. Ten crew members, one went down, ten people. So that’s kind of a staggering statistic, when you think about it. “There were more Eighth Air Force airmen killed in World War Two than all the Marines that died in World War Two. The risk of death for these airmen was high.
#HALF WING WW2 PLUS#
One raid on Berlin in early 1945 had over a thousand B-17’s alone, plus other bomber types and fighter planes. These planes flew in large groups, often hundreds of planes on a mission. A pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier, radio operator, tail gunner, ball turret gunner, top turret gunner and two waist gunners. The B-17 had a crew of ten men when it flew into battle. Looking out the top of a B-17 Flying Fortress as it cruises over Tallahassee.Īfter looking at the Mustang fighter, we moved over to the B-17 Flying Fortress we would soon take to the sky in.Cameraman Jon Manson-Hing shooting video through the left waist gunner position of a B-17 as he flies over Tallahassee.Pilot Stuart Goldstein with the Ye Olde Pub B-17 Flying Fortress bomber behind him.“…one went down, ten men.” Pilot Stuart Goldstein, Liberty Foundation And that’s really what their goal was, to protect the bombers all the way to the target and back.” So, again, that’s what gave them the very long range between the drop tank, the fuselage tank, I mean they would go well over a thousand miles deep into enemy territory with the bombers. They would have anywhere from seventy-five gallon drop tanks up to one hundred twenty gallon drop tanks. This is a red tail which is painted after the 100 th Fighter Squadron which was the Tuskegee Airmen. “So this is the P-51, obviously North American P-51 Mustang. He can pilot either one of these two war birds and has a wealth of knowledge about the abilities of the aircraft. Ray is commercial airline pilot by trade as well as a National Guard F-16 fighter pilot. Goldstein and fellow pilot Ray Fowler flew into the capital city as part of a gulf coast tour of the two historic aircraft. The P-51 was America’s long range fighter escort in World War Two. …“protect the bombers” Pilot Ray Fowler, Liberty Foundation Pilot Ray Fowler standing next to the North American Aircraft P-51 Mustang fighter. Goldstein continues, “This gives people an opportunity to see this and maybe inquire further into seeing, and to try to learn about World War Two, about these airplanes, about the airmen that flew in them and the sacrifices they made.”
These types of planes saw action primarily in the second half of the war in the European theatre, where they were instrumental in the allied bombing campaign against Nazi Germany. The Liberty Foundation is a historical group committed to preserving World War Two era aviation. Goldstein is a retired aviation lawyer who now enjoys spending some his time piloting the bomber for the foundation.
It makes these airplanes available for people to enjoy and to learn,” says Stuart Goldstein. “It’s a wonderful thing that the foundation does. The Liberty Foundation had a date with Tallahassee on its tour of a B-17 Bomber and P-51 Mustang.
Aviation history made a visit to our fair city on a bright February day.
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