During a patchy night in 1945, Olivari tried to unseat a bomb from the bottom of the plane, which was stubbornly stuck to the rivets inside the bomber, Olivari said.
“I used a Long Island screwdriver, a piece of sheet metal, and managed to cut it loose but the door was open and it was 50 degrees below zero,” he said. “I was hanging out of the plane and blacked out.”
A fellow crew member hung on and slapped him awake, he said, next to a replica of the plane he helped fly from 1943 to 1945.
The national tour is run by the nonprofit Collings Foundation, an education group devoted to organizing living history events allowing participants a chance to view fully restored World War II-era planes, according to spokesman Hunter Chaney.
The B-17 was accompanied by a B-24 Liberator “Witchcraft” heavy bomber and a P-51 Mustang fighter plane, all part of a 110-city tour that reaches more than 35 states each year, he said.
On Thursday, volunteer pilots flew the planes into Burbank where visitors had an opportunity to personally experience the aircraft’s cockpit.
“I thought it would be more comfortable,” said Glendale resident Matthew Kubly, 13, from the inside of a B-17. “These people flew for hours and they had to sit on these things?”
Matthew, who grew up with tales of his grandfather’s adventure in P-51s during World War II, referred to a ragged swivel chair with a resorted machine gun pointed into the sky.
“This is amazing,” he said.
“I have a whole new respect for my grandfather.”
The planes, all of which were flown at some point during World War II, will be on display through Monday at the airport, said Kerry Beam, a pilot who flew the B-17 into Burbank.
The B-17 is one of only nine in flying condition in the United States. The B-24 and P-51 Mustang are the sole remaining examples of their type flying in the world, Beam said.
“These were the instruments that defeated the Nazis,” he said of the B-17s.
“They carry a 55,000-pound payload and have nine machine guns.”
The enormity of the plane elicited wonderment from many in attendance — what Beam called the “gee-whiz effect” — including Enrique Contreras, 31, of San Fernando.
“Can you imagine what it’s like to go into German territory and be a turret gunner? It’s awe-inspiring,” he said, as a Southwest plane rumbled past. “These modern planes are pretty cool but nothing like these. It’s history.”
JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers City Hall and public safety. He may be reached at (818) 637-3242 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@ latimes.com.
