B17 Flying Fortress.

[Elderly]

At 5.20 pm heading SW and then at 6.00 pm heading NE
I saw a (the?) B-17 flying low and slow over Aylesbury Vale .

Rubbish sound compared to the Lancaster .

[Voldemort]

The. http://www.sallyb.org.uk/

[Eric Mc]

Elderly said:

A
Rubbish sound compared to the Lancaster .

No way.

Different - but not "rubbish".

[Cyder]

Flew low over my house in Barton-le-clay heading west around that sort of time I guess it was en route from Duxford to somewhere. Fantastic accompaniment to the BBQ and beer!

[Elderly]

Voldemort said:

The. http://www.sallyb.org.uk/

Thanks for that, it was going to Highclere Castle.

[Elderly]

Eric Mc said:

Elderly said:

A
Rubbish sound compared to the Lancaster .

No way.

Different - but not "rubbish".

You're NO judge of sound Eric .........
.......... proven by your enthusiasm for musicals .

[Eric Mc]

Au contraire - that makes me an expert

(Since I actually sing in them as well - and have to learn all the music).

[Voldemort]

I met one of the crew at Duxford a few weeks ago. He said that Sally B does not exceed 1,500 feet and is limited to 40 hours a year flying.

[Eric Mc]

She's a lovely old bird and I really hope they can keep her flying for years to come. Next year she well celebrate the 40th anniversary of her arrival in the UK.

[RichB]

Voldemort said:

I met one of the crew at Duxford a few weeks ago. He said that Sally B does not exceed 1,500 feet ...

That sounds like a serious limitation. Why is it?

[FourWheelDrift]

I saw it too

Then in the other direction about 30mins later a P-51 Mustang ( silver, d-day stripes)

[bluey1905]

The Mustang could have been Ferocious Frankie, it is based at Duxford I believe.

[Voldemort]

RichB said:

That sounds like a serious limitation. Why is it?

I guess it's because 70 year old aircraft. He also told me that they have fitted four airline seats in the plane for the support crew to travel in when the plane is going to land away from Duxford.

[Eric Mc]

The B-17 was designed to fly at altitudes exceeding 30,000. That's why the engines were turbocharged AND supercharged.

[SunsetZed]

bluey1905 said:

The Mustang could have been Ferocious Frankie, it is based at Duxford I believe.

According to this it was indeed:
http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/visiting-us/speci...

We were at a park maybe 5 miles away from Highclere and the Mustang and Spitfire were flying in close formation and then about 10 - 15 minutes the B17 came right over very low, looked fantastic but annoyingly only had my phone on me so didn't get any decent pictures.

[RichB]

Voldemort said:

RichB said:

That sounds like a serious limitation. Why is it?

I guess it's because 70 year old aircraft. He also told me that they have fitted four airline seats in the plane for the support crew to travel in when the plane is going to land away from Duxford.

I was just curious. There must be pre-way aircraft that fly higher than that - I've flown a 1940s Tiger moth at 5000'

[FourWheelDrift]

SunsetZed said:

bluey1905 said:

The Mustang could have been Ferocious Frankie, it is based at Duxford I believe.

According to this it was indeed:
http://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/visiting-us/speci...

We were at a park maybe 5 miles away from Highclere and the Mustang and Spitfire were flying in close formation and then about 10 - 15 minutes the B17 came right over very low, looked fantastic but annoyingly only had my phone on me so didn't get any decent pictures.

[Eric Mc]

RichB said:

was just curious. There must be pre-way aircraft that fly higher than that - I've flown a 1940s Tiger moth at 5000'

I think they are just being very, very gentle with her.

[matchmaker]

Eric Mc said:

The B-17 was designed to fly at altitudes exceeding 30,000. That's why the engines were turbocharged AND supercharged.

Are you sure that they had both, Eric? Don't forget that the full name of a turbocharger is "turbosupercharger".

[rhinochopig]

matchmaker said:

Eric Mc said:

The B-17 was designed to fly at altitudes exceeding 30,000. That's why the engines were turbocharged AND supercharged.

Are you sure that they had both, Eric? Don't forget that the full name of a turbocharger is "turbosupercharger".

If they do I'd like to know what the reasoning behind that was. Compound charging is typically done for engine response reasons and on a bomber I would imagine that there was little need for fast transient responses from the engines. Operationally I presume they set a cruise speed and then tickled the throttles to stay in formation no matter what.