B-17s straffing & IJN Aoba, & UK POWs

On 4/7/2012 4:55 PM, Dan wrote:
On 4/6/2012 10:24 PM, Peter Stickney wrote:
The PBY is an amazing beast - I've never been inside one, but I've seen
a couple of them fly.


If you ever get the chance to go to Pensacola NAS the museum has a
cutaway Catalina fuselage. They may look big on the outside, but they
are crowded inside. Take a look at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutter...09/4728119350/

If I wanted to make a comparison to B-17, it is cramped inside in
some places and open in other. To give you an idea stroll inside a
B-17 from cockpit to aft crew door. The bracing for the bomb bay cat
walk makes one walk sideways even when bombs aren't present. I must
admit I had a bit of a belly last time I did that and it was a tight
squeeze. The waist, nose, cockpit and radio sections of B-17 are
fairly roomy. There are spaces and restrictions in the PBY. The
engineer's feet block the top foot or so of the cockpit door. If you
want to open the blisters you do so on your knees. Neither was built
for luxury, but both had character.

Plan on taking a full day at the museum if you go. The displays are
jammed together so photography can be a bit tricky.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired



We have one here currently airworthy that shows up at Airshows.
All the Airline pilots who can't afford WW2 fighters are lined up to get
ratings on it