Boeing B-17 - Suzie Q - Part 1 - Work Trip to Pick Up Plane
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- OK, Gang, here’s a GREAT flash from the past video we put together from some very old early VHS tapes. In Part 1 of 3 here, we began the process of preparing to fly our Boeing B-17 home from the Flying Tigers Museum in Paris, Texas, which I purchased from Jr. Burchinal back in 1985!
The Weeks Air Museum wasn’t even open yet, and in this video, I was only 32 years old at the time. The airplane hadn’t flown in years, and in Part 1, we arrive to check everything out in anticipation of flying out of the dirt airstrip it was on and over to the public airport on the other side of town. As you will see, we dealt with a few “issues” along the way!
The last two days before we flew the B-17 out of the Flying Tigers Museum on the morning of May 6th, the Moon was FULL! Decades later, a full moon became a sign that “my Friends” were looking down on me!
I have to admit, I’ve had a pretty cool life! Welcome to my World!
Kermit Weeks
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Kermit Weeks
Great video Kermit. I live in England. I live two miles from WW2 aaf station 106 where the first and last bombs were dropped on Germany by the Eighth Airforce. I love the B17. I am an aircraft engine engineer. I came to the fantasy of flight about twenty years ago and met you. You had great enthusiasm for warbirds. Keep up the great work you do. Hope to meet you again sometime.
I love how you casually mention "at some point in here, i went out and got a B17 rating"
Kermit Weeks, cause even superman needs a hero.
Wow, wasn't expecting that it would fly when I started watching.
In 1977 I got some stick time with Jr. Birchinal in Paris Texas in a few of his aircraft. I was a newly minted private pilot at the time but wanted some experience in warbirds (ya I was single at the time). I flew in a Stearman (cost $25), a T-6 Texan (cost $50) and a T-33 (cost $200). I wanted to fly in the B-17 but it had some maintenance issues and wasn’t flying at the time. The T-33 he flew out of the municipal airport with its concrete runway. The others he flew out from his grass strip. I remember his operation to be somewhat of a ‘shady’ looking operation but I didn’t care, I just wanted to fly in cool airplanes, and I did!
What a great story, the history of the history.
I'm glad you're "rescuing" these old videos, Kermit!! And best wishes to you!
And planes!.
@@SCCIT-jq6jh Actually, that is understood...
This kind of reminds me of Martin Caidin's book, "Everything But The Flak" where they dragged three B 17's out of an Arizona boneyard and repaired them to fly to England for Steve McQueen's movie "The War Lover. Good book if you can find a copy of it.
I ordered a copy of it on Amazon for my dad last year. Really expensive though and really worn out
I remember reading that book in my younger days. I recall a part where someone had taken the caps off the ferry tanks when they were in Europe and it was almost a disaster on take off but they caught it at the last minute
This was the first B-17 I saw in person with my Dad in Tucson in 79 or 80 at the DMAFB airshow when I was 9 or 10 years old.
I smiled the entire time I was watching this video and can't wait to see the other two.
Thanks for posting this Kermit. This B-17 started my love affair with the 17 since Dad flew on one in WWII.
Now I pretty much eat and sleep B-17's. Lol
I always begged dad to stop there on the way to visit grandma. Driving down the highway and a B-17 or B-25would roar by 50 ft over your head. Few times dad stopped, Junior Burchinald let me climb all over the planes.
Buddy and I ferried a Citabria banner tow from Colt's Neck NJ to Brown Field in San Diego in 1981 and made a stop there. Fantastic to see Suzy Q spread her wings again. We looked her over with great enthusiasm. At that time, she was carrying the ball turret; but not in the way you might think.
The bottom half of the ball itself was scribed and cut to match the curve of the fuselage, then bolted on to the underside.
The VHS resolution and color from 1985 when you made this had the filter effect of watching scenes from the original Memphis Belle film!
Now that is a great story ! I am looking forward to the other videos. Thanks.
I can only imagine the excitement you must have felt cranking that bird back to life and getting her up for the first time. Wow! What an adventure :)
Great chunk of history.
I remember going to Jr's in the early 1980's and looking at all that he had. He had a Church in a hanger! He was quite a Man and had a good collection of A/C P-51, F4U, B25, T-33 and the B-17 and several more.... Great video Mr. Kermit🙃
Exciting, bring on part two. Thanks for the video.
