Bandit12 Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 http://www.dailypress.com/news/military/dp-nws-b17-flying-fortress-crashes-20110613,0,298950.story A vintage World War II-era bomber that has visited Hampton Roads appeared all but destroyed Monday after it made an emergency landing in an Illinois cornfield and caught fire. The Chicago Tribune reported that seven crew members and volunteers walked from the B-17 Flying Fortress without serious injury after the pilot reported an engine fire. It happened southeast of Aurora Municipal Airport. The B-17, nicknamed "Liberty Belle," was on its way to the Indianapolis Regional Airport and was due to arrive at about noon. It was expected to offer flights to the public over the Father's Day weekend, the newspaper reported. Ninemsn also has video http://news.ninemsn.com.au/video.aspx
Guest ozzie Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 What a shame looks like a perfect out landing too. I've flown in the EAA's B17g and it was a great experience. I hope this incident does not affect the others flying passengers.
Guest SAJabiruflyer Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 Wonder if the engine caught fire, you can see the prop of the inboard engine feathered.
facthunter Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 #2 is feathered alright. The main blaze seemed to be in the fuselage and the engines don't seem to be heat affected although #2 has some discolouration aft of the cowl gills. Notice the engine has dropped down below where the corresponding engine on the other side #3 alignment is. That is interesting... Excessive vibration (severe damage) or a hard landing.or heat...They don't make them new anymore. Glad they got out of it, OK.. Nev
stanzahero Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 You can see some well established flame behind the #2 engine nacelle. Are there fuel cells or pumps in that area? It wouldn't take too much effort for the flame front to travel to the wing root from there and destroy the fuselage. The pictures from the link at the top show the fire originating from behind #2 somewhere.
J170 Owner Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 I had a good crawl through this plane at Oshkosh 1990. Great video from the inside!
facthunter Posted June 16, 2011 Posted June 16, 2011 Stanza Hero, there are lots of pipes (Hydraulic, fuel) and oil and an oil tank(Lube) The wheel well is a vulnerable spot. If a fire gets there you are in trouble. There is a firewall behind the engine and some firewarning and extinguishing facilities. You can feather the engine, isolate all the SOV's and fire a couple of bottles into it, the second one after a wait. . If that doesn't work, put it down quickly. They seem to have done all that, and survived. Nev
Aussie Steve Posted June 16, 2011 Posted June 16, 2011 what absolute legendery Pilots ! Text book emergency landing and not a single injury. This crew are heroes ! RESPECT ! This is a link to the Liberty Bells Home page with a statement of the event from their Chief Pilot. http://www.libertyfoundation.org/index.html
Aussie Steve Posted June 16, 2011 Posted June 16, 2011 Yeah Dex, I did wonder myself. I,d rather get bogged trying. May have gotten close enough to reach with the hoses.
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