How to Fly the Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress" - Flight Operations (Restored 1943)

I gulped when they said these things could run on 91 octane petrol. That stuff would make a modern car splutter.

gas turbine engines are so much easier to manage then ICE engines with their. superchargers(compressors), turbochargers. Just wrapping your head around ICE manifold pressure ss function of altitude and ambient temperature is complex. With turbine its just throttle.

Sure a lot to remember.Thanks for posting.

That was fun!

Ready player one

A bit of handful on “milk run” plenty of stuff to keep the flight crew on their toes.

Combat damage starts to add all kinds of challenges. Could be leaking fuel, one or more damaged non functioning engines, flight surface damage or control linking systems.
Air speed dropping off boys. We can’t keep up with the bomber stream,, I’ll try to maintain enough altitude to give you a few seconds to bail but if she keeps flying we’ll try to get past enemy lines.
Nobody shooting at us right now, she’s got a bad vibration above 140, but we’ve still got gas in this airplane. I’ll signal when we can jettison everything that’s not tied down.
With luck boys tonight we eat steak then our own beds.

Wish I'd found these years ago, I think my dad would've liked them.

My old neighbor's dad flew this plane, then ferried Planes in '42 from L.A., CA (Downey) to Enid, Oklahoma, and few the 'Hump'. He showed me his wings and flight books. He was certified on so many planes and was extremely lucky to fly the P-38 ('Lightning' AKA the 'Twin Forked Devil') out Palm Springs, CA.

Great video!

I have a whopping 23 minutes in the right-hand seat of a B-17G "Sentimental Journey" to be exact. A "Queen" is actually EASIER to fly than a Cessna 152 that I have 165 dual instruction hours in. She'll fly herself (without the auto-pilot on) if you'll let her. It takes LESS effort on the controls to fly a Queen than any twin-engine aircraft I've EVER flown (including a Twin Beech or Aero Commander) and pilots and crew didn't call her the "Queen" for no good reason. She got you there AND BROUGHT YOU BACK, which the "Pregnant Cow" (B-24) couldn't say. My former employer had 16 missions in a B-17G from North Africa (Sfax) and 4 Missions in B-24 and was a POW.

Now I can fly mine. Thank!

Wow. That's an interesting video. I feel like I learned something about the B-17 from this video. My Dad worked for Boeing.

Great video showing instructions the old way 👍

My dad was a pilot of a B-17 (51 missions) out of Rattlesden, England, Foggia, Italy and Poltava, Russia. I have his log and am writing a book about those missions. This video helped me experience what it was like for he and his co-pilot to fly a fort. He survived the war and his whole crew made it home.

The narrator reassures us the B-17 is less complicated than a battleship...forgets to mention the battleship has more then 3 men at the controls.

26 minutes of the instructor saying things like "don't close the cowling flaps yet or the superchargers will heat unevenly and fatigue the metal." "Watch your oil pressure and temperature at this altitude." "Lock the tail wheel before take off." "Have the crew visually confirm all the landing gears are up." "Don't let the engine get below 1,200 rpm." "Only one third flaps down till the landing is in the bag, then full flaps and reduce the superchargers, bring the manifold pressure to 26, and and keep the fuel boost pumps locked in ready in case we have to abort the landing...make sure autopilot is off, watch your angle of attack..."
Then the narrator says "Well that's part of it...not all of it by a long shot, but part of it at least. You'll pick it up in a year or two."

I had no idea how complicated just taking off and landing were, and how many variables the pilots have to keep track of.

Good video, but the jump cuts interrupting every few lines of dialog really detracted from it.

I always wanted to have a b17 flying fortress

Remember, some of these pilots were teenager's.

haha, these old birds are so simple:
watches this video:

I love how all the actual numbers needed to fly the plane are conveniently dropped out.

My mum in London during 1944 went out with a B-17 navigator (Bernie from Cleveland). I asked her why she chose the navigator over the pilot, she said "Well, he knew his way around".

I absolutely love these. Thanks for putting them up. Otherwise I’d have to find all my old documentaries the ex insisted I get rid of because I have too many. Shoulda kept them and got rid of her.

Ok I think i'm ready to fly it...

Pretty in interesting, the building they showed at the very beginning was the u building from k-25 in oak ridge tn

Lot a stuff to learn and get proficient at

We owe so much to "The Greatest Generation". I can't imagine doing all that under enemy fire, trying to fight off a swarm of Messerschmitt's and avoid flack, finding the intended target, dropping the bombs on target, and fighting your way back to England. Plus, these guys were, what, about 23 - 24 years old? Remarkable.

My late father was a pilot instructor on B-17 (also B-29 towards end of WW2), having soloed in light aircraft before the war. As such, he was slightly older at 25 by the time he enlisted and went through cadet training. I remember him recounting; "a ship a day in Tampa Bay" while stationed at MacDill Field in Tampa FL, where many pilot trainees ditched their aircraft rather than returning safely to the airfield. I found this fascinating video while researching what I might do as an aging baby boomer with dad's originally issued B-17 pilot commander manuals and related documents. Too much important history history for me to risk screwing up.

RIP NINE-O-NINE. "IN AN EMERGENCY A BELLY LANDING IS BETTER THAN WHEELS". ✝️

i wonder when did checklists originally used before? is it during ww2?

The actor James Stewart was an accomplished B17 pilot and rose to squadron CO during the war

The amount of info a pilot was responsible for is dizzying. And then over the target you had more pressing things to worry about

Narrated by Lloyd Bridges?

I just noticed that the guy playing the pilot was Arthur Kennedy! He played the bloodthirsty killer in, "Nevada Smith," starring Steve McQueen. Watch it:)

Before Bill Burr was a comedian.

My dad RALPH K STADLER flew one of these in WWII. Thank you

Odd plane! Looks like a "G" model with staggered waist windows, with a mostly "F/G" hybrid of a nose. Cheek gun windows from the "G", but the brackets for sticking guns through the nose.

My father and grandfather worked for Boeing for many years. In fact, my grandfather help build many B-17 including the 5,000th production model in Seattle which was signed by him and every other person involved with that plane. I have a picture of it too. I was also fortunate to fly for an hour in the B-17 Nine O Nine. Sadly I only have one photo left of all the photos taken but I'll never forget those sights especially looking down through the nose via the bombardiers seat and flying over a bridge connecting two sides of the Susquehanna River. By the way, did you notice who the trainer is this film? Yes, it's the actor Kevin McCarthy

cool how just about 25 years prior they were flying in wood and cloth biplanes

There is no most of this was done while sitting at the head of the runway waiting for takeoff in a combat situation. It would have taken weeks to get even 20 planes in the air. I think that "back in the day" the boys cut a few strings to speed up the process.

Love these films! Keep it up!

Deeply appreciate all the veterans

If only I was born in that generation I will be a b17 pilot

love it

How to fly a B-17. Step 1, Be a real man!!!

Respect to the guys who flew these: sitting there doing all this with 20mm bullets coming through the windscreen and flak threatening to blow the plane up at any minute. Then trying to get out if it went down. Some nerve.

I guess this all became second nature after a while. And also they would have already learned to fly at this stage, so just a matter of upgrading their skills for the B-17. They wouldn't have been having to learn all this starting from zero knowledge. That would have been an assignment and a half!

I miss you Papa.