- 2 days ago
Flying the B-17 Flying Fortress, as detailed in the 1943 US Army Air Forces training films, is a methodical process. It involves strict reliance on a pilot's checklist, meticulous management of the aircraft's engines and turbos, and proper use of the flight computer to balance weight and fuel
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Short filmTranscript
00:01THE END
00:44You're right on time.
00:54You wanted to know about B-17 pilot training.
00:58Well, largely it's a matter of putting across what we know about the airplane.
01:02What it'll do and what it shouldn't be asked to do.
01:06Maybe airplanes are like people.
01:08You don't really get to know them until after you've lived with them a while.
01:12Takes time, too, to get well acquainted with an airplane.
01:16Time to find out just how far you can go with her and still stay friends.
01:20That's important.
01:22And men like our instructor have lived with this airplane long enough to become pretty good friends with her.
01:27So his job is just a matter of giving you the benefit of his experience.
01:31The procedure is pretty well standardized.
01:33And you'll learn to be thankful for that.
01:36Routine, like this circle tour of the airplane at the start, for instance, makes the student's life a lot simpler.
01:42In the cockpit, you'll learn to follow the checklist because it helps you to keep your mind on your work.
01:47Details important when you're flying a big bomber.
01:50And using the checklist means you don't overlook a thing.
01:59After you get the plane off the ramp and down near the runway, you're ready for the run-up.
02:04One of the most important checks of all.
02:06Center at an angle.
02:09That gets all your props safe over concrete for the run-up.
02:13And if there's a guy behind you, you won't blast him when you rev him up.
02:18As your co-pilot, the instructor locks the tail wheel while she's rolling.
02:22So that when the wheel's in line, the lock pin will drop into place.
02:27Tail wheel locked.
02:29And...
02:29Brakes!
02:32Brakes set.
02:38Maybe here you'll switch to interphone.
02:41Easier to talk that way.
02:43Then the checklist again.
02:45And the instructor's command to check trim tabs.
02:48Set them at zero.
02:50Elevator trim tab.
02:51Rudder.
02:55Aileron.
02:56Then?
02:57Before the run-up, always check your oil temperature.
03:00You ought to have at least 40 degrees before beginning the run-up.
03:04Why not close cowl flaps?
03:06Hurry it up a little.
03:07It might mean trouble.
03:08If you close them, you get uneven cooling, local hot spots, metal fatigue.
03:13I get it.
03:14Just like bending a wire back and forth until it breaks.
03:16That's it.
03:17Exercise turbos?
03:19Right.
03:20You advance throttles to 1500 RPM for turbo exercise.
03:25And you know why it's important.
03:28To get warm oil circulating through the turbo regulators.
03:31If regulator oil is stiff or congealed, the turbo waste gates won't react properly.
03:37One avoidable cause of a runaway turbo on takeoff.
03:40Leaving turbos on, you do a repeat on the props.
03:43Give them plenty of time to change pitch.
03:46Watch the tacks for that.
03:49If it's below freezing, exercise both turbos and props four times.
03:55Set the lock to keep the levers from creeping.
03:58And then, turbos off.
04:02And before the mag check, another important detail.
04:05Before you rev them up, turn on your generators and check each one for ampere output.
04:13If they balance, they're all putting out all right.
04:17Ampere output okay.
04:19Now voltage and then turn them off.
04:2628 and a half on each.
04:30Generator's checked and off.
04:32Check mags at 28 inches, starting with number one.
04:36While you're boosting manifold pressure, you remember there's a backfire hazard during the mag check.
04:41So you check turbos off.
04:43Waste gates open, just to be sure.
04:46Pull.
04:47Left.
04:48Don't watch the tank.
04:49Watch the engine.
04:51Roughness doesn't always give you a quick drop in RPM.
04:55Pull.
04:56Right.
04:58Pull.
05:01Throttle up to the stop.
05:03A quick check of manifold pressure.
05:05And then, full turbo.
05:08Since you're using 91 grade fuel here, you can't draw 46 inches.
