The B-17 is among my absolute favorite aircraft - and there are few still in flying condition.
Here she was at the LRAFB show:
Posted on 06/14/2011 12:13:25 AM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark
OSWEGO, Ill. -- A World War II bomber made what appeared to be an emergency landing in a cornfield on Monday, and all seven people on board escaped before it was consumed by fire, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"The plane departed the airport, noted an emergency, and the pilot made what appears to be an emergency landing, after which the plane was consumed by fire," FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said in an e-mail. None of the passengers was injured.
The accident occurred right after the plane, known as the "Liberty Belle," took off from the Aurora Municipal Airport and the plane landed in an Oswego cornfield outside Chicago, Cory said. The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the incident.
Jim Barry, who lives in a nearby subdivision, told the Chicago Tribune he heard a low-flying plane and looked to see it. The engine on the bomber's left wing was on fire, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
The B-17 is among my absolute favorite aircraft - and there are few still in flying condition.
Here she was at the LRAFB show:
B-17 G
farewell old girl
RIP
Does anyone know if this id the beast that used to come to the Bullhead City/Lake Havasu City AZ area every so often? I can’t remember the name.
Damn shame to lose such a piece of history, but I’m glad that it wasn’t locked in a museum. Many people got to see it than would ever have. Of course I do hope there are a couple tucked away.
even after all these years, she held on long enough to let the crew escape...amazing.
Just Damn...
my first thought:
illinois ... progressive central ... muslim central... anti-America central
destroying any and all American icons or inspiring images is on their agenda.
this would fit that agenda.
just my first thought
Shep Smith on Fox was saying there were fifteen flyable B-17s left in the world. Now there’s one less.
I saw several of them land at an air show in California about 45 years ago. They were the ones used in the making of the TV series “12 O’clock High”. It was an almost eerie sight.
“It was an almost eerie sight.’
I could be wrong, but is there one at Camarillo, CA airport (a former Air Force Base)?
They have a very good airshow usually in Aug.
And there is an Air Museum there.
Some sorts of restorations take place at Camarillo, also, I think.
Great photo! Thanks. There is probably a photo of her in my air show archives.
Was it on a mission against the Illinois Nazis?
Seriously, a terrible loss. Another piece of history slips fades away.
Of the authors of the book (same name), Beirne Lay and Sy Bartlett, Bartlett was a member of Gen. Spaatz's staff.
I hate Illinois Nazis!
This aircraft visited the Tulsa area last fall and offered flights to those able to pay. The golf course I play most often sits right across the road from that GA airport so I got to see the Liberty Belle take off several times. It was an impressive sight.
So sad to see an end of aviation history and personal history. My dad was a B-17 crewman in WW2.
My uncle Lloyd was also a crewman on a B-17. He took home a DSC and a Silver Star and I don’t think he was 21 years old at the time.
My dad flew C-46 cargo in the CBI as a civilian pilot for the AAF.
A friend’s dad took dozens of pictures of the art work on the planes in WW2. He got the collection a few years back.
We lost one B-17 to a German fighter before we reached Frankfurt. The bombardier had to adjust the norden bomb site on our target through heavy flak and cloud cover. After totally obliterating the German Hiddernheim Engine Factory (top left picture) my squadron of B-17s banked right towards the new course heading while still under flak attack. I was looking out the left waist window when something exploded on the left wing (top right picture). Black smoke began to belch out of engine number two and the plane began banking out of control. The pilot must have been wounded from the explosion. Our plane collided with one plane (bottom left picture), then another. Then those two planes collided with each other. (bottom right picture) The second plane was left with no wings (top) while my plane and the third one (middle and bottom) were left with only a quarter wing. Nobody was able to bail out. I died; game over. It was mayhem.
I’ve been playing this PC game called “B-17 Flying Fortress”. It's an incredibly vivid WWII flight simulator for the B-17 Bomber. You have to learn every operation in the plane as well as for the missions. The flight out is always terrifying because we’re being attacked by enemy planes. The flight back is always long because I have to keep patching up my wounded crew. Usually it takes me 2 hours to complete a mission successfully (without time skips it would take 8 hours out and 8 hours to return.) A complete waste of time? No, I listen to Hugh Hewitt while I'm playing (radio operator too)! It's so wonderful feeling like I get to touch a bit of history and have something vaguely in common with my military as a civilian.
What a shame. Saw her several times down here at our little St. Simons airport.
She was a beautiful bird.
Tatt
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