Nine-O-Nine
Nine-O-Nine | |
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The Collings Foundation B-17G flying in the colours of Nine-O-Nine, 323rd BS B-17G, displaying 1st Combat Bomb Wing tail markings. This aircraft crashed in 2019. | |
Type | Boeing B-17G-30-BO Flying Fortress
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Manufacturer | Boeing Airplane Company
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Construction number | 7023 |
Manufactured | December 15, 1943 |
Serial | 42-31909 |
Owners and operators | 91st Bombardment Group USAAF |
In service | December 15, 1943–December 7, 1945 |
Total hours | 1,129 hours |
Nine-O-Nine was a
Service history
The original aircraft, from a group of 30 B-17Gs manufactured by
A former navigator of the 91st BG, Marion Havelaar, reported in his history of the group that Nine-O-Nine completed either 126 or 132 consecutive missions without aborting for mechanical reasons, also believed to be a record.[2][a] M/Sgt. Rollin L. Davis, maintenance line chief of the bomber, received the Bronze Star for his role in achieving the record.
Her first bombing raid was on Augsburg, Germany, on February 25, 1944. She made 18 bombing raids on Berlin. In all she flew 1,129 hours and dropped 562,000lb (225 tonnes) of bombs. She had 21 engine changes, four wing panel changes, 15 main gas tank changes, and 18 changes of Tokyo tanks (long-range fuel tanks).[3]
Nine-O-Nine returned to the United States after the war in Europe finished, on June 8, 1945. She was sent to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation facility at Kingman, Arizona on December 7, 1945, and eventually scrapped.
Collings Foundation Nine-O-Nine
The Collings Foundation of Stow, Massachusetts, flew a different B-17G painted as a "tribute ship" to honor the original Nine-O-Nine at airshows and for "living history" flights, from 1986[4] until October 2019.
Military history
Flying Fortress 44-83575 (variant B-17G-85-DL) was built by the
Civilian history
As 44-83575 was in relatively good condition, she was restored by Aircraft Specialties Company
The Collings Foundation purchased the aircraft in January 1986, and her subsequent restoration to wartime configuration by Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft won several awards.[3] Carrying civil registration N93012, the plane was painted as Nine-O-Nine (including "231909" on the tail) and appeared at many airshows.[3] It was featured in a 2019 episode of Museum Access,[6] which included a detailed tour of its interior and video of the aircraft in flight; an "NL93012" placard can be seen on the instrument panel and "231909" on its tail.[7]
Incidents
On August 23, 1987, N93012 was caught by crosswinds during a landing at
On July 9, 1995, N93012 was again damaged, this time near Norfolk, Nebraska, when her landing gear would not fully deploy and she was forced to make an emergency landing, causing some damage to the fuselage and at least one propeller.[8]
On the morning of October 2, 2019, N93012 crashed at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, while attempting to return shortly after takeoff.[10][11] The aircraft was destroyed in the crash, and seven of the thirteen people on board were killed.[12]
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched an investigation,[13] and in April 2021 released a report citing pilot error as the likely cause, with inadequate maintenance as a contributing factor.[14]
Notes
- ^ a b Other B-17s may have completed more total missions; see for example "Ole Gappy" as mentioned in article RAF Kimbolton.
References
- ISBN 0-88740-810-9p.185
- ^ Havelaar, pp. 190 and 130, respectively
- ^ a b c d e f g h "History of the B-17 Nine O Nine". Collings Foundation. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2007 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ Henrichs, Mary (August 11, 1986). "Sight of vintage bomber startles ex-crew member". The Vidette-Messenger. Valparaiso, Indiana. p. 9. Retrieved October 4, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ ISBN 1-57510-077-0pp.116-120
- ^ "Collings Foundation Museum - Wings of Freedom- Stow, MA". IMDb. January 1, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ "Wings of Freedom WWII Aircraft - Museum Access (S2EP1)". Janson Media. Retrieved October 23, 2022 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b "Nine-O-Nine's Replica Survives Emergency" (PDF). The Ragged Irregular. Vol. 28, no. 4. October 1995. pp. 1–2 – via 91stbombgroup.com.
- ^ Danhauer, Clifford (January 11, 1989). "National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Data Summary, Accident Number: NYC87LA238". NTSB. Retrieved October 3, 2019 – via ntsb.gov.
- ^ "B17 crash leads to fire, closure of Bradley Airport she burned up, completely destroying the aircraft". WFSB.com. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ "WATCH LIVE: Officials called to aircraft crash at Bradley Airport, airport closed". WPRI.com. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ "'Several dead' in Connecticut vintage B-17 WWII bomber crash". BBC News Online. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ^ "NTSB investigating whether B-17 that crashed at Conn. airport had engine troubles before takeoff". Hartford Courant. October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019 – via MSN.
- ^ Collins, Dave (April 13, 2021). "Pilot Error Likely Caused B-17 Crash at Bradley Airport: NTSB". nbcconnecticut.com. Retrieved April 13, 2021.