CAF WARBIRDS AT NEW ORLEANS LAKEFRONT AIRPORT TODAY

[Marty Roth]

Commemorative Air Force (CAF -formerly Confederate Air Force) displayed their B-17, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, flown in from Texas, along with several other WarBirds. In strict accordance with COVID-19 restrictions, the public was invited to share what some of our “Greatest Generation” built, maintained, and flew.

 

Representing Lagniappe Chapter of Louisiana Region, AACA, Chapter President Whitney Richard and I displayed the 1937 Buick Roadmaster 80C Phaeton, an unrestored example, previously the Parade Car for New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Dan Kennedy and Evelyn Geist were a hit with their red and white 1957 Chevrolet Bel-air 2-door Hardtop. Freddie and Celeste Hebert, and Ken and Linda Smart also represented our chapter, after which the eight of us did what we do best - enjoyed a wonderful meal at BROADWAY restaurant in Metairie, Louisiana. (The Texas Chili, Baby Back Ribs, and loaded stuffed potato were excellent, along with the cheese toast). The weather cooperated.

 

We want to thank the dedicated members of the CAF Gulf Coast Wing based in Conroe, Texas, near Houston, both for their ongoing efforts, and for hosting this weekend's event in New Orleans to share their passion with the public.

 

The B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps. Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry outperformed both competitors and exceeded the Air Corps’ performance specifications.

 

Top speed: 287 mph

Wingspan: 104 feet

Range : 2,000 miles 

Number built: 12,731

Engine type: Radial - 9 cylinder 

 

Featured in many movies such as 

Memphis Belle

Twelve O’Clock High

Fortress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Marty Roth
typo, and additional note (see edit history)

[Walt G]

Thanks so much for sharing this with us Marty! And the extra added bonus of your 1937 Roadmaster conv sedan in the photos too! ( a car which resided about a mile north of me for many decades) . My late uncle who lived a few blocks away from me was a waist gunner in a B-17 in WWII in the skys over England.

[freddie hebert]

  Celeste and I had a great time, this forum needs to move to Facebook

[g-g-g0]

Another thank you for sharing. My late uncle was a co-pilot in a B-17 flying over the skies of England and Germany. He spent the last 11 months of the war in Stalag Luft 1, a prison camp for US and British Officers, after being shot down on a mission over Germany. 

[46 woodie]

I had the honor of going up in the Miss Barbie III, a B-25 Mitchell Bomber and the 9-0-9, B-17 that crashed and was destroyed last year. Those young men that flew those planes were true American hero's and we all owe them our freedom. If you ever get the opportunity to fly in one, don't hesitate to go up.

[capngrog]

2 hours ago, freddie hebert said:

   this forum needs to move to Facebook

 

Why?

 

Cheers,

Grog

[bryankazmer]

this forum does not need the spam and security problems of Facebook

[padgett]

Great thread but the political correctness makes me sad.

[1937hd45]

Dad was a Chief Armorer for 3 years on a B-17 base. Flight crews and ground crew members were housed on different sections of the bases. You didn't want to know too many flight crew members, theirs lives were so short. God Bless them all

 

 

STUFF FACEBOOK  Bob 

[Bob Giles]

Marty, this looks like the beginning of another hobby.

[gossp]

1 minute ago, Bob Giles said:

Marty, this looks like the beginning of another hobby.

cars are expensive enough. 

[SC38dls]

If you like airplanes the Oshkosh air week (last week of July each non virus year) in Wisconsin is the Hershey of the airplanes. 
They usually have a lot of warbirds, some you can climb into others you can get a ride in. A definite bucket list item. 
 

[Marty Roth]

28 minutes ago, Bob Giles said:

Marty, this looks like the beginning of another hobby.