Very interesting. Good airmanship to check for forced landing grounds. TFP
Love this…my friend and I flew in there shortly before you purchased Susie Q and I remember Junior was offering seat time in her for $500 for 15 minutes! I just remember at the time how rutted the dirt strip was for our Cessna 150! Quite the cool place!
very cool Kermit, thanks for sharing!
It is a wonder how these warbirds carry the mystique that they do. Something magical about them. I first saw a B-17 fire up at about seven years old and have been mesmerized by them ever since.
I suppose this is the same impressive B-17 airplane that I had a chance to see at your air museum at Tamiami some time before hurricane Andrew. I remember like it wasn't so long ago. The door was open and eventually I wanted to look inside. I didn't go in but did a pull up and had a quick look. I do remember it being very hot and mostly dark inside. I couldn't see much. I guess I was impressed though, since I remember 30 years later! Thanks.
What a brilliant story!
Excellent film Kermit. Thanks.
Clearing em out!! Cool video of a video. Must say what well-built machines.
Absolutely great memories. I flew that plane some years before when it was the "Balls of Fire". Worked there for a summer. Got to fly most everything that was flyable at the time.
Was Curtis Vorhees still around? PT-17, AT-6, T-28, C-310, B-25, A-26, B-17, P-51. Life was real good that summer. I heard about the 17 going for a solo during the hurricane. Meant to
get over to your place over the years, but just never made it. I was with SWA based in MCO - Commuted in. Take Care and Be Well - Best of wishes for all your projects.
Thanks for the comment. Great memories.
OUTSTANDING 🇺🇸
This is awesome Kermie..thanks!
Thank you for posting. A wonderful adventure
Thank you very much. I was glued to the screen. It reminded me so much of what Martin Cardin and Steve Birdsall wrote about when three B-17s were rounded up, restored to flying condition and flown to England to film The War Lover. This is like a home movie and I almost feel like I was there. Again, I am grateful for all you share and I can’t wait for part two.
Kermit, you are an amazing man who has lived the life of every child who never flew a plane but remember the old war birds like firefly's.
Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Thanks for allowing us to experience.
Great to see the old footage of this B-17G. A brief history: USAF service as a drone controller DB-17P, then to storage at Davis-Monthan from 1959 to 1967. Leased by the USAF to Tallmantz Aviation for movie work and was used in “1000 Plane Raid” in January 1968. Did not fly much after that with Tallmantz. Tallmantz got the “Pink slip” from the USAF in a trade, and then Frank Tallman sold it to Burchinal in 1972. Burchinal used it for training and it had a brief appearance in the film “MacArthur.” Mostly was parked at Paris, Texas, until Mr. Weeks rescued it. I had the opportunity to speak with both Mr. Weeks and Mr. Burchinal in 1989 about their experiences with this B-17. (By the way….it was not used in the TV series “12 O’Clock High;” it was in desert storage at DMA through late 1967 and that series ended filming in late 1966. The B-17 used in that was 44-83684. The one featured here is 44-83525 (N83525). Mr. Weeks also has the static B-17G 44-83542 that was in the Fantasy of Flight museum…somewhat incomplete with the outboard right wing removed due to the museum layout.
Amazing Kermit, we need more people like you.
Not only are you a true aviation enthusiast -- but you also fully understand about documenting history (and during your ownership). Thank you for expending the people resources to document as you have over the decades. I can't wait to see what #2 and #3 videos bring upcoming. Thanks!
This is pure gold it must have been one hell of an adventure and I am looking forward to seeing the other videos. I remember watching one of your videos ages ago about the hurricane damage to your museum in Miami, and you said a B-17 got picked up in the wind and dumped a considerable distance away and hope it was not this aircraft. It must be great to look back at all these old videos and I bet it only feels like 5 minutes ago!
Thanks Kermit, that brought back some fond memories of the Flying Tigers Museum, on many trips to visit my Aunt in Paris Tx when I was around 3 to 5 years old back in the late sixties, my mom would wake me up just before we got there so I could see it as we passed. I can remember it looking just like the old black and white photo. A few times we would stop at the little gas station next to the field and would walk up to the fence. Hope your museum is creating the same spark in others.
What an awesome home movie! Thx for sharing it with us!
