Lady Liberty B-17

[maxim]

I suppose you guys that are in more populated parts see these things all the time at air shows and such. Well it is very unusual for a B-17 to land in northern Michigan. The airport had a new terminal built and this B-17 " Lady Liberty" was flown in for the grand opening. It was magnificant. The wind was blowing about 25 mph and as she turned to make the approach it was if she just sat there in the air fighting the wind. And to my ammazement the camera caught the props stopped in time. We cheered and clapped and it just gave ya goose bumps. Of course in my sick MV mind I am caculating fuel consumption, oil changes, brake inspection, bearing re-packs. and a million things it must take to keep the thing flying. Good old Yankee engineering.

 

[DDoyle]

COOL shot!

 

[builder77]

Very nice. I love planes. I just wish it was not so expensive.

Seeing old war birds like this reminds me that we are letting our government scrap tomorrows historical planes and vehicles.

 

[ida34]

She flies over my house all the time. I am in the pattern they fly when they give flights and they fly over when going to other air shows. I will be outside and hear those radials and I always have to stop and look. The sound is unmistakable.

 

[5tonpuller]

Watched a C130 take off to night. the was loading it for 2 days. Slow as he** in the air taking off. What a sound.

 

[wreckerman893]

Me and my son flew in one a couple of years ago. It was the one that belongs to the Collins foundation.
Best moneyI ever spent.
One of our fellow passengers was a WWII vet that had been a waist gunner on one.
He had not been in an airplane since then.
He son and grandson flew with him. The son told me that he had only recently begun to talk about his wartime experiences. Up until then he had no idea what his dad had done.
We are losing 1500 to 2000 WWII vets a day.

 

[Recovry4x4]

How many 17s are still flying? This Lady liberty and the one Wreckerman pointed out owned by the Collings Foundation. Can't be too many more in the air.

 

[DDoyle]

I was at Thunder Over Michigan (huge air show in Detroit) a couple of years ago and their were 8 B-17s there - and I think that there was one other flying example in this country.

Hope this helps,
David

 

[NB1944]

I became a vehicle guy becuase I didn't think that there was any way I could ever afford a plane (even if I could, av gas is now more than $6/gal and this would be expensive!). I always wanted to fly, so I got my pilot's license a few years ago. I have been a historian, re-eactor, and collector for the past 25 yrs. There are less than 12 B-17s that are still airworthy - if you saw 8 at the same time, you were truly blessed.

To answer the Q posed by the 'vehicle guy', the B-17 has a 4" main fuel line. It has 4 9-cylinder engines that consume 1750 gal of av gas in a single trip and each engine will use approx 8 gal of oil. Given that each engine requires two spark plugs/cylinder, and plugs need to be replaced every 20-40 hrs, that's a lot of maintenance and cost to maintain these airplanes. Restoring a B-17 is typically a $5-10 million proposition, not to mention the storage and upkeep.. Hope you have a BIG pocketbook! Kind of puts us MV types to shame, doesn't it?

NB

 

[FMJ]

My favorite WWII Bomber.......Would love to fly in one.
I built that Monogram Model 1/48th scale kit a few times.....

 

[JohnnyReb]

I am very glad someone goes to the trouble and expense of preserving the old birds. My hat is off to 'em.

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

There is Liberty Belle, the Memphis Belle, Aluminum Overcast, Boeing Bee (museum piece and not flying), and a few more.

http://www.johnweeks.com/b17active/index.html

 

[vtdeucedriver]

Ditto on the expenses of these airplanes. When ever you see one on tour..............stop and say hi, buy a T-shirt and donate the change!

 

[vtdeucedriver]

We manage to keep ours going but its getting to be a struggle but we get by.

 

[Capt.Marion]

They are my favorite at all the Air Shows. I've got a good picture I took where the props are stopped stone cold. I think that B17 in my picture was from Texas somewhere.

 

[andyindy]

B 17

My late Uncle Roy logged 1600+ combat hours in a17 as a pilot. He never talked much about it at all, maybe 3 or 4 times.A modest unassuming man, one of many unsung true American heroes,God bless them all!!!!!

 

[OB]

RE: B 17

i saw fuddy duddy in conn. prob 12 years ago at an airshow....awesome sight. My uncle was shot down on his last mission, he was a ball turrett gunner( underneath the plane) I would love to see that B29 the confederate airforce runs

 

[mutt_kahuna]

B-17 flights

My best friend and I took a ride on the Liberty Belle at the 2007 Reno air races..it was beyond description..if any one of the B-17's is near you giving rides..take it!..as these planes become more expensive to keep in the air..here's some short videos I took of my ride....first: climb out,looking thru waist gunners window http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/transam_kahuna/?action=view&current=MVI_0462.flv
and this one in the bombardiers compartment,with the famous norden bomb sight in front of me http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/transam_kahuna/?action=view&current=MVI_0465.flv
and this one is of me looking OUT of the radio operators hatch towards the tail..VERY WINDY!! http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/transam_kahuna/?action=view&current=MVI_0464.flv

 

[CdnH1]

Great pics and videos.

We used to have an airshow up here in central BC, Canada and we had B-17 Texas Raiders here. The following year we had B-17 Sentimental Journey. Sentitimental Journey was accompanied by a He111. I will try to find some photos. These aircraft were here in the mid 90's. Unfortunately we no longer have an airshow here.

 

[NB1944]

FMJ
If you will be in the Denver area June 4-9, the B-17 'Aluminum Overcast' will be here selling rides. It's well worth the trip!
CdH1
Several years ago, I was able to fly in a C-45 that flew in formation with the B-17 & the HE111. It was amazing! Sadly, the He111 crashed a few years ago and is no longer. I was fortunate enough to see the B-17 and the He111 at their home base in Chandler, AZ and received a personal tour through both a/c. Very nice! It's too bad the He was destroyed. To my knowledge, there is no other here in the states.