B-17 in WW II - Crew stories

I can not separate the B-17 from the crew who flew her on the bombing runs, nor can I separate the B-17 from the ground crew (aka crew chief) who kept the plane running.

I offer you a couple of websites where I found crew stories.

The Jesse Woffard B-17 Crew (text) and photos of Woffard's crew.

Dwayne Bennett, pilot.

I found a nice book called The Bomber Boys: Heros who Flew the B-17’s in World War II (2005) by Travis Ayres. Ayres interviewed five surviving WW II veterans who served as crew on B-17’s. Three of these veterans whose stories Ayres tells are George Ahem, Art Frechette, and Anthony Teta. George Ahem was a Ball Turrett Gunner from the 351st Bomb Group, 509th Bomb Squadron. While on leave in London he and his crew mates missed being killed by a German V-2 rocket strike only because they stopped to take pictures of Big Ben. Their cab driver told them that if they had not stopped to take pictures, he would have turned down that street at the precise moment the rocket hit.

Art Fretchette, Navigator, 301st Bomb Group, 419th Bomb Squadron managed to get out of his B-17 while unconscious just before the B-17 blew-up. He did not have time to pull the rip cord before landing on a mountain in the snow covered alps. He fell 15,000 feet. Four of his crew mates died. Art was captured by the Germans along with five of his crew mates at least some of whom were at different POW camps. The Germans treated Art’s wounds. Art and his crew mates were released by the Germans at the end of the war.

In a story Ayers calls "The Lucky Bastards Club", Ayers tells the story of Anthony Teta, Navigator, 305th Bomb Group, 366th Bomb Squadron. Tony Teta made it home, surviving 35 missions. Surviving 35 missions was not always easy. By the time Tony and his crew got to England, P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolt fighters escorted the bombers on their bombing runs.

On one bomb run, they got to the target, the bombardier dropped the bombs, and they turned around to head back to base. The flak from the anti-aircraft guns was very heavy. Jerry Chart, the pilot, took evasive action in an effort to avoid the flak. Suddenly, things got complicated when the word came to the cockpit that they had five bombs stuck in the bomb bay. A little later, Tony felt a sudden impact followed by the propellers of the inside engine on the right wing stopping. Ayers tells what Tony does next:

The interphone was dead . . . .He climbed quickly up the little ladder in the back of the nose compartment, emerging right behind the pilot's seat. A cold wind swirled blue smoke around the cockpit, sparks were spewing from a fuse box next to the top gun turret. Tony could see blue sky. Flak had ripped away a sizable pice of the bomber's roof. . . . (Ayers, 2005, 46).

Chart told Tony to plot a course to neutral Sweden, just in case. He knew that it was only a matter of time when they would have to drop out of formation and lose the protective cover of the other bombers. They finally had to drop out of formation,and the pilot in the lead B-17 wished them luck. Chart and his crew were on their own. All the crew, especially the gunners, were on the look-out for German aircraft. Being on their own, they were quite vulnerable.

Suddenly, two fighter planes were spotted. At first the crew could not tell whether they were Allied fighters or Germans.

‘I think they're ours,’ Robinson announced from the top turret. Then when he could make out the fighters' distinctive shapes, he added, ‘Yeah, its two little friends.’ Moment's latter two shiny P-51 Mustangs pulled alongside of Chart's number 015 Fortress--one cruising just feet away from each of the bomber's wingtips. Chart returned a friendly wave from one of the fighter pilots, and then everyone on board found himself smiling and waving.

Tony was not surprised when their skipper announced his intentions. They would be continuing back to England. Whether it was the friendly fighter escort that had tipped the scale, Chart did not say, and Tony would never know. Chart had made his decision and his men trusted him. (Ayers 2005, 50)

Tony, Robinson, Chart and the rest of the crew made it back to England, not without more adventure as their earlier encounter with flak damaged the electrical system, and remember they did still had five bombs stuck in the bomb bay. The damage to the electrical system meant that they had to do some jury rigging to the electronics to lower the flaps and the landing gear.

