| The
2002 and 2003 Seasons
Over the winter of 2001/2002, I
changed the fixed landing gear for a pneumatic system. This got a test at
the Withernsea fly-in in May 2002, with a single flight in 20 mph winds.
The picture below left shows the B-17 about to take off on this flight.
Two more flights were made at North Weald airfield in June and then four
more at RAF Cosford in July. |
|
|
|
|
|
Some video from the 2002 Season. |
| 2002
was a busy season for the Team. After the show at RAF Cosford, there were
shows at Duxford, Rufforth, Boxted and RAF Halton, which added another
eleven flights, bringing the total to thirty one. The two pictures below
are from Boxted, the former 56th Fighter Group base. |
|
|
|
| 2003 |
|
| 2003
began in May at Withernsea again, with just one flight in 25 mph winds.
Later in May, another flight was made at Glenrothes in Scotland, again in
a 20 mph cross wind. At the end of May seven flights were made across the
three days of the Longhorsley show.
Two flights were made at the
493rd BG show at Debach airfield, the second being anything but dull.
There was a slight cross wind, and part way down the take off roll, the
aircraft started to swing to the right. Because the wind was from the
right, I assumed it was the cross wind catching the top of the fin as it
was above the height ov the crops. It wasn't until the aircraft left the
ground that the number three propeller was seen stationary, silouetted
against the sky. |
|
|
The
B-17 was now down by 1/3 of its power, and quickly rolling and yawing to
the right. Full left rudder and full left aileron still didn't halt the
roll and yaw, so the only other option was for Pete to reduce the power on
the left outboard engine. This helped the roll and yaw, but the reduction
in power didn't help the climb and airspeed. I needed to turn towards the
dead engine, away from the public, but also climb over power lines and a
wood.
With only the elevator and left inner throttle in my control, a slow climb to the right was made, fighting for airspeed, just above the stall. Eventually, Pete and I managed 180 degrees of turn and were on the down wind leg of the circuit, with about 150 feet of altitude and engine power adjusted to give a more stable flight, though I was still holding full left rudder and about half left aileron. Another wide right turn was made, slowly descending towards the runway. As the turn was made, power was reduced on the inner engine and the two outer engines were brought to the same power level. Once the B-17 was straight, on the final approach, the inner engine was brought to idle, and the last part of the descent and flare was made on the outer engines. The final approach and landing was smooth and perfectly normal, though both Pete and myself were both exhausted from the mental effort of keeping the B-17 in the air. The cause was a short in the spark plug cap of the number three engine. The picture to the left shows the B-17 on the first flight, banking over the wartime control tower. Debach was both a B-17 and B-24 base during the war. |
This picture was taken during
the take off run on the second flight. It shows the yaw right, full left
rudder and the stationary number three propeller can also just be seen. |
The B-17, B-24, P-51, A-35 and
two P-47's on display at Debach airfield. A string of bomb symbols can be
seen on the B-17, each for an actual flight. |
| The
Cosford show marked the Century of Flight with a rolling display of models
from the Edwardian era to present day. My B-17 ended up flying with
another B-17, built from the 'Memphis Belle' film moulds. The end of the
show saw a mass formation of multi-engined aircraft. This was so chaotic
on the first day, that I didn't take part on the second day of the show. |
|
|
|
Above - Some of the multi-engined aircraft in the mass formation. See here is a Wellington, my B-17, John's B-24, a B-29, another B-17 and two further Wellingtons. Left - My B-17 on final approach at Cosford while a 91st BG B-17 passes overhead. |
| Three
more flights were made at Rufforth in mid August, followed by two test
flights at Longhorsley following modification to the tail wheel steering
lock. At the end of August, one more flight was made at Boxted with a 15
mph cross wind. This wasn't ideal due to a 20 feet tall hedge along the
side of the runway. |
|
Rufforth |
Boxted |
Boxted Airfield open day |
|
