Originally Posted by
capngrog
I've been looking at a lot of photographs of the crash site, and it appears to me that the B-17 was mostly airborne when it hit the de-icing facility ground storage tank. Looking at the photo below, note the "box" of the box truck closest to the crash site. There appears to be a gash just below the roof of the "box", yet the truck cab is unscathed. ....
That's a good spot.
However, the wingtip of a lightly-loaded B17 sits about
10-12 feet (3-3.8m) above the ground even when parked (just about where that gash is) - so the height of the gash doesn't mean the aircraft was still airborne. Not to mention any variation based on pitch or roll attitude (right wing high/low, tail down or still up). Don't judge by the height of the collapsed aircraft's other wing in that photo....
https://www.dailyrepublic.com/media-...17-crowds-005/