Vintage World War II Plane Crashes Outside Chicago (B-17)

WKRC ^ | 6/13/2011 | WKRC

[TSgt]

A WWII bomber plane crashed and caught fire near Chicago Monday morning. No one was injured.

Seven people were onboard the plane. Officials say they all walked away from the crash.

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was at airport in Oswego, Illinois, to mark the 67th anniversary of D-Day. The bomber was grounded over the weekend due to mechanical problems and took off from Sugar Grove Airport at 9:30 a.m. The Daily Herald profiled the plane and D-Day event over the weekend.

The restored B-17, called "Liberty Belle," is owned by Liberty Foundation. The plane was at Lunken Airport on June 19, 2010 where the public was invited to fly on it for a fee of $430.

[Squantos]

Worked for an old colonel who was an enlisted waist gunner in one when I first went into the AF. He said he an his other gunners may have shot up more of their own planes than the enemies....

We need to take time for these men who did the impossible with very little. Listen if they will share their history.

We owe such time an respect to each generation of veterans IMO.

Stay safe !

[cicero2k]

Also, we must never forget that the main reason for the constant bombing of Germany from 43-44 was to destroy the Luftwaffe. The D-Day invasion could not have succeeded ( or at best been much more costly) without total air supremacy over the invasion beaches.

If I recall the history, the Luftwaffe was not neutralized until the introduction of the P-51 fighter in large numbers. At that point the ME-109s and FW-190s dwindled allowing for D-Day.

The bombing raids did not significantly reduce Germany's ability to wage war. Fighting on the ground did. Some German aces had 20+ (of our) bomber kills.

[tanknetter]

If I recall the history, the Luftwaffe was not neutralized until the introduction of the P-51 fighter in large numbers. At that point the ME-109s and FW-190s dwindled allowing for D-Day.

The P-51 was part of the equation. Having a fighter that could both go toe-to-toe with the -109s and -190s AND escort the bombers all the way in and all the way out allowed the 8th AF to use the bombers as bait.

Luftwaffe taking the bait resulted in them being attritted by the P-51s to the point of ineffectiveness. Also resulted in a LOT of Luftwaffe airpower being redeployed out of France/Belgium/etc to protection of the Fatherland.

[Article10]

yes it is sad, but there are about 30+ project B-17’s available between a candadian and us locations. Not as rare as say a Martin B-26 or a P-61.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Are any replicas in the cards?

[Emperor Palpatine]

Iwo was also used to base P-51 escort fighters in LeMay’s B-29 bombing campaign against Japan.

[hattend]

BTTT

[hattend]

BTTT

[Article10]

No need to still many projects available. Duffy aircraft salvage in Colorado had about 12-14 complete projects a few years ago. Mostly Douglas or Lockheed built.

[Article10]

No need to still many projects available. Duffy aircraft salvage in Colorado had about 12-14 complete projects a few years ago. Mostly Douglas or Lockheed built.

[onedoug]

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. This is a tragic loss. There are not many left.

[pabianice]

Pic shows engines intact. What caught fire?

[liberalh8ter]

My Dad always told me the same thing. He was a waist gunner flying out from a base in England. He spent many hours telling me all about his experiences, showing me his photographs and educating me on WWII. Once, I took him to the local airport to see a 17 that was there on display. After waiting on line for a while, it was our turn to get up inside and it was as though my Dad had been transported back in time. You could see by the ease of his climb that he was repeating a move that had become second nature to him. Once inside, he started to describe how cold the plane was inside during their flights and how scary walking the narrow catwalk could be. I tend to forget that these soldiers were barely men! He
walked to the midsection and took his place in front of the disabled machine gun and began describing how in the beginning, many gunners shot their own wings. It was at that moment I realized that everyone on the plane with us had stopped moving and was completely absorbed by what he was saying. They began asking him questions and he began answering them; happily and proudly.

I will never forget that day and I am so grateful it happened. He died later that year and I am now the proud keeper of all of his photographs,
keepsakes and medals. Whenever I hear the liberal revisionist version of WWII history, I’m glad my Dad isn’t there hearing it. What an insult it is to the brave men (and women) from that era.

[Squantos]

God Bless your Dad an the generations of his profession.

Thank you for sharing that story with us.

Awesome.

[ColdOne]

How sad. Huge part of history. Glad they all walked away.

[rlmorel]

My favorite all time movie.

[liberalh8ter]

It was my pleasure. Thank you for reminding me of it!

[Texas Deb]

Serenade to the Big Bird - Bert Stiles
Classic tribute to the B17
Excellent book

Such a sad loss of a beautiful plane.

My uncle was a left waist gunner on a B17 who died in the war.

I flew on the lovely lady with his silver wings - one last time, they took flight.

I wept today when I saw her in flames. But I am so thankful her wonderful crew survived.

[Rappini]

Good for the folks on board sad for Liberty Bell. Thanks for the pics in the posts all keepers.