Composite image from a bystander’s cell phone: Two halves of a B-17G ‘Texas Raiders’ rolling on the ground, … [+]
The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) is a leading collector, restorer and operator of vintage aircraft. For seven years, the organization has staged an air show over Dallas to showcase an impressive fleet of WWII fighters over Veterans Day weekend.
But the more than 4,000 attendees who attended the show’s second day event on Saturday at Dallas Executive Airport witnessed a horrifying tragedy. During a parade of bombers and fighter escorts, the pilot of a single-engine P-63 King Cobra fighter misturned and slammed his four-engine B-17G flying into the fuselage of his Fortress bomber. . texas raiderscompletely disconnect the rear fuselage from the wings and nose.
In a terrifying three seconds, the P-63 collapsed and the two halves of the B-17 crashed into the earth, exploding in a giant fireball.
The aircraft was too low to gain time or sufficient altitude for the crew to escape. When the B-17 exploded, in addition to the pilot who was flying the P-63, five of his or six of his people were on board his B-17, including the CAF’s Gulf Coast Wing crew. It was thought that
Debris rained down on strip malls and Texas Highway 67, causing fires and necessitating highway closures. So far, there have been no reports of injuries among ground spectators.
According to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board has taken over cleanup and investigation efforts with support from the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas Fire and Rescue Corps.
About the aircraft
The B-17 Flying Fortress is perhaps one of America’s most iconic military aircraft, serving in both the Pacific and European theaters of operations as a strategic bomber as well as a transport aircraft and a remote-controlled kamikaze drone. It is also suitable for use as a machine. The final (and most numerous) G model features a turret mounted under the chin of the aircraft. texas raiders It is one of five B-17Gs in flight condition, although six more are in flight condition, according to the CAF.
A USAF Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress named “Texas Raiders” took off in a cloud of black smoke … [+]
texas raiders [1945年7月に製造された最後のB-17の1つであり、1945年から1955年まで米海軍に配備され、爆弾倉にAN/APS-20レーダーを実験的に取り付けて、プログラムで初期の空中早期警戒レーダー技術をテストしました。キャデラックⅡといいます。
引退後、彼女は高高度写真マッピングのために民間企業に買収されました。 1967 年に CAF に買収され、CAF は 1974 年に古い爆撃機をガルフ コースト ウィングに移管しました。
USAF ボーイング B-17G フライング フォートレスは、1997 年のフライング ディスプレイで「テキサス レイダーズ」と名付けられました。 … [+]
The P-63 King Cobra was a greatly evolved version of the sophisticated but flawed P-39 Aero Cobra fighter, exported widely to Russia through Lend-Lease and used by the U.S. Army Air Corps early in the war. I was.
Camarillo, California, USA – August 19, 2017. World War II P-63 King Cobra fighter in 2017 … [+]
The P-39 gained a negative reputation with the USAAF, as the non-turbocharged engines performed poorly at high altitudes. As a result, his much-improved P-63 attracted little interest from the U.S. military, serving only as a red-painted ranger.
However, 2,400 P-63s were approved for combat use by the Soviet Air Force, who were big fans of the Aero Cobra. Lost in Dallas was one of his four P-63s known to remain in flightable condition. CAF’s Georgia-based “Dixie Wing” restored his P-63A-6 to flight-ready condition in 2017.
Updated at 8:40 PM ET with minor additional details and background on remaining P-63s in flight condition.
