View Full Version : B17G Aluminum Overcast
skippyscage
12th Jun 2006, 21:14
Lucky enough to get a flight today....
http://www.skippyscage.com/aviation/ao/index.php
what a beast - what a great sound :D
Trogdor
12th Jun 2006, 21:44
Thats great. I saw that airplane out in upstate New York a few years back at a vintage airshow on a grass strip. She was there with the Memphis Belle.
pigboat
13th Jun 2006, 00:50
That's the one that had the main gear retract while taxiing after landing at Van Nuys CA in May of 2004. All 4 engines and props were damaged, as was the chin turret, and the ball turret mechanism was pushed up through the cabin roof. They've done a great job restoring it. :ok:
Anybody know what caused the gear to retract in the first place?
spitfire
13th Jun 2006, 03:18
The problem was that the gear was not 100% down and locked in the first place. It was roughly 90% down when the aeroplane landed. The gear collapsed on roll-out when the gear extend/retract jackscrews snapped under pressures they were not designed to take.
barit1
13th Jun 2006, 12:05
I trust it was a nice warm day. I had a ride in "Liberty Belle" last July - the ramp temp was 95F but once airborne it was just right in that drafty B-17! :)
skippyscage
13th Jun 2006, 12:39
draughty yes - but the temp was in the 90's so it was nice to have a breeze
just off to watch it depart back to Oshkosh