"gatt" wrote in message
news:U9OdnTKE2-HpTZrVnZ2dnUVZ_vyinZ2d@integraonline...
WingFlaps wrote:
On Apr 18, 8:39 am, gatt wrote:

I think pretty much anybody who's ever flown a C-172 on a warm summer
day, with more than one passenger, has pushed it near or over gross.

You people need to go on diets! The 172 should be a 3 seater with full
fuel (144l)...

Unfortunately, too true. Under the pilot's storm window on a B-17 is a
placard with the maximum crew weight: 1200 lbs. Let's see: 10 men in
uniform, bunny suits, flight suits, boots, gloves, mae west, parachute and
harness, body armor, flak helmet...

I went to a park on Sunday with my wife and noted that previous
generations would be absolutely stunned by the average American's physical
condition nowadays.

An old 96th BG waistgunner/armorer told me one time that they would sneak
in extra ammunition for the long raids, but if the pilots found out they'd
make 'em offload it. So they ditched the fire extinguishers, waist and
radio room windows and just about everything else nonessential and
replaced it with a steel plate on the floor of the waist, and whatever
extra ammo could be slipped onboard in the tail without the pilots finding
out. "Aft of CG limit" apparently meant nothing to gunners.

(Also mentioned using their oxygen masks to keep cigarettes lit on the way
to Schweinfurt.)

-c

I must admit that I failed to read the placards in the Aluminum Overcast,
but I doubt that anyone other than the ball gunner would have been under 120
pounds even back then--and I have my doubts about him as well.

Peter