fgdadfd: B 17

Showing posts with label B 17. Show all posts

Monday, March 17, 2014

Margaret Bourke White was sent to cover the 8th Bomber Command in WW2, here are a couple of her photos

Photos found on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294284/WWII-color-Rare-photos-1942-Flying-Fortress-bombers-heroic-crews-The-Mighty-8th-Command.html

the Lonesome Polecat, was raised from a Swiss lake in 1952, put on display, and scraped in the 1970's because it hindered a building development

The plane sank largely intact to the bottom of the lake, where it stayed until 1952, when it was raised, restored and exhibited around the country. In 1966, it travelled to St Gallen, where a businessman planned to build a “bomber theme park”.

This never materialised, so in 1970 the plane went on display in St Moritz. But after a few years it was blocking a building development; since no buyer could be found, it was turned into scrap metal despite being of historical value.

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/warbirds-crashed-switzerland-wwii.html

what became of the 100s of B 17s, B 24s and other warbirds? Flown to Arkansas and Kingman Arizona and cut into pieces, then smelted and turned into aluminum ingots

Found on http://www.planesofthepast.com/b17-flying-fortress-scrapping-after-wwii.htm

Today, a total of only 39 surviving B-17 airframes are located in the United States.

Twelve B-17 are still airworthy today, two F models, and 10 B-17G models. Several are very well known, including "Memphis Belle".
An additional 18 B-17s are on static display around the United States, including "Virgin's Delight" located at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California, and "I'll Be Around" at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, both shown below.
In addition, 9 aircraft are undergoing restoration or are in storage.

this B 17 wreck was still there in New Guinea as of 2008

known as the Gray Ghost, or the Black Cat Pass B17... full information here: http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-17/41-9234.html

Friday, March 14, 2014

I have just learned of the "Swamp Ghost" a B 17 that crashed into a New Guinea swamp in 1942

Force landed in 1942 in a remote region of Papua New Guinea sat undisturbed, partially submerged in a swamp for 30 years when it was rediscovered by Australian soldiers.

The plane was found to be untouched since its abandonment, right down to it’s loaded machine guns. It was then that those soldiers christened the plane “Swamp Ghost”.

It took nearly another 40 years to get the plane retrieved from that swamp and back to the United States, with many false starts and legal wrangling with the government of Papua New Guinea, but in 2010 the final hurdles were cleared to bring the “Swamp Ghost” home.

The Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor acquired the aircraft, which was shipped in pieces from California, arriving its new home at the museum in Hawaii April 2013. The museum intends to restore the plane, but as it is anticipating a restoration cost to be around 5 million dollars, it will take some time to raise the needed funds. In the meantime, they are planning to set the plane in a display that will replicate the swamp in which it had lain for all those years. http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/boeing-b-17e-flying-fortress-arrives-pacific-aviation-museum-pearl-harbor.html

On Feb. 23, 1942, a B-17E Flying Fortress bomber crashed in one of the most remote and wild places on Earth: the primitive Agaimbo swamp located on the island of Papua New Guinea. The plane, piloted by young U.S. Army Air Corps Capt. Fred Eaton, had flown a long, dangerous mission from Australia against the Japanese Fortress at Rabaul in New Britain. This was the first long-range Allied bombing mission of World War II following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor that included the U.S. The crew survived their ordeal and, after a six week trek to safety, returned to combat. Their B-17E, however, remained forgotten in the swamp until it was rediscovered in 1972 by an Australian Air Force crew.

n the mid-1980s, the late World War II pilot, restaurant industry pioneer and antique aircraft collector David Tallichet initiated efforts to recover and return the plane to U.S. soil. His dream was fulfilled in 2010 through the joint efforts of his family and aircraft salvage enthusiast Alfred Hagen.

Nicknamed Swamp Ghost, the B-17E has become an icon of military aviation. In tribute to its intact state, romantic isolation and the extreme challenges involved in its salvage, it is known among historians as military aviation’s Holy Grail.

