WGN in Chicago is reporting that a B-17 crashed near the Aurora, IL airport this morning.
It was Liberty Belle...Very fortunate that everyone was alright, pretty bummed that the plane is a loss though..
Kills me to see one of my favorite planes meet its end. Plus, it happened just a stones throw from where I was born & raised... Sad stuff!
I saw her two years ago when she made a stop in Charleston. What a shame. Thank goodness everybody got out okay. Good job by the pilot, no doubt. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You know, I was (still am, I guess) all for keeping these relics of history in flying condition, but there is always the chance something like this will happen if we keep flying them. I guess I am now thinking we should keep at least one sample of each type on static display like the Smithsonian does. Good job by the pilot, as said above - to which I would add - good job by the aircraft too.
I haven't done a recent count, but there are about 15-20 flying B-17's with several more close to flying. I believe there are dozens beyond that in rough condition that potentially could fly with a bunch of money and time. Now really rare ones would be the single B-29 FiFi and only two B-24's.
Yes, Rob - I know there are a few B-17s around. This one seemed to be a special loss though because of its war history. But, I was thinking more about planes of which there may only be one or two; for example I think that there are only 6 known WW2 Me-262 Jet fighters still in existence worldwide. To me it would seem to be insane to try to fly one of these (especially on the original engines).
Kudos to the crew for an emergency landing harming no one on the ground and minimal crew injuries. Well done!!! As for the plane, I'm just sick. I look at the photos and think of the man-hours and treasure given that rebuilt and kept her running.
I agree, Russ, a lot of treasure in many ways gone here. After looking at photos of the airplane passing overhead, that was not an engine fire but a wing fire. That area just outboard of number two appears to be behind the rear spar where there is a nest of fuel manifolds connecting two bladder tanks in that area and associated hoses that connect all the other tanks. There is also an electric flap motor in that exact area so a leaking hose or fuel manifold would be bad news if they ran the flap motor and probably did after take off. There are supercharger intercooler controls forward of that fire but I don't think that anybody has that equipment operational anymore. It appears that they can salvage the R1820's, tho.
I have been thinking about my initial impression of this incident and I still can't relate it to an engine problem because it's too far aft and in an area where there is a lot of things that can go wrong and leak if they aren't checked. The pilot did a great job of getting the airplane down in a nice corn field and I think of others that did the same thing in Germany and France during the war.
There is a B-29 in the Udvar Hazy Smithsonian museum, but no B-17...there has to be one in some museum right? MB
heres a pic of it,just after landing,looks like fire in-between eng1 and eng2 Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here is how the fire progressed. Glad no one was seriously hurt. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
That's very sad... Here is a souvenir from Duxford in 2008. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very sad. For all it survived and now this. It really underlines how much maintenance these things take to remain safe and airworthy especially at their age. I was at the 8th AF museum 3 days ago. They are in need of some parts for the restoration of theirs. I am sure what is left will be put to good use.
