B 17 down

I don't think this has been posted (couldn't find in search). Please forgive the website its on.


www.ehowa.com...

[Edited on 13-5-2004 by gemron]

Good find - those old warbirds are such classics, this is a shame.... but I think the information on the site is a little misleading.
The aircraft was on a taxiway, not runway, and the engines were probably not running when the nose gear collapsed. (note the blue lights on the edges of the concrete where the airplane is, as well as the proximity to hangars, indicating a taxiway instead of a runway.

The top blade of each of the four propeller units are still straight, indicating the propellers were NOT rotating, so the engines were all turned off, or feathered, at the time of the impact.
Therefore it is highly unlikely that ALL the engines would have been feathered during taxi, so my conclusion is that the aircraft was not under power at the time of the accident.
If people who are more familiar with B-17's know better than I, then I will stand corrected.)

I'll so very happy that asshat, Ernie, got a chuckle out of the situation. I am sure I would have wept openly had I seen it in person. Just the thought of the amount of work that went into restoring a B-17 to flying condition and the consequential repairs that will be needed makes me feel tiny. I have been fortunate enough to see the Memphis Belle on static display and speak with some of her crew. Luckier still, I saw Sentimental Journey flying in an air show.

here is some info on the actual aircraft and incident:
Aluminium Overcast
TimelessVoices
Identifying 398th B-17s

from what i read online and saw in the news when it happened a few days ago, the pilot was reaching for the flaps to bring them up, but grabbed the wrong handle.

it was the EAA's (experimental aircraft association) b-17. they're going to fix it up enough to fly, and get a ferry permit to fly it back to their main facilities at oshkosh where they'll finish repairs.

i thought heathrow or london was the buisest in the world ?
ah well its a shame was a nice plane

Originally posted by devilwasp
i thought heathrow or london was the buisest in the world ?

Van Nuys is the busiest general aviation airport, not commercial (general aviation are smaller airports that personal and private aircraft can use). I believe you're right that Heathrow is the busiest commercial airport.

oh right sorry
he he kinda didnt understand for a min
thats a pretty old plane what was it doing anyway?
nice plane likes

Originally posted by devilwasp
thats a pretty old plane what was it doing anyway?

my guess is that it was there for an airshow or a fly-in. i know that that plane gets flown all over the country for such events. i may be wrong though.

[Edited on 5/14/2004 by cmdrkeenkid]

Saw a B17,B29(Confederate Air Force plane) and a WWII era German bomber ( I believe it was a Heinkle 111) at an airshow in Teterboro NJ (another busy general Aviation Airport in NJ). Boy did the area rumble when the 17 took off. With the german Plane the sound was totally different. You could tell by the tone and pitch of the engines that it was a whole different ball of wax. it was more of a tight, wound up rubber band sound, then the 17s rumble and vibration.
When the 29 took off, there were people all over, stopped on the shoulder of the Highway, even standing on the roofs of their cars to watch it . All I can say about these vintage giants of the air is they were majestic. I could just imagine what is what like back in the 1940s to see a flight of these behemoths comming in for a landing.

so i noticed something odd... in the NTSB database there is no accident report for this. at first then i thought that maybe it was because the report was not finished, but then i remembered they do put preliminary reports up as well. has anyone seen any other sort of official accident reports?

i doubt it was the heinkel 111 you have seen at that airshow !

some time ago it went down and crashed