05:13Powers cut about 10%.
05:16You set your lock.
05:19Check RPM.
05:20A little below 2,500 on this fuel.
05:24Take a look at the engine.
05:25And everything okay.
05:28Back slowly on the throttle because of the induction backfire hazard.
05:31Same procedure on all engines.
05:44Back to command to call the tower for takeoff clearance.
05:47Back to command to call the tower for takeoff clearance.
05:48And you're off to the races.
05:58Lock tail wheel.
06:05Parking brakes, hold it with your feet on the runway.
06:08Less hazard if you have to get away fast.
06:12Gyro.
06:14Set the gyro compass and check your compass heading against the heading of the runway.
06:20Gyro set.
06:23Generators.
06:32Generators.
06:33Generators on.
06:35Tail wheel locked.
06:37Light out.
06:41Now let's see your rider.
06:43Three point takeoff.
06:45Three point?
06:46Three point.
06:46Pull the tail down, but don't give it enough pressure to cause a lot of wheel drag.
06:51And remember, you fly the airplane.
06:53I'll watch the engine.
06:55The cow flap's open?
06:56Right.
06:57Hold the brakes until you get 25 inches.
07:00Then let her go.
07:01You'll have rudder control by the time you're hitting 50 miles an hour.
07:05With a crosswind, you might have to use the throttles a little.
07:08Rudder's enough today.
07:11On 100 octane, you'd be using 46 inches and 2,500 RPM.
07:16A little less than that with this fuel.
07:23You'll leave the ground at around 100 miles an hour.
07:32Then a kick on the brakes to stop the wheel spin and gear up.
07:36Get rid of that drag fast.
07:38In takeoff emergencies, the bare belly is better than wheels.
07:42Check the light.
07:43Visual inspection later.
07:45130, safe airspeed for power reduction.
07:48Manifold pressure first.
07:50Pilot's job, but today your instructor does it.
07:54Then RPM.
07:57You'll find it all in the tech orders and your checklist.
08:01Co-pilot trails call flaps, returning each valve to the locked position.
08:09Check your landing gear.
08:13Up left.
08:14Up right.
08:17And when your flight engineer gets an okay on the tail wheel, the switch is returned to neutral.
08:22Things happen fast in the takeoff, and it's easy enough to tense up a little.
08:26You did well enough, but...
08:28Don't fight her.
08:29Don't fight her.
08:29She won't throw you.
08:31On our next takeoff, you'll reduce power.
08:34I'll just make the final adjustments.
08:37Hold your airspeed to 135 on the climb.
08:41What's our power setting?
08:4335 inches, 2300.
08:47Let's switch back to enderphone again.
08:54Do you always use this power setting for climbing?
08:57Yes.
08:58With 91 grade fuel and up to 30,000 feet.
09:01If you're climbing on instruments, you should hold your airspeed at 160.
09:05Are you keeping her trimmed?
09:10Turbo and throttle settings always depend on altitude.
09:14For instance, if we'd taken off from a sea level field, we wouldn't need turbo or even full throttle for
09:19the early part of the climb.
09:21Another thing, always cut down manifold pressure before RPM.
09:26What's your altitude?
09:29We're nearly 1,000 feet above the field.
09:31Fuel boost pumps off?
09:33At 1,000 minimum, check fuel pressure before and after.
09:43Gives you another check on engine fuel pump operation.
09:50Look at your manifold pressure.
09:53Manifold pressure will creep up steadily on the climb if you don't watch it.
09:59As free air pressure decreases on the climb,
10:01the pressure differential across the turbo buckets increases.
10:06Gives you higher turbo speed and more pressure from the blower.
10:14What about carburetor air filters?
10:16Turn them off at 8,000.
10:18Don't often hit dust above that.
10:20In emergencies, though, you can use them up to 15,000.
10:23Dust that high?
10:24No, not dust.
10:26Carburetor icing conditions.
10:27So now they're ice filters.
10:29In a way, yes.
10:31Filters off.
