Steve'sDigicams

squirl033 · Oct 27, 2005, 6:18 PM

Great shots, Tiger98! i got some in-flight shots of "Sentimental Journey" with my old Pentax ME Super, back in the late 80's when she flew at an airshow up this way. the folks who restore and maintain those old warbirds sure do a wonderful job... and a great service as well, giving former pilots a trip down memory lane, and showing younger viewers what it was like "back in Grampa's day".

tiger98 · Oct 27, 2005, 6:24 PM

Thanks squirl. Couldn't believe how little space there is inside that plane. With a crew of 10 it must have been a lot of fun moving around! Jim

squirl033 · Oct 27, 2005, 8:02 PM

i don't think they moved much once they got off the ground. the guy in the ball turret had to be lowered in and hoisted out by his crewmates, and there was a lid over the opening, so he couldn't get out without help (hope he didn't drink too much coffee before a long mission! :O). the tail gunner probably seldom, if ever, left his post, and the radio, nav, and pilots were too damned busy flying the beast to take a walk. the nose gunner/bombardier and waist gunners were probably able to move a bit, at least until they got over enemy territory... but damn, i bet it was COLD up there! those waist gunners especially took a beating from the cold air at 10-12,000 feet with a slipstream of 250 kts blowing in at them... and through all that, they had to stay alert and ready for action at a moment's notice. no stealth technology to hide them from flak or Me-109s,and if they were attacked, they couldn't even break formation, because the 'Fort was too slow and clumsy to have even the faintest hope of fighting off attackers byitself...

and to think, all that - 9 or 10 guys, in a 4-engine bomber, and it took four of 'em ('Forts) to equal the payload of a single A-6E Intruder...

Tazzie · Oct 27, 2005, 8:03 PM

Squirl, make that grandpa and great grandpa.

Tiger, Waiting, waiting, for, waiting, cussing, waiting. 10 pictures is he nuts, are they 250 k each what the... Ah finally. hmmm good shots, neat plane, whys the prop blade out a focus like its moving, hmmm. Worth the wait. thanks

squirl033 · Oct 27, 2005, 8:12 PM

Tazzie wrote:

Quote:

Squirl, make that grandpa and great grandpa.

just depends on your generation,i guess

my father- not my grandpa or great grandpa -fought in the Pacific inWWII...

tiger98 · Oct 27, 2005, 8:13 PM

squirl, they were saying the guy in the belly gun pod always had to wait till the plane was off the ground before he got into the pod and the same for when they landed he would get out first in case the gear collasped or they didn't have any! Apparently we lost 6k of the 9k of these planes during the war, probably due as you said to the fact they were sitting ducks! And your right about it being cold apparently frostbite wasn't un-common! Jim

tiger98 · Oct 27, 2005, 8:14 PM

Tazzie, sorry about the wait! Tried to keep the number of pictures low and omitted a bunch of them! Glad you enjoyed them...after the wait! Jim

tiger98 · Oct 27, 2005, 8:17 PM

tazzie forgot to answer your question about the prop(s) in some of the shots the engine was running and the "sports mode" froze them or at least slowed them down to where you could see them! Jim

squirl033 · Oct 27, 2005, 8:30 PM

tiger98 wrote:

Quote:

squirl, they were saying the guy in the belly gun pod always had to wait till the plane was off the ground before he got into the pod and the same for when they landed he would get out first in case the gear collasped or they didn't have any! Apparently we lost 6k of the 9k of these planes during the war, probably due as you said to the fact they were sitting ducks! And your right about it being cold apparently frostbite wasn't un-common! Jim

yeah, and they always picked the littlest guy to ride in the ball turret. he sat in there with his knees almost up to his chin, and two .50 cal machine guns between his legs, for the duration of the flight, which could easily run 8 hours or more... good God, the cramps!! to say hours to say nothing of needing a potty break!

there was a movie a while back, something called "Death ofTheBall Turret Gunner"... the poor sod was trapped in the ball turret because the hatch was jammed, and the plane had taken damage to the hydraulics so the gear wouldn't go down. the movie was about the crew's frantic attempts to free the guy, and how he reacted to the knowledge that unless they could unjam the hatch, he was doomed. it was in B&W, and it was one of those movies that makes your stomach turn, not from any gore (there wasn't any) but from the sheer, palpable horror the guy in that turret must've felt when the plane began its final approach and the hatch was still jammed...

