Lost another B-17

I saw a picture of that thing flying in a book long ago, and I have been scouring the web for the old picture for a while now.

Single turboprop hauling a whole B-17 around...

That's the plane, but not the same picture. I had never seen that one before. Thanks!

I'm not much of an expert on old war birds, but I flew out of Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport a few times when a guy there had a P 51 outside his hanger. It had been heavily modified for racing, new sleeker canopy, etc, but still had the bones of a serious bad ass airplane. I still would like to see an original one.

Was it this plane?:

That's the only modified race plane I can think of from Florida. There aren't that many around with the cut down canopy. The last I heard the Whittington (who owned one of the famous race tracks at some point) are not likely to race it again.

aircooled wrote: Was it this plane?: That's the only modified race plane I can think of from Florida. There aren't that many around with the cut down canopy. The last I heard the Whittington (who owned one of the famous race tracks at some point) are not likely to race it again.

The Whittington Bros. were part of the IMSA drug smuggling scandal in the early 1980s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sporting_scandals#Scandals_in_motorsport

They owned Road Atlanta for half a minute. We used to hear small single-engined aircraft at night..rumors still abound that they used the backstraight (pre-T10 chicane) to land and unload cargo. Can't confirm it, never saw it fer m'self..

One of them was found guilty of cocaine smuggling.

Come in to mourn the loss of a war bird, stay to hear stories of aviation drug trafficing on race tracks...

There was also the IMSA team from Puerto Rico That did a year of flying back and forth to the races, the following year, the DEA found out how they were financing the team---in the roll cage. There were also stories about the same time of a fair amount of drivers taking a snort or two before a race....never proven, but, lots of talk in the pits about it.

Back to the B-17: a couple of years ago, one or two would fly to Ct every summer. You could BUY A RIDE! I think it was around $400 for a half hour ride last year. A year prior I almost paid $320 for a ride, but thought it was a bit much. Now, what's that about hindsight and 20/20.

There's a "Texan" trainer that flys out of RI all summer. Not a lot of buck from what I've heard. And it's just you and the pilot. There was an article about a guy restoring a F4U Corsair at the nearby small airport.

I toured a B-17 and a B-24 last summer on the ground here in Pittsburgh. They flew in for a few days of ground tours and periodic flights for paying customers. The rate was $425 and I would have done it but I had already signed up for skydiving and doing the flight would have broken the bank. This summer, I'm doing it for sure.

You guys are correct about the sound. I live right under the approach to the county airport where they fly into and watching them take off and land was incredible.

I have been for a ride on a B-17 and a B-24. It is a great experience. The organizations that fly them always are looking for mechanically oriented volunteers if any of you are interested. I had this forwarded to me from a pilot friend of mine. It is from the Chief Pilot of the Liberty Foundation.

