When was the last bombing mission in a B-17 Bomber? Well......soon the answer will be May 30, 2013.
The Arizona Ground Crew Living History Unit, Inc. will be in Stockton California at the Stockton Field Aviation Museum home of Taigh Ramey and his PV2D Harpoon working as Training Cadre for the Collings Foundations 2013 Bomber Camp.
Last year marked the 5th year we have been dropping 250 lb concrete bombs out of the sky with the the Collings Foundations B-24 Bomber Witchcraft. This year, for the Class of 44-5 a special treat is in the skies. 909, the Collings Foundations B-17 will be used for the first time in Bomber Camp to drop our payload!
Have you ever dreamed of being an airman flying a mission in a B-17 Bomber? Well, now is your chance. You can enlist for this total immersion experience and get a small taste of what it was like to fly a Bomb Mission in the Queen of the Air, the B-17.
This is not the normal flight experience offered by other Warbird Groups. This is a full 2 day program of complete immersion into the life of a bomber crew. Cadets arrive on Tuesday evening 28 May to check into their Billet and will be met that night by Cadre for issue of Uniforms and Orders. Training will commence early morning on 29 May at the Air Field and will conclude on 30 May after your return from the Bomb Mission. You will be instructed on Military Manners, Navigation, Norden Bombsight, Aerial Gunnery and all crew positions. You will spend time in a ball turret trainer where you will be checked out and cleared for operation of the Ball Turret in the air. You will spend time at the Gunnery Range live firing the ANM2 .50 Machinegun, various small arms of the era and check out on the top turret in a Turret Training Truck.
You will be issued HBT Coverall Uniforms for wear during your training and eat WWII Air Corps Chow while you train for your mission. During your mission you will work through all the crew positions of the B-17, fire the ANM2 .50 (sorry blanks only in the air). Once over the Target your bomb load will be released and you will RTB. (Return to Base)
This is guaranteed to be most immersive WWII experience you can find short of a time machine.
For more information on enlisting contact Hunter Chaney at the Collings Foundation:
hchaney@collingsfoundation.org The Collings Foundation
P.O. Box 248
Stow, MA 01775
Phone:
(978) 562-9182 or (978) 568-8924
Fax:
(978) 568-8231
Yours in Service,
William D. Gaston,
Captain
Arizona Ground Crew Living History Unit, Inc.
401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron (Re-Enacted)
http://www.arizonagroundcrew.org
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