Flying Fortress lost

[maple_leaf_eh]

I slithered through a B17 about 20yrs ago in Geneseo, NY. I found it was cramped. The bomb racks for instance were rudimentary with some vertical slider racks on each side of a catwalk. The cockpit was very simple. It did what it was designed to do. The airmanship to get a burning plane down on its wheels and all aboard walk off is noteworthy. Let me be the first here to say, they don't make them like they used to.

[Keith Webb]

Yes I went through the one at Duxford and the bomb bay is indeed cramped, as are a lot of the bombers of the era.

Here's some more insight from a friend who is a warbird restorer and pilot.

It may have been a fuel or oil system leak in the back of the engine which started the fire. From the pictures you can see that the inboard left hand propeller is feathered, so they must have shut that one down, but couldn’t extinguish the fire. Once it got hold of the fuel tank there wouldn’t have been any stopping it. The close-up of the rear fuselage is so tragic, showing the devastation of fire with aluminium, leaving only the control and trim cables connecting fore with aft. Yes I noticed too the wheel marks as seen from the air. Looked like soft ground with the vehicle making similar tracks. The tailwheel just tracked off line for the last part of the roll.

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

I slithered through a B17 about 20yrs ago in Geneseo, NY. I found it was cramped. The bomb racks for instance were rudimentary with some vertical slider racks on each side of a catwalk. The cockpit was very simple. It did what it was designed to do. The airmanship to get a burning plane down on its wheels and all aboard walk off is noteworthy. Let me be the first here to say, they don't make them like they used to.