B-24 nose gear collapse CLT airport

Garth · **Posted:** Sun May 27, 2012 9:47 pm

Obergrafeter wrote:

No tramp stamped worked wonders on this one. WWII era plane belonging to Carolina Aviation Museum!!! Maybe it works so well not having the stamp we can now remove them all. A man can hope can't he?
You know if the stamp was on her there would have been a close up of it for over half the broadcast.

Garbage in, garbage out. The article quote is "Officials say the historic B-24 Bomber plane is from Carolina’s Aviation Museum.". Technically a true statement, since that's where Diamond 'Lil was operating from. The airport or FD PAO probably just told the reporter that "the plane's from over there at the museum" and the reporter ran with that.

Having dealt with press before (general press anyways, can't speak to the aviation press and would figure them to be more informed and diligent), I came away with the decided opinion that the average reporter is about as lazy as one can get, only interested in turning printable copy (read: that which their editors will approve) on deadline and then hitting their favorite bar. I did press secretary work, years ago, and was only surprised the first few times or so that my press releases showed up verbatum under a reporters byline. Basically, if a press secretary/officer writes good copy (or gives a good enough quote), reporters WILL run with it.

pjpahs · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 8:18 pm

According to the MAAM website the B-24 has been scratched from the show.

TAdan · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 8:30 pm

pjpahs wrote:

According to the MAAM website the B-24 has been scratched from the show.

I was really hoping to see Lil at the MAAM show, I haven't seen her since she was repainted several years ago. Sad they had to cancel, but glad everyone was O.K. and the plane is fixable. When I finally do get to see 927/Lil it will be all the more special.

Dwhart24 · **Joined:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:29 pm **Posts:** 83

I found this photo on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59602372@N02/7291372754/

Django · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2012 10:56 am

What a shame. Glad everyone is ok!

deskpro590 · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2012 10:01 pm

any word on her?

bombadier29 · **Joined:** Sun Jan 29, 2012 9:17 pm **Posts:** 272

From what I've seen she is being patched up in North Carolina and ferried to Texas for repair. I don't know what you are looking for beyond that.

JDK · **Posted:** Thu May 31, 2012 4:16 am

http://www.eaa.org/news/2012/2012-05-30_diamondlil.asp

Davo87 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:03 am

I stopped off at the Carolinas Aviation Museum Wednesday to see FIFI and drove over to their old hanger where Diamond Lil was undergoing repair after her nose wheel collapsed. Couldn't get a good view of her. But here is what I could see.

I could hear someone hammering on the ol' girl. So they were working hard on getting her flight ready.
Hope she is back in the skies ASAP!

David

Davo87 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:13 am

Boeing666 wrote:

Is that Eastern DC-7 still sitting in a hangar over there too when the engine blew last fall?

I spoke to one of the Charlotte Aviation Museum volunteers who told me the DC-7 is on a two year loan to the museum. So it sounds like she will be there for the next little bit. Here is a photo of the DC-7 from my visit last Wednesday.

At one point the wind started blowing pretty hard and I saw the rudder on the DC-7 move to the side. So they must not have the rudder locked down. Hopefully they will keep her in a hanger so that doesn't cause any damage to the plane.

David

StyrenePilot1970 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:52 pm

I took these Monday 28 May 2012. Thought there might be other folks that would be interested in seeing them.

The museum staff was very open and friendly and assisted me in getting these shots.

From behind the barriers:

Looking aft:

Some serious sheet metal work. Will definitely need some new nose gear doors!

The work done on this aiplane is beautiful. Was great to see her in the neutrality scheme. Could not help but think about Gary Austin when seeing her.

Murphy

Fouga23 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:57 pm

I hate the nose-art. It looks so 1970's and out of place on a WW2 bird. I thought Django's rendition on 'Lil was much more in line with the time period.

kalamazookid · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:32 pm

Fouga23 wrote:

I hate the nose-art. It looks so 1970's and out of place on a WW2 bird. I thought Django's rendition on 'Lil was much more in line with the time period.

I don't normally gripe about paint schemes, but I absolutely agree. Airbrushed noseart in general usually looks terrible IMHO.

That being said, the aircraft is still a treasure and I still love seeing it in the air. I hope the CAF is able to repair her quickly and get her out to airshows so the veterans can see her. I'll be sending a donation to help with the repairs, and I hope a lot of other warbird enthusiasts do the same.

hang the expense · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:01 pm

Looks like the keel longerons took it in the shorts.

deskpro590 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:32 pm

Whats the latest word? She make it back to Texas?

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B-24 nose gear collapse CLT airport

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