10:37Filters take air from inside the wing.
10:39In the kind of weather that ices up carburetors,
10:42air inside the wing is drier and warmer than that you'd get from the ram air intake.
10:49Fill the lights green.
10:51Filter's off.
10:52Check your manifold pressure.
10:54Turning the filters off increases the manifold pressure about an inch and a half.
11:01With carburetor icing conditions, of course, you'd use intercoolers hot.
11:05But you won't normally get carburetor icing above 12,000.
11:08And up there, you'll always want intercoolers cold.
11:12Thin air means higher rate of compression from the supercharger.
11:16And compression makes heat.
11:18In the wrong places.
11:19Nearly always in the wrong places.
11:23You level off at 10,000 feet and cut her down to the proper setting for maximum long-range performance
11:29on 91-grade fuel.
11:31Manifold pressure down first to 28 inches.
11:36RPM next.
11:37You make this adjustment with one eye on the airspeed indicator.
11:41Because you use whatever RPM needed to get 150 miles per hour indicated.
11:46In this case, with your conditions, 1,600 RPM.
11:51Then fuel mixtures to auto-lead.
11:54And your co-pilot closes cowl flaps since you have a safe margin in head temperatures.
12:02What about the other power settings?
12:05Well, you've used three, modified for 91-grade fuel.
12:08Takeoff power, five minutes maximum continuous operation.
12:12Climbing power and maximum long range.
12:15They're all there on the panel.
12:17The power setting used in normal cruising is always figured from your flight conditions.
12:23Desired range, fuel available, weather conditions, altitude, gross weight, and perhaps one or two other things.
12:30In special cases, you'll always figure your best power setting from your flight computer.
12:34All settings are arrived at scientifically.
12:37Don't improvise.
12:38Plan the way they're written.
12:39And always keep an eye on your mixtures.
12:42In auto-lean, don't use more than 29 inches with 91-grade and 2,000 RPM.
12:58Explain something?
12:59Try to.
13:01That three-point takeoff.
13:02What about it?
13:03Didn't it feel right?
13:04Well, maybe I didn't pull it right.
13:06I thought it was a little mushy.
13:08Isn't it better with the tail up?
13:10Well...
13:11And what about the stall hazard?
13:12Maybe we'd better figure it out on paper.
13:26Well, here we are.
13:28An old friend you'll remember from flying school days.
13:31She knows her way around.
13:33Call her tail up Myrtle.
13:35Now, take it easy, Myrtle.
13:38When Myrtle's parked on the ground, she's sure enough in a stalling or near-stalling attitude.
13:45So on the takeoff, you lift the tail both to decrease drag and get a safe margin below the stall
13:51angle.
13:52And she takes off like a nice baby and there's no arguing about it.
13:59But with the missus here, it's different.
14:02In the three-point position, she's already in a flying attitude.
14:05On the takeoff run, the relative winds parallel to the ground.
14:09So say the ground makes one leg of your angle of attack.
14:13Chord line makes the other leg.
14:15Angle of attack in three-point attitude, about 10 degrees.
14:20But with power on, the stalling angle for this airplane is about 19 degrees.
14:24So when you hold the tail down on the takeoff, you have a nice, cozy margin of 9 degrees below
14:30the stall angle.
14:31And when you leave the ground, the path of a relative wind changes, so that the angle of attack actually
14:37decreases.
14:38You get maybe another 4 degrees of safety.
14:40And you haven't a care in the world.
14:43Now let's dig a little deeper.
14:44Think of the forces at work when you take off as a team of little guys who are in there
14:49working for or against you all the time.
14:52For instance, gross weight of the airplane.
14:55On the ground, he bears down hard on the landing gear.
14:59When we're ready to start the takeoff run, you'll meet a pal of his.
15:02Wheel drag.
15:04The harder gross weight bears down on the wheels, the bigger and stronger wheel drag gets.
15:09That's definitely not good.
15:11Especially if your runway is soft or slushy.
15:14Think of lift as a kind of muscle man working from the wings, pulling up gross weight.