I have only given you a taste of the stories that Ayers tells, and there are two other stories that I have not mentioned. One is of Peter Seniawsky (Peter Scott), Left Waist Gunner, 384th Bomb Group, 547th Bomb Squadron. Peter baled out of his crippled B-17 over Germany, evaded capture by the Germans and walks to Spain over several weeks before making it back to his base in England. Then there is the story of the crew of the Stork Club who participated in food and supply drops in German occupied Holland right around V-E day. The drops were arranged by the Allies and agreed to by the Germans. German guns were supposed to be quiet. Problem was that for an unknown reason a German soldier manning an anti-aicraft gun fired his gun. The Stork Club was hit, resulting in a large hole in one of her wings. She made it back to base with her crew.

I found Ayers’ book at my local library, and I’d recommend the book to those of you who want a taste of the experiences of B-17 crews in WW II.

References:

Ayres, Travis A. 2005. The Bomber Boys: Heros Who Flew the B-17's in World War II. NY: New American Library Group, a division of Penguin Group (U.S.A.)

Next up: B-17 in WW II - more crew stories

B-17 in WW II - How to fly the B-17

I found this intact WW II era training video on flying the B-17 on youtube recently. The video takes just under 30 minutes. I enjoyed it, there is a short educational cartoon in the middle of the video. I soak up everything I can about the planes that I write about, and the B-17 is no exception. So, watching this video was a real treat. Of course, I do keep in mind that this is a training video, the idea being to lay a solid foundation for the pilots in preparation for the difficulties in flying the bomber in bombing runs during WW II. Revised December 29, 2021: The link that I originally shared  on flying the B17  from archives dot org no longer works, but I found what I hope is a similar video on Youtube.



Direct link to video from AirBoyd on YouTube

Not being a pilot (nor am I B-17 pilot) I can’t speak to whether the training video reflects what it is like to fly the B-17, whether it be as a WW II bomber or as an airtanker. While I am not exactly intimately familiar with what is involved in flying multi-engine airplanes, I have enough of a sense of multi-engine airplanes to have an idea of what they are talking about in the video. That was helpful to me as I watched the video. If you have an in interest in aviation and/or historic aircraft, then I think you will enjoy watching the video.

Roger A. Freeman, in his 1977 book, B-17 Fortress at War has a section where surviving crew members discusses their specific role as a B-17 crew member. Pilot, James W. Johnson offers his impressions on flying the B-17:

The Fortress inspired a tremendous confidence. It was the only propeller driven aircraft I have flown that was completely viceless; there was no undesirable flight characteristics. The directional stability was excellent, properly trimmed, the B-17 could be taken-off, landed and banked without change of trim. Both ailerons and elevators were particularly responsive for such a large multi-engined airplane, so there was normally no effort at the wheel even at quite high altitudes. The B-17G was a totally predictable aircraft. Most warplanes were given to some scary situations and you could, of course, get into trouble with any of them. But in normal circumstances, you had to be a really sloppy pilot to get into trouble with a B-17 (Freeman 1977, 114).

Of interest to me was getting an idea of how the pilot and co-pilot work together. Each have jobs to do, and they often work from check-lists. For example, Jim Fletcher (co-pilot of a B-17 in WW II) describes some of the tasks that the co-pilot did (Freeman 1977, pp. 116-9). The co-pilot works with the pilot where the pilot may ask the co-pilot to do a certain task on the appropriate check-list. These tasks included but are not limited to:

• priming and then starting each engine after the pre-flight and start-up checks,
• check propeller feathering,
• magneto and turbo checks for each engine,
• operates the tail wheel lock during taxiing,
• locks tail wheel just prior to lift-off,
• retracts the landing gear,
• opening or closing the cowl flaps,
• monitoring and adjusting the power systems,
• sharing flying time with the pilot(Freeman 1977, pp. 116-9).

