HOW TO FLY THE B-17 FLIGHT OPERATIONS

[Music] and this one [Music] you're right on time [Music] you wanted to know about b-17 pilot training well largely it's a matter of putting across what we know about the airplane what it'll do and what it shouldn't be asked to do maybe airplanes are like people you don't really get to know them until after you've lived with them a while takes time too to get well acquainted with an airplane time to find out just how far you can go with her and still stay friends that's important and men like our instructors have lived with this airplane long enough to become pretty good friends with her so his job is just a matter of giving you the benefit of his experience the procedure is pretty well standardized and you'll learn to be thankful for that routine like this circle tour of the airplane at the start for instance makes the students life a lot simpler in the cockpit you'll learn to follow the checklist because it helps you to keep your mind on your work details important when you're flying a big bomber and using the checklist means you don't overlook a thing [Music] after you get the plane off the ramp and down near the runway you're ready for the run-up one of the most important checks of all center at an angle that gets all your props safe over concrete for the run-up and if there's a guy behind you you won't blast them when you rev them up as your co-pilot the instructor locks the tail wheel while she's rolling so that when the wheels in line the lock pin will drop into place tail wheel locked and brakes brake set maybe here you'll switch to interphone easier to talk that way then the checklist again and the instructor's command to check trim tabs set them at zero elevator trim tap rudder aileron then before the run-up always check your oil temperature you have to have at least 40 degrees before beginning the run-up why not close cal flaps hurry up a little it might mean trouble if you close them you get uneven cooling local hot spots metal fatigue i get it just like bending a wire back and forth until it breaks that's it exercise turbos right you advance throttles to 1500 rpm for turbo exercise and you know why it's important to get warm oil circulating through the turbo regulators if regulator oil is stiff or congealed the turbo waste gates won't react properly one avoidable cause of a runaway turbo on takeoff leaving turbos on you do a repeat on the props given plenty of time to change pitch what's the tax for that if it's below freezing exercise both turbos and props four times set the lock to keep the levers from creeping and then turbo's off and before the mag check another important detail before you rev them up turn on your generators and check each one for ampere output if they balance they're all putting out all right ampere i'll put okay now voltage and then turn them off 28.5 on each generators checked and off check mags at 28 inches starting with number one while you're boosting manifold pressure you remember there's a backfire hazard during the mag check so you check turbos off wastegate's open just to be sure pull left don't watch the tank watch the engine roughness doesn't always give you a quick drop in rpm pull right both throttle up to the stop a quick check of manifold pressure and then full turbo since you're using 91-grade fuel here you can't draw 46 inches powers cut about 10 percent you set your lock check rpm little below 2500 on this fuel take a look at the engine and everything okay back slowly on the throttle because of the induction backfire hazard same procedure on all engines back to command to call the tower for takeoff clearance and you're off to the races [Music] lock tail wheel [Music] parking brakes hold it with your feet on the runway less hazard if you have to get away fast gyro set the gyro compass and check your compass heading against the heading of the runway gyroset generators generators on here we're locked light out now let's see your rider three point takeoff three point three point pull the tail down but don't give it enough pressure to cause a lot of wheel drag and remember you fly the airplane i'll watch the engine the cow flaps open right hold the brakes until you get 25 inches then let it go you'll have rudder control by the time you're hitting 50 miles an hour with a crosswind you might have to use the throttles a little runner's enough today 100 octane you'd be using 46 inches and 2500 rpm little less than that with this fuel you leave the ground at around 100 miles an hour [Music] then a kick on the brakes to stop the wheel spin and gear up get rid of that drag fast in take off emergencies the bare belly is better than wheels check the light visual inspection later 130 safe air speed for power reduction manifold pressure first pilot's job but today your instructor doesn't then rpm you'll find it all in the tech orders and your checkpoints co-pilot trails call flaps returning each valve to the locked position check your landing gear up left upright and when your flight engineer gets an okay on the tail wheel the switch is returned to neutral things happen fast in the takeoff and it's easy enough to tense up a little you did warm enough but don't fight her she won't throw you in our next takeoff you'll reduce power i'll just make the final adjustments hold your airspeed to 135 on the climb what's our power setting 35 inches 2300 let's switch back to inner phone again do you always use this power setting for climbing yes with 91 grade fuel and up to 30 000 feet if you're climbing on instruments you should hold your air speed at 160. are you keeping your trim turbo and throttle settings always depend on altitude