> > Subject: Fwd: B-17
> > First, let me start off by sincerely thanking everyone for the outpouring of support that we are receiving. I am sorry that I have not yet had the opportunity to return the many phone calls, text or e-mails that I am receiving offering to help. Again, thank you for all of the kind words that we are receiving and for incredible offers to help emotionally, financially and/or with the recovery process. I hope this statement will help fill in a few details that everyone is wondering about that led to the loss of our Liberty Belle. > > > > Yesterday morning, both our P-40 and B-17 were scheduled to fly from Aurora, Illinois to Indianapolis, Indiana. We were in Aurora for the weekend as a part of our scheduled tour. Over the course of the previous week, we completed a scheduled 25-hour inspection on the B-17 which was completed by Saturday. On Saturday, the weather stayed below the required ceiling to give any passenger flights, however the B-17 flew in the morning on a routine training proficiency flight, performing several patterns. Following the flight, other maintenance issues arose that required us to cancel our Sunday flying schedule for repairs. The maintenance performed has not been, in any way, associated to the chain of events that led to Mondays fateful flight, but is being considered in the preliminary investigation. However, due to the medias sensational (mis)reporting, there is a large amount of misinformation that continues to lead the news. > > > > Here is what we do know > Flying in the left seat of the B-17 was Capt. John Hess. John has been flying our Liberty Belle since 2005 and one of our most experienced B-17 pilots. He is an active Delta Air Lines Captain with over 14,000 hours of flying experience and flys a variety of vintage WWII aircraft. In the right seat was Bud Sittic. While Bud is new to the Liberty Foundation this year, he is also incredibly experienced with over 14,000 hours of flying time in vintage and hi-performance aircraft. He is a retired Captain with Delta Air Lines. > > > > The news misidentified the P-40 as flying chase during the accident. I was flying our P-40, however I had departed 20 minutes prior to the B-17s takeoff on the short flight to Indianapolis to setup for the B-17s arrival. The aircraft flying chase was a T-6 Texan flown by owner Cullen Underwood. Cullen is one of our rated B-17 Captains and an experienced aviator tagging along as a support ship. > > > > The takeoff of both aircraft was uneventful and proceeded on-course southeast. Prior to exiting Auroras airport traffic area, the B-17 crew and passengers began investigating an acrid smell and started a turn back to the airport. Almost immediately thereafter, Cullen spotted flames coming from the left wing and reported over the radio that they were on fire. > > > > As all pilots know, there are few emergency situations that are more critical than having an in-flight fire. While it is extremely rare, it can (and sometimes does) indiscriminately affect aircraft of any age or type. In-flight fires have led to the loss of not only aircraft, but often can result in catastrophic loss of life. It requires an immediate action on the flight crew, as the integrity of aircraft structure, systems and critical components are in question. > > > > Directly below the B-17 was a farmers field and the decision was made to land immediately. Approximately 1 minute and 40 seconds from the radio report of the fire, the B-17 was down safely on the field. Within that 1:40 time frame, the crew shutdown and feathered the number 2 engine, activated the engines fire suppression system, lowered the landing gear and performed an on-speed landing. Bringing the B-17 to a quick stop, the crew and passengers quickly and safely exited the aircraft. Overhead in the T-6, Cullen professionally coordinated and directed the firefighting equipment which was dispatched by Aurora Tower to the landing location. > > > > Unlike the sensational photos that you have all seen of the completely burned B-17 on the news, you will see from photos taken by our crew that our Liberty Belle was undamaged by the forced landing and at the time of landing, the wing fire damage was relatively small. The crew actually unloaded bags, then had the horrible task of watching the aircraft slowly burn while waiting for the fire trucks to arrive. There were high hopes that the fire would be extinguished quickly and the damage would be repairable. Those hopes were diminished as the fire trucks deemed the field too soft to cross due to the areas recent rainfall. So while standing by our burning B-17 and watching the fire trucks parked at the fields edge, they sadly watched the wing fire spread to the aircrafts fuel cells and of course, you all have seen the end result. There is no doubt that had the fire equipment been able to reach our aircraft, the fire would have been quickly extinguished and our Liberty Belle would have been repaired to continue her worthwhile mission. > > > > Let me go on the record by thanking the flight crew for their professionalism. Their actions were nothing short of heroic and their quick thinking, actions and experience led to a successful outcome to this serious in-flight emergency. John and Bud (and Cullen) did a remarkable job under extreme circumstances and performed spectacularly. While the leading news stories have repeatedly reported the crash of our B-17, fact is they made a successful forced landing and the aircraft was ultimately consumed by fire. Airplanes are replaceable but people are not and while the aircrafts loss is tragic, it was a successful result. > > > > This leads me into discussing the exceptional safety record of the Boeing B-17 and to hopefully squash the naysayers who preach we should not be flying these types of aircraft. Since we first flew the Liberty Belle in December of 2004, we have flown over 20,000 passengers throughout the country and if you count our historic trip to Europe in 2008, worldwide. Of the other touring B-17s, some of which that have been touring for over 20 years, they have safely flown hundreds of thousands of people. The aircrafts safety record is spectacular and I am certain the overall cause of our issue, which is under investigation, will not tarnish that safety record. In fact, as many of you know, other B-17 have suffered significant damage (although not as bad as ours!), only to be re-built to fly again. From a passenger carrying standpoint, I can think of few aircraft that offer the same level of safety as the 4-engine Flying Fortress. As mentioned earlier, in-flight fires are extremely rare and certainly could affect any powered aircraft under certain circumstances. I would put my children today in any of the other touring B-17s to go fly. I suggest to anyone that was thinking of doing so when a B-17 visits your area to do so without giving our loss any thought. > > > > There is wild speculation going on as to the cause of our fire and the affect to other operators. Please let the investigation run its course and report the findings. The NTSB and FAA were quickly on the scene and we are working closely with them to aid in the investigation. As soon as we receive some additional information, we will release it via the website http://www.libertyfoundation.org/ > > > > The ultimate question remains, where does the Liberty Foundation go from here? After the investigation and recovery, we will determine our options. We are still committed to the restoration and flying of World War II aircraft. Again, we appreciate the support and people offering to help get us back flying. > > > > Please check back for updates. I will close by thanking everyone that made our tour so successful. From the first day of the B-17s restoration, thank you for all of you who labored to get her flying over the initial restoration years and to everyone that has worked on her out on tour since. Thank you to the crewmembers, tour coordinators and volunteers who gave up weekends and countless hours to support her on the road. And finally, thank you to the passengers, donors and media patrons that flew aboard and everyone who supported our cause. Hopefully, this will not be the end of the story, but a new beginning. > > > > Regards, > > Ray Fowler > > The Liberty Foundation, Chief Pilot > >

Thanks for the update. It's nice to get the straight info from the horse's mouth. I hope the Liberty Foundation can continue their good work.

aeronca65t wrote: Thanks for the update. It's nice to get the straight info from the horse's mouth. I hope the Liberty Foundation can continue their good work.

+1!

Nice link to her heritage as well

http://www.libertyfoundation.org/history-libertybelle.html