This brings back so many different memories for me. I remember learning of Junior Burchinal's warbird training facility in the '70s and reading Budd Davisson's accounts of getting checked out in the B-25, P-38, Mustang and Bearcat. When I spent a week with Budd in 2018 training in his Pitts, we talked a lot about his experiences there. Some pretty wild stuff; I wished I could have experienced it. Seeing your AT-11 in action brought back memories of crewing with Taigh Ramey in his SNB-1 when we flew to the last Madera Gathering of Warbirds in 1994. I rode in the glass nose on the way there and the fully operational dorsal turret on the way home. We got to fly in formation with the CAF Heinkel (CASA 2.111) and I got some great photos. It also reminds me of my three B-17 rides: Nine O Nine, Aluminum Overcast and Yankee Lady. Thanks for sharing your own memories of those exceptional times.
Great. Thanks for sharing too
f4Back in the 70's Junior was running a warbird school, You could get checked out in the Stearman, T-6, P-51, F-4F, Corsair, B-25 and B-17. I went up there one Sunday afternoon and got a half hour ride in his P-51 for fifty bucks. That was the most amazing flight I have ever been on. He could really fly that airplane.
What an adventure! How cool. Dad was a B-17 pilot.
I remember this plane well when I visited the Flying Tiger Museum as a kid! I have photos of it as well.
Great memories Kermit, I hope all is well with you and the crew.
I can't wait to see part 2 and 3..
I've always loved this B-17.
After reviewing all the raw footage, there might actually be 5 more parts to it. That’s why it’s been delayed a few weeks. We’re working on it now, so hopefully another segment will be released soon.
Thanks for the history lesson Kermit.
Im all smiles thanks
Very ambitious to take an old war bird like that up after having sat so long. I'm looking forward to the continuation series!
I can never help but have the deepest reverence for these birds. I think of the thousands of untold stories of bravery in the men of steel that crewed these things. When there is one at an airshow, I'm almost brought to tears just walking around them. Read "The B-17: The Flying Forts" by Martin Caidin and then you will understand.
Kermit, I think you would have made a good 17 pilot.
Wow... 1985!! just 40 years after the end of ww2!! Seems incredible now. What a great record to have
Gutted she got damaged in Hurricane Andrew along with many of your collection. At least she is now safe & hopefully one day she can fly again
Love the b17 i donated my time to work on the sentimental journey after it had a little smash up at burbank airport years ago what fun cheers
Man, I really liked this too!
This was a lot of fun; anything about the B-17 is interesting. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing
Giant! Thanks.
Wow Kermit, when the video showed the number one being turned over, I could smell Av Gas, even though I am laying in bed watching........You and your crew are Magnificent, , by the way, I used to work with Tom Reilly when he first started out by the train station in Orlando, 1976 with those BT-14's.....he was a wonderful teacher to this pup kid of 24 at the time....best wishes, Paul in Orlando
Hey Paul. Thanks for comment. I remember those days. Take care
You wouldn't recognize Flying Tigers Airfield now! It's still there and owned by Jr. Burchinal's son. There's a nice, modern hangar with the WWII Flying Tigers emblem on it. There was an AF-2S Guardian there, but I don't know if it's still there.
Love all your videos, but this one might be my favorite so far, looking forward to the other 2. Thanks Mr. Weeks!!!
Love it. Enjoying this video. Working a little bit on some commercial Boeing’s. kind regards from Kaunas Lithuania. . Troy
This is so cool! I live in Denton, just north of DFW and not far from Paris. I flew my C-172 there many times. There was a fleet of planes parked there at that time. In addition to the B-17, there was a P-51, B-25, Douglas Skyraider, F-86, plus a number of engines (Packard Merlin) scattered about the property. At one time you could get dual instruction in any of these planes. Thanks for posting! Brings back many memories.
Mr Weeks, I have pictures of this museum and your B17 made around 1981. Love your museum and your videos.
What a magnificent plane--very enjoyable video
Thanks Kermit! Love it!
About those wheels, tires and mud... When I was a boy 1970's and before, old surplus aviation wheels like those on the B-17 or larger were put onto old lifted truck chassis as 'swamp buggies' for driving through some elevated but still quite muddy off road areas of the Everglades. Those big wide wheels and tires didn't sink as much into mud or make deep ruts like tractor wheels would. They more floated rather than sank in, for the most part. You'd have to take care not to get into deep mud, of course. Hopefully that's somehow relevant to the discussion of this video.
This was a great video Mr. Weeks! By shutting down #2 you now know what it was like for the 20/30 something's flying them during WWII and what they went through!
This Is a Special Man,,,Just Like The Carpenter Was a Special Personality... Yes There's a Big Ego,,, Thank God... Never Met a "Great Pilot", The Didn't Have a "Grand Sized Ego"... This Man Shares His Life With Us,,, Knowing This Is Going To Be As Close As Most of Us Will Ever Get,,, To The Greats of Aviation...
