Palm Springs Air Museum

On Saturday, I planned to go to the Palm Springs Air Museum with Chris to get out of the heat. As it turns out, it wasn't hot. It was overcast, and it actually rained. But we went to the air museum anyway. The planes on display, some of which were still flight-worthy, were flown from the Second World War onwards.

  There were a couple of planes that you could actually get up into and sit in, as well as static displays. On the day we went, they had an open cockpit setup on a Bell Cobra (above).

This was a Vietnam-era cargo plane, which you could climb into the cockpit and the navigator's seats. It wasn't a complete plane; just the front section was on display.

 Above is a beautiful example of a Supermarine Spitfire from WWII.

The highlight of the day for me was climbing inside a B-17 Flying Fortress. We were able to enter the plane from behind the pilot's seat, walk along the inside, including across the bomb bay gantry. We exited the plane towards the end of the rear section.

On board, to answer people's questions, was a gentleman who must have been in his 90s. He was a bombardier aboard a B-17 during the war. I chatted to him for some time; he was stationed in East Anglia and used to enjoy his time off in Piccadilly Circus in London. It was a great experience to talk to someone who actually took part in bombing raids in these very planes.