Warbird Information Exchange

April 22, 2021 – As part of a routine preflight inspection of the B-17 Aluminum Overcast in Florida last week, our tour teams discovered a fitting inside the wing that showed signs of fatigue. Following safety protocols, the airplane was grounded for a full inspection that determined that replacing the part was necessary. The on-site tour teams did an outstanding job of finding and correctly assessing the situation with safety as the first priority.

Because of that, EAA's B-17 national tour is on hiatus for the time being. The airplane will remain in Florida at this time until a repair schedule is finalized. We do not currently have a final timeline for those repairs, but will keep everyone updated as additional information becomes available via the B17.org website and other channels.

Refunds are being made available for all pre-booked passengers for tour stops and for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh flights. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate the outpouring of support for EAA and our aircraft tour operations.


https://www.eaa.org/eaa/news-and-public ... our-update

I hope this is able to be rectified sooner than later. On Facebook, someone said it was a spar failure. I wonder what part exactly has failed.

That is interesting that a fitting inside the wing showing signs of fatigue was discovered during routine preflight inspection. I wish the crew all the best in getting this rectified. I know some people in our chapter will be bummed as they go on the tour every year. It also sounds like it will not be flying for AirVenture.

Safety first. Good call. Glad they found it.

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

Just shows someone is doing thorough inspections......

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Mike in Florida
TSgt USAF Retired
Jan 86 - Sept 08
Aircrew Life Support
"Your Life Is Our Business"
(122X0, 1T1X1, 1P0X1)
NRA Life Member

An observant crewman spotted that the wing root fairing was working so they pulled it and looked inside and found the problem. Not the picture you want to see but thank goodness it was spotted.

Any insight on the problem itself?

What actually failed?

I was told the rear spar was cracked or fractured.
Whether or not that's accurate I'll leave to the experts!

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Don't touch my junk!!

This is the Internet, where everyone is an expert! Good Luck!

Any more/newer information?
I'm surprise the EAA has not issued a media release on the issue.
This is a case where some inform might stop the spread of misinformation and let the organization get a hold of the topic.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

The EAA did release a statement. The synopsis is that during a routine inspection, evidence of some unusual movement was spotted. Detailed examination indicated wear in a location that there should not be any. Until a more detailed inspection had been completed and evaluation of what needed to be fixed, the rest of this year’s schedule had been cancelled or put on hold. Further information would be posted on the B-17 page when it was available.

Hhmm, somebody is too lazy to look up info on the internet....

https://www.eaa.org/eaa/news-and-public ... our-update

Stay classy my friend...

I was really asking if any of the self proclaimed WIX brain trust knew more than the initial EAA statement....which is hardly the epitome of candor.
It is the equivalent of the "Release in one hour" news release required by Air Force regulations following a crash. With that kind of time restraint they never say anything more than something happened.

I don't expect the EAA to announce the spar was cracked and tragedy was narrowly averted, but given the time between the event and my query, I thought perhaps WIXers had some official technical information on the damage.

Happy?

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

John: I’m not a B-17 guy, so this is based on supposition and having lots of time working on warbirds. I suspect that what was seen indicates enough of a structural problem, that the powers to be, are consulting with other B-17 operators before diving too deep into this. It could be a case that is going to require a wing pull to repair. If so, then the evaluation has to be made to do 1 of three things... Bring in the equipment and people to do the repair onsight, determine the safety of a single flight to either a known location with the capability of making the repair, or lastly, disassemble and truck her home and go thru the airframe there.

I would expect more info to be forth coming by mid May, as to what was found and the general plan to deal with it.

The EAA will be forthcoming with more information in the future. It is their business at the moment and not mine to say exactly what it is and I will leave it at that.