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The Collings Foundation ‘s Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “Nine O Nine” (Photo Chris Kennedy (CC BY-NC 2.0))

The Collings Foundation’s Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “Nine O Nine” crashed this morning shortly before 10:00 AM at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut.

Available information on this tragic accident is incomplete and in many cases conflicting, but it appears at least two were killed. Several other were wounded, including one person on the ground. It is reported that 13 people were on board “Nine O Nine”: two pilots and a crewmember, as well as ten passengers.

It appears the aircraft ran into mechanical problems shortly after takeoff and that the accident happened as the pilots were landing the heavy bomber, which ended its run in buildings and was almost entirely destroyed by fire.

We’ll post more information when they become available.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the victims and their relatives.

Sources:

• NBC News
• CNN
• Air Force Times

Continue reading]]> https://www.facebook.com/EvergreenMuseum/videos/10155668775619701/

The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum has reported that the B-17G Flying Fortress “Shady Lady” (s/n 44-83785) recently ran its engines for the first time in 15 years. The bomber was acquired by the Collings Foundation in 2015 and should make its first flight soon. It will then be flown to the Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts, and will join the “Wings of Freedom Tour” where it will replace the B-17 “Nine-O’Nine”, giving the latter the opportunity to undergo a major inspection and likely receive a new livery in the process.

More on this topic from Aerodynamic Media.

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The B-17G “Shady Lady” at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. (Photo killbox (CC BY-NC 2.0))

The Collings Foundation has announced that it has acquired several warbirds from the collection of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum:

• Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “Shady Lady” (s/n 44-83785), which is technically airworthy and should fly again in 2017. The foundation already operates a B-17, and this new arrival will make it possible for the “Wings of Freedom Tour” to continue while one B-17 is under maintenance.
• A Lockheed P-38L Lightning which should fly in 2016 after some restoration work.
• A Messerschmitt Bf 109G-10, whose return to airworthiness is uncertain due to some technical problems. Regardless of this, restoration work will be carried on the aircraft.
• A Curtiss P-40K Warhawk, which will join the P-40 already owned by the foundation and will probably be returned to airworthiness.

More information on this topic can be found on the blog The Warbird Watcher.

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Photo Jim Culp (CC BY-NC 2.0).

The Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress “Boeing Bee” s/n 42-29782 is now back on display at the Seattle Museum of Flight after a 20-year long restoration. The bomber, which is considered as one of the most authentic survivors of its type, was last displayed by the SMF in 1999. A photo gallery can be found here. Sources: (1) and (2).

Continue reading]]> (Updated June 15th, 2011 @ 1:00 PM) The Liberty Foundation’s B-17 “Liberty Belle” force-landed and burned in a field southeast of Aurora Municipal Airport, IL, this morning. The seven on board were able to exit the aircraft with no serious injuries but the aircraft was heavily damaged by fire.

Shortly after take-off, the pilot reported fire on board and that he could not make it back to Aurora and was going to land in a field. Although the crew was able to carry a successful wheels-down landing, the fire could not be stopped and most of the fuselage was destroyed.

Thanks to Coert Munk, who has posted a link to a statement by the Liberty Foundation’s chief pilot Ray Fowler. The statement gives more precisions about what actually happened and is much more reliable than what can be found from other online sources.

Sources:

• Chicago Tribune
• WLS
• Courier News (many pictures of the crash and fire)
• ABC (video)

About “Liberty Belle”:

The B-17G (SN 44-85734) did not see combat in World War II, and was originally sold on June 25, 1947 as scrap to Esperado Mining Co. of Altus, OK; it was then sold again later that year for $2,700 to Pratt & Whitney, who operated the B-17 from November 19, 1947 to 1967 as a heavily modified test bed for their P&W T34 turboprop engine under the registration N5111N. Similar to registration numbers 44-85747 and 44-85813, it became a five-engined aircraft, having the prototype engine mounted on the nose. The aircraft was flown single-engine, with all four radial engines feathered during test flights. Following these flights, it was donated to the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Association, where a tornado on October 3, 1979 blew another aircraft onto the B-17’s mid-section, breaking the fuselage.

The B-17 was eventually purchased by aviation enthusiast Don Brooks, who formed the Liberty Foundation to exhibit the plane as the “Liberty Belle.” Restoration began in 1992 with parts from another damaged B-17 (44-85813), performed by Tom Reilly and company/Flying Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum (aka “Bombertown USA”), located at that time at Kissimmee Gateway field Kissimmee, Florida. She returned to the air on December 8, 2004, and had been touring the air show circuit since then. The Liberty Foundation also planned an historic overseas tour in July 2008 along the northern ferry route to England. (Wikipedia)