Not a great start to summer

[colmbo]

Probably the biggest concern from the Diamond Lil thing is going to be damage to the fuselage.  Liberators are kind of weak in that area, having the nose fold under on a gear up landing was a concern.

[Babalonian]

Any that you can walk away from....  nevermind afterwards hopscotch arm-in-arm with everyone that was onboard to the nearest bar.... It looks more salvagable than maybe any other recent (or otherwise) non-flightworthy B-24, so I have little doubt it won't eventualy get back in the air.

Probably the biggest concern from the Diamond Lil thing is going to be damage to the fuselage.  Liberators are kind of weak in that area, having the nose fold under on a gear up landing was a concern.

That's what I'm thinking, won't be easy, all that aluminum, and probabley they need to strip everything down to the frame forward of the wing and below the pit.

IF the engines and props are OK (which either one on all four would be an additional timely setback), and after some long nights of sheet metal and riveting work, she should fly again within a year I think (pending manpower and resources...).

The single (and aparent) worst thing about this, to me, is that it (I think) happened not at its home field, so it's gonna take some luck/money that they probabley don't have to make an already difficult/costly task easier.  Even if you broke it into two stages - repair to flyworthy/ferryable and then fly it home for completion - it's gonna cost a prettier dime than had it happened on their own runway and infront of their own hangar.


On the plus side, anyone living nearby that was considering a career in A&P or restoration and who loves B24s just got a golden opportunity to get hands on (and maybe accumulate some hours). 

just one of those gear doors is 4500$ its crazy man.

eep.


Edit2: Outa curosity, what would the cost incurred be on an average 1-hour flight (with the increased gas consumption) and the pieces of I-beam/uni-strut you'd need to make it into a fixed-gear?

[mbailey]

I was gonna see that sexy bird this weekend at the Reading Airshow 

Thank god everyones ok....and the beautiful lass will be back in the air

[flight17]

If you want an exercise in futility find the FAR that says the engine has to be torn down after a prop strike (Part 91 operation).

We had a prop strike on the B-17 after it ran over a runway/taxiway sign -- you know the big black and yellow ones.  We checked the crank for misalignment and showed the FAA it was in specs --- good to go.

lol, I believe it was you I talked to many moons ago about the Collings foundation in game, if not, then just ignore it... But the nine-O-nine also had 4 prop strikes when it ran off the end of our runway and went down the embankment, shearing off both mains, one or two engines and the ball turret iirc back in 87.

Ive seen two diamond da-20s (fixed gear mind you) scratch an itch it had on the nose with the ground. The first time, an inital solo student lost directional control on her first solo lap and ran of the runway causing the nose gear to collapse. And then two weeks later, the same company had another plane lose its nose wheel from the caster down on the runway as it landed and then it turned off the runway, it snagged a crack causing it to collapse another nose gear.