Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/02/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Truly Excellent! Barney On Feb 16, 2008, at 6:46 PM, Peter Klein wrote: > While on vacation in southern California, I visited the Palm > Springs Air museum. They had a still-flyable B-17 on exhibit, and > I took a tour of it. I was able to crawl around inside and get > some decent shots. Since I know there are a lot of WWII buffs on > the list, I thought I'd share. > > I must say that experiencing this airplane from the inside left me > very moved, and with an even greater appreciation for "the greatest > generation." It really brought home what flying must have been > like at that time. No pressurization, no cabin heating. Much of > the control is via cables attached to various levers that the > pilots pull. Your body is physically part of the aircraft. At > around 30,000 feet, air is unbreathable, and it's about 40 degrees > below zero (F or C, take your pick). You wear an oxygen mask, plug > your electrically-heated long underwear to a power jack at your > station, and hope the other side doesn't shoot out your #2 engine, > which has the generator. You're flying at 200-300 mph, the > fighters opposing you are faster, and your guns are all manually > aimed. > > The B-17 from outside: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002646- > prf_001.jpg.html > > Bombardier's station, equipped with the famous Norden bombsight. > The latter was a state-of-the art optical device, equipped with > gyroscopes and a mechanical analog computer. > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002649- > prf.jpg.html > > Cockpit: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002651- > prf.jpg.html > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002654- > prf.jpg.html > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002657- > prf.jpg.html > > Bomb bay (I could just about squeeze through here sideways): > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002661- > prf.jpg.html > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002662- > prf.jpg.html > > Radio operator's station: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002663- > prf.jpg.html > > I actually knew these radio receivers. We used to convert them > into cheap ham radios in the 60s: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002664- > prf.jpg.html > > Transmitters. You can see some of the airplane's control cables > threaded through the ribs of the airframe on the upper right. > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002665- > prf.jpg.html > > Side machine gun: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002668- > prf.jpg.html > > Middle of the aircraft, looking towards the front. You can see two > side machine guns and the top of the ball turret gunner's station > that protruded from the underbelly of the aircraft. My guide is > gesturing to another guest in the background. > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002674- > prf.jpg.html > > Tail gunner's station. > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002678- > prf.jpg.html > Of course, it made me think of "Tail Gunner Joe." So in the spirit > of extreme irony. . . > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002679- > prf.jpg.html > > Photo taken lying on my back on the tarmac, looking up into the > open bomb bay: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002681- > prf.jpg.html > > More outside views of the plane: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002686- > prf.jpg.html > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002692- > prf.jpg.html > > My guide (he was from Brooklyn, yuh know whaddeyemean?) Great guy! > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002687- > prf.jpg.html > > This propeller was on a different aircraft, but I like it: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002694- > prf.jpg.html > > Cautionary sign inside the museum: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/palmsprings/L1002696- > prf.jpg.html > > These are records, not art. It was a very high contrast situation, > and some blown highlights were unavoidable to keep detail in the > interior. M8, mostly with 28/3.5 V/C Skopar, a few with the 35/2 > Summicron v.4. > > --Peter > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information