PIC OF THE DAY..

[rifleman_btx]

Good times! They look nice and healthy

[Grossman56]

Guess who was buzzing around our town...……..



Gotta love it!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFO2eBs06K8

Here's the vid if you missed it on the Liberator thread...

Grossman56

[rifleman_btx]

Heck yeah!

[Pauly]

That was Awesome!

[Grossman56]

Flightline B-17, that would be just too cool!!

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Me and my new toy!! LOLLOLLOL



Grossman56

[Hoomi]

Me and my new toy!! LOLLOLLOL



Grossman56

Moving up to those 12"=1' scale birds, eh? Just how many batteries does that one take?

[Hardway]

Not to get too technical, but the battery requirements are referred to as a "BOATLOAD"..... :)

[Grossman56]

LOLI was just checking to see what size servo I'd have to put in so that my ball turret would rotate!
The bomb bay will be the battery bay, now to get Ben to paint some life like crew members:Cool::Cool:

Grossman56

[Ole-Timer]

31 years ago that B-17G landed long during our local airshow, lost its brakes,over ran the runway, and rolled over a 100ft embankment. It was badly damaged. Dozens of local mechanics chipped in for free and helped rebuild it. The engine nacelles we’re seriously damaged, particularly #3 along with serious damage to the right inboard wing section. That wing section was trucked to Greater Pitt airport where US Airways rebuilt it. I was a member of Air Heritage back then and also spent some time helping put it back together. Before the crash it flew with its original Cheyenne tail turret which did receive damage in the crash. Our airport manager, Dan Donatella, located factory drawings for an original style emplacement and fabricated one from scratch to make the aircraft look more “original” to the real 909.

[F22trainer]

I got to land behind that bird one day at KDVT
”....caution wake turbulence ahead, B-17 - Pan Am 315 cleared to land” - was the tower clearance I got.
Will never forget it, and nor will my Chinese student who was in shock when he saw it taxi in front of us after landing.

[Ole-Timer]

I dug up some of the 30 year old pics I have.
Just some quick background...
At the time I was flying frequently out of KBVI, our local Beaver County Airport located in western PA. Each year I was one of many volunteers who helped raise money to provide a free Airshow to the public. My lifelong mentor, who taught me to fly Rc back in the 70’s, had built a go-cart A-7 for his sons to drive around the greenhouse property they owned. When I returned from the Navy we built an F-18 Hornet, then he also built a Space Shuttle. Each had its own engine. At air shows we would tow them with garden tractors and give kids rides for a buck each, all proceeds going to the Airshow committee. This was so successful at generating necessary revenue, our little fleet was frequently loaded into Air Heritages C-123 Provider and went to many other Airshows to help pay expenses.
My mentor, George “Amos” Yeager was a Korean War veteran who worked on F-86’s. He is seated on the tractor in the foreground. I don’t think his mind or hands were ever idle.


We were working the 1987 airshow as usual, giving kids rides...
This first picture was taken the night before the crash
Notice the modifications to the original Cheyenne tail turret that came standard to this airframe.

[Ole-Timer]

After the crash, Gus Bachman hoisted her out by crane. Gus was also a pilot and owned Black Rock airport.
The airframe was quickly torn down and assessed.

The chin turret stoved the nose in and the tail turret also took a beating.

The most severe damage was to #3 nacelle and right inboard wing.

[Ole-Timer]

[Ole-Timer]

The fuselage was repaired first and put on display during the 1988 airshow. Collection cans were always out to help fund the project.
Notice the new old style tail turret...

I have many more pictures buried away...
These pictures give the scope of what so many local volunteers were faced with and what was required to bring this B-17G back to flyable condition.
Anytime I’m privileged to see her, I only remember what Western Pennsylvania did to bring her back to the sky where she belongs for all to see.

[TiredIronGRB]

Thanks so much for posting all this history about Nine O Nine, very interesting and so glad the people of Western Pennsylvania realized the importance of repairing her :Cool:

[Ole-Timer]

I’m very grateful to be able to do that and your quite welcome.
At the time of the crash, many of our WWII and Korean War veterans were still alive.
It was indeed inspiring to witness those guys stepping up and volunteering to get that bird in the air again. They were all such a do things kinda gang and just pushed through obstacles without fail. It just had to be done... Only a handful of them survive today that worked on 909 during its time in Beaver County. The majority have passed on. So for all veterans and certainly that crew who helped restore her, my hats off...!
Remember them all and their sacrifices when you see ole’ 909.

:Cool:https://www.collingsfoundation.org/a...ying-fortress/

[Grossman56]

Too cool!
What a great outcome of what could have been the end of her.
Hope she flying for years to come. There's something about seeing a WWII vintage airplane in the air, even more so now as the years tick away. We all realize that at some point they will be gone or at least grounded and the end of an era will have arrived.
Every time I see one in the air, I'm reminded that this is exactly what the boys in WWII saw, heard and felt, not just an old black and white photo.

Grossman56

[Ole-Timer]

I managed to find the old news footage from the crash of 909 in August 1987.
Dan Donatella, the airport manager, was also president of our local Rc club Zima Field, a pilot who owned a Yak-18, and later became a County Commissioner. He was one of the first people I contacted about starting a new Rc field at a County Park two years ago. There’s no substitute for knowing who to ally yourself with...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sTplxUQJDLA