The most unluckiest B-17 in the world [;-)]

F3V · **Posted:** Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:50 pm

December 1947: engine failure on fery flight to France (engine changed at Villacoublay)
17th October 1949: ground loop at Elizabethville (Congo)
22nd August 1956: bursted tyre on take of at Rabat (Morroco)
22nd August 1956: ground loop on landing at Creil (France)
6th November 1962: at central Africa hit on take of a nest of white ant I am
9 engines failure with IGN (more than 100 engines failure for all of IGN fortresses!)
1 propreller lost in flight

I am.....

Do you know me?.....

I am Lone star Flight Museum Thunderbird!!!

Some photos here: http://www.b-17-flying-fortress.fr/apres/F-BEEC.html
(english text coming soon)

Elroy13 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:38 pm

I know her ALRIGHT!!!

Now I wouldnt say she's unlucky!! That baby has got me there and back more times than I can count!!!

Looking at the link...the second picture has the life raft hatch open as they are coming in for landing!

Thanks for posting the link!

SaxMan · **Posted:** Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:38 pm

Considering that she is one of about 13 Fortresses still flying, that makes her luckier than 99.9% of all the Flying Fortresses ever produced.

The truly unlucky ones were the B-17s that managed to survive the mass scrappings after World War II, only to either be scrapped later by people with a lack of foresight, or to be destroyed in a crash.

RMAllnutt · **Posted:** Fri Jan 11, 2008 12:21 am

Unluckiest might not exactly describe it.... as the luck hasn't run out yet. As for the luckiest... my hat goes off to the Collings Foundations "909". She survived a nuclear blast, and going over a cliff into a steep gulley on another occasion! I seem to remember she had a gear collapse as well as colliding with something on the ground. Now that's bad luck (or good, considering she's still flying!). Thanks for the link though. We owe the IGN a lot!

Cheers,
Richard

F3V · **Posted:** Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:48 am

I often pointed out, that in USA he often tells himself that IGN salvaged his B-17, in fact, look at the technical textbook, it is explained the long terme storage....

and of course when I say that Tunderbird was the most unluchiest B-17 of french IGN I Laught of course.

IGN has never found a better plane in the world for this job, they wanted to keep a maximum of B-17 in service as longer as possible but there were not spare parts anymore then they have of withdraw of use some B-17 to keep it fly from other one. Definitely on other B-17 crashes in mission, alas, by making deaths, other one ages more quickly and cannot fly any more.

Crews always said to me that they have never liked again other one planes than B-17, besides when a pilot was sent to mission on another plane he was not happy... Finally, B-17 was replaced with sattelite "SPOT"!!! if it would have had spare parts, me there think that today can be in service because really they have never found better.

with the experience I even pointed out that B-17 of IGN was more dependable than those used as tanker...

some links to help you...

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby: http://www.b-17-flying-fortress.fr/apres/shoo.html
The Pink Lady: http://www.b-17-flying-fortress.fr/apres/Pink.html
Le bourget air museum B-17: http://www.b-17-flying-fortress.fr/apres/F-BGSO.html
My favorite F-BEEA (crashed during filming of Memphis Belle 1989): http://www.b-17-flying-fortress.fr/apres/F-BEEA.html
Thunderbird: http://www.b-17-flying-fortress.fr/apres/F-BEEC.html
Sally B (more pics coming soon this afternoon for me this morning for you) http://www.b-17-flying-fortress.fr/apres/F-BGSR.html
Duxford Air Museum: http://www.b-17-flying-fortress.fr/apres/F-BDRS.html

Some records:
F-BEEA: more than 10.000 hour of flying with IGN!
F-BGSP (Pink Lady): more then 10.000 hours of Flying with IGN!
F-BEEC (Thunderbird): more than 7400 hours of flying with IGN!
F-BGSO (le bourget air museum) 6534 hours of flying with IGN!
for all of IGN's Fortresses: 52884 hours of flying...

F-BEEA and Thunderbird were bought with 10 hours of theft in 1947, they had to serve only four years...

In translate my Website as soon as possible...

All the best

Cédric

mrhenniger · **Posted:** Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:18 am

The unlucky ones, many of them, went down with 10 men on board.

Mike

Steve S · **Posted:** Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:54 pm

I second Elroy's commetns. I have seen her be a little stubborn at times, but she has alway come through.

Much of that credit goes to the late Joe Prokov who spent a long time taking her apart and rebuilding her after she came back across the big pond, as well as the current LSFM staff and volunteers who keep her flying.
I know that there will always be a part of Joe in that airplane and every time she is flown he is rembered...

It just goes to show that even when they are running regulalrly there is a lot of work that goes into keeping them airborne

KEEP EM FLYING

Steve S

Steve S · **Posted:** Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:56 pm

I second Elroy's comments. I have seen her be a little stubborn at times, but she has alway come through and gotten me there and back safely.

Much of that credit goes to the late Joe Prokov who spent a long time taking her apart and rebuilding her to the highest standards after she came back across the big pond, as well as the current LSFM staff and volunteers who keep her flying.
I know that there will always be a part of Joe in that airplane and every time she is flown he is rembered...

It just goes to show that even when they are running regulalrly there is a lot of work that goes into keeping them airborne

KEEP EM FLYING

Steve S

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