Here is some information that you might find useful to explain some of the terms that are referred to in this article:

1. parts of an airplane. Note that this page includes some parts that the B-17 did not have (e.g. slats and spoilers).
2. wikipedia on airplane magnetos
3. wikipedia on trim tabs.
4. I went to Jablonski to find a description of the turbosuperchargers in the B-17. Jablonski is discussing the B-17 flew at high altitudes up to 30 or even 35,000 feet: "At this high altitude also, turbosuperchargers--one per each engine--were employed to provide sea-level air pressure. The outside air was drawn into the supercharger through intercooler air intakes in the wing’s leading edge and compressed to the proper pressure before being fed into the engine’s carburetor" (Jablonski 1965, 315).
   

Next up: B-17 in WW II - stories

References:

1. Roger A. Freeman, 1977, B-17 Fortress at War (Great Britain: Charles Scribner’s Sons)
2. Edward Jablonski, 1965, Flying Fortress: the Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them (Garden City NY: Doubleday and Co.)

In rememberance - six die in crash of firefighting helo in Spain

I first heard about the crash of a firefighting helo in Spain, killing six on board, last week from wildfire today. I wanted a little more information before posting a remembrance so I reached out to a Spanish speaking friend who has spent time in Spain. She found an article on the crash in english from El Pais.

The Bell 407 helo crashed into a hillside on March 19 in a remote region of Aragon Spain. There was no bad weather and visibility was good. The crash is under investigation.

According to El Pais, the following firefighters died in the crash:

Ramón Millán Salafranca, 24
Angus Thompson Caminals, 35
Albert B., 38 (pilot)
Rafael A. O., 40
Esteban Javier Galve B. O.
Francisco Javier Galve B. O.

A seventh firefighter, Ángel Aznar (32) survived the crash and was hospitalized with critical injuries.

My condolences go out to the family, friends, colleagues and all those who loved those who died. I pray for Ángel and his family. And for the sad Bell 407. . .

For the people of Spain, I join you as you grieve this tragedy.

May you fly in favorable tail winds.

Wildfires in CO

video of helo working Indain Gulch Fire from the Denver Post:



Fire season in the Rockies may have gotten off to an early start with the Indian Gluch Fire being one. Another one burned 12,000 acres near Karval, CO is 100 percent contained according to the Denver Post. Still another fire, this one in Douglas County, CO is 95 percent contained, see this Denver Post Article.

As always, I can't say how long the Denver Post articles (and the embedded video) will be freely available.

There are also wildfires burning in other areas of the country, for example the southwest and the south. For more information on these and other fires, see the wildland fire hotlist forums.

B-17 in WW II - crew positions and responsibilities

can not write about the B-17 as a bomber without writing about the crew. For in some ways, the crew and their Fortress were as one. So I present this brief overview of crew positions and responsibilities.

A typical B-17 was flown by a pilot and co-pilot with a crew of eight others, including gunners. I say typical because sometimes the numbers of gunners varied. In addition, I understand that later on in WW II, the navigator and bombardier positions were combined into one position done by one man.

• The pilot was the commander of the crew. In addition to being the pilot in command of the B-17, he was responsible for all aspects of crew training, discipline, safety and efficiency 24/7. But he was more than the commander, he was also one of the crew.
• The co-pilot was the executive officer. He must be as familiar as the pilot with all aspects of flying the B-17, ready to take over both as pilot and commander if necessary. The B-17 required a flight crew of two to fly the plane. For example, the co-pilot monitored and adjusted the power systems and performed a number of vital tasks from taxiing to take-off to climbing to flying to flying to and from the bombing target to approaching home base to landing.
• The task of navigating to and from the target was the job of the navigator using one or more of: (1) dead reckoning - using charts and visual references; (2) pilotage - using charts along with time, distance, and speed calculations; (3) use of radio navigation aides; and (4) using the sun observations or at night using stars and planets.
• As the B-17 arrived at the target, the bombardier takes over command of the plane (including flying) as they approached the bomb target. When they arrived at the target he released the bombs. Accurate bombing was crucial and that was the bombardier’s responsibility.
• Communications, working the radios, and keeping the radios in good working order was the job of the radio operator. There was a lot of radio equipment in the B-17 that allowed for both communications and navigation. He maintained a log and was often the photographer of the crew. A good radio operator knew his equipment inside out. He was also a gunner.
• Simply, the flight engineer knew the all equipment on the B-17 better than the pilot and any other crew member from the engines to the radio equipment to the armament to the engines to the electrical system and to anything else. Many flight engineers served as maintenance crew chiefs before moving to the position of a B-17 flight engineer. The flight engineer was also the top turret gunner.
• A typical crew had four gunners, sometimes less. In a configuration of four gunners there were two waist gunners (right and left), a tail gunner, and a ball turret gunner. The two waist gunners station was in the middle of the plane. As the name implies, the tail gunner’s position was in the tail and the ball turret gunner (a small man) position was in a turret underneath the B-17. Each gunner was responsible for their own armament and ensuring that their guns were in working order.

