For my 40th birthday (which isn't until July 14th by the way) I got a very special present.

There are two vintage WWII bombers that travel the country doing shows and giving rides to a lucky few.  Anne got me a ride in one - a B-17G built just as WWII ended. It has gone through life as a test plane for nuclear blasts and a fire fighter but is now living life as a flying museum of life in the Strategic Air Forces of WWII.

The flight was about 30 minutes and went out around Puget Sound. There were the two pilots a flight engineer and the nine paying passengers. Once the plane was airborne we were allowed to unbuckle from or seatbelts which were bolted to the plywood floor of the aircraft. We were free to move around the plane until just prior to landing.

If you would like to find out more about these aircraft visit their web site at www.collingsfoundation.org

Here are pictures from the flight (Click on a thumbnail to see the full size picture):

This is the B-17G I went for a flight in.     Here I am just before take-off.

This is the B-24 that went flying in formation with us also with some paying passengers

Right after takeoff you can see Boeing Field. This was taken from the top machine gun turret whose guns you can see in the lower corners of the picture. The next picture is from the same spot facing forward

The machine gun hatch in the roof of the radio room was left off for the flight. The first picture above was taken from within the plane.  The second was taken whole the camera and my head were out in the 160 mile per hour slip stream.

If you look closely in the prop hub above you can see a reflection of the aircraft's nose art.

Above are several pictures of the engines from different angles.  Sitting in the plane while these engines were run up and then given takeoff power give a great feeling for just how powerful they are!

The above pictures are all take from inside the nose cone. I thought this was the best seat in the house! The first shows the flight engineer in his headset talking to the pilots. Next is my fellow radio compartment seatmate Dale admiring the view.

These pics are also from the nose The first three are as we passed over the Bremerton ferry off Alki. The last one is looking down on a sailboat as it passes just under the red tipped guns of the chin turret.

These pictures are to give you an idea of the inside. Some bombs in the bomb bay and a view looking from the radio room up to the nose with a passenger walking the gangway. Dale is looking out a waist gunner window and two views with the gun in the foreground follow. The silver box just behind dale is on of the ammunition boxes for the belly turret.

We were under strict orders not to talk to the pilots during the flight but we could stand in the cockpit and look over their shoulders. The above pics are all from there.  Right in front of the cockpit window you can see the small glass dome that the navigator used for taking star sights for nigh time navigation.

Kudos to the pilot in the right seat who performed a landing so gentle we had no idea we were on the ground until the tail dropped.

The B-24 that is flown by the same foundation that fly the B-17 flew near us for most of the flight although never in tight formation.

Vashon Island and downtown Seattle.

Just as we landed at Boeing Field an Alaska airlines 737 flew over the radio room hatch.