I flew 909 as a pilot in ‘86 and early ‘87. It blew an engine at my then home airport (CYXU) after an airshow. My regional gave them hangar space and tech support to sling the replacement, after which they offered to check me out, since they needed another pilot and I had lots of big round engine time. (As a result I have that type rating on that (now unused) ATPL. I was able to fly 909 in four airshows and a several ferry flights back then. I flew with Ed Lawler, an ex-Pan Am pilot and ex-Grumman test pilot in WWII.
We used to dine at the airshow performer's bbq on Friday night in some hangar, burgers and corn on the cob. Blue Angels and Bob Hoover and USMC Harrier pilots and F-15 guys and little old us. New mown grass, Pitts Specials, Jungmeisters , Wacos and that Shrike cooling on the flight line, P-51’s and other hot singles. Going home day, Monday morning all the private guys in their -51’s and Texans wanted to fly formation with us. It was a bit fraught, because we could not evade anyone at 120 kts. We had to rely on the crew chief training the upper turret .50’s at them to promote some psychological spacing. It always worked,
The B-17 is hardly a complex aircraft: it pretty much is like any 1930’s design. If you can fly a DC-3 or Twin Beech you can pretty much fly a B-17. When I flew it there were additional oil pressure gauges mounted inboard of each nacelle, and there was a fetish about checking them every few seconds...unlike anything I ever felt flying any other radial engine aircraft*
* by the time your brain registers zero oil pressure it’s probably already too late.
One thing that bothered me back then was the free fuel that airshows provided, which always meant full tanks. We operated with the complete 1945 kit, including all guns and full bomb racks. The bombs were hollow, and the .50 belts had no powder, but it still added up to about the civil maximum weight for most departures.
Like most aircraft of that era, the B-17 was only marginal on all engines...on three with a full load it would be a handful.
All day today I have been drifting back to memories of the dedicated crews and enthralled airshow patrons that I met during those two summers. I can think of few things finer than a chance to demonstrate America’s legacy, both technically and as an icon of freedom. The prospect of doing that on fine Indian summer weekend in New England, the birthplace of American patriotism, would have been all too real to anyone so lucky to fly those planes of the greatest generation. Deeply saddened.
On edit: “Twin Beech” means what it always did: Beechcraft 18