Warbird Information Exchange

I just picked this up from the wire ~ thankfully it wasn't a bigger story ...

http://www.click2houston.com/news/10155072/detail.html

HOUSTON -- A B-17 Flying Fortress landed safely after having trouble with its landing gear Wednesday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

Officials said the problems began at about 10 a.m. when the landing gear would not go down and lock into place.

The plane circled Ellington Field while the crew manually cranked the gear down

The eight to 10 passengers on board the plane were not injured.

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Checking the tour schedules ~ the airplane would seem to be the EAA's Aluminium Overcast ~ she was scheduled to be in Houston on the 25th

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Blue Skies .....

Peter

Consolidated by US state ~ see if there's a heavy bomber tour stop coming to an airport near you ...... http://www.bomberflight.info

Warbirdapps on facebook ~ every day a new image from my personal journey thru the world of warbirds ..... https://www.facebook.com/Warbirdapps

WOW!

That must have worried those guys!

From B17.org

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EAA is offering historic flight experiences in its beautifully restored B-17G Flying Fortress “Aluminum Overcast

“Keep It Flying”
Theme of 2006 Tour

Oct 24-25 – Houston, TX
Ellington Field Airport

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"Hindsight is usually 20% off!"

I heard one of the riders say that the event just added more bang for the buck on his ride. Oh well, i guess ignorance is bliss.

Cranking the gear down on a B-17 is not that big of a deal not withstanding all the Hollywood hype about it. You just crank the wheel 132 times IIRC for each main and it is down and locked. What most people don't know is that the gear on a B-17 is not hydraulic but electric.
Part of the one wheel pass on TR was to raise the gear then crank one back down for the illusiion of battle damage. Heck let the paying passengers take a turn on the crank and have them pay more for the experience. Now if the bomb bay doors are stuck open then that would be a diffferent story it would get allfully windy and scary standing back there cranking.

269 turns per wheel.

Many, many moons ago, I had the pleasure of rideing in Texas Raiders during an airshow in New Iberia LA with JK West, & we did the one wheel pass routine. Was a lot of fun. I earned my ticket by doing some cranking.
Robbie

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Fly Fast Make Noise!

This is the same story, right?

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9376

Yes, it is. Happy to hear she came down alright and everyone is safe.

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"Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, there you long to return."

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

I probably hold the world record for cranking up the right main gear on B-17's.When I was co-pilot on Tanker 65 (N237V) in the mid-70's,we had a recurring problem with the squat switch on the right gear.On at least this airplane,there were squat switches on both main gear.The one on the left prevented any of the gear from retracting if it thought that there was weight on the gear.The right one only prevented the right gear from retracting.

To make a long story a little shorter,I ended up cranking that right gear up a total of 10 times on Tanker 65,including 3 times in one day.That was the day that I realized why a B-17 was supposed to have a 10 man crew.Its a real killer cranking the gear handle with the mechanism in the cockpit.They were designed to be mounted in the bomb bay,but the retardant tank prevented that.It was very awkward cranking from the cockpit as the crank handle only cleared the floor by a few inches.

In 1983,when I briefly flew Evergreen's Tanker 22 (N207EV),I coincidentally had to crank up the right main once after my co-pilot about passed out on the floor after getting it half-way retracted.That time it was due to some of the retraction mechanism being rattled around a bit too much from an out of balance tire.

At any rate,its a young man's game cranking the gear up.I imagine that cranking it down might be a little easier?

In "Tora Tora Tora", is the scene where the crewman tries to crank down the gear accurate (i.e. the hand crank itself and the position of the socket)?

Come to think of it, what became of that B-17 fuselage they used? It should be easy to identify with those extra panes in the windscreen...

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

WOW Robbie, JK West, a name from the past !

Rick, that was long ago & far away. I am trying to remember who was flying with JK, I think it was Van Skyles. That was my 1st B-17 ride & what a ride it was!
Robbie

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Fly Fast Make Noise!