for instance if we'd taken off from a sea level field we wouldn't need turbo or even full throttle for the early part of the climb another thing always cut down manifold pressure before rpm what's your altitude we're nearly a thousand feet above the field fuel boost pumps off at 1 000 minimum check fuel pressure before and after gives you another check on engine fuel pump operation look at your manifold pressure manifold pressure will creep up steadily on the climb if you don't watch it as free air pressure decreases on the climb the pressure differential across the turbo buckets increases gives you higher turbo speed and more pressure from the blower what about carburetor air filters turn them off at eight thousand don't often hit dust above that in emergencies though you can use them up to fifteen thousand dustbed high no not dust carburetor icing conditions so now they're ice filters in a way yes filters off fillers take air from inside the wing in the kind of weather that ices up carburetors air inside the wing is drier and warmer than that you'd get from the ram air intake fill the lights green fill this off check your manifold pressure turning the fillers off increases the manifold pressure about an inch and a half with carburetor icing conditions of course you'd use intercoolers hot but you won't normally get carburetor icing above 12 000 and up there you'll always want intercoolers cold thin air means higher rate of compression from the supercharger and compression makes heat in the wrong places nearly always in the wrong way you level off at 10 000 feet and cut it down to the proper setting for maximum long range performance on 91 grade fuel manifold pressure down first to 28 inches rpm next you make this adjustment with one eye on the air speed indicator because you use whatever rpm needed to get 150 miles per hour indicator in this case with your conditions 1600 rpm then fuel mixtures to auto lean and your co-pilot closes car flaps since you have a safe margin in head temperatures what about the other power settings well you've used three modified for 91 great fuel take off power five minutes maximum continuous operation climbing power and maximum long range they're all there on the panel the power setting used in normal cruising is always figured from your flight conditions desired range fuel available weather conditions altitude gross weight and perhaps one or two other things in special cases you'll always figure your best power setting from your flight computer all settings are arrived at scientifically don't improvise plan the way they're written and always keep an eye on your mixtures in auto lean don't use more than 29 inches with 91 grade and 2 000 rpm [Music] explain something try to a three-point takeoff what about it did that feel right well maybe i didn't pull it right i thought it was a little mushy isn't it better with the tail up and what about the stall hazard maybe we'd better figure it out on paper well here we are an old friend you'll remember from flying school days she knows her way around call her tail caleb myrtle now take it easy murder when myrtle's parked on the ground she's sure enough in a stalling or near stalling attitude so on the takeoff you lift the tail both to decrease drag and get a safe margin below the stall angle and she takes off like a nice baby and there's no arguing about it but with the misses here it's different in the three-point position she's already in a flying attitude on the takeoff run the relative winds parallel to the ground so say the ground makes one leg of your angle of attack chord line makes the other leg angle of attack in three-point attitude about 10 degrees but with power on the stalling angle for this airplane is about 19 degrees so when you hold the tail down on the take-off you have a nice cozy margin of 9 degrees below the stall angle and when you leave the ground the path of the relative wind changes so the angle of attack actually decreases you get maybe another four degrees of safety and you haven't a care in the world now let's dig a little deeper think of the forces at work when you take off as a team of little guys who are in there working for or against you all the time for instance gross weight of the aeroplane on the ground he bears down hard on the landing gear when we're ready to start the takeoff run you'll need a pile of his wheel drag the harder gross weight airs down on the wheels the bigger and stronger wheel drag gets that's definitely not good especially if your runway is soft or slushy think of lift as a kind of muscle man working from the wing pulling up gross weight speed makes him pull harder and increase in the angle of attack also makes him pull harder get the relationship between lift weight on wheels and wheel drive the more lift the less weight on wheels less weight on wheels smaller wheel drag then of course there's thrust he's your power and aerodynamic drag he's with you all the time except when you're parked on the ground now let's try to visualize what happens on a two-point takeoff at the start of the run lift increases steadily lift takes more and more weight off the wheels taking weight off the wheels steadily reduces wheel drag then just when things are looking good you lift the tail angle of attack decreases that cuts down lift lift lets weight go back down on the wheels and wheel drag increases again aerodynamic drag is cut a little but not enough to compensate for the extra wheel drag speed still won't build up as fast as it would with the tail down even on a smooth runway you'll need more room and maybe 20 or 30 miles an hour more speed to get off and if you'd kept your tail down if