Hi Bob, 

No, Nope, Absolutely Not,

I loved Parachute, and Skydiving, and my Dad insisted there was never any reason to exit a perfectly good airplane

 

My Dad, after age 50, earned his Pilot License , (and also learned to play saxaphone from a former member of the Louis Prima Band, although he had played trumpet from the time he was a kid, and taught me trumpet)-

 

He loved flying, and after getting his solo ticket, joined a local club, the Rari-Ten-

Ten Raritan Valley members out of the Linden, NJ airport , across US-1 from the (then) GM B-O-P Assembly Plant,

and next door to the 7-Gables Restaurant where my band performed regularly through 1966, '67'68, and into 1969 until I moved from Colonia to New Orleans

 

While I enjoy flying, and always jump at the chance to join others on almost any "hop", 

cars and music, along with family are enough for me now.

 

A bunch of old cars,

and just one woman - not quite as old as I have become !

[Marty Roth]

25 minutes ago, SC38DLS said:

If you like airplanes the Oshkosh air week (last week of July each non virus year) in Wisconsin is the Hershey of the airplanes. 
They usually have a lot of warbirds, some you can climb into others you can get a ride in. A definite bucket list item. 
 

 

Yes !

Did Oshkosh once and thoroughly enjoyed it-

Thanks for the reminder-

 

Also visited Harlingen, TX with the Louisiana Region Thanksgiving Week Tour in 1988 when the CAF was still based there,

and got to see dozens of WarBirds returning from an air show in Mexico.

The biggest thrill was watching, and listening to them circle, and then land FiFi, then the last remaining, still flying B-29 -

A stupefying sight I'll never forget. 

Having been privileged to have flown years ago in both a B-17, and a B-24 LIBERATOR,

I never cease to be in awe of the men (sometimes still really boys but real men) who maintained and flew to secure and retain our freedom.

[capngrog]

1 hour ago, 1937hd45 said:

 

STUFF FACEBOOK  Bob 

 

Amen!  Those who like farcebook, should enjoy farcebook, but the disease need not infect this fine forum.  Krikey, we're having enough problems with the Covid/China flu!

 

Cheers,

Bob

[padgett]

Used to work air operations at Lakeland every year until balance got really bad.

[SC38dls]

I had a good friend that owned a T6 (A Texan) which was a two seat trainer. We flew out of DuPage airport in the Chicago burbs. There were a couple other war birds hangered there. The group would get together and go get a hundred dollar hamburger and when those radial engines started up the ground shook. It was very disappointing getting back in a Warrior or Archer and go flying after riding in one of those planes. If you get the opportunity to hitch a ride go for it, it is an experience you will never forget. It also gives you a different respect for those kids that took those plane into battle. 
dave s 

Edited November 8, 2020 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[1937hd45]

I'm guessing the six P-51 Mustang pilots burgers were a bit more when they flew into to Stratford one Saturday afternoon. Bob 

[Studemax]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing. That Beech Twin is looking sexy in black!

[George Cole]

7 hours ago, freddie hebert said:

  Celeste and I had a great time, this forum needs to move to Facebook

SCREW FACEBOOK!

[avantey]

My father was a B-17 navigator in the war.  Based out of England he flew many missions over Europe.  I have his bomber jacket with bomb graphics that count about thirty missions.  Six are red for missions over Germany.  Born in 1922, he was in his early twenties when he served.

[ojh]

I got to tour the Yankee Lady B-17, they let me into the belly turret and told me that the earlier B-17's accessed the belly turret from the outside only and the belly gunner took a pistol in there with him.  And they volunteered for those jobs.

[Marty Roth]

1 hour ago, avantey said:

My father was a B-17 navigator in the war.  Based out of England he flew many missions over Europe.  I have his bomber jacket with bomb graphics that count about thirty missions.  Six are red for missions over Germany.  Born in 1922, he was in his early twenties when he served.

 

Thank you, Bill,

 

My Dad was also in his early 20s when he served,

not quite 23, and working in a "protected" job at the TODD SHIPYARDS in Bayonne, New Jersey when he joined up the new group - The Naval Construction Force, better known as the Seabees  (Construction Battalion),

and yet, he was among those considered an old man.

