In October of 2011, my wife surprised me (and my plane obsessed 2-year old son) with a trip to an airshow at the Chesterfield County Airport. The airshow featured 3 World War II era planes, a North American P-51C Mustang Trainer, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, and my favorite bomber of all time, the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress (actually, the B-17F is my favorite, but close enough). The airshow allowed for going through both bombers. This was a great experience, especially since I had never been in a B-17 before. I have found it is rare to find them at airshows and even rarer to be allowed inside of one.
On our way out, we heard mention that you could purchase tickets to take a 30 minute ride in the plane of your choice thanks to the Collings Foundation. It was expensive but you only have a few opportunities in life to make a dream come true, so with my wife's blessings I had my ticket on the Nine O Nine.
The flight was everything I had hoped it would be. The engines were loud and put off a tremendous amount of horse power you could really feel as you approached. Climbing up in the bird, I was strapped down near the waist gunner positions for take off. Once in the air at cruising altitude we were allowed to move around the plane freely.
I worked my way up to the nose of the plane to see things from the perspective of the bombardier. To get there, you have to cross through the bomb bay which is essentially a 6-inch wide steel beam that you have to shimmy across. Looking down, you can see the ground moving through the cracks in the bomb bay door. Once in the front of the aircraft, I crawled on my hands and knees to the front of the nose. It was cramped but amazing.
I worked my way back through the plane to the radio room. Traditionally, there is a clear shield in the top of the cabin with a gun mounted in it. This was missing which meant I was able to stick my head out of the top of the B-17 while it was in flight. It was very exciting.
From there, I moved back to the waist area and got a good look at the ball turret on the bottom of the aircraft.
Then, it was time to land. For the landing, I was strapped down in the spot reserved for the flight engineer/top turret gunner. I could see the split level view of the pilots above me and the nose below me.
For someone who has known the difference between a B-17 F and G since I was 12, this experience was a dream come true.