the runway is messed up with mud or slush or water maybe you won't get off at all in the space you have but keep the tail down take advantage of the three-point angle of attack and lift goes to work on gross weight right away wheel drag gets smaller and smaller you'll be airborne at maybe 100 miles an hour and without using up all your runways and that's something to remember when you're lined up in a nice homemade strip in the jungle with mud underneath you and trees dead ahead well how do you like her it's very little problem when you get over the field say you're coming in after a long mission you're a little short on gas and when you arrive the fields close in v-line for an alternate state no sir you're the hell i've gone from nowhere you're lucky to have one base to come home cut the end board and hang around until she opens up well you know hover all right but don't cut the end board she'll burn more coal on too that you will on for on long-range settings take it over all right here we are granted stuff straightest below up to say 2 000. don't know when we'll be able to find a hole in it instrument let down dog what are you going to do don't you like it up here i like it better down a bit if i'm low on fuel need less power and less fuel for given indicated air speed air is not so thin props take fewer horses okay that's part of it when you get down to eight thousand you give the command for carburetor filters on and you finally level off at around 500 feet above your theoretical overcast when you level up above the overcast the idea is to keep from going places now that's simple cut your speed down to 120 even if you have to reduce your rpms 1250 to get it try it first with 1400 rpm all right reduce manifold pressure try with 26 inches jennison the bombardier now your weight's all right you've used up most of your gas on the way home and i hope you didn't bring any bombs back cut your rpm down a little more 1250 is the minimum with this hovering maneuver fuel consumptions cut down to about 95 gallons an hour at the end of a mission you'll have a light load so it's absolutely safe keep your banks at a 10 degree angle just set it up regular helicopters time to go in then landing instructions from the tower weather altimeter setting and back to work again when you're ready for a landing be sure your co-pilot runs through the checklist no matter how good you are flying means fatigue and fatigue does thanks to your memory so if you want to bring in this property without the insurance claim have everything checked in order now okay crew positions automatic pilots off crew members at their proper stations side guns still small turret guns up and pointing rear booster pumps on your power plant should be ready for full takeoff power in case a go-around is necessary mixture is auto rich intercoolers cold carburetor filters on when the ice is off that's important wing de-icer operation changes the stalling characteristics of the airplane landing gear down down left right tail wheel down trailing antenna in check brake and hydraulic pressure brakes okay pressure around 750 rpm 2100 turbos set now we have car immediately available for a go around if we need it flaps should be lowered on the downwind leg but not until air speeds below 147. one third flaps on the downwind leg full flats on final approach and if you have to go around you don't need to milk up your flaps they'll come up slowly enough you hold airspeed at 130 indicated on the base leg of the pattern then in a matter of seconds you make your bank into the final approach full flap high rpm 120 115 don't close your throttles until you're sure of a landing one 12 110 freezer on [Music] hydraulic pressure's okay otherwise you'd gunner and take off again [Music] flaps open and locked turbos off booster pumps off wing flaps up get them up sooner if you have a muddy runway tail wheel unlocked generators generators off cutting the inboard engines is a co-pilot's duty normally the pilot should keep his mind on his taxi but it's quiet on the hangar apron today and the instructor asked you to do it good thing too did you work too sharp about it you can cut your inboards now uh check turbo's off first you need engine oil pressure to open the wastegates rev them up to a thousand before you cut them [Music] parking brakes no hold it until the chalks are in if you set your brakes on hot drums you'll bake the expander tubes [Music] don't turn off the ignition until the engines have stopped turning over all in tower this is 641 mission complete see that all other switches are off before turning off the batteries in the main line booster pumps off landing gear wing flaps neutral decisive anti-answer off only when the instruments have returned to neutral inverters off batteries off mainline off lock control surfaces that's that except for the book work just giving the facts one more thing record the time of day and number of minutes of oil dilution if you're worth a living in this well how do you feel okay i feel great remember it's it's just another airplane it's a little bigger than most but the fact that you're flying here means that you've moved into the big time and the payoff is it's the safest crate you ever flew that's part of it not all of it by a long shot but part of it at least it's a little more complicated than a buckboard wagon still on the other hand it's not quite as elaborate as a battleship make things as easy for yourself as you can by taking advantage of little devices like the flight computer and the load adjuster and a checklist all the rest and that's plenty is up to you but i guess by this time you understand that pretty well [Music] you