Many were barely 18, and many who were much younger had lied about their age as an act of patriotism.

Far too many paid the ultimate price.

 

Your father, mine, and so many hundreds of thousands of others, through their service and dedication, have set an example we can never fully appreciate nor repay - but that isn't what was expected - maybe just a reminder for freedom, tolerance, acceptance of other viewpoints.

 

This may be a good time to do just that - take a step back, tone down the rhetoric - start to heal the divisiveness in our country -

Act like our American, Canadian, and immigrant ancestors would be proud to imagine.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Marty Roth
typo, and additional note (see edit history)

[Graham Man]

Marty,

   Thank you for posting,  Wonderful pictures, the Roadmaster looks right at home.  I never understood how those guys could hear after a mission.  I was able to shoot a 50 cal rifle, the concussion from the shot blows dust off the ground, my ears rang and I had real hearing protection.

 

I would guess the CAF is having a thin year, don't they make a lot of proceeds from giving passengers rides?  

 

2X on the EAA fly-in in Oshkosh Wisconsin, every year 5 warbirds would fly over my house on the way to EAA, the ground would shake, cant imaging thousands of B-17s in the air.

 

Warbirds of America EAA

[Marty Roth]

59 minutes ago, Graham Man said:

 I would guess the CAF is having a thin year, don't they make a lot of proceeds from giving passengers rides?   

 

Warbirds of America EAA

 

They do have proceeds by offering / selling rides, and we were offered a spot, but had to decline per scheduling concerns. I believe the price for each seat on the B-17 flight are based upon where in the plane you were seated, and as I recall, in the $400 - $800 range. A considerable sum, perhaps, but surely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and certainly nowhere near the cost of flying, much less maintaining these "Birds".  

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Marty Roth
Add photo and B-17G Specification & Texas Raiders detail (see edit history)

[Pfeil]

20 hours ago, freddie hebert said:

  Celeste and I had a great time, this forum needs to move to Facebook

NEVER

[SC38dls]

Can you imagine flying one of these over a Japanese held island heavily fortified getting hit and having to ditch in the Pacific!  One of these pilots tells the story of his flight.  After ditching he managed to get his life raft out, the plane sank then the tide started pushing him toward shore. The enemy was actually shooting at pilots that were being pushed toward them. I believe a sub saved him and he of course later became our President, George Bush. We should honor all of these guys and gals that served and are serving this Veterans Day and every day for that matter. It’s why we have the rights and freedoms we do as Americans. 

Edited November 8, 2020 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[tenugent]

Flew in aluminumovercast 10-30-2020 449.00 for all seats.Willard airport(champaign,il.)

[Captain Harley]

My dad was in the Pacific during WWII and stationed around different air bases.  He left me with many pictures of B-24, B-25, P-38, etc. planes.  Even some old busted up Jap planes left over when the US Army Air Corps moved in.  Some of those B-24's sure had some wild nose art!  About 25 years ago dad visited me in Orlando, FL.  We went to the local municipal (Herndon) airport when a B-17 and a B-24 had flown in for display.  What surprised me the most about the bombers was that they really were not that big!  I don't know how to explain this, but after all the books and movies about them.  I expected them to be so much bigger.

 

Capt. Harley😉

 

Once around 1963-64, a converted B-17 leading a "V" formation with two twin engine Lockheed Hudson's flew over the central Florida area.  They were seeding Fire Ant poison and were not much higher then tree-top level!  What a thrill for a kid like me.

[padgett]

I remember a low flying Vulcan just blotting out the whole sky. Of course the delta shape helped.

