Finn Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 The only to see if it can be done: Jari Jan_G, BiggTim, ringleheim and 3 others 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 Wow, very interesting footage, thanks for showing. J. ringleheim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffH Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 Hey, it's all right. they had knee pads on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Dead calm, trained test pilots and the aircraft still catastrophically failed. Now I see why the Lib had such a horrible ditching survival rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfists nz Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 It had lots of horrible reputations..like one cannon shell through the spar between the fues and either engine 2 or 3 and it was bye-bye wing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ringleheim Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 57 minutes ago, hamfists nz said: It had lots of horrible reputations..like one cannon shell through the spar between the fues and either engine 2 or 3 and it was bye-bye wing Your comments remind of that infamous footage of a B-24 taking a direct flak hit around the wing root and the entire wing just folding over on itself. Here, found it: Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ringleheim Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 9 hours ago, John1 said: Dead calm, trained test pilots and the aircraft still catastrophically failed. Now I see why the Lib had such a horrible ditching survival rate. I was kind of surprised to see that big kink in the fuselage and the way the front end immediately submerged, all during a pretty controlled, "calm" landing. If you can call this "calm." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennismcc Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Pretty cool, I liked the way one of the pilots took the time to comb his hair after getting out of the aircraft. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 (edited) On 1/19/2019 at 5:33 AM, dennismcc said: Pretty cool, I liked the way one of the pilots took the time to comb his hair after getting out of the aircraft. Cheers Dennis the 3 cardinal rules of an aviator - Always look cool Never crash If you do crash, at least try to look cool Edited January 21, 2019 by John1 nmayhew, D.B. Andrus, Padraic Conway and 2 others 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 Brilliant - had seen a few stills of this test before - but didn't know the film had survived! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Williams Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 It seems like the B-24 not being good in a water landing would be obvious from the design. A long narrow fuselage combined with a high mounted wing. Can it really end in any other way than the aircraft skidding along the narrow belly until it tips to one side and catches a wingtip in the water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 And that particular plane was reinforced in the belly for the test. I've read it was almost impossible to ditch a conventional one because the garage door style bomb bay doors would just blow out ripping the fuse apart. Martinnfb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 I can't believe they didn't give them tanker or at least football leather helmets to wear. Course that would have messed up his hair. I guess rule 1 for flying Liberators: don't try to ditch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 20 minutes ago, LSP_Ron said: And that particular plane was reinforced in the belly for the test. I've read it was almost impossible to ditch a conventional one because the garage door style bomb bay doors would just blow out ripping the fuse apart. From what I've read, almost always, the crew in front were typically killed during ditching. Can't imagine what it would be like ditching a Lib on open ocean. That test was done on a glass calm river. Doesn't get any better than that. The Lib is a beautiful bomber (IMO) but she definitely wasn't as rugged as the B-17. D.B. Andrus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Williams Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 I’d imagine that in almost all crash landings, they’d get the crew out of the nose, if they could. Probably have everyone not flying in the rear with their backs against the rear bomb bay bulkhead so they could bail out of the waist windows as soon as the aircraft stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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