WW2- B17

[jhor9]

Originally Posted by seesul

hello Jules,

I know you from the armyairforces.com so I know you flew with 99thBG and made 50 missions. So first I have to say you have my full respect!
So I have few questions:

1) I believe you have a lot of pictures taken during WW2, could you share some of them with us?
2) Where was your BG stationed in Italy near Foggia? Perhabs Amendola?
3) Technical question- in the 2ndBG history book ''Defenders of Liberty'', on page # 263 there´s written:''when we took off from the field, we were so heavilly loaded and the field was so short that we had to use flaps''.
Also does it mean, that under normal conditions you never used them? And could you explain to me the difference between landing an take off flaps? Only the angle of their inclination?

Have a nice Holiday Jules!

1 I don't have other than personal pics.
2 I flew from Tortarella airfield.
3 use of some flaps is to get more lift, since it changes the shape of the airfoil. Use of flaps for landing is that it decreases the airspeed, thus more lift, lower airspeed.

I am curious as to how you got the video?

[seesul]

Originally Posted by jhor9

1 I don't have other than personal pics.
2 I flew from Tortarella airfield.
3 use of some flaps is to get more lift, since it changes the shape of the airfoil. Use of flaps for landing is that it decreases the airspeed, thus more lift, lower airspeed.

I am curious as to how you got the video?

Thank you Jules for your answers!
As for the video- I really don´t know...I was browsing tru the web looking for some infos about B-17 and by chance I´ve seen your name somewhere. It sounded familiar to me and then I´ve realized I know you from armyairforces forum...

[Njaco]

Mr. Horowitz, I really don't have an intelligent question but I want to thank you for your service immensly!

Roman, Fantastic find. Great interview.

[seesul]

Originally Posted by Njaco

Mr. Horowitz, I really don't have an intelligent question but I want to thank you for your service immensly!

Roman, Fantastic find. Great interview.

Yep, I´m happy I found it. Jules deserved it!

[jhor9]

Originally Posted by teammaico

jhor9,
I am attaching 2 photos you might find pretty cool. But, I have a question for you. My dad was hurt in shoot down of his air craft. Here is what he said to me as a kid and I am trying to figure out what he was doing and how he got hurt.
He told me one of the Left side engines had been shot out by flak and he ducked down out of the top turret to feather the props when a second flak shell exploded hitting the left side of his face and knocking him out of the turret. How do you feather the props and where are the switches or knobs or whatever you touch to feather the props? Also can you tell me how the engines are numbered 1 2 3 4, where are they? I don't know if you have seen these photos or I cannot remember seeing you respond.
Thanks,
Jim

Sorry I'm late with my reply---- engines are numbered from the pilots seat, from the left side #1,2,3,4
The engine feathering "buttons" are among the instrument display facing the pilots.
It wasn't your dads job to feather anything, 1 of the pilots should feather the engine, not the props.

[Matt308]

Wonderful interview Jules.

[model299]

This is in reply to an old post, but hey, what the heck!

teammaico, the throttles are number 1 through 4, port (left) to starboard (right.)

From the B17 pilot's manual:
(a)Each propeller is feathered individually by one of the four red push button switches above the central control panel on the instrument panel. Pushing the switch in starts an electric pump in the nacelle which supplies hydraulic power for the feathering operation. When the propeller is fully feathered the push button automatically releases, stopping the pump."

The red buttons mentioned are on the main panel, just above the pedestal toward the left middle section. You can see them here.

The diagram is located on a website where someone scanned pages from a B17 Pilot's manual. You'll find that here.

[jhor9]

Sorry, I made an error above when I said feather an engine, not the props .
65 years is a long time to remember,so I'm entitled to an error or two.. Overall I think that I'm doing pretty good.
What I distinctly remember is the extreme cold, -50-60 F.Thinking about it today I can't imagine how we survived

[syscom3]

Hi Jhor .....

The first time your instructor pilot for the B17 told you it was time to solo in the bomber .... how did you feel?

[jhor9]

Originally Posted by seesul

hello Jules,

I know you from the armyairforces.com so I know you flew with 99thBG and made 50 missions. So first I have to say you have my full respect!
So I have few questions:

1) I believe you have a lot of pictures taken during WW2, could you share some of them with us?
2) Where was your BG stationed in Italy near Foggia? Perhabs Amendola?
3) Technical question- in the 2ndBG history book ''Defenders of Liberty'', on page # 263 there´s written:''when we took off from the field, we were so heavilly loaded and the field was so short that we had to use flaps''.
Also does it mean, that under normal conditions you never used them? And could you explain to me the difference between landing an take off flaps? Only the angle of their inclination?

Have a nice Holiday Jules!

I just noticed that I never answered your questions, sorry

1. I'm sory that I don't have pictures to post
2 After we moved from Tunis N. Africa, we were stationed at Tortarella, 6 miles from Foggia.
3 Usually with a bomb load we would use about 25% or 1/3 flaps for takeoff, also we always used flaps for landing. The use of flaps changed the configuration of the airfoil, giving the plane more lift . On takeoff the plane becomes airbourne sooner . When landing flaps slows down the aircraft thereby allowing the plane to land at a lower airspeed.

[Matt308]

Thanks, Jules. I hope you can participate in the forum more often. We miss your insight.

On the B-17G, did the nose bombadier/gunner feel vulnerable sitting in front of the perspex nose knowing that many attacks were head on? Or was flak more feared than fighters?

[jhor9]

Originally Posted by Matt308

Thanks, Jules. I hope you can participate in the forum more often. We miss your insight.

On the B-17G, did the nose bombadier/gunner feel vulnerable sitting in front of the perspex nose knowing that many attacks were head on? Or was flak more feared than fighters?

Matt,
When attacked by fighters, evryone felt vulnerable. The crew other then the pilots all had 50 cal machine guns (13) and they used them.My crew got credit for 6 enemy fighters downed.

Since I kept the plane in tight formation , I didn't see fighters. For me flak was much worse then fighters, since I could see the flak as we got into the target area.

[B-17engineer]

What were bailout procedures? Did it matter who went first and last?

[Erich]

Jules hope you see this for your comments....... ?

v/r

Erich

[jhor9]

Engineer'
When the bailout signal was given everyone headed for the exits, most likely the pilot was one of the last to go.
I truly don't know since I never had to evacuate the plane.