Bee-17

I recently had the chance to go inside a Bee-17 "Flying Fortress" aircraft.  These Bee-17 planes were used in World War II.  There were some mechanics working on it but they said I could go inside.

This plane had a name - Sentimental Journey.

I climbed inside and settled into the bombardier's seat.  Wow - this was just like the movies.

Then I tried to navigate the controls as the pilot.  They told me not to press any buttons.

I heard some transmissions coming into the radio so I helped out with communications for a while, I am a multilingual bear, after all.

Then I walked to the back of the plane.  I had to cross this narrow walkway first.  It was beary scary.

Did I mention there were bombs on either side?

I hope they are not real.

I also located the beary important "BAIL OUT" button.  Since I am on this airplane, I guess I should find out where the bearachutes are.

My tour in the Bee-17 was not complete without trying out the waist gunner position.

I noticed someone sitting in the tail gunner position so I went to say hello.  He seemed to be beary focused on his mission.

After the tour, I sat on the tail of the airplane.  This man had never seen a flying bear before.

As I turned to leave the airport, I saw a plane take off into the sky.  I wish I could also fly.