Originally Posted by
WING7
That is why I stated my comment at at the end but thanks for your post b1. Will add something here...
In general I just canīt imagine any flight crew leaving the gear down - on purpose - with an Eng failure during T/O. One wants to climb and also prepare for the unexpected.
It is also a requirement for the second segment climb. (Do not know if that applies to the B-17)
No, I frankly do not think they lost number 3 engine (if they did) because of leaving it with high power. Engine was new and the data shows a descend what, 3 min after T/O at the most ??
Regarding the second segment climb: The B-17 was a war time expedient, and it predates even the old Civil Air Regs part 4b, so modern concepts such as engine out climb performance weren’t much considered given how marginal the performance was without failure. Don’t forget WWII was when defeat was expensive but planes and crews were cheap.
You really do have to appreciate how slowly the gear retracts,( one wheel at a time due to electrical load). It may be that the crew were initially planning a different course of action. I do know that when flying these national treasures you are doing everything that you can to not damage them. A belly landing wouldn’t feel like a good outcome, so perhaps trying for a perfect result might have been a factor.