15:20Speed makes him pull harder.
15:21An increase in the angle of attack also makes him pull harder.
15:25Get the relationship between lift, weight on wheels, and wheel drag.
15:32The more lift, the less weight on wheels.
15:35Less weight on wheels, smaller wheel drag.
15:39Then, of course, there's thrust.
15:42He's your power.
15:44And aerodynamic drag.
15:46He's with you all the time, except when you're parked on the ground.
15:49Now, let's try to visualize what happens on a two-point takeoff.
15:54At the start of the run, lift increases steadily.
15:59Lift takes more and more weight off the wheels.
16:03Taking weight off the wheels steadily reduces wheel drag.
16:07Then, just when things are looking good, you lift the tail.
16:11Angle of attack decreases.
16:13That cuts down lift.
16:15Lift lets weight go back down on the wheels, and wheel drag increases again.
16:20Aerodynamic drag is cut a little, but not enough to compensate for the extra wheel drag.
16:25Speed still won't build up as fast as it would with the tail down.
16:29Even on a smooth runway, you'll need more room and maybe 20 or 30 miles an hour more speed to
16:34get off than if you'd kept your tail down.
16:38If the runway's messed up with mud or slush or water, maybe you won't get off at all in the
16:43space you have.
16:46But keep the tail down.
16:48Take advantage of the three-point angle of attack, and lift goes to work on gross weight right away.
16:54Wheel drag gets smaller and smaller.
16:57You'll be airborne at maybe 100 miles an hour, and without using up on your runway.
17:02And that's something to remember when you're lined up in a nice homemade strip in the jungle, with mud underneath
17:07you and trees dead ahead.
17:24Well, how do you like her?
17:27It's very little problem when you get over the field.
17:30Say you're coming in after a long mission, you're a little short on gas, and when you arrive, the field's
17:36closed in.
17:39V-line for an alternate base.
17:41No, sir, you the hell have gone from nowhere.
17:43You're lucky to have one base to come home to.
17:46Well, cut the end boards and hang around until she opens up.
17:50Well, you're to hover all right, but don't cut the end boards.
17:53She'll burn more coal on two than she will on four on long-range settings.
17:57Take it over.
18:06All right, here we are.
18:08Granite stuff straightest below, up to, say, 2,000.
18:11Don't know when we'll be able to find a hole in it.
18:14Instrument letdown's out.
18:15What are you going to do?
18:24Don't you like it up here?
18:26Like it better down a bit if I'm low on fuel.
18:29Need less power and less fuel for a given indicated airspeed.
18:33Air is not so thin.
18:34Props take fewer horses.
18:37Okay, that's part of it.
18:39When you get down to 8,000, you give the command for carburetor filters on, and you finally level off
18:45at around 500 feet above your theoretical overcast.
18:55When you level off above the overcast, the idea is to keep from going places.
19:00Now, that's simple.
19:01Cut your speed down to 120, even if you have to reduce your RPM to 1250 to get it.
19:10Try it first with 1,400 RPM.
19:21All right, reduce fan of full pressure.
19:23Try it with 26 inches.
19:38Is Edison the bombardier?
19:39No, your weight's all right.
19:41You've used up most of your gas on the way home, and I hope you didn't bring any bombs back.
19:46Cut your RPM down a little more.
19:491250 is the minimum.
19:57With this hovering maneuver, fuel consumption's cut down to about 95 gallons an hour.
20:03At the end of a mission, you'll have a light load, so it's absolutely safe.
20:06Keep your banks at a 10-degree angle, and just sit it out.
20:11Regular helicopter.
20:18Time to go in, then.
20:20Landing instructions from the tower, weather, altimeter setting, and back to work again.
20:26When you're ready for a landing, be sure your co-pilot runs through the checklist.
20:31No matter how good you are, flying means fatigue, and fatigue does things to your memory.
20:37So if you want to bring in this property without an insurance claim, have everything checked in order.
20:43Altimeter?
20:44Okay.
20:46Crew positions.