More information on each crew position may be found here. I want to note that I have the same information in excerpts from a WW II era pilots training manual for the B-17 that Jablonski included in an appendix (pp. 324-7) to his 1965 book, Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them (by Edward Jablonski, Doubleday and Co.: Garden City, NY).

By this time I have read more than a few stories in various books written by WW II veterans who served as crew members on a B-17 (I'll post a list of references later). I have been deeply moved by what I read and along the way I learned about what these various crew members did. I was looking for something on the web that could give you some of what I got through the books I read. Fortunately, I found an excellent interactive graphic of crew positions in the B-17 maintained by the EAA who a restored B-17 Aluminum Overcast. You can click on a crew member in the graphic to hear a story from a surviving crew member. You may find the interactive graphic here as well as their photo gallery showing the interior of a B-17 and historical images. Added on September 4, 2011, the current page on the B-17 from EAA may be found here

Keep in mind that what I provide here and in future articles in this series on the B-17 in WW II is an overview along some websites where you may go for more information. For example, It is not my intent to delve into specifics of formation flying on bombing runs. Nor do I delve into the specific responsibilities of the crew of the plane leading the bombing run in regards to specifics like navigation and sighting the bomb target where the other planes in formation are following the lead plane; however the appropriate crew members of the planes following the lead plane had to know where they were and where the bombing target was in the event that something happened to the lead plane.

There is a wealth of information out there on heavy bombers in WW II, both on the web and in print form. I am barely touching the surface.

Next up - flying the B-17.

B-17 in WW II -- production and specifications

In 1934, the U.S. Army Air Corp was looking for a bomber to replace biplane bombers. To that end, they had a competition. Boeing responded to this competition when they developed an the airplane that was later known as the B-17.  In June of 1935, the first prototype, aka model 299, was unveiled at the Boeing plant in Seattle WA, ready for testing, go here for a photo of model 299).  A press release written shortly afterwards on model 299 may be found here.

Edward Jablonski describes model 299 in his 1965 book, Flying Fortress:

It was a beautifully designed, streamlined, gleaming giant of a plane. The wings spread to more than a hundred and three feet, the cylindrical fuselage stretched almost sixty-nine feet from turret to tail. Immediately striking, was the array of four giant Pratt and Whitney engines protruding, from the wind, each with a three bladed, eleven and a half foot in diameter, propeller. ... These five gun emplacements won the 299 the name of Flying Fortress. So did the size ... . One of the main wheels was almost as tall as a man and the elevator spanned thirty-three feet--three feet more than the wingspan of the Boeing’s F4B-4 Fighter (Jablonski 1965: 6).

Added on September 4, 2017, the video of the model 299 prototype that I posted in March 2011 is no longer available on youtube. But I did some information on the model 299 from Historic Wings.

The Air Corp wanted a heavy bomber and liked what they saw leading to the production of the model 299 series, later to be designated the B-17. The rest is history.  

