To all,
I would like to fly the Swamp Fire around the world. I have Google Analytics recording all the hits from all the different countries. I ask you to visit the site and send the address to your friends and then have then do the same Etc, Etc, Etc. I think it would be interesting to see the results and see how fast and how far this will go.

http://sites.google.com/site/swampfiresite/home


Thanks
Richard

As a radio operator on a B-17G, we dubbed Pacific Tramp 2, it was the biggest plane in the air at the time. I never thought they would ever get any bigger. Obviously I wasn't able to foresee the future but not too long after we landed in the Pacific along came the B29. Our beautiful 17 was outsized. However, she was our baby & I painted gorgeous Esquire girls on the nose to prove it. Our crew headed up by James Gordon Pugh of California was an 18 year old pilot entrusted with a million dollar plane & 9 human lives, some of whom were older than he was but none with his abilities which were outstanding. I have many times tried to find him to no avail. In our converted 17 we were fitted for our job as an air/sea rescue team with an 0wens unsinkable twin engine boat capable of carrying 15 people with enough food & supplies for 15 days, able to convert sea water to drinkable, SOS radio,inflatable cover and many other features. It was a remarkable plane & crew. I often think of them.

My dad flew 33 successful missions in one during WW11 and got shot down twice i beleive it was a b17 i am not sure

In 1950 I was at Kindley AFB Burmuda Flidht D 1st Rescue Sqd. We had 3 of the B-17 with the drop Boats under the bellies. They had no trouble getting off the ground or landing with them. They did a lot of escourt duty for planes with minor trouble comeing home from europe.

My father, Melvin Brush, served with the 305th BG out of Chelveston, England. While he was alive he participated in the reunions that they BG group had. I was lucky enough to go with him to one of them help in Seattle Washington. Mel passed away almost 6 1/2 years ago and would love to get ahold of any of his old commrades who remember him and served at Chelveston during the war.
Alan Brush

Excuse me for the mistake on the previous post. The Swamp Fire website is located at:

http://sites.google.com/site/swampfiresite/home

I am trying to locate former Ground and Air Combat Crewmen of the 379th BG. We are also looking for the families of former airmen who might have been on the Swamp Fire 42-32024. If you are unsure you can search our site under the Crews and Missions section to see if you recognize any of the names:
ttp://sites.google.com/site/swampfiresite/home
If you know of or recognize any of these airmen please contact us.

For its time in history, this was the best plane ever.I was the radio operator gunner for 31 missions in a B17 and it kept on flying despite many savage hits by fighters and flak. My last 15 missions were on B17 42-102547 (Rose of York)which was christened by the present Queen of England on July 6, 1944

My father flew 54 missions as pilot of the B-17 in Europe with the 92nd BG. His story is For This Marvelous Country.
www.forthismarvelouscountry.com

Flew 25 missions in the 8th AF, 381st Bomb Group, 535 Pomb Squadron. Was Waist gunner and Toggelier (substitue Bombardier) Always counted on the 17 to bring me back to Ridgewell, Enland.

check out http://sites.google.com/site/swampfiresite/
for the skinny on one of the most famous B-17s of the 8th Air Force. I was copilot

great plane for photo work. stood up good under crash conditions to....

I was navigator on the Crow crew, 550SQ, 385BG.
I am the Historian of the 385th Bomb Group Association.
That 13th gun in the radio hatch was removed, as it did not do any good (other than making movies of gunners in combat.) Besides, the radio operator manned a waist gun over enemy territory after the crew was reduced to 9 men!!

Bombs away ! dudes, relax man!

I was on a crew of an air sea rescue B17 in 1945 stationed in Abadan Iran. The plane still had the ball turret behind the boat. Can you tell me where I can get a model of this plane?

I'm building afull scale B-17 instrument panel. I have almost all instruments now , but what I need are dim drawings of the 3 panels. Can anyone help?
Thanks
Gary

Hello, can someone tell me what plane was used as a primary bomber in USA before the Boeing 17 production?

I don't knw how the air-sea rescue version was designated but the F-9 was a Photo variant of the G Model. It had a tri-cam array in place of the chin turret, the standard vertical camera station in the radio room and a sling to aid the photographer taking long focal length pictures out the waisst windows. The aircraft didn't hae any guns, armor plate, or bomb racks. Some had "Tokyo Tanks" in the bomb bay which gave them a 14 1/2 hour range with a 45 min. reserve. One such aircraft was assigned postwar at Neubiburg to eveluate several items of German aerial photo equipment.

I was a tailgunner in Glatton, England during the War and can't remember for sure what the takeoff speeed was with a loaded airplane; can anyone help?

Love the B40 gunship mode & the B38 superfast models.
2 bad B40 didnt work out in the skies.
Seen No models etc on B-40 or B-38 variants.

Love the B40 gunship mode & the B38 superfast models.
2 bad B40 didnt work out in the skies.
Seen No models etc on B-40 or B-38 variants.

I flew 35 missions out of Foggia,Italy as a tail gunner during 1944-45 and never saw a more airworthy plane. We came back over the Adriatic, fearing ditching in the water, but made it in on one engine full power, one half power & two dead engines. My hat was off to that plane.

I grew up in a small town in Nebraska near an airbase where air crewa learned formation flying to maximize the effectiveness of their firepower against German fighters. What a majestic plane the B-17 was.

Hello, I have a question concerning the data plates on the -97 series of engines during WW2. I have heard that early in the war the acceptance dates were cut from the data plates to keep the Germans from finding vital information. Could someone update me on this info? Thanks

CIAO I AM LOOCKING FOR THE MANUAL OF CREW OR ROFI(RADIO OPERATOR FILE IN.
CAN YOU HELP ME?
THANK YOU
BEST REGARDS

I was a small boy in 1941, only 6&1/2 years old when my father died of kidney trouble and I moved from Hayden, AZ to Tucson, AZ with my mother. We lived about three miles from Davis Monthan Air Force Base and watched the B-17 Fortresses fly almost continuously. They were awesome and gave me a thrill each time they came over the house. I finally got to climb into one at Peachtree-DeKalb airport here in DeKalb County about a year ago. I was surprised at the cramped conditions in which those aviators had to work. I am six feet and 240 and would never have made it into the cockpit. I flew S2F Trackers in the Navy and had the same Wright 1830-82A engines with sealed harness for sea duty. What a great engine to fly. Call me 404-325-4866 Cell in GA.