B17 crash at Bradley Field, Connecticut

[kirby1923]

I have  a bit of experience in design and operation of multi engine aircraft and I can assure you that all of them have a cross feed system between multiple gas tanks...duh...part of the certification rules.

Why carry fuel you can't use???

:-)

[Rough Edge racing]

As a side note
The NTSB had a news conference today and the lead person indicated that they checks the fuel that was in the remaining tanks and it was 100 Oct. and correct for those engines.

So no Jet fuel.

So Im throwing this out to see what sticks.

I don't know if the B17 has Cross feeds from the gas tanks , but if so its possible that the fuel feeds couldn't maintain proper flow at takeoff  settings.

Comments?

TOMB

  Does anyone know if the Wright engines in the B17's still are tuned as in WW2? As built the had dual stage supercharging like all US 4 engine bombers, a mechanical driven supercharger and exhast driven turbocharger...And the Benidix injection carburetor that was actually an analog throttle body fuel injector..If any of this changed to reduce maintenance costs and because the plane needs less power becuause it lighter without 3000 gallons of fuel, 4000 pounds of bombs and all the 50 cal. guns and ammo ?

[Gliderjohn]

The B-17 I flew on appeared to have the chargers operational. I was told unless there was a specific need they never used more than 60% power to conserve both engine life and fuel. Concerning weight I am guessing they had quite a reduced fuel load for the "ride" flights. The plane did have all the .50 cal. guns and the ammo boxes were loaded full with inert ammo, The bombay was loaded with light weight replicas of 500 pounders. We lifted off at around 80mph after a leisurely take off role. We never exceeded 130mph where as real mission speeds would have been in the 160 - 180 range. Here are a couple of photos of the instrument panel during cruise flight.






GliderJohn

[M0T0Geezer]

For any interested in detailed history of the B-17 (and my Uncle Bob who flew them in WWII), I have gathered information on this web page:

  https://www.dansher.com/wwar2/BnB.html

'Geezer