Tazzie · Oct 27, 2005, 8:54 PM

Squirl, right again as usual and most eloquent as well. Its just that my children have children and my siblings children's children have children. Its a matter of getting an
early start. My dad taught welding in Alaska for airfields made of mesh steel. He was to old to fight born 1908. I'm a '46 boomer, and the youngest by eleven years in my family.

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Oct 27, 2005, 6:18 PM	#11
squirl033 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,915	Great shots, Tiger98! i got some in-flight shots of "Sentimental Journey" with my old Pentax ME Super, back in the late 80's when she flew at an airshow up this way. the folks who restore and maintain those old warbirds sure do a wonderful job... and a great service as well, giving former pilots a trip down memory lane, and showing younger viewers what it was like "back in Grampa's day".

Oct 27, 2005, 6:24 PM	#12
tiger98 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,696	Thanks squirl. Couldn't believe how little space there is inside that plane. With a crew of 10 it must have been a lot of fun moving around! Jim

Oct 27, 2005, 8:02 PM	#13
squirl033 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,915	i don't think they moved much once they got off the ground. the guy in the ball turret had to be lowered in and hoisted out by his crewmates, and there was a lid over the opening, so he couldn't get out without help (hope he didn't drink too much coffee before a long mission! :O). the tail gunner probably seldom, if ever, left his post, and the radio, nav, and pilots were too damned busy flying the beast to take a walk. the nose gunner/bombardier and waist gunners were probably able to move a bit, at least until they got over enemy territory... but damn, i bet it was COLD up there! those waist gunners especially took a beating from the cold air at 10-12,000 feet with a slipstream of 250 kts blowing in at them... and through all that, they had to stay alert and ready for action at a moment's notice. no stealth technology to hide them from flak or Me-109s,and if they were attacked, they couldn't even break formation, because the 'Fort was too slow and clumsy to have even the faintest hope of fighting off attackers byitself... and to think, all that - 9 or 10 guys, in a 4-engine bomber, and it took four of 'em ('Forts) to equal the payload of a single A-6E Intruder...

Oct 27, 2005, 8:03 PM	#14
Tazzie Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 511	Squirl, make that grandpa and great grandpa. Tiger, Waiting, waiting, for, waiting, cussing, waiting. 10 pictures is he nuts, are they 250 k each what the... Ah finally. hmmm good shots, neat plane, whys the prop blade out a focus like its moving, hmmm. Worth the wait. thanks

Oct 27, 2005, 8:13 PM	#16
tiger98 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,696	squirl, they were saying the guy in the belly gun pod always had to wait till the plane was off the ground before he got into the pod and the same for when they landed he would get out first in case the gear collasped or they didn't have any! Apparently we lost 6k of the 9k of these planes during the war, probably due as you said to the fact they were sitting ducks! And your right about it being cold apparently frostbite wasn't un-common! Jim

Oct 27, 2005, 8:14 PM	#17
tiger98 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,696	Tazzie, sorry about the wait! Tried to keep the number of pictures low and omitted a bunch of them! Glad you enjoyed them...after the wait! Jim

Oct 27, 2005, 8:17 PM	#18
tiger98 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,696	tazzie forgot to answer your question about the prop(s) in some of the shots the engine was running and the "sports mode" froze them or at least slowed them down to where you could see them! Jim

Oct 27, 2005, 8:54 PM	#20
Tazzie Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 511	Squirl, right again as usual and most eloquent as well. Its just that my children have children and my siblings children's children have children. Its a matter of getting an early start. My dad taught welding in Alaska for airfields made of mesh steel. He was to old to fight born 1908. I'm a '46 boomer, and the youngest by eleven years in my family.