Warbird Information Exchange

I thought I'd share the pictures I took of the inside of Liberty Belle when she came through in October of last year. She stopped in for the press day before the LRAFB, and I got a chance to go poke around. She is always going to be a special bird to me, because even thought I've had a lifelong love of warbirds, she was the first B-17 I was able to go inside.

Without further ado, the pics...all taken from the standard iPhone camera.


Entering at the tail door and looking aft, towards the tailgunner station


Waist guns, looking forward


Half-witted Airport Ops guy, looking for any 109's that might be lurking about.


Radio operator's room, looking forward.


Bomb bay from the catwalk


Inert fire and brimstone


Cockpit, instrument panel from the AC's seat.


View, over the nose from the AC's position.


Looking over the left wing from the cockpit; I know some have said there appeared to be a fire on the wing behind #2, from this view that area would have been a bit tough to see in flight.


Looking out over the right wing from the cockpit.


One thing that REALLY surprised me was the method to get from the cockpit to the nose section. One had to literally drop on hands and knees and crawl forward. I suppose that's what the nose hatch was for. Something else I remember, particularly in light of the accident, was the large number of signatures on the wood and metal of this area from those who had passed through the Belle over the years.


Bombardier and Navigator stations


The Norden, locked on to one of the fuel trucks.


The Belle

Again, it's almost like losing a family member, but I'm glad it wasn't so much worse.


-Brandon

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ATC: "Oscar 2, cleared to engage wildlife at your discretion..."

Very nice shots Brandon, thanks for sharing them. As to the signatures... I won't lie, that's one of the things which has upset me most about this. So many veterans had the chance to see her and add their names to her, such as this 303rd BG pilot who took a flight in her when she visited Chesapeake back in 2009:





And so many of those veterans have now passed on... sure, we can rebuild a B-17, all it takes is money and time, but we can't go back in time and bring those men back.

I suppose the best way to look at it is that she lived up to her legacy one last time, bringing her crew safely home... which, after all, is why all those great men had the opportunity to tour her and leave their signatures on her.

Lynn