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Posted on 04/28/2014 3:18:06 PM PDT by EveningStar
Mooney International Corporation is proud to present Planes of Fame Air Show 2014, May 3 & 4: "A Salute to the Mighty Eighth". This year’s airshow will feature over 40 historic aircraft, performing for your enjoyment as well as a salute to the 8th Air Force in WWII. We invite you to Airshow 2014 to celebrate the history and contributions of the men, women, and aircraft of the 8th Air Force. Performers include U.S.A.F. F-22 Raptor Demo Team ...
(Excerpt) Read more at planesoffame.org ...
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Guess who bought them ergo the "International"?
You guessed it the Chinese. A lot of people are pi$$ed about this...
Mooney bump!
http://www.mooney.com/
I examined a parked B-17 at an airshow once. What astonished my was how dang small the plane was. I grew up imagining them as huge, but they were really just very muscley little suckers, with a bunch of guys and guns crammed in over the bombs. Incredible what they did in those planes.
I felt the same way when I went on a WWII American submarine. THAT was INSANE. Especially when you figure it held 55 guys!
I crawled through a B-17 and a B-24 once and like you I was astonished at how remarkably cramped it was inside both planes, especially the B-17. I’m 5 foot 8 and there was no place in the B-17 where I could stand up straight. Only in the bomb-bay area of the B-24 could I stand up straight.
In my humble opinion from a point of aesthetics, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was the most beautiful, most lethal and just plain coolest looking aircraft ever to take to the sky. A more potent symbol of righteous America might, of ‘’flying freedom’’ and death from above to all despots and tyrants there never was. And lets not forget that beautiful, classic nose art a la Emilio Vargas of buxom , scantily clad babes with names like “Miss Bea Haven’’, “Shoo Shoo Baby’’ and “Sack Time’’.
“I crawled through a B-17 and a B-24 once and like you I was astonished at how remarkably cramped it was inside both planes...”
Warplanes have been built for combat, not comfort.
Today’s large bombers allow no greater space for the crews.
The B-52H (last variant still on status, out of a total of seven operational versions) weighs 488,000 pounds and spans 185 feet. But the sole spot in the crew compartment where an average person can stand upright is at the base of the ladder leading from the lower deck to the upper deck. And that person’s head will be above level with the upper deckplates.
The B-1B weighs 477,000 pounds and its span is less than that of a B-52. The walkway between its two pairs of seats is narrower than the seats themselves. An average person can just barely stand upright. And unless the entry ladder is retracted, the only spot where one may stand is less than 2 ft by 2 ft.
The B-2A (377,000 pounds, span similar to B-52) encloses just enough extra room to unfold a lawn-furniture lounger. That’s only because the third crew station was removed just as production began.
Just about every other cubic foot of interior space in each one of those airframes is taken up by munitions, fuel, and equipment.
The tail and ball gunners - I don't know how they did it.
Great experience.
I regret I didn't sign up for a flight.
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