Originally Posted by
treadigraph
I had a look inside Kermit's B-17 when visiting Polk City. Climbing up through the aircraft from the rear door to the cockpit, I remember remarking to an American fellow visitor "what an incredibly cramped space to go to war in...". He agreed! For some reason "Memphis Belle" had given me an impression of quite a lot of room inside...
Back on July 4, 1976 (the USA bi-centennial), Colorado Springs managed to get the Commemorative Air Force to visit (it was the "Confederate" Air Force back then - before that became politically incorrect) - and it took about half a second to convince my WWII veteran dad to go up there for the day. Based on shows like "Twelve O'clock High", always though of the B-17 as a big aircraft so I was shocked how small it was when I actually looked in one. About 30 years later I took a flight on the Collings Foundation B-17 'Nine-O-Nine' (yes, the one that crashed in Connecticut a few years back) - a very memorable experience (and yes, it's small inside).
Whereas the B-29 was more spacious, but I didn't try the crawlway!
I toured Fifi about five years ago when it was in Everett - I would have liked to taken a flight by my wife vetoed spending the money (it was around $1,000 - the B-17 had been about $400). It is huge inside - especially compared to the B-17.
I used to work with a guy that had been a bomber pilot during WWII although he was never in combat. His job was to ferry built bomber aircraft around the US. He said that on the B-29, the crew would spend the absolute minimum of time in the tunnel - if there was a sudden depressurization for whatever reason, anyone in that tunnel would be shot out like a bullet
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I do believe the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon was modeled after the -29
Yes, it was - and the scenes of the Imperial "TIE Fighters" attacking the Falcon were based on films of German fighters attacking American bomber formations. Oh, and the scene of the rebels attacking the Death Star was based on 'Dam Busters'.
https://www.airspacemag.com/history-...s-1-180975832/