If a radial engine doesn't have an oil leak it will manufacture its' own leak. Some museum aircraft that had their engines drained years ago still have oil catch pans under them.

They should leave the warbird flying to the CAF

I think they're about to be sucked dry of funds due to a wrongful death lawsuit. That sucks as last I was tracking they had an airworthy F-4 and F-100.

It’s better without the stupid photoshop.

Damnit.. Why do you have to ruin my fun.

I apologize posting the photo of such an abomination unto the Lord and appreciate you exorcising it with the Allison powered concept.

There is no such thing as "common engine failure".  It was poor maintenance per the report, ignored by the pilot. Human error. That's why more than one person needs to make the call. Leaving everything in the hands of one man is foolhardy.

The youngest B-52 I ever flew was built in 1961.  The oldest was built less than 10 years after the end of WWII.

Tag

Close - see Above. The H’s are the only ones flying.

There are still plenty of 1957 KC-135s in service.

You're not a pilot, are you. There are common engine failures. Especially if you're flying radials. The most common is caused by fuel starvation. Another common one is pilot induced by securing the wrong engine after an in-flight failure. Regardless of what causes the failure, when the motor stops producing power the securing procedure for all piston aircraft is pretty much the same. Identify, verify, feather.

Here's where we get into the real cause of the crash and where your statement is approaching accuracy. It was human error. But not just with the mechanics side of this, the piloting mistakes is what killed them when the pilot flying didn't identify, verify, feather correctly. It might've been questionable maintenance that led to engine #4 failing. But that alone shouldn't cause a crash. An engine failure is an easily survivable event. I've had 2 myself. @Samuse has had multiple in radial aircraft, as have others here. We're alive because we followed the memory items for in flight engine failure.

What you initially said that kicked this conversation off was, "Being the most experienced doesn't mean shit when nobody else can check your ego/integrity/processes.  No oversight means one person." There's absolutely no indication that this guy was doing work that no one else can cross-check.
There's quite a few people that are capable of that with these aircraft. And there's no indication that this guy was working on this aircraft without the work being checked. It's too much work for one person to maintain a B-17. Collings has a team of mechanics and pilots that kept that plane flying. The most experienced one happened to be the one that made the errors that led to this crash. Even though he's gone now, B-17s will continue to be operated by experts that know what they're doing.

Don't remember who it was but someone on here was pretty adamant about one of these older bombers being too dangerous to fly.

Wish I could remember more but he really nailed it in this case.

That is one of my biggest fears on my '47 Willys.

To the numerous tough guys with their "" life is full of risks" bullshit.  Yep, you take your own life in your hands from when you get up in the morning.  Without being able to absorb some risks, you would be paralyzed.

I take a personal risk driving every day.  But I take as much risk out of it by maintaining my car and not driving like a asshole.  All I can do is rely on others doing the same.  I rely on a surgeon to know what he's doing.  If we all do our part, the risk is minimized during a procedure.  But again, no risks is nearly impossible.

Everyone knows flying in the most advanced of aircraft still has a modicum of risk that you have to assume if you want to fly.  And flying on a 70yr old bomber would make anyone understand those risks will probably increase.

All I would expect is that the owners of the plane did everything thing they reasonably could to minimize that risk.  They clearly did not from either a proper maintenance angle, a pilot capability angle or both.  Whichever it was, one of my very best friends and former coworker died on that plane that day.  I will forever have a picture of him on my phone that he sent me right before takeoff from his seat.  He was so excited as this was a bucket list item since his recent retirement.   He asked three more of our friends to go that day but thank God they just couldn't make it.

I don't demand these planes be grounded.  I do demand that the people who fly and maintain them know what the fuck they are doing.  That didnt happen and my friend and other passengers paid for that with their lives.

None, I worked as a GSE mechanic at an FBO for 11 years and talked with our a/c mechanics now & then but I’m not an a/c mechanic. But why do you do it regardless if the hours are low? Is there a reason besides it’s something you just do while you have everything apart, like replacing hoses, belt, and thermostat when replacing a water pump? What if you just put new hoses, belt, and thermostat on 3 months ago?

Raise you hand if you watched Nine O Nine crash in 1987

At the FBO where I used to work.





And old 909 at a small fly-in/air show we had.

They have had their share of accidents too.

No, that aircraft's condition was shabby because the people caring for it had become complacent at best, and criminally negligent at worst.

Because the areas of the aircraft I was able to check out visually obviously hadn't been touched. A visual inspection was completely unsat by every measure of aircraft maintenance schooling and experience I've had.

I would imagine a 17 with pt6's could be made to look sexy.



The XB38 is sexy as hell.  

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Oh.   Disgusting!

I'm not saying you're wrong in this assertion. I don't know because I wasn't there and didn't see what you saw. So help us out here... What did you see that was clearly unsat?

From what I have read over the years it didn't go into production because the engines were needed for fighter aircraft and there wasn't enough left over for the bombers.
Was that ever attempted with a B-24?

Not as far as I know.

XB24 K

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I got to see and hear an airworthy Lancaster fly at Duxford and it was magnificent. The sound is pure sex.

There is one in Winnipeg.  I would love to see it.

I heard a two ship at Shuttleworth when both Lancs were in the UK. Awesome stuff.