Ride on the Yankee Lady

The Yankee Lady is a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress, originally of the US Army Air Force, and now owned by the Yankee Air Force out of WIllow Run, MI. They fly into a local air show here on a somewhat regular basis.

The plane itself was built late in the war, being delivered to the USAAF on 16 July, 1945 and subsequently went immediately into storage. It did not see combat or overseas duty during the war.

After the war, the plane was one of 16 transferred to the Coast Guard for use in patrol duties. The aircraft was extensively modified, removing all the guns and installing a radar dome in the chin. At one point it carried a wooden lifeboat under the fuselage for dropping to stranded seamen.

In 1959, the aircraft entered civil service. Initially used for aerial surveys, it was later converted to an air tanker for fire fighting duties. Yankee Lady was one of five B-17s to fly to Hawaii and be used for the film Tora! Tora! Tora!

The Yankee Air Force acquired the plane in 1986 and spent nearly a decade restoring it. This required extensive work to re-modify the aircraft back to its wartime configuration.

The first time I got to watch the Lady fly was about six years ago. The gleaming aluminum was magnificent. The four Wright Cyclone 9-cylinder engines roaring drew the attention of everyone any time she came in or out. After taking several photos as it took off and landed, they shut it down for about an hour of crew rest and maintenance. During this time, they allowed people to walk through the plane for a small donation.

We were immediately in line for the walk through. Starting at the forward escape hatch, just behind the nose turret on the bottom of the forward fuselage, we went through to the main door near the tail on the starboard side. One thing you’re struck with is how small they are. It is definitely a young man’s aircraft. Knocking on 40 with a few dozen extra pounds, I could barely make it through from nose to tail.

B-17 "Yankee Lady"

I’d have bought a ride then and there but was priced out. Since then, I’ve talked about doing it every year. My wife finally gave in this year and said to go do it. As soon as we got to the show, I didn’t give her a chance to argue, and marched right up to the ticket booth and bought one.

When it came time for our ride, one of the crew (all volunteers by the way) escorted us around the plane. I could see under the engines there were puddles of oil, and streaks of fresh oil on the underside of the wings. Aside from that, the plane looked and sounded like new to me. After a quick brief they asked who wanted to sit where. Several of the 10 people (plus 3 crew) had personal connections to the aircraft (parents or grandparents who’d crewed them during the war) and we deferred to them as to where they wanted to sit.

My assigned seat for takeoff was just inside the rear door, near the starboard waist gun. The flight engineer, who was checking our seatbelts was surprised I got mine on and adjusted in record time. He asked, “You’ve done this before?” Nope, I was Air Force and apparently they never changed seatbelts, because the belts and even the canvas seat is virtually identical to what you’d find on a modern C-130.

The interiors on these planes are spartan, even by military standards. The B-17 is an unpressurized aircraft, so there’s no insulation. Each station has an outlet plug for the crews’ heated jackets. The control cables are all exposed as they run the length of the plane. So you have to be mindful as you move around not to pull on one. It’s not a stop call like on a city bus.

The crew then brought those 1,200HP Cyclones up one by one. Once all four were turning, you could feel the great Flying Fortress beneath you rearing to go. Like a caged tiger, she was ready to be let loose once more.

Video of the engines (in flight) here: https://youtu.be/Dzf23QHFVvY

It was a hot day, so once we got out to the runway she took nearly the whole 5,000 foot runway to lift off. The ride itself is surprisingly smooth. It rattles a bit more than a modern aircraft, and there’s visible gaps in many of the panels. This can be a bit disconcerting, particularly as you walk through the plane during flight. For example, standing on the catwalk through the bomb bay, you can look down at the bomb bay doors and through the cracks see the world go by below you. The catwalk itself is less than a foot wide and all that keeps you from falling off are some railings made of rope.

As soon as we were up, the flight engineer gave us the sign to rise up and move about. Those of us in the tail immediately headed forward. The next station forward is the radio room. We’d been forewarned that there is a window on top of the fuselage here that’s wide open. Being that the ceiling is maybe 5’8” from the deck, I had to crouch to avoid losing my hat and/or glasses. Some more intrepid riders stuck their heads out into the slipstream. I stuck my hand out. At about 180 knots it really didn’t feel much different than hanging out of a car.

Forward again, through the narrow passage of the bomb bay, we come to the flight deck. The flight engineer (who also manned the top turret here) sits behind the two pilots, whose cockpit is a step above. We couldn’t sit in the pilots’ seats for obvious reasons, but I stood behind them for a good long while during the flight. I think this was probably my favorite view, in particular because you can pop up into the top turret and get a 360 degree view.

Video here: https://youtu.be/GG4cLG_uLsM

To get to the nose of the aircraft you have to go through a small hatch in the floor of the flight deck. Again, this is tiny. It’s maybe 18” across and 24” tall. This drops you all of maybe 20” down onto a narrow walkway into the nose. The forward escape hatch is right next to this, so as you’re maneuvering through the hole you have to stay on the walkway. Too much pressure on that door and it goes flying, likely taking you with it.
There’s a small chair and wooden desk in the nose for the navigator. Which is actually probably one of the most comfortable spots to sit and take in the view. But if you dare, getting into the bombardier's seat out in the bubble is where it’s all at.

The view from the nose in flight is, in a word, spectacular. It’s also terrifying. The plexiglass bubble gives you an unparalleled view of the world.

Video here: https://youtu.be/uD6lKrEs9TQ

Getting into the seat is tricky, as most movement on the plane is for someone who is not a svelte 19 year old (we’d been told that the allotted crew weight during the war for the 10 man crew was 1,200 pounds, needless to say that four or five of us middle-aged riders would be able to knock that out). 

Once in the seat, you are fully in the bubble. As you sit there, you are fully in front of the rest of the plane. It is like being stapled to the nose of the aircraft. I can’t imagine sitting in that seat and looking down through the bomb sight while under fire. There is no way not to feel exposed. Now I can understand why Yossarian went nuts.

Getting out of the nose compartment is easier than getting in.

For the landing, I ended up having to go back through the bomb bay and took the radio operator’s seat. This is right behind the bomb bay and over the wing. It was a great seat for the landing. Luckily the pilots brought it down gently, because the radio equipment is only about three inches away from your face as you sit there. You definitely had to have been short sighted to be a Flying Fortress radio operator.

Yankee Lady Landing

I didn’t take a ton of pictures, because I wanted to be in the moment. I’ve got memories of events where all I remember is getting the perfect shot. Didn’t want to let this be one of those days.

Only nine B-17’s remain airworthy. From a total production run of 12,731 aircraft, of which 8,680 were the Yankee Lady’s -G model. If you get the chance, it’s not a cheap ticket, but if you’re at all an aviation and/or a World War II history buff, it’s worth it.

As if having such a rare bird flying at the show wasn’t enough, the recently restored B-29 Superfortress “Doc” did a couple of fly-bys. Doc is one of two airworthy B-29’s left in the world (of 3,970 built). Up until Doc’s restoration there had been only one airworthy B-29, FiFi, since the mid-60’s. Doc was rescued from a US Navy bombing range where it had been sitting in the desert and used as a bombing target since 1956! 

B-29 "Doc"

B-29 "Doc"