Warbird Information Exchange

Curious to know if there was ever a specific area of water where these controlled ditchings took place? I've heard that a lot of testing was done off the coast of FL. If this were the case here, I would bet that aftet 50-60 years, this B-17 wouldn't be much of anything due to salt content.

I'll bet it's not there at all.

Notice the cable harness midships around the wing and fuselage. I'll bet they moved in with a big crane and removed it to study the damage.

I have a video copy of a USAF 16mm film that has a radio controlled B17 ditched with cameras in each crew position, I recall that a/c is flown into the ditching not cable dropped, interestingly the voice over seems to be Ronald Reagan, the same film has actual footage of B29 ditchings in the war against Japan.

regards

Mark Pilkington

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20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

Is there any way you can make stills from that film, or maybe post it to YouTube? Was it sold commercially, and most of all, what was the title?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Mark, the cable harness is for retrieving the B-17 after it was flown in R/C.

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DBF

I also believe that the ditching was done in shallow water, close to land, so that the aircraft wouldn't sink beyond reach. I've seen stills of similar aircraft sitting on the bottom withthe upper parts of the fuselage above water.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

The film is called "Ditching Research" it is 10 minutes long, narrated by Ronald Reagan, it is a USAF technical film I borrowed from an Australian Museum and copied from 16mm to video, it is not comercially available and I havent watched it for over 10 years, but I have set up to copy my videos to DVD so perhaps I can put this one on the top of the pile and see how well it copies.

While composing this reply I decided to poke it into the VCR and watch it to see what info I could record for those interested.

It is early post war, it uses "war surplus" "Bikini? veteran drones" prepared by "Roland/Middleton air depots", and fitted out by Curtis Wright, 9 motion picture cameras are fitted inside to film the affect of ditching and provide designers with information to strengthen newer aircraft to withstand ditching, the ditching tests were undertaken at "Chatahatchy? Bay" east of Eglin Field Florida, the B17 was recovered after ditching via a crane and barge to recover film and recording equipment, the still photo posted here is the same aircraft as in the film tests at time of recovery, the B17 was ditched twice and at the end while showing stills of early post war jets such as the B47 and film of the B36 the film refers to a test program consisting of 11 aircraft to be ditched (I assume 11 different types).

I hope this is of interest?

regards

Mark Pilkington

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20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

Several ditching test were also conducted in the Hampton Roads, James River and Chesapeake Bay. Most of the pictures I saw of these tests were B-24 Liberators.

Shay
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Semper Fortis

Thanks for the info. I guess it is safe to assume that this aircraft does not exist if it was recovered.

I read somewhere that because of the B-24 design, its ditching characteristics were ugly.

Borrowed from the Flight Journal B-24 issue:





In the article it states that 50 B-24s and 71 B-17s were used to study ditching techniques during the war. So who know what is still out there. It goes on to say that the Liberators had the nasty tendency for the fuselage to break in the middle as depicted above and that some had the entire forward fuselage separate from the airframe. Once in the water the B-24 crews had on average 10 to 15 mins to egress the aircraft.

With the Liberators breaking up and sinking fast there might still be some examples still out there. I would love to see some more "D's" on the registry.

Shay
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Semper Fortis

Wonder if they ever tested B-29s?

B-24 James River ditch testing September 20, 1944 ...
Source here,
http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/B-24_Liberator
Video's here,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSDa9z4kdOg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7H6yDPhumM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6THyBqVCO9I

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“With bottomless pockets...anything is possible”

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45-47=-2

It is Choctawhatchee Bay. Eglin AFB, even then, sits right on its north central shore. These type tests were conducted in the north east sections of the bay. There were numerous 'Relics" scattered all over this area - Liberty Ship targets, Jitterbugs and launch ramps, and many other aircraft and vehicles used as targets. All have been either removed from the water for ecological and tourist reasons or, destroyed by hurricanes or ordinance.

I use to camp next to the launch ramps in the 70s and 80s. There was a damaged Jitterbug (Corroded away) next to the ramp. Many of the "V-1" launch scenes in TV/Movie shows were actually of V-1 and Jitterbug launches at Eglin. I always laugh when I see them as you can see the huge sand dune we camped at in the background. This site was either removed or covered by one of the major hurricanes that hit here.

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Cheers!

Lance Jones