So after an extensive safety brief from Peter and myself, we carry out two flights in the local area around Duxford just to give them an idea of what B-17 flying is all about and also to allow the film crew to view their reactions. The object of day one flying is to familiarise them with the aircraft. None of them had known, until a few minutes previously, that they were to fly in a real bomber - let alone Sally B, or that some of them were actually going to have the chance to fly the aircraft themselves, something that previously no-one apart from the normal crew had been allowed to do, and our thanks must go to various people at the CAA who made this possible. So it is no surprise to see a collection of surprised faces when we meet with them and their mentor for the series, well-known air show pilot and commentator Brendan O’Brien. Throughout the process our "victims" are to be kept in the dark as much as possible about what is coming next. We have two gunners plus three potential pilots who, through a selection process on the T-6 Harvard, Beech 18 and B-17, will be assigned as Pilot, Navigator and Bomb Aimer for our final simulated bombing mission. Not a full-sized epic like "Memphis Belle" but a carry on from the series "Spitfire Ace" shown in January 2004.įive hopefuls have been chosen to be put through the same training, or as near as we can make it, as a World War II crew would have experienced. ![]() ![]() Sally B and the team: Operator Elly Sallingboe, Chief Engineer Peter Brown, Ground Crew Steve Carter, Pilot Jim Jewell and I are at Duxford for an RDF Media series called "Bomber Crew" for Channel 4. But maybe this one will be different – in fact it is. All the memories of the frustrations, aggravation, and general "fun" we have had on previous "epics" come to mind. "Right what I want to see on this shoot is" Oh no we are filming again. Taken from Sally B News Issue 42 November 2004. Intro: B-17 Training Captain Andrew Dixon, Chief Engineer Peter Brown and Trainee John Nolan relate their experiences and challenges in the making of Bomber Crew. As with Spitfire Ace, the bomber-themed series also included interviews with veterans. The final sortie was flown on 14th August. Several days' worth of filming at Duxford resulted in six hours of flying time for the B-17, which are being incorporated into the "reality" section of the series. Numerous cameras were fitted inside and outside Sally B to film the proceedings and the locations of these were changed around to include inside the cockpit, outside of the rear and waist gunners' positions and underneath the forward fuselage so that the landing gear could be filmed as it retracted after take-off. On the final "bombing sortie" flour bombs were dropped onto a mock village located within an Army range. Permission was also required to fit cameras to the aircraft, and to drop "bombs"! Filming even made it necessary to re-manufacture the bomb release mechanism, which again needed CAA approval. Four exemptions were needed from the Civil Aviation Authority, one of which was to allow the trainees to fly the “Fort” from the right-hand seat. Preparation work was spread over several months for Operator Elly Sallingboe and her B-17 Preservation team. Three were battling it out for the pilot’s role, while the other two were vying for the gunner and wireless operator positions. The five candidates were Luke Alkemade, Tim Chambers, Tanya Marriott, John Nolan and James Smith. ![]() All five had grandfathers who served with Bomber Command during World War Two, and the idea was to put them through some elements of the training regime that wartime airmen would have undertaken. Viewers follow the experiences of five young "aircrew" as they progress through a selection procedure. The series focuses on bomber crews of World War II, and features our own Sally B. The first episode of "Bomber Crew" filmed at Duxford was shown on Monday 29th November 2004 at 9pm on Channel 4, followed by a further three episodes at the same time on the following three Mondays. Sally B takes to the screen in "Bomber Crew"
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