There were a total of eight different B-17 models (aka Flying Fortress) beyond the single “model 299 prototype”. These were the: Y1B-17, Y1B-17A (1 only), B-17B, B-17C, B-17D, B-17E, B-17F, and B-17G. Including the one model 299 prototype, there were a total of 12,731 B-17’s built from 1935 through 1945. Of the 12,731 B-17’s manufactured, 3,405 were model B-17F and 8,680 were Model B-17G. Douglas (3,000) and Vega/Lockheed (2,700) began producing B-17s with the F models. Just over one-third or 4,750 B-17s were lost in combat (Jablonski 1985: 308-9). Note that I do not think that Jablonski's figure includes B-17's lost in training and other non-combat related accidents.

In addition to the models that I just listed, I just found out that there was also a model known as the B-17H. Apparently this variation was used in rescue operations with a life raft that was carried underneath the forward section of the fuselage. The National Museum of the US Air Force has a fact sheet on the B-17H that may be found here. In addition, the National Museum of the US Air Force has a fact sheet for each of the B-17 models. Go to their bomber page, scroll down to the section on the left side of the page for 1930s development and you will see listings for the B-17 models.

Added on September 4, 2017, the information that I found in 2011 on the B-17H from the National Museum of the US Air Force is no longer available, but I did find a short description of the conversion of B-17-G's to B-17-H for rescue operations on this wikipedia page on B-17 variants.

A nice discussion of the production history along with a summary of the B-17’s role in the U.S. Eighth Air Force in Europe, an account of a German Luftwaffe pilot on his impressions of a B-17 captured by the Luftwaffe, and some specifications may be found here. Boeing has  a nice webpage on the B-17 that includes a short history and specifications. I encourage you to spend a few minutes on these two sites as well as the US Air Force pages on the B-17 referenced in the last paragraph. In doing so, I hope that you will start to get to know and love the Flying Fortress as I have.

Note: The specifications on the two sites that include specifications are for the B-17 in her military configuration. Certain specifications such as cruise speed along with other performance specifications are likely to be different when the B-17 was reconfigured for use as a firebomber. You will note the the cruise speeds on the two sites are different (182 mph and 150 mph). I will leave it to those of you who are aficionados to sort these differences out. Finally, there are numerous sites around the web listing specifications for the B-17, I have only listed two.

Reference: In preparing this article, I have linked to some websites. In addition, I found a good reference in The Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Me Who Flew Them by Edward Jablonski (1965, Doubleday and Co.: Garden City NY. My copy was a gift, and I understand that copies may still be available through the second hand book market.

Edited on September 4, 2017 to strike out dead links and add current links where available.

Next up: B17 in WW II - the crew

B-17 Introduction

I think that I have known about the B-17, aka the flying fortress, at least by name, since junior high or high school. But I don’t think that I ever gave her much thought until I started writing about tankers a couple of years ago. Last year, two things happened that served to peak my interest in the B-17, the first was learning a little about the B-17’s use as a firebomber in the 60s and 70s through my wonderings online and conversations with folk in the tanker business. The second event was seeing the Collings Foundation’s  B-17 Nine O Nine when the Collings Foundation’s birds (B-24, P-51, and B-17) were in NJ for a couple of days late last summer. After I saw Nine O Nine, I was hooked.

I knew that I wanted to write about her, but before doing that I wanted to get to know the B-17 up close and personal. I took advantage of a number of books about the B-17, both through my local library and purchases. I’ll get to those books at some point during this series, perhaps at the end. I also found a number of videos of footage shot in WW II. Through my reading and these videos, I got to know both the B-17 as a WW II bomber and her crew. The difficult task is distilling all this into the articles on her use in WW II.

As I write this, I am still formulating the articles that will form this series of articles on the B-17. These articles will fall into three parts and a concluding essay or two where I will offer my own reflections. Articles on her service in WW II form the first part. A second part will focus on her service as a tanker. Finally, a third part will focus on restored B-17’s. I am still in the process of finishing up some things for the articles on her use as a firebomber and restored B-17’s, so it is possible that these articles will follow a little later.

Below is a tentative schedule for the articles focusing on her service in WW II, ending with a short article on her post WW II service. The dates are tentative and may be interrupted for news on the spring wild fire season or other related events.