[SC38dls]

My dad was a radio man in the Navy during WWII. The plane got hit twice, once right behind the radio. If it had gone thru I would not be here today. They received an award for being the most shot at squadron in the war. They never left Hawaii!!  They towed the targets for the ships heading out to the Pacific. He use to say you could tell the newbies from the vets. The newbies couldn’t hit the 50 foot nylon sock and the vets would shoot at the wire towing it just to cut it so they could get target practice over quicker. 
dave s 

Edited November 10, 2020 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[padgett]

USAF set the stage for the next half century: except for brief periods if I was at my base, I wasn't working. First installed radio, comm, and crypto gear all up and down the the AFETR (even had a passport pre-stamped for South Africa). First found the effects of a bad ground at Ascension Island, nothing worked properly, then did the same (now including removal/destruction) all over SEA. Heck half the time was not even sure what country we were in, chopper in to just another comm van with AK-47 holes.

 

Took near a year to stop diving for cover when a firecracker went off after return. Companions thought it was funny.

[Grimy]

4 minutes ago, padgett said:

USAF set the stage for the next half century: except for brief periods if I was at my base, I wasn't working. First installed radio, comm, and crypto gear all up and down the the AFETR (even had a passport pre-stamped for South Africa). First found the effects of a bad ground at Ascension Island, nothing worked properly, then did the same (now including removal/destruction) all over SEA. Heck half the time was not even sure what country we were in, chopper in to just another comm van with AK-47 holes.

 

Took near a year to stop diving for cover when a firecracker went off after return. Companions thought it was funny.

Thank you very much for what you did, @padgett I was a consumer of the product of your equipment.  And some of our guys often provided security for your effort.  You were *way* out in the weeds with very limited opportunity for returning if the stuff really hit the fan.

[padgett]

Used to go out with a squad or ROKs, my team did not need the -1s all was memorized. Always wondered if we got overrun who the ROKs were supposed to shoot...

[Grimy]

11 minutes ago, padgett said:

Always wondered if we got overrun who the ROKs were supposed to shoot...

YOU, of course!  The ROKs were badass....

[padgett]

True. Could also smell from a distance so maybe why the adversaries (many) stayed away.

[Grimy]

They smelled the ROKs' kimchi and knew what the ROKs could do....

[Brass is Best]

Thanks for sharing! You can't help but love a B-17.

[nzcarnerd]

There have been a few WW2 service stories in this thread. Mine is a little tragic in a way.

 

My partner's uncle  - born 1922 - joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1941 and after the usual long period of training joined a bomber crew as a radio operator/air gunner with 75 Squadron flying Lancasters out of Mepal in Cambridgeshire, England. To cut a long story short, after marrying in the first week of May 1944 he joined his squadron on 10 July, but on only his second mission, returning from Germany over eastern France in the early hours of 29 July their plane was shot down by a night fighter. Even though the area was still under German occupation  - it was liberated only a few weeks later - the locals put on a funeral for the four of the crew of seven who had died in the crash. Two were captured and one got away.  Apparently it was only Allied bomber to crash in the area during the whole war. Unusually the crew - including uncle -  were buried in the local cemetery. The plane crashed on the hill visible behind the cemetery on the photo.

 

The village website has a page devoted to the story. My partner and I spent a few weeks in England and France in 2016 and followed his trail visiting some places he had been. A visit to a running, although not flying Lancaster bomber in Lincolnshire  I think put the whole thing into some perspective for my partner, although she wasn't able to go on board to see how restricted the space was.  Of course there were lots of other reasons for being there, mostly old vehicle related, although you can't escape a visit to Britain becoming ABC tour - another bloody castle, another bloody cathedral, another bloody country house etc. That said all that history is interesting anyway, especially coming from NZ where there is not much that is more than 150 years old. Included were visits to places of our own origins.

 

We were also able to find out what happened to his widow who was only 20 at the time. She married again in her 30s but didn't have any children and died in her 70s.

 

 

[padgett]

"is not much that is more than 150 years old" - other than a Spanish fort, you could say that about Florida. Nothing where I live but groves and gators before the mouse.