Texas Raider Lost

[moon puppy]

Planes crash in mid-air, sending debris flying

Two planes collided in mid-air at the Wings Over Dallas event Saturday, sending debris flying to Highway 67 in Dallas, Texas.

www.dailymail.co.uk

So sad to report another B17 lost at an airshow. From the few videos I've seen neither pilot saw each other. No way anyone survived this crash.

Prayers....

 

[jknaus]

Just saw that. They fear 6 people may be dead. B-17 flew into the King Cobra. Very sad.
James

 

[Mo_]

Very sad indeed, looked like to me a p-63 flew into the B-17. How that happend is yet to be know. Someone FKD up somewhere, thats for sure.

 

[moon puppy]

The angle I saw the Cobra came into the B17 amidships and from under his nose, he was probably looking for the bomber.

@Rhino tells me this is the same B17 that Paul Mantz did the one wheel touch down in the movie Tora Tora Tora.

 

[Steve Ski]

Tough to watch, depressing, actually.

 

[Rhino]

I am not an expert. I wasn't there when this very public mishap occurred. I have not been in command of any sort of aircraft in 1/2 of a Lifetime. My OPINION is that Mr. King Cobra was in a banking turn in such a fashion that Texas Raiders was under his nose, I imagine until the very last second. Along about the time his prop started chopping B-17G, it doesn't appear he realized were Texas Raiders was, having been instructed by GCA to take the lead in the "Parade of Bombers" that is commonplace in a Confederate Air Force airshow.

MSM has been telling us what happened in their usual "Jump to Conclusions" sort of fashion that largely ignores the shocking loss to these 6 Texas families. "After leaving the McDonald's drive-thru the P-63 pilot spilled his chocolate shake and rammed the bomber" or some other such ridiculous garbage.

Texas Raiders and her CAF crew. September 2022.

Let's wait until the NTSB & FAA release their findings until we pass final judgement, shall we?
Let us offer our prayers and sympathies to the families of the victims this tragic collision.
3 B-17G Flying Fortress aircraft have been recently lost. "Liberty Bell" burned in a farm field. "Nine-O-Nine" crashed in New York (?) not long ago and "Texas Raiders" most recently.

 

[moon puppy]

Looked like he was entering the pattern late maybe but clearly entering mid pattern also. Not a good situation.

Maybe Peter Jackson will start building WW2 Aircraft so we can save these veterans. I understand Texas Raiders was not a combat vet but it was in that generation.

 

[paddy]

Its very sad but with a lot of aircraft flying in relatively small space accidents are going to happen, we had a very similar incident here when a Skyraider chopped a mustang in half but the bottom line is airshows here are now few and far between. 20-30years ago on a summers afternoon you could look on the airshow calendar and more often than not find something to go and see, In my area we had Dunsfold, Redhill, Shorham biggin hill, Farnborough West Malling etc all Battle of Britain airfields within 50 miles. All these shows have now ceased because following a few accidents the insurance liability cover has made them unviable.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

There was a short video that someone shot that the panned over to the B-17 as it flew overhead. You could see the P-39 banking and flying toword it and the collision. It was all quite clear.
Here is the twitter link:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1591527111344680961

 

[Rhino]

Looked like he was entering the pattern late maybe but clearly entering mid pattern also. Not a good situation.

Maybe Peter Jackson will start building WW2 Aircraft so we can save these veterans. I understand Texas Raiders was not a combat vet but it was in that generation.

True. A PB-1W originally.

Texas Raiders - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Liberty Bell was the Fort that was used in the Allison turbo-prop tests. Her restored B-17G nose had a weird alignment. I saw the restored "Liberty Bell" in person not too long ago. I saw Texas Raiders do the one wheel landing pass at Oshkosh when I was a much younger child.
I hope Kits World will re-issue their Warbirds 172109 B-17G Decal sheet. Texas Raiders is one of the subjects.
I have decals for Liberty Bell and Nine-O-Nine on hand.

 

[Rhino]

In Fact, Kitsworld of Jolly Old England has Decal #172224 on hand. I bought the 1/144 Texas Raiders decals as well. I feel a Meng Kids Texas Raiders B-17G in the wind...................
An Evilbay seller wanted over $50.00 with $30.00 in shipping. He can kiss my Rebel Dick!

 

[Tim A.]

True. A PB-1W originally.

Texas Raiders - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View attachment 154675
Liberty Bell was the Fort that was used in the Allison turbo-prop tests. Her restored B-17G nose had a weird alignment. I saw the restored "Liberty Bell" in person not too long ago. I saw Texas Raiders do the one wheel landing pass at Oshkosh when I was a much younger child.
I hope Kits World will re-issue their Warbirds 172109 B-17G Decal sheet. Texas Raiders is one of the subjects.
I have decals for Liberty Bell and Nine-O-Nine on hand.

It took me a few seconds to figure out what is weird about that bomber in the pic.

 

[moon puppy]

Found this.

NTSB preliminary report is pretty hard on the person who was directing the airshow. There's a comment on the video that it was their first show they directed and he made a major mistake, several in fact.

 

[Rhino]

In many cases there is an accreditation process for air show Air Boss personnel. The new kid on the ground blew it by changing the established procedure of the Dallas show on the fly. (?) Juan said "Don't do anything Different, Dangerous or Stupid."
This nugget Air Boss did all 3 at the same time and skilled, experienced Men were killed.

I'm hoping a top-flite job can be found for this individual in the food service or house-keeping industries.

I hope in the future, that big clear turret on top of WWII bombers will have a traffic spotter in it.

 

[moon puppy]

My initial reaction was the pilot in the Aircobra really blew it but as it turned out he was doing exactly as instructed. Lessen learned again, don't trust first impressions.

Can't imagine the load this Air Boss has on him now.

 

[Steve Ski]

Not to armchair qtr back, but the 63 driver was pilot in command regardless of the commands from the AB. He is ultimately responsible for the safety of his aircraft and crew, if any. Tight quarters obviously require ultimate vigilance in a 360* radius. The Air Boss will be dinked for sure, might get jail time as well. Sad situation.

 

[iambrb]

Sad…..