Lady be Good...any thruth to this part?

Michel Lemieux · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:43 pm

Lady be Good...any thruth to this part?

Parts were re-used in other planes!!!????

Saw it in a vidio an prompted me to search a bit more. From WiKi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Be_Good_(aircraft)#Parts_and_crew_items

Quote:

After some parts were salvaged from the Lady Be Good and technically evaluated, they were reused in other planes belonging to the American military. However, some planes that received these spares developed unexpected problems.[7] A C-54, which had several autosyn transmitters from the Lady Be Good installed, had to throw cargo overboard to land safely because of propeller difficulties. A C-47 that received a radio receiver crashed into the Mediterranean. A U.S. Army de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter with an armrest from the bomber crashed in the Gulf of Sidra. Only a few traces of the plane washed ashore and one of these was the armrest from the Lady Be Good.[7]

quemerford · **Joined:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:19 pm **Posts:** 1633

Sounds like 100% BS: you'd have to ask yourself why/what would be the point.

JFS61 · **Joined:** Mon Apr 30, 2012 12:44 pm **Posts:** 305

Who really knows.

That said, tales of a curse surrounding parts salvaged from James Dean's Porsche Spyder do appear to have some actual basis in reality:

https://jalopnik.com/5113390/the-curse- ... le-bastard

Dan Jones · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:36 pm

I hadn't heard about the C-54, but I have heard of the C-47 and the Otter, and the armrest "coming back". I think mention might have even been made of those incidences in the original book.

It wouldn't bother me to have a piece of it on an airplane, but then I've survived the Bermuda Triangle TWICE! :-)

quemerford · **Joined:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:19 pm **Posts:** 1633

But why? Makes no sense.

Dan Jones · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:28 pm

If I recall correctly the USAF C-47 from Wheelus landed nearby and basically taxied up right beside her. One of their radio receivers had packed up and when the guys were looking over the B-24 they discovered exactly the same radio set installed in it. Apparently they pulled it out, plugged it into the Dak and it came right to life and worked perfectly, so they kept it. Later on the airplane was lost. Something like that, anyway.

WIXerGreg · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:35 pm

I'm pretty sure that quote is the same info on a plaque in the NMUSAF behind Strawberry Bitch where they have the Lady Be Good artifacts.

JohnB · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:39 pm

Yes, the wording is similar to the Lady Be Good display at the NMUSAF.
Like a previous poster, I have heard about the Otter but not the C-54.

Would the USAF really have been that hard-up for avionics in the '60s that they would have reused radios ...never mind they were still functioning after sitting in the dry, dusty and hot desert for 15 years.

Dan Jones · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:27 pm

JohnB wrote:

Yes, the wording is similar to the Lady Be Good display at the NMUSAF.
Like a previous poster, I have heard about the Otter but not the C-54.

Would the USAF really have been that hard-up for avionics in the '60s that they would have reused radios ...never mind they were still functioning after sitting in the dry, dusty and hot desert for 15 years.

It likely had nothing to do with the USAF or "officialdom" at all, but rather the radio man on the C-47 or the plane's mechanic spying the same radio in the B-24, apparently unharmed, and knowing that the one in their plane was unserviceable, pulled it out and reinstalled it in the Dak to see if it would work. When it did he left it right where it was. Probably didn't bother with a log entry or anything either - I wouldn't have. I've known guys to stea... er... creatively acquire stuff out in the field to sort out a problem and the last thing anyone worries about is the paperwork. Just fix your problem and carry on.

JohnB · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:31 pm

It's not just the paperwork, I appreciate things were a lot different back then. Even if they swapped it out...unofficially....there is still the matter of the thing working after 15 years in the desert, not to mention a wheels up landing.
Remember too, we're talking about vacuum tubes not relatively bulletproof solid state stuff.

Dan Jones · **Posted:** Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:49 pm

It probably wasn't a big deal to swap out. I've seen guys "trade" an HF radio in about ten minutes in the dark with a flashlight in their mouth.

Airlift48 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 29, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 744

" A C-54, which had several autosyn transmitters from the Lady Be Good installed, had to throw cargo overboard to land safely because of propeller difficulties."

I'm unaware of any C-54 having autosynch. The propellers are controlled via cable to each governor directly. The only synch you have is a synchroscope which has 3 spinning propellers on it. They represent #2, #3, and #4 engine. They are set up to be compared to #1 engine. If the little prop spins clockwise, its faster than #1, if it spins counter clockwise, its slower. Your job is to adjust each individual lever accordingly.
Even if all 4 tach generators fail , which generate the signal to the syncroscope (an extremely unlikely situation), you could still keep the airplane in the air without having to throw out cargo. It would be difficult to estimate RPM for a novice, but an experienced guy could probably get it close.

I smell BS.

Stoney · **Posted:** Sun Jul 15, 2018 1:52 pm

in the C-54 you syc 2 and 3 by ear, then look at 1 and 4 and match the props, works ever time. i have 750 hours in the C-54

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:19 pm

This seems to be the C-47 in question:
https://aviation-safety.net/database/re ... 19590607-0
SC-47A 43-15689; apparently a successful ditching with no casualties. Anyone have the accident report?

Michel Lemieux · **Posted:** Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:06 am

For me it was the armrest in the Otter....why!!!!

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