Prior to its salvage, Swamp Ghost was considered the best-preserved unrecovered B-17E in the world. With its return to the Port of Long Beach, Swamp Ghost completed its final mission 68 years after take-off. Only four aircraft models of its type have ever been recovered. The aircraft will be restored, possibly to flying condition, for display at an aviation museum as a symbol of America’s military aviation heritage.

found on http://www.warhistoryonline.com/whotube-2/tube-b-17-swamp-ghost-hd-trailer.html

if you want to see what media has covered the story, magazines and such : http://www.theswampghost.com/

The gas station B 17 of Art Lacey, near Portland Oregon is getting restored to fly again... it's going to take about 7 years

full post of how a B 17 came from WW2 surplus to be a gas station tourist draw at http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-love-b-17-bomber-story-here-is-good.html

For info about its restoration: http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/bullet-news/b-17-lacey-lady-update.html

in the 1990's the fuselage was removed and restored, and that was all the funding they had put together.

So, in 2012 someone got fed up with the lack of interest and lack of give a damn, and fired up the troops, and pulled the engines down for a rebuild

The engines are so flippin rare... and these are the rarest of them all... unless you know of a quartet still in the crates. These ones are only 37 hours of run time used. The lowest run time 1820-97s that exist.

In the summer of 2013 they sent the cockpit roof and tail turret to a master craftsman repairman in Atlanta

In the fall of 2013 the pulled the rudder and elevators.

Individuals, groups, or organizations interested in providing sponsorship for the B-17 Alliance Group project please contact:
AllianceMuseum@B17AllianceGroup.org

A lot of people have asked why don’t you just get a crane and bring it down? It is not quite that simple. We have done our homework. Besides hiring a crane company, there is the 2 months of security fence rental so that once the airplane is down people don’t just show up in the middle of the night armed with a battery powered sawzall and help themselves to a piece of the plane as a souvenir. Then you have equipment rental. Transport costs, etc. Add it all up and it gets expensive fast. We are currently launching a fundraising campaign in order to cover these costs so that we may not only get the Lacey Lady out of the elements before there is nothing left to save, but to also continue the restoration.

Once inside she will not just be tucked away and forgotten about. The bomb bay and radio room will join the cockpit in the jig. The rear fuselage will be also placed in a jig. Once placed in the jigs, the work will continue. Even though we are picking up momentum, it is still going to take 5-7 yrs to complete this restoration. One thing we have going for us is that our airplane has not been crushed or burned, but with the corrosion and missing components from theft and vandals, we have our work cut out for us. But we believe this is a very doable restoration. All the work that has been done so far has been done to airworthy condition. When we are finished with the restoration we plan to fly her as a tribute to the men and women who served in WW2.”

info from http://www.warbirdsnews.com/category/warbird-restorations/b-17g-lacey-lady

A museum is gathering as many B 17 parts as they can to build a B17... from scraps!

Champaign Aviation Museum of Ohio volunteers are piecing together various plane parts to bring back to life a vintage aircraft from the World War II era. A piece was found under the porch of an elderly woman in the next town. Another part was bought from a bar owner who had it hanging in Colorado. Another piece was used as a prop in a TV show way back 1960. The tail section was from a wreck site in Alaska.

The dozens of volunteers are piecing together the parts like a jigsaw puzzle at a small Ohio museum. Once the project is complete, a new and airworthy model of one of the world’s most famous military planes, the World War II bomber B-17.

The volunteers are working on a vintage plane based on a collection of 28,000 original Boeing Co. blueprints which the Smithsonian Institution provided generously. And they are making history.

a teacher at a local vocational school on aviation asks his students to help in the building of the Flying Fortress. The incomplete plane can be viewed by visitors when the museum is open.

The first five pieces were from five different sources. The other parts needed and cannot be found or restored had to be made from scratch. Randy Kemp, 56 years old, serves as the project manager who oversees the fabrication of new pieces. He also takes charge of around 100 volunteers who come and go. Some even come from as far as England to volunteer for the ambitious project.

Shiffer further said that the project will cost millions. Donations and fundraisers have contributed to the completion of the plane. The museum also plans to hold a benefit dinner in April at the museum. Amanda Wright Lane, a great grandniece of Orville and Wilbur Wright will be expected to appear in the dinner to give a talk.

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/ohio-museum-volunteers-building-vintage-wwii-plane.html