20:48Automatic pilot.
20:51Off.
20:53Crew members at their proper stations.
20:56Side guns stoned.
20:58Ball turret guns up and pointing rear.
21:01Booster pumps on.
21:04Your power plant should be ready for full take-off power in case a go-around is necessary.
21:10Mixture's auto-rich.
21:13Intercooler's cold.
21:15Carburetor filter's on.
21:17Wing de-icer's off.
21:19That's important.
21:21Wing de-icer operation changes the stalling characteristics of the airplane.
21:25Wing de-icer operation changes the stalling characteristics of the airplane.
21:45Alden Tower, this is 641 on downwind leg.
21:48Over.
21:49641 on downwind leg.
21:50Cleared to land.
21:51Wheels down.
21:52Over.
21:53Roger.
21:53Landing gear down.
22:09Down left.
22:11Down right.
22:24Tail wheel down.
22:26Trailing antenna in.
22:32Check brake and hydraulic pressure.
22:36Brake's okay.
22:38Pressure around 750.
22:41RPM 2100.
22:44Turbos set.
22:47Now we have power immediately available for a go-around if we need it.
22:52Flaps should be lowered on the downwind leg, but not until airspeeds below 147.
22:59One-third flaps on the downwind leg, full flaps on final approach.
23:06And if you have to go around, you don't need to milk up your flaps.
23:09They'll come up slowly enough.
23:12You hold airspeed at 130 indicated on the base leg of the pattern.
23:16Then in a matter of seconds, you make your bank into the final approach.
23:25Full flaps.
23:28High RPM.
23:31High RPM.
23:35115.
23:37Don't close your throttles until you're sure of a landing.
23:42112.
23:46110.
23:49Freezer on.
23:59Hydraulic pressure's okay.
24:01Otherwise, you'd gun her and take off again.
24:13Ground flaps open and locked.
24:17Turbos.
24:18Off.
24:20Booster pumps.
24:23Off.
24:24Wing flaps up.
24:26Get them up sooner if you have a muddy runway.
24:37Tail wheel unlocked.
24:41Generators.
24:44Generators off.
24:52Cutting the inboard engines is a co-pilot's duty normally.
24:55The pilot should keep his mind on his taxi.
24:57But it's quiet on the hangar aprons today, and the instructor asks you to do it.
25:01Good thing, too, since you weren't too sharp about it.
25:05You can cut your inboards now.
25:08Check turbos off first.
25:10You need engine oil pressure to open the waste gates.
25:12No, no.
25:13Rev them up to 1,000 before you cut them.
25:39I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
25:46Locking brakes?
25:47No, hold it until the chocks are in.
25:49If you set your brakes on hot drums, you'll bake the expander tubes.
26:14Don't turn off the ignition until the engines have stopped turning over.
26:27Holden Tower, this is 641. Mission complete.
26:38See that all other switches are off before turning off the batteries in the main line.
26:43Booster pumps off. Landing gear, wing flaps, neutral. De-icer, anti-icer off. Inverters?
26:53Inverters off only when the instruments have returned to neutral.
26:56Inverters off. Batteries off. Main line off.
27:03Lock control surfaces.
27:24That's that. Except for the book work. Just give them the facts.
27:34One more thing. Record the time of day and number of minutes of oil dilution if you were diluting in
27:40this.
27:42Well, how do you feel?
27:44Okay, I feel great.
27:46Remember, it's just another airplane. It's a little bigger than most.
27:50But the fact that you're flying here means that you've moved into the big time.
27:55And the payoff is it's the safest crate you ever flew.
28:05That's part of it. Not all of it by a long shot, but part of it at least.
28:10It's a little more complicated than a buckboard wagon.
28:13Still, on the other hand, it's not quite as elaborate as a battleship.
28:21Make things as easy for yourself as you can by taking advantage of little devices like the flight computer,
28:26and the load adjuster, and the checklist.
28:29All the rest, and that's plenty, is up to you.
28:33But I guess by this time you understand that pretty well.
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