B-17 belly landing question

[John Dupre]

What I remember from reading about 12 O'clock High is that Mantz was well into the crash scene and "something" prompted him to hit the brakes and steer away from the center of the affected tent which he would have hit dead on otherwise. The tent pole was replaced from its original hard wood type to a balsa or bass wood which broke due to wind action. Someone then replaced it with a steel pipe.

[Second Air Force]

For those who might wonder why the tires on the Fortress don't rotate while in flight, here is the spin-brake in the right wheel well:


It's the little rectangular appendage mounted to the gear truss and just lays against the tire while retracted, preventing the airstream from causing tire rotation.

S

[Matt Gunsch]

For those who might wonder why the tires on the Fortress don't rotate while in flight, here is the spin-brake in the right wheel well:


It's the little rectangular appendage mounted to the gear truss and just lays against the tire while retracted, preventing the airstream from causing tire rotation.

S

It slows it down, but does not stop it. I was flying formation on Sentimental journey and both mains were very slowly turning in the wells