"Pat" wrote in message
om...
(R. Wubben) wrote in message
. com...
Was it really a gear up landing?
I was under the impression that they had already landed, were taxiing
off the runway when the gear collapsed. I also heard that there was
some sort of jack screw problem that lead to the gear collapsing.

Ryan Wubben
Madison, WI





Actually, my understanding is that the gear was retracted accidently
when the pilot/co-pilot attempted to retract the flaps after landing.
Pilot error.

-Pat

This is the story I heard too. My understanding is that the right seater
got his switchology wrong and retracted the gear instead of the flaps,
despite being told not to touch anything until clear of the runway. Also,
the EAA has a fair amount of pull, and by going to the right people in the
NTSB and/or FAA, they more or less headed off an embarassing situation. If
you go through NTSB reports, there are plenty of incidents/minor accidents
in the files that are far less severe than what happened to the B-17. I
imagine lunching two sets of gear, 4 engines, 4 gearboxes, and 4 prop's
ain't cheap, then you add the sheet metal damage. Bottom line, this was
probably a quarter million dollar accident.

KB