What an Adventure ! Very Cool indeed 👍
Yankee Lady had working turbos at least until the hanger fire. The electrical crew at the museum had found a few boxes of Tubes that were NOS. So they installed them and ran them.
Brother Kermit, I'm not jealous of very many people, but you would be one of them. Thanks for all you do in providing us with all of these wonderful aviation videos.
Thanks that was so cool seeing the older footage and a glimpse of the effort and determination to keep these plans in the air, can almost smell the mud gas and burning oil. And feel the slippery squishy footing. but mostly the excitement on seeing her lifting off and climbing for the clouds 👍👍👍
I love your smile at the end. It sure conveys the love you have for aviation.
..I find it amazing how these old VHS camcorders from the 1980's show the propellers spinning fairly normally when running, not stopping, fluttering, spinning backward, etc. like they do with a lot of modern cameras...apparently they didn't have the "frame rate", or whatever it is, problems like the newer ones...
Man you post the coolest video's ever Kermit. I hope you wake up every morning and pinch yourself because this is only a dream for most of us
Man when you went to get that thing in 1985 the men who flew them in the war were still probably in their 60s. That blows my mind.
Thank you Kermit for preserving so much aviation history.
What an AMAZING series this is going to be! good gooooood GOOOD!
Great video….keep’em flyin well done!👍👍
Can't wait for part 2&3! I was fortunate enough to take a flight in the Yankee Lady a few years ago. What an awesome plane! Can't imagine what those boys went through flying over the English channel heading to Germany and seeing the first burst of flak ! They were all true heroes 👍👍👏👏. Love all your videos and hope you keep them coming. Stay safe and God bless 👍👍
Thanks for a very interesting video and commentary.
25 minutes and 44 seconds well spent! 🙂
You are a true inspiration to the young people of today ❤️
Great fun.
Happy days that #1 stopped coughing
Thank You
Thx Kermit for an informative and entertaining video.
Such a cool video it makes me as myself what was I doing in 1985. Looking forward to 2&3. Thanks for sharing the stories of your journey. It is real history seeing these birds fly without your effort some would have certainly ended up as scrap. Thanks
This was wonderful! Start to finish! Word for word! So appreciated! Thank you!
I still remember watching Twelve o Clock High when I was a boy.
Outstanding that you had the foresight to record everything back then
I loved this thanks Kermit.
Kermit, thanks for bringing out these old films. It helps to show how much work is involved just pulling the piece of history out of the bushes.
Hope to visit your museum someday!✈️
I flew Aluminum Overcast for the EAA out of KOSH with Mr. K Morris and Mr. S Hartwig flew right seat for 2 years. That was a lot of fun
Wow, I remember seeing that plane at Cox Field when I did my first long cross country flight in ‘85. Always wondered what the story was. Thanks for sharing this and all your great work, Kermit.
In the summer of 1980, I was returning from a Boy Scout trip (I was one of the adult leaders) and we stopped at that little air museum in Paris TX. I have some pictures of that B-17, inside and out. It was open and you could climb up in it, which we did. I had no idea that it was in anyway close to flyable. They had several WWII aircraft just sitting out in the field.
This is awesomeness!! Thanks for taking us along!
Według mnie, B-17 jest to zgrabna, śmiercionośna, piękna maszynka. Świetny pomysł na odświeżenie takich historii 👍. Jak to mówią Czesi, "to se newrati" 😉
Pretty cool stuff, nice seeing the old videos. Hard to believe the plane is double the age since the video.
Fascinating Sir Kermit, thanks for posting👍
On the edge of my seat for Part 2 !
I remember this plane before and after Hurricane Andrew here in Miami. What ever became of her? Love these stories and it brings back memories of personal events like this. Thanks, Kermit, and we're looking forward to the next video!
Thanks for sharing this Kermit -That's great. Much better times. You just needed a m2 cletrac to be just like England with the mud lol
This is so cool, Thanks for sharing with us.
Marvelous. Thank you.
Hi Kermit. This is like a boys own adventure ! What a thrill ! But you were fortunate to not lose the aircraft . I think your calm nature had a lot to do with the happy ending . Many pilots would have panicked and maybe lost the aircraft . Great stuff ! Roll on part deux ! 😁 Thankyou Kermit .
Great video, thanks for posting!