B-17 low pass

[Elwyn Aud]

They recently remade an anti littering commercial for Texas using the CAF's B-17, Mustang, and Wildcat. Here's a link to the video of some of the low passes. Edit- I thought it was a remake of the 1991 commercial but it might all be old footage. Still great stuff.

http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/?page=cms/event&eventID=99
http://dontmesswithtexas.org/celebrityfaceoff/

[John Miller]

Freakin' AWSOME!!!!

[Richard Fleming]

There is one pass that I think there is fifteen feet clearance between the wing and the van! Cool!

[Dennis Holler]

Oh that is AWESOME!!

[Chris Edinger]

OUT OF SIGHT.... WOOOOOOO....   Thank you Elwyn..... just fantastic.....

[EddyR]

I was driving past the St Pete International airport one day after flying at the club field and heard a loud noise so I stopped and watched that B-17 and a   B-25 take off. I think Eric V was with me that day.
Ed

[FLOYD CARTER]

Nothing beats watching a SR-71 take off (Beale AFB, CA, in the '80s)

Or, U2R operations out of Moffet NAS (my project "High Boy" at Lockheed utilized the U2.  I designed and built some of the electronics stuff installed in the under-wing "pod" of the U2).

Floyd

[Gene O'Keefe]

I'm a Marine Corp Viet Nam combat veteran and had very close encounters with F-4 Phantoms doing "close"
strafing runs ....  BUT ...I would give my left nut to see a B-17 and a P-51 that close  !!!! 

 

[wwwarbird]

 Neat stuff, thanks Elwyn!

[Harleyman]

  SWEET!

[Greg Howie]

I suppose it took 20 takes because the camera crew scattered on every single pass , funny . finally one guy was standing in the bed of a truck , he couldn't get close enough .Cool.......

[John Stiles]

That was way cool, I was buzzed many times in Nam by everything from C-130s to OV-10s to Phantoms. Never fails to make me feel like my hair is on fire and a covey of quail just flew outta my hindermost parts. To this very day, patrols of C-130s fly over my house in twos and threes. I don't suppose that adrenal rush will ever go away.....nor the occasional trips back in time!

[Brian Massey]

Nothing beats watching a SR-71 take off (Beale AFB, CA, in the '80s)

Or, U2R operations out of Moffet NAS (my project "High Boy" at Lockheed utilized the U2.  I designed and built some of the electronics stuff installed in the under-wing "pod" of the U2).

Floyd

Floyd; I know what you mean.  I was at an airshow in San Bernardino in the early 80's where an SR-71 was on static display. At the end of the show on Sunday, as everyone was leaving they announced that you could stay and watch the 71 depart for Beale . . . oh yea, I stayed. The pilot took off and made a big circle to come back over the runway. As he got even with the crowd he pulled the nose straight up, pushed the throttles forward and literally became a rocket. You could feel the ground shake (Yes, it DID) and he simply went straight up until he was out of sight. Most awesome thing I've ever seen. I remember hearing an Air Force Colonel discussing the retirement of the last 71; the interviewer asks what would happen if the USSR were to grab one of the speed records the 71 held. With a chuckle he said, "Well, we would have to take one out of mothballs and go get it back". I've always wondered just how fast they could go.

Brian

[Bill Little]

Thanks for the link, Elwyn.

It is hard to imagine the guys back in WWII being maybe 18, 19, and young 20's taking off and gathering up in streams of those bombers of up to 1000 or more heading out on a trip they knew they may never return from. 

I had an "Uncle" that was a 19 year old tail gunner in a B-17.  He was shot down and captured on his 20th mission near the end of the war.  He lost over 40 pounds in captivity, and it took months after he got home for him to be able to eat a full meal.  Hearing him talk (what little bit he did) about flying those missions makes me thankful that those guys were willing to do what they did for the generations that have followed.  Bravery may not be a strong enough word.

Big Bear