When was the last time you saw a Boeing 747 sitting on top of a building??

[John HOLBROOK]

This is the new indoor waterpark at the Spruce Goose Museum!! And they are building a hotel on the site!!!!!

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB8E20E21-24A7-4044-A64E-DBE2E41A2CA0%7D/origpict/36459063%5B1%5D.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/%7B0F148D0F-AAC2-4A88-A63B-A96DD81D3124%7D/origpict/38928739%5B1%5D.jpg

[Dave Waits]

Well John, that's something you don't see every day. I once saw a Republic Thunderchief half-buried in a house but, never one on top.

[John Sukey]

Well I almost saw an F16 in a hole in the ground. estimated 1100 knots straight down in After burner the hole acted like a gun barrel. Biggest piece was the turbine shaft which landed a quarter mile away. we picked up everything else in plastic garbage bags, and the Dutch pilot went home in five small plastic sandwich bags.

[Louis of PA]

There used to be a restaurant with an Irish name outside of Philadelphia, on the way to Trenton, that incorporated a complete Constellation into its construction, sort of on the roof. I never visited, and I think it's gone now.

[John HOLBROOK]

When I was trasferred from NAS Sanford, FL to NAS Whidbey Island, WA in 1962, as we drove up US 99 near Fresno, CA, there was a B17G mounted on the roof of a diner along the highway....

[sid]

Hi Louis,
I remember that restaurant too. We used to pass it frequently years ago. But like yourself, we never went inside.
Sid

[John HOLBROOK]

Well I almost saw an F16 in a hole in the ground. estimated 1100 knots straight down in After burner the hole acted like a gun barrel. Biggest piece was the turbine shaft which landed a quarter mile away. we picked up everything else in plastic garbage bags, and the Dutch pilot went home in five small plastic sandwich bags.

During 1953 I was in VF-44 at NAS Jacksonville. We has just transitioned to McDonnell F2H-2 Banshees from F4U-4 Corsairs. One of the pre-takeoff checks for the pilot was to run the elevator trim all the way up then all the way down then to neutral for takeoff.

The cockpit indicator was driven by the motor and not the actual elevator. In this A/C, as the pilot ran through the check, the teleflex cable that drove the jackscrew that moved the elevator sheered off leaving the elevator in the full nose up position. The cockpit indicator showed the elevator in neutral!!!

The pilot was a USAF exchange officer named C.B. Gillette from New Braunsful, TX. As he moved down the runway on takeoff, the Banshee started pitching nose up which he could not control. I was on the flight line and I watched him during the takeoff run. It was obvious he was in trouble. He climbed up to about 50 degrees at which time the plane stalled and rolled to the left. He could have ejected, however he stayed with the plane and rode it in. He went straight in about 100 yards to the left of the runway. The biggest piece of the A/C were the 4 20MM cannons in the nose, and very little of the pilot.

As I was going through my photos, I found a shot of the Banshee he was flying during the crash. I took the photo at NAS Leeward Point, Cuba on Carquals earlier......

http://www.fototime.com/%7B76791356-B565-404A-ABC0-F0A4792EF5E3%7D/origpict/F2H.jpg

This photo of NAS JAX shows the hangar we were in and the crash site.....

http://www.fototime.com/%7BE5B3F2E8-3C6A-4C09-8F50-C4882BC7DC43%7D/origpict/NAS%20Jax.jpg

[5MadFarmers]

When I was trasferred from NAS Sanford, FL to NAS Whidbey Island, WA in 1962, as we drove up US 99 near Fresno, CA, there was a B17G mounted on the roof of a diner along the highway....

My uncle was in the ETO from Sicily until the end. Some years ago I was going through the photo album of his and my aunt's - they travelled a lot. There was a picture of that B-17 diner. At least I'd assume it was that one; how many could there have been? I guess to a ground pounder it was likely the closest he ever saw one of those.

F-16 high speed impacts. I once ran a mission on one which went into the Med at a very rapid speed. Trying to turn under an F-15 (DACT) but it went amiss. They didn't find much.

[Roadkingtrax]

Found this in a book from the 1970s that was my Dad's. I always liked this picture as a kid. This is a gas station in Milwaukee, Oregon...according to the book. B-17's must have made good roofs back in the day...:)


Also did a quick tail number check....She is still flying...at least her turret is...:)

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b17registry/b17-4485790.html

[dannym]

That reminds me, once my father went to an airshow in Texas, it was the early seventies. When he got back, he told me there was a gas station he stopped at with a B-17 up on posts.

[M1Riflenut]

About ten years ago we had a plane crash in our yard at work. We are right in the runway path that they use mostly for landings, occasionally for takeoffs. On this day a pilot was flown in to test fly a fresh restoration of a 1950's era Russian fighter. I don't have the exact details as I type this, just going off memory. Anyways, the reports stated he was the only one certified to fly this model. He did his thing, made several circles around the area and lined up for landing. While descending the engine popped a few times, loud enough that the people in our building even heard it and sensed immediately something was wrong. Several of our employees stood there watching as the plane engine quit and starting rocking around badly. This entire area of approach is all housing, heavily populated and it was during the summer when school was out so lots of kids home. The pilot could have bailed but he did'nt until he got it past the housing,at which point he was clipping tree tops as he entered our work property. We figure,based on the tree tops, that he barely missed the row of trucks in our yard by inches. He bailed out at that point but his chute never had time to open. It crashed in a small sandpit behind our fence. One of the kids working for us as a washman/fueler ( truck rental business) had been taking EMT training at the time and was the first to find the guy. He was alive but died within minutes. The kid was so messed up after having the guy die in his arms that he ended up quitting and from what I understand was messed up for awhile. What bothered him the most was training for an EMT yet this guy died in front him and he coud'nt do anything except talk to him and comfort him. It was quite a day, one I'll never forget. Our business was shutdown for the day as rescue equipment took over the entire area. After the investigation they claim the problem was the plane ran out of fuel. Apparently when they finished restoring it no one ever checked the accuracy of the fuel gauge. They say it showed 1/4 tank, supposedly more than enough to do what he ahd to do. It was way off. To this day, the trees he cliipped on the way in are still topless. This guy could have bailed in plenty of time to save himself but instead he stayed with it until he cleared the housing. God only knows how many lives he saved by sacrificing his own.

[John Sukey]

We had a couple of nasty ones in Tucson.
F4 leaving DM on a cross country with full drops. Just as he got off and over the perimiter fence he had a double flameout, and the plane hit a supermarket. Luckily at the rear instead of the front. Both pilots made it out safely, but one landed in a back yard, and in the dark, fell into an empty swimming pool and broke an ankle

The other one; An A7 returning from the depot had the engine quit over Tucson. The pilot stayed with it to miss a school and it crashed in the street. Unfortunately two women in a pickup turned into that street just as the plane hit.
THEN the DITZY female reporter on the evening news asked why he didn't turn back when the engine quit. You are flying a lead GLIDER at point!

Now the rest of the story, while at the depot, someone "pencil whipped" changing the fuel filters!