Inside The Cockpit - B-17 Flying Fortress 'Sentimental Journey'

The B-17 Flying Fortress is a symbol of American airpower during World War 2. Jump inside with me to discover the amazing features of this aircraft and experience what it must have been like for bomber crews during this pivotal time in history.

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- Timecodes -
00:00 - B-17G
00:52 - Nose
02:21 - Wings and Engines
07:45 - Fuselage
08:11 - Tail
10:10 - Turrets and Flexible Mounts
13:00 - Bombload
15:05 - Jumping Inside
16:38 - Nose (Bombardier & Navigator)
18:19 - Cockpit
24:14 - Upper Turret
25:20 - Bombbay
27:05 - Fuselage (Radio Operator)
28:10 - Sperry Ball Turret
29:16 - Waist Gunners
30:45 - Tail Gunner (inop)
31:26 - Sentimental Journey

- Audio -
Music and Sfx from Epidemic Sound

[grizwoldphantasia]

I talked with a top turret veteran at Oshkosh, 1997 or so, who said on one mission over Berlin, they lost two engines and hydraulic power, and he had to drop down to manually crank the bomb bay doors closed. My memory is he said 147 turns.

[GregSkinnerTVsEgon]

I live in the Phoenix area, and my parent's live on the approach to Mesa's Falcon Field, where SJ and other CAF aircraft are based. I have to say that it's SO FREAKING COOL to be in the yard or doing something and then you see a B-17 rumble overhead. I've gotten photos and videos of it and the other WWII aircraft flying, and it's always amazing to witness!

[kinikinrd]

In 1986 +/-2 years, I was at an air show in Grand Junction, CO and Sentimental Journey was there. My uncle was a navigator in a B17 in WW2 so I've always liked them. I asked one of the crew what it would take to get a ride in it and he said, "for $175 we'll take you to Phoenix one way, you figure out how to get back". Needless to say I was there at 5am the next day. Things were a bit less formal back then. My seat was a typing chair strapped to the floor next to a donated drum of mineral oil. We took off and came back around to buzz the field and I swear we were looking up at the Blue Angels on the tarmac. The most memorable flight in my life. It was also my first airplane ride, ever! We could go anywhere in the plane except the ball turret. They flew below 10, 000 feet the whole way and it was magical. The top turret was cool and the tail-gunner position had a great view, but the E-Ticket ride was the bombardier seat, especially going over Arizona. I got to stand behind the pilot and copilot while landing. What a thrill! Beautiful deafening noise. Thinking about flying in that plane when you were being shot at was sobering. The greatest generation was a different breed of men.

[cdfe]

Sentimental Journey also spent two decades postwar as Airtanker 14 at Hemet Ryan Air Attack Base under contract with the California Division of Forestry (now the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), fighting fires up and down California throughout the 60s and 70s. B-17s were excellent airtankers, and would still be doing it today had the Air Force not melted down the entire supply of spare parts. CAF Arizona acquired her after she was retired from firefighting and restored her to wartime configuration.

[SVTCobra]

I visited that aircraft in 1986 and had the pleasure to be next-in-line to a guy who had been a radio operator. He said that if any bombs didn't release, it was his job to put on a safety harness, walk out onto the catwalk with the bomb bay doors open, and kick the bomb free. He slipped once. Hanging by a harness 20, 000 feet over Germany with 88mm ack ack exploding as he kicked the 500 lb bomb, he was thankful because the harness meant that someone was concerned for his safety. 😀

[Rhinozherous]

Your Inside the Cockpit videos are awesome! Thank you for your work and dedication!

I live with in driving distance of the airport where this B17 lives. I love that plane, and wanted to join the CAF to help maintain it. But my jobs hours wouldn’t leave me any time to work on it. Thanks for featuring it.,

[DeaconBlu]

I’ve been “intimate” with this bird.
She is absolutely beautiful in every respect. CAF have done a fantastic job with her.

Lots of Great info in this video.
Thanks!
😎👍

[kDrsimaq]

That was a really impressive look at a B-17.

[SkyhawkSteve]

Great video, and I did enjoy the brief pause to enjoy the Boeing logo on the yoke! The branding of the companies of that era is a bit iconic. I used to work on A-4 Skyhawks, and their rudder pedals had the "Douglas" logo cast into the top of each pedal. It's not part of the aircraft's function, but there's still an emotional element to it.

[yetanother]

This video is really nostalgic for me. I grew up in the vicinity of Falcon Field, AZ, where _Sentimental Journey_ is stationed, and my dad was a member of Civil Air Patrol Sq. 305 which is also stationed there; I've got quite a few fond memories of visiting the place, including climbing around inside _Sentimental Journey_ much like you're doing here. I was a kid at the time, and didn't know much about historical aviation, but I still knew it was one of the coolest machines I'd ever seen.

[plmock]

I had the opportunity to fly in this airplane earlier this year. It’s a lot tighter up front than the video might lead one to believe. It was well worth the cost to check off my bucket list.

[stuartlynn-qq]

Having worked on three of those engines I have a special bond with that airplane

[wideyxyz]

Great walk around Bis. Lovie the history and tech stuff.

[MrLaurencebourne]

Best I’ve seen yet on the B17.Many thanks.

Very interesting Video. Would love to see one of these up close one day. My Gradfather was a Hitlerjugend Flak Gunner and he said that the Leutnat let them have a look through the Range finder one day and he saw those bombers with the large tail. But in the end it was the RAF which destroyed my hometown :)

[markbike]

Another B-17G of note "Day's Pay". It was "Presented to the Army Air Forces as a result of cash contributions by the employees of the Hanford Engr. Works". The Hanford Engineer works was part of the über TOP SECRET Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb. Yet somehow Day's Pay made it to Europe, still marked that way. It made it back but was scrapped in 1947. Richland High School has a life-size mural of Day's Pay on the side of the gymnasium. Hanford works is just 200 miles southeast of Boeing Field were this episode was filmed.

[MrDoctorCrow]

I took a flight on Sentimental Journey a couple years back, magnificent aircraft!

[bikenavbm]

A great look around, thank you to all involved with this sponsers, owners and Chris too.

[DALEfu]

I had a flight in Sentimental Journey this past April in Chino, Ca something I will never forget!