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B17 Aluminum Overcast's demise :( (Read 396 times)

May 16^th, 2004 at 12:39pm

Politically Incorrect Offline
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Aluminum Overcast, the EAA's B17 Bomber had a accident earlier this month while at one of it's summer tour stops in CA. Here is the outcome:

The landing gear collapsed as it was about to leave the runway at a estimated speed of 35 mph! Who taxies off a runway doing 35???

Needless to say it suffered severe damage, destroying gear, props, turrets. And is in need of a bunch of repair.
The summer tour is no longer which means my chance to fly in it this year is gone (Scheduled to appear here in Sept).
But the EAA has many members (myself included) willing to do what we can to get her airborne again! So my chance of a flight might not happen this year but I have faith she'll be up in no time!!

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Reply #1 - May 16^th, 2004 at 12:48pm

Politically Incorrect Offline
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You know the more I look at and think about the report of what happened, they said the B17 was doing about 35 when the accident happened, one would assume that the props would still be rotating? Wouldn't more than just a couple of blades be bent??? or completly removed?? Or is it possible that the pilot knew far enough ahead of time something was wrong and got the engines shut down early???
Sadly no one wants to let out the whole story as to what happened yet Angry

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Reply #2 - May 16^th, 2004 at 1:06pm

Threadkiller Offline
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well, when i saw the Yankee Lady fly, the props didnt rotate AS fast when taxin and stuff, and if u see pix of similar axidents durin the war the seldom all the blades were damaged or anything.

how sad to see that, but iim hopin she'll fly again Sad

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Reply #3 - May 16^th, 2004 at 5:08pm

ozzy72 Offline
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I'd guess the blades dug into the tarmac and stopped. So there could be engine damage as well.....
A truely heartbreaking sight Cry

There are two types of aeroplane, Spitfires and everything else that wishes it was a Spitfire!

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Reply #4 - May 16^th, 2004 at 5:19pm

Hagar Offline
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What a sad sight. That aircraft looks really beautiful. I'm sure they will repair it however much work/cost is involved.

I'm surprised that the props don't look that damaged but imagine the engines were only on tickover when the gear collapsed. The impact might have been enough to stall the engines before there was serious damage. I believe the B-17 is usually taxyied with outboard engines only so the inboards might not have been running. With any prop strike involving a metal-bladed prop the engine has to be removed & stripped right down for various parts to be crack detected. This should be done whether the prop suffered damage or not.

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Reply #5 - May 16^th, 2004 at 5:24pm

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I hate to see this kind of thing Sad

Reminds me of the Blenheim at Duxford last year. I hope they get it fixed again soon.

Flying Legends

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Reply #6 - May 16^th, 2004 at 5:36pm

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That was a nice B-17 too. Are they going to fire that Dumb A$$ who taxied it at 35 MPH?

P.S. From my point of view, I only see one damaged prop, but the landing gear and the ball and front turrets looks really bad.

Arizona State University&&Viva la party!

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Reply #7 - May 16^th, 2004 at 7:31pm

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They still aren't releasing anything about this accident!
I got the photo's from someone other than the EAA who has yet to release any. So not sure. I wonder if this will have a impact on the FAA allowing people to ride on these type planes?
I would actually feel safer flying in a old warbird than most planes in the skies now just because of the respect thier owners have for thier prized possesions!

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Reply #8 - May 17^th, 2004 at 5:34pm

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Sad sad pictures Sad

considering my love of the B-17. It was the first airplane I fell in love with as a child.

here's to hoping they can get her airworthy again and in even better shape than she already was!

And I woul fly in one of those any day. Many died in them however some of them came back home in ways that are immortal feats of determination when they should have been a crash instead.

My life is like the movie Office Space

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