March 23: B-17 in WW II - production
March 25: B-17 in WW II - the crew
March 28: B-17 in WW II - flying the B-17
March 30: B-17 in WW II - stories
April 1: B-17 in WW II - stories in pictures and video
April 4: B-17 in WW II - Memphis Belle
April 6: B-17 in WW II - maintenance
April 8: many did not come home
April 11: B-17 a look inside a B-17 bomber
April 13: B-17 - post WW II

NJ Floods - Rivers below flood levels

I wrote here and here about the recent floods affecting northern NJ. The good news is that the last of the Rivers, the Passaic River, that flooded last week have receded below flood levels today. For those living near Passaic River and her tributaries, this was the first time in almost two week that the River was not under a flood warning. See this article from NJ dot com for more information, and note the photo gallery.

FEMA Surveying NJ Flood Damage: My9TV.com

For businesses and residents in flood stricken areas, some of whom have seen flooding multiple times in the last few years, the clean-up is just begining. FEMA visited northern NJ communities affected by the floods a couple of days ago assessing damages.

Reflections as tankers and helos go on contract

I have begun to hear about wildfires cropping up in various parts of the U.S and I have heard rumblings that tankers and helicopters have worked at least a couple of wildfires. However, I don't know any specifics to report to you here. Don't worry, that time will come. I am sure.

As I am now in my third year of writing about aerial wildland firefighting tankers of various sizes along with helos are beginning to go on federal or state contracts. Pilots and co-pilots who aren't on contract are going through their annual training and check rides. Aircraft are being made ready for the season and their inspection prior to the start of the season. Some tankers and helos are already on federal or state contract. Or will be soon. Here in NJ our SEATs go on contract soon for our spring fire season. Fire season is already under way down south.

I wondered the P-2s and P-3s that are starting to go on contract. A couple of weeks ago, there was no 2011 list available, now there is, you may go here to get a copy. I saw that there are already five or six P-2s and P-3s on contract.

As I prepared to write this article, I found myself thinking about how much I care about all who are involved in aerial wildland firefighting both in the U.S. and abroad. Those of you who follow my blog know that I write about other things, but my raison d'etre is about tankers and helos fighting fires from the air. So, for all of you in the world of aerial of aerial wildland firefighting from pilots to co-pilots to loaders to base personal to mechanics to base gofers to dispatchers and to anyone I am missing, this blog is for you.

I can not fly a plane, and even if I could, I could not fly a tanker or a firefighting helo. I learn about aviation because I am finding that aviation is and always part of who I am. But I also do this for all of you, in hopes that I can bring what I learn about aviation to my writing to better honor all of you in the tanker and helo business. And to bring my readers into your world. At least in the way that I can.

I wish all of you pilots and co-pilots safe flying and favorable winds. Favorable winds in more ways than one. I know that you do what you do support the crews on the ground and to keep all of us safe from wildfires.

To the public, if you wonder where the tankers are and the winds are squirrelly or you can't see because of smoke or fog, then the tankers are not flying because it is not safe for them to fly.

Distance constrains me from being out west on the tanker bases in the public viewing areas watching you work. Perhaps I'll get to one of the tanker bases here in NJ this fire season to watch. Nonetheless, be assured that I am with you all in my own way through my meditations and words.

Safe flying in favorable winds everyone.

Journey into Aviation thru scenic rides

A quick point of clarification, I have written previously about my journey into aviation including attending ground school and passing the FAA private pilot exam, my first scenic ride, and a series on a scenic ride in the form of a "cross-country" flight. Any flight that I have taken and paid for (except for flights on airlines), are in the form of scenic rides where the pilot may happen to be a certified flight instructor. While I have learned things on every scenic ride that I have gone on over the last 15 months, these flights are not flight instruction because I am not taking flight training with a flight school. As appropriate, I have done my best to revise the posts that I have already written about my journey into aviation and other relevant posts to reflect that my flights are scenic rides (or scenic flights).

