11/30/2012
FSV'S Iron Man!
The Pearl Harbor Attack
In response to the growing crisis in the Pacific, in early December 1941 four Boeing B-17C Flying Fortresses and two new B-17Es of the 30th Bombardment Group were flying cross country from New Orleans, Louisiana stopped at Hamilton on their way to Hickam AAF in Hawaii then on to Clark AAF in the Philippines to reinforce the 19th Bombardment Group stationed there.
After leaving Hamilton, and flying all through the night, the bombers arrived over Oahu on the morning of December 7, 1941, and faced an unusual welcome. The B-17s had arrived over Oahu during the Japanese air attack on Hawaii which triggered America's entry into World War II. The B-17C Flying Fortresses arrived at Pearl Harbor at the height of the attack (radar operators mistakenly thought that the Japanese attack force was this flight arriving from California). Some of the planes managed to land at a short fighter strip at Haleiwa, one set down on a golf course, and the remainder landed at Hickam under the strafing of Japanese planes.
In addition, twelve B-17Ds of the 5th Bombardment Group were parked on the ground at Hickam AAF during the attack. Five of these B-17s were destroyed, and eight were damaged.
The B-17Es of the 7th Bombardment Group were moved back to Hamilton from Utah for deployment to the Far East. Six of them arrived in Hawaii just after the Pearl Harbor attack, but the rest of them were ordered to remain in the United States to defend California and were sent south to Muroc AAF near Rosamond.
I would like to invite our members and the 91st Bombardment Group to our fith annual reenactment of the B17 flight from Hamilton AFB San Rafael California to Hickman Air Force Base Honolulu, on December 8, 20012.
We will take off from Hamilton AFB December 8, 2012 arriving at Honolulu on December 9, 20012 at 07:00:00 Hawaii Time, to coincide with the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7 1941 at 07:00:00 Hawaii time.
If you are interested please let me know by posting your reply to this post.
This flight is not for the faint of heart. Those making this flight will be looking at 12 to 14 hours of flight time.
Airspeed 130 KAIS
Flight Time: 9:00 PM PDST/12:00 PM EDST/0200 GMT.
The B-17 Iron man flight will be hosted on FSV'S Flight Server.
Team Speak Channel: 120.75
Weather will be set by the server. (Please disable external weather programs and real-world weather)
