Originally Posted by
Wunwing
cpngrog.
The blowing out statement suggests to me that they may have had fouled plugs on the engine.
That would also explain why they didn't declare an emergency.
A B-17 can fly just fine on three engines (and even with 13 people, they would not have been 'heavy' since there are no guns or bombs), so clearly there must be more to it than a simple engine failure.
I briefly talked with the pilots when I took my ride - they were unpaid volunteers - commercial airline pilots that flew the Collings aircraft just for the joy of it.
So sad...