NJ Floods - update - March 14

Yesterday I focused on flood levels reported by gauges along the Passaic River, what I did not say is that major flooding continues along the Passaic River and her tributaries and is not confined to areas where the two gauges are located. While the flooding is not as bad as officials feared, it is still bad enough. Waters continue to recede, but it may at least a couple of days before homeowners and business owners can return to their homes or businesses. As reported by the Star Ledger yesterday, the NJ State Climatologist (Dave Robinson) reports that the recent Passaic River basin flooding ranks as the fifth worse on record. A report in today's Star Ledger may be found here. And here is a report from The Record (North Jersey).

I found a few videos to show the extent of the flooding. The first video was shot at the Great Falls in Paterson NJ on March 12.



The next two videos are from NY television stations. I believe that this video was shot this morning.

Water Slowly Recedes In N.J.: MyFoxNY.com

I'm not sure when this report was shot, the scenes are around Paterson, NJ.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com.

Finally, I found this video on youtube, uploaded on March 12 from a homeowner in Wayne, NJ.

NJ Flooding - Rivers crested - update 1

To the best of my knowledge, all the rivers in New Jersey where some level of flooding was a concern (after two significant rain storms in the last week) have crested. However, in some cases rivers will continue to be at moderate or major flooding levels for at least the next couple of days. I obtained the images that I am posting here from the National Weather Service's Midatlantic River Forcasting Center on Sunday afternoon, March 13. Note that some of the information on this site reflects current information. So, if you go there in two weeks, you may not see any of the data that I am referring to here. This is why I am posting these images.

Here is an image showing current flooding observations (3/13/2011). You will see that there are two locations - noted in purple experiencing major flooding. Both involve the Passaic River, the two locations are referring to flooding recorded by gauges, one in Little Falls and the second in Pine Brook. I have noted each location with a placemarker. You will also see a placemarker for Pompton Plains, which I wrote about the other day.

First an update on the location in Pompton Plains, specifically the Pompton River. You will see from the hydrograph copied below that the Pompton River crested sometime during the late afternoon or evening of March 11, 2011. As I write this, the Pompton River has currently receded to the action stage and is forecast to go to levels below the action stage sometime late in the day on March 14 before receding to the action stage this Wednesday, March 16. I'll try to see if I can get some information for you about how folk in Pompton Plains are making out.

Things are not quite so rosy for the Passaic River at Little Falls and Pine Brook. You can see from the two hydrographs (below) that while the gauges at both locations show that the River crested sometime late last night, flooding is forecast to continue for awhile longer. In the case of Little Falls, the River is forecast to fall below the major flooding stage later today or in the wee hours of March 13 before receding to the action level sometime on Wed. March 16.

In the case of the Passaic River at Pine Brook, it is forecast to remain at major flooding levels until sometime tomorrow afternoon March 13, but is forecast to remain at or near moderate flooding levels on Wed. March 16.

I suspect that what this means for the folk in areas of Little Falls and Pine Brook is that it may be awhile before they can begin to assess the damages caused by yet more flooding. I'll report back in a day or so with an update. I don't have any videos taken today to show you, that may have to wait until tomorrow. But I did find an article on The Record (North Jersey) with more information. Please note that I'm uncertain how long this article will be available to the public.

Flooding in NJ

Tristate Rivers Flood: MyFoxNY.com

I heard about flooding in New Jersey earlier this week from a different storm while I was in Florida. When I got back to town late Wednesday night, I heard about yet more floods in New Jersey for Friday into Saturday. Yesterday I gave some thought to what I'd write about today I thought I'd write about the floods as I have written about flooding in NJ and PA on previous occasions.

When I woke up today, I heard the news about the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. When I saw those pictures of the Tsunami  I had second thoughts. Then I found out that a buddy of mine is in Toyko, thank goodness he is all right but rather shaken up. My buddy knows of the work that I do on this blog. I know exactly, what he would tell me to do if I could talk to him, he would tell me to write about the floods in NJ. Hugh this is for you.

