News from America

News and goings on from across the pond

RTA Membership for residents of the USA

REVISED DUES FOR ROUGHAM TOWER ASSOCIATION MEMBERS IN THE USA

The yearly membership fees for RTA members in Britain is 15 UK pounds. At today’s exchange rate of approximately two Dollars to the Pound, that is the equivalent of $30. For several years we have offered a special reduced rate of $19 to US members; however, we now feel that it is appropriate to make it more in line with what British members pay. Therefore, a new rate $25 per year will go into effect immediately for US members.

Concurrent with this change, we are also asking you to mail your membership check directly to RTA’s Treasurer. This is instead of sending it to John Adams in Exeter, New Hampshire as in recent years.

The $25 check should be made out to: The Rougham Tower Association. Unless you add something to the envelope that brings the weight to over one ounce, the current Air Mail postage is 90 cents. Please address it to:

The Treasurer, Rougham Tower Association
The Control Tower
Rougham Industrial Estate
Bury St. Edmunds
Suffolk
IP30 9XA
England

First Flight in a Warbird
- a personal view of flying in a B-17

by Jo Mitchell

On the 26th April 2003, my partner Alan and I visited the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas, for their annual airshow. We were lucky enough to have been given some contact names of people who would look after us while we were there - partly as I was writing up the event for a well-known UK flying magazine. We thoroughly enjoyed the airshow, and the day would have been great even if it had stopped there.

However, the kindness and hospitality of the people at the Lone Star Flight Museum was truly astonishing. The resident B-17 had burst a tyre in the morning of the LSFM airshow, and did not fly during the show as had originally been planned. The mechanics had worked feverishly all day with the result that by the time the show had finished, the B-17 needed a test flight. It was with huge delight and not a little amazement that after the crowds had left the airfield, I and my partner Alan found ourselves being hustled aboard the B-17, for our first ever flight in a warbird.

The pilot made his checks and we were loaded onto the big, beautiful aircraft, named 'Thunderbird'. We went in via the back door just in front of the tailplane, and made our way to the seats between the ball turret and the bomb bay. We'd been given headsets, although there were no plug points by our seats, but we might want the ear protection. The engines were started up in rapid succession, and soon the aircraft was rumbling with the sound of four large Wright Cyclone engines.

The brakes came off, and we taxied slowly along to the end of the runway. We turned, and the pilot stopped the aircraft to do his power checks. The aircraft was straining at the leash to be away while the engines were at full power. Peering out of the side window, I could see the tailplane vibrating. The pilot relaxed the throttles, released the brakes, powered up again and we were off.... Takeoff was smooth, the aircraft climbed easily away over the airfield and soon we were cruising at 1000 feet.

Galveston is an island. It's very long and thin, with an enormous length of straight beach, which from our altitude stretched for miles below us. Houses and hotels were laid out before us; coastline and lakes; roads, trees, bridges and boats; all in pinpoint detail under our feet. We cruised up and down the island, following the line of the beach, and I'm sure the people below were not having half as much fun looking up at us, as we were looking down on them!

Riding in this big, solid aircraft over such exotic terrain in the blazing sunshine, it is hard to imagine what crews in WWII would have thought during at-times atrocious European weather, and even harder to imagine flying at tens of thousands of feet trying not to be shot down. My respect for these crews grew with every passing minute. Ten men crewed each B-17, and the aircraft would have been filled with many more things than the one in which we flew here. They would have had to fly for hours on each mission, without much room to move. Although we dispensed with our headsets, not wanting to trail the leads about, over the length of a mission the noise would be too much.

There were some bombs in the bomb bay - mock-ups, I assume! - although this is probably a wise precaution, as the bombs are locked in place. The bomb bay doors do not lock - if you drop something on them, such as yourself, they will open and you will fall out! With the bombs in place, this won't happen. The aircraft became warm inside very quickly, and the bomb bay doors serve very well as an impromptu air conditioning facility.

We were allowed to move about aircraft once at cruising altitude, so we made our way to the waist gunner positions behind our seats, where there were larger windows to look out of. This involved squeezing around the outside of the ball turret, through the glass of which you could see the ground. The crew forbade us moving behind a line on the floor towards the rear of the aircraft, due to the risk of falling out of the door we came in by - like the bomb bay, it's not locked. We spent quite a while looking out of the waist gunner windows at the spectacular scenery.

One at a time, we went forward to the cockpit for a look at the front end. Unsurprisingly, this was fantastic! You have to go through the bomb bay, walking on the six-inch-wide main spar, using rope handrails to guide yourself along. You climb through the top turret position and arrive immediately behind the pilot. Here, it is hard to know where to look first. The instruments were numerous, particularly with four engines to look after. The main flight instruments are on the right, and I could see we were maintaining 1000 feet at 200 mph. The visibility from the flight deck is pretty good - certainly, I was able to get a good look out.

My time aboard the 'Thunderbird' seemed to be spent taking pictures, thoroughly enjoying myself and absorbing the sights, sounds and smell of a vintage bomber. The sights were magificent. The sounds were all-encompassing - the steady roar of the four Cyclones was not subtle, but very comforting all the same. It was hard to talk, though, and most communication was done by hand signal. The aircraft is meticulously maintained but retains that vintage aroma of leather and metal.

All too soon, the pilot returned us to the circuit. We flew downwind, base leg, then approached the airfield on finals. The landing was probably the gentlest I've ever experienced in any aircraft - whether that was due to the pilot being extra-careful with his tyres I don't know! We taxied back in and stopped outside the hangar. The whole flight lasted about 30 minutes.

I will never forget that 30 minutes.

A huge round of thanks go to Bill and Julie Campbell, for getting us on the flight, to Larry Gregory and Ralph Royce for agreeing and to George Hartigan (pilot), Tom Gregory (2nd), Tom Owens, Tom Auerbach, Doug Peoples and everyone else who made us so welcome and gave us such a day to remember.