Bomber crashes on gas station!

[kevin]

Pulled from you know where, an interesting double that seems to be maybe 10 years apart - the flying fortress was not a huge plane or was it?

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/2821/p1288ss9.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/606/p1622xe0.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)

[karlafong]

The bomber is still there, only now it's actually in front of a small restaurant just south of Portland, on McLoughlin Boulevard. And no, it's not a particularly large plane.

[charliels531]

They were considered large at the time, but (Mom told me) half a dozen women used to push them out the door and across Highway 99 from the old Boeing plant to the landing strip where they took off for test flights and delivery.

So, big for 1942; not so big for 1945.

[sub006]

I'd guess the first shot was taken in 1946, the second in 1955.

This could be a contest if somebody knows for sure.

[bigjess]

You know the second picture's old because there's no fat people in it.

Nice bit of nostalgia there, Kev. Thahk you

[cabclive]

so sorry i have looked at all my stuff and cant find a thing, but i will keep looking, good luck.

[kevin]

A photo of a Vickers Vimy used in an attempt to fly from London to Capetown - I don't think the pilots can get out of the cockpit if that's what you could call it - what if you had a call of nature? Also some contraption that thankfully never got off the ground or was it meant to :confused:

[4127592id]

They looked a lot bigger flying over Europe.

[OtisOne]

I'd guess the first shot was taken in 1946, the second in 1955.

This could be a contest if somebody knows for sure.

The second picture shows a 1959 Cadillac on the right, so the earliest date for the pic is late '58 (assuming the car's brand new).

[sub006]

Good eye, Otis! I missed it completely. Might be a '60 Caddy, nearly identical front ends.

As for the Vickers, it probably had some sort of sanitary facility that emptied straight down, much as airliners do today. Simpler to engineer before cabin pressurization!

[OtisOne]

Good eye, Otis! I missed it completely. Might be a '60 Caddy, nearly identical front ends.

Nearer to identical than I'd remembered, actually. But, after careful review, I stand by my earlier statement - it turns out that the '59 featured the horizontal chrome element across the middle of the grille (eliminated on the '60 models) and the 'parking lights' were oval as can be clearly seen in the photo. In 1960 they were changed to having a 'cupped' shape with the top horizontal.

[LRod]

Doesn't really add to the info much, but the tail number indicates the a/c was built in 1944. The chin turret identifies this as a "G" model B-17, which I think were introduced in '44.

My father flew 35 missions in one of these in 1944 (August to December) as a radio operator/gunner. He always remarked that it was a big airplane and as someone pointed out, it was for the time. First flown in, I think, 1936, it was one of the largest airplanes built to that time--positively revolutionary.

By the time the B-29 appeared, it was barely adequate, but like the Sherman tanks of the war, there were a lot of them (although the rival heavy bomber of the day, the B-24, was produced in larger numbers--more than any other warplane in the U.S.).

Incidentally, for waste disposal (hard to do at 30,000' @ 40 below) #1 was by the use of a "relief tube" which was sort of like a long funnel attached to a rubber hose (and useless to any female crew), which exited the a/c through a venturi vent. Literally sucked.

#2 was handled by a #10 can which was then placed on the closed bomb bay doors. I always wondered what some farmer thought when he saw one plummeting down around the IP (initial point of the bomb run) and discovered it was full of American airman waste.

With long underwear, the WWII equivalent of BDUs, electrically heated flying suit, flak vest, thick gloves, etc., I've often wondered how many crew just elected to hold it until RTB (return to base). Berlin was an eight hour mission, though...

[Boblo50]

The Vickers Airliner is actually a Vickers Vernon.

From http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/vickers_vernon.php :

"Final derivative of the Vimy / Vimy Commercial was the Vickers Vernon bomber/transport used by the RAF during its policing of Iraq from 1921. Serving with Nos 45 and 70 Squadrons at Hinaidi, they not only carried out their basic task, but were used as air ambulances and played a significant role in establishing the Cairo-Baghdad airmail route. Vernon Mk I aircraft (20 built) differed little from the Vimy Commercial, but the Vernon Mk II (25) introduced 336kW Napier Lion II engines and the Vernon Mk III (10) had Lion III engines, increased fuel tankage and oleo-pneumatic landing gear. The Vernon was superseded by the Victoria from 1927. "

I think that it used the Wings and Tailplane from the Vimy but added that horrendous fuselage to make it half-functional.

Note that the Vimy was a WW1 Bomber in concept, although it's main claim to fame is the first non-stop transatlantic Crossing in 1919 by Alcock and Brown.

There is a replica of the Vimy flying around which has crossed the Atlantic, London=Cape Town, and England-Australia trips. Bear in mind it has an open cockpit, only inches from the propellor tips and you'll not volunteeer to be a crewmember!

The Wagon with the Prop is probably a wind machine for movies. It doesn't appear to have effective steering(!) a small tank and the stubby, variable pitch prop seems to indicate a Holyywood studio creation. The Engine is probably a Liberty, but US-built Aero-engines aren't my forte.

And finally, what dimension do we use to define aircraft size? Wingspan, Length, Weight or Payload?

[Dragonpainter]

If you google "bomber gas station oregon", there is a lot of information out there.
(And it's all true, because it's on the internets.)

[kevin]

This (http://websites.circa68.net/aircraft/images/B-17_gas_station_1.jpg)would be a hell of a fright if you didn't know it was there :eek:

[Geemahn]

Although the B-17 and B-24 are not large by today's standards, they were and *are* loud!

The Collings Foundation flies one of each around the USA every year and when they're in my neighborhood (NorCal), one of their flight paths passes right over my house. They fly fairly low, a few thousand feet.

It must have been extraordinary to have heard hundreds of them flying in formation during WW II.

FWIW Rides are available for a suitable donation. I went up in the B-24, in honor of my uncle who was a navigator in the South Pacific. Highly recommended!

[Illoveit]

Having grown up in Portland in the 50's I remember my dad stopping there for gas, there was a ladder you could climb up and sit in the pilots seat. They took it down after someone fell.

[sub006]

So Britisn planes. like most British cars, are smaller than the American versions. Does the pilot sit on the "wrong" (right) side in a British plane, also?