The purple and red markers in the image below show rivers with major and moderate flooding respectively as of 11 PM (obtained from the NWS at about 11 PM on March 12):

A hydrograph from the NWS for the Pompton River at Pompton Plains NJ (referred to in the video) is shown below:

Historical Crests of the Pompton River at Pompton Plains
(1) 24.47 ft on 04/06/1984
(2) 22.78 ft on 03/14/2010
(3) 22.18 ft on 05/30/1968
(4) 21.72 ft on 04/16/2007
(5) 21.00 ft on 09/17/1999

A map of Pompton Plains showing the river gauge where data shown in the hydrograph is shown below:

The worse of the flooding for other rivers in northern New Jersey may not hit until tomorrow and I'll make a follow up post tomorrow.

And let us not forget about all those affected by the Tsunami and the earthquake in Japan.

Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum

I took a few days vacation to Pensacola Beach, Florida. We spent one day at the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum. I took some pictures which I will you show you in a few days after I've had a chance to go through my pictures. In the meantime, enjoy this video that I found on youtube. This video contains some images shot on the flight line behind the restoration hanger. Visiting this area of the museum requires a bus ride. I had hoped to go visit the flight line but my tour was canceled at the last minute. So, I thought some of you might enjoy seeing some of the aircraft on display at the flight line.

In memoriam of WWII bomber crews

I came across this video on youtube a few weeks ago while I was looking at historica video compliations (stills as well as video footage taken at during the war) of the B-17 and B-24 bombers. I post it without comment. Watch the video and listen to the words of the song.

What's coming up

I am going to be busy for the next few days and may not be able to update this blog for a few days. So, I am taking the opportunity to share with you about what will be coming up over the next couple of months.

Late last year, I got interested in learning more about the B-17, aka the Flying Fortress. Many of you know that she was a heavy bomber in WWII. A few B-17's were used as tankers up until sometime around 1980, give or take a couple of years. My original intention was to write a series of articles on the B-17 focusing on her military history and her use as a tanker a couple of months ago. Then I got distracted by a nasty sinus infection and one thing lead to another and I did not get back to the B-17. Well, writing this series is my next priority, but I still need to put my notes together in a form that will later end up as a series of articles. So, be patient and stay tuned. My goal is to start posting this series along about March 17 give or take a couple of days.

A second upcoming series will focus on spending a couple of days watching one of the Cessna that I take scenic rides in get her annual inspection. I'm not quite sure when this will post, it could be awhile.

Finally, the spring fire season here in NJ is approaching and those of you who have been following this blog know that I try to write updates about wildfire activity here in NJ.

RIP Leland Snow

Leland Snow, the founder of Air Tractor died on Sunday, February 20 while jogging. He was 80. I offer my condolences to his family, friends, co-workers and all who loved him.

Fairly early in writing on aerial wildland fire fighting, I heard about Leland Snow when I was writing about the Air Tractor and the Thrush , two SEATs. He designed the Snow S2 airplanes in the early 1950s. By 1957-58 he had moved the production operations of what was later the Thrush Aircraft company to Olney TX. The Thrush aircraft used in fire fighting are descendants of the Snow S2. The Thrush aircraft used in fire fighting are descendants of the Snow S2. He owned the Thrush Aircraft to Rockwell-Standard in 1965 and was hired by Rockwell as a VP where he worked on Thrush Commanders. He left Rockwell around 1972 and went back to Olney, TX and began building Air Tractors.  You can read more about Leland on the Air Tractor website. In addition, you may want to read this article from the Times Record News. Bill Gabberts post on Leland Snow's passing may be found here.

Over the course of the last two years I have encountered many interesting and unique personalities in the aviation community, through books as well as correspondence with pilots and others in the tanker community. I only knew Leland Snow through a couple of articles that I read, but it is clear to me that he was an interesting and unique aviation personality. His loss will be felt, I am sure. It is my loss that I did not know him better. I understand that he has written an autobiography, I am going to try to dig up a copy and read it so that I can get to know him better.

Updated on May 20, 2013: Thanks to someone who contacted me to tell me that Leland Snow left Rockwell around 1972. I had incorrectly reported the date when Leland Snow left Rockwell and am thankful for my anonymous friend who corrected me. I apologize for the error.