Saturday, August 20, 2011

B-17, B-25 and Spitfires

Pin It Ruben and I went to a free fly day today at the Everett Heritage Flight Museum. We went because a WWII era Spitfire was scheduled to fly and it was a gorgeous summer day today. We got lucky because there wasn't just one Spitfire, there were two. Plus a Messerschmitt, a B-17, and a B-25 were all flying today.


B-17 nose art.


The Messerschmitt taxis out first, followed by the two Spitfires, and finally the B-17. The B-25 is in the background. It took off later.


This video is the Messerschmitt and the two Spitfires as they do a flyby.The Messerschmitt landed soon after this because it was running a little too hot.


We paid $8, a bargain, for both of us to crawl through the B-17. I was surprised that it was so cheap to tour it. Plus, all the money goes towards keeping the airplane fly worthy. So all around it was a win win.


Bombs in the bomb bay.


Can you imagine how scary it would have been to have to traverse the bomb bay walkway to the rear gunners if the bomb bay doors were open? The walkway is barely wider than my feet. And I don't have big man clodhopper feet or combat boots on.


Here is an authentic WWII gunner. LOL. Doesn't he look vicious?



The B-17 starting up. You can't really see, but there is a 87 year old man in the glass in the nose. His kids bought him the ride. He was in WWII, but wasn't on B-17's. His kids were so excited for him to be able to ride up front on a B-17 it almost choked me up. The cost of the flights were crazy expensive. In the $300-500 range. Too rich for me.

If you are ever in the greater Seattle area, or are planning a trip, check out the schedule for the Heritage Flight Museum. The free flight days are just that, free. You can pay to get into the museum, but you don't have to. Very fun way to spend a couple of hours.
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