B17 in Penticton BC

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The ride in Sentimental Journey happened Saturday Aug. 1st. What a great day and Cassidy and I enjoyed ourselves to no end. As usual all the CAF members couldn't be more accommodating making the flight one to remember.




The two pictures below are of 93 year old Fred Stinson who was a RCAF navigator with Ferry Command in WWII. Fred flew B17's to Egypt via South America the Azores and then Africa to their destination in Egypt. Fred grew up in Haney BC and when his daughter heard about this opportunity she told me she had to get him a ride. Now something MAGIC happens to these veterans as Fred quickly climbed the ladder to the cockpit like it was 1944 and he was 22 again. After our flight he had a smile on his face that lit up the area, we were honoured to fly with him.




In this picture with Fred is his grand daughter Jacquie, wonderful she could witness her grand father do this flight.



Some photos of the flight over Lake Okanagan and the Penticton area you might enjoy. Great ride and much quieter and more stable than the B25 we flew in last year. The pilots and crew are so professional and more than excellent at their job.







I was given the task of looking for Bf 109's, luckily none challenged us, the Fortress was just too formidable. We completed a bombing run on the Kettle Valley rail line, pilots reported a enemy train on the line so it was doors open, bombs away.



Shot from the Harvard with the B17 waiting for refueling, Bill Findlay the Harvard pilot did a bit of a short field approach when he heard the 17 crew radio they were going to refuel on landing. My son Cassidy was his passenger and said Bill wasn't going to wait to refuel after the 17, everyone had a good chuckle about that.




Picture of Harvard pilot Bill Findlay and Cassidy. Bill is a veteran fighter and airline pilot who also was in Penticton last year offering rides. I wanted Cassidy to get a ride in a Harvard as when I grew up in Moose Jaw it was the trainer for RCAF pilots. This completes Cass' North American Aviation (NAA) WWII trifecta, P51D many years ago and B25 last year and the Harvard this year. Americans know the Harvard as the T6 Texan, and movie buffs may recognize it as the plane that filled in as the Japanese Zero in many famous movies like Tora, Tora, Tora.