42-102715
Didn't see combat
Crashed in 1979 in Montana while serving as a fire bomber.
Object Number - UPL 45624 - B-17G-55-BO #42-102715 Didn't see combat Crashed in 1979 in Montana while serving as a fire bomber.
Delivered MacDill 31/3/44; 327 BU Drew 4/5/45; 301 BU Drew 22/10/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Altus 5/11/45. Sold to Fairchild Aerial Survey Co. as N66573 1953-61; modified as tanker but crashed Missoula, Mo, 1979.
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Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Delivered |
31 March 1944 | McDill AAF, Florida | |
|
Crashed |
Lolo National Forest near Missoula, MT | 21 July 1979 | Joe LeRoux of Corvallis MT, 49 Bob Masters of Prescott AZ, 23 On July 21, 1979, the B-17 airtanker was fully loaded; it was toward the end of a day of dropping retardant on a number of Montana fires. There was no lead plane. The tanker made a high pass over a ridgetop fire on the Lolo National Forest. The airtanker crew decided to approach the drop site from a direction that was different from the direction they had used in the previous approach which had terminated in a turn over lower terrain. They returned for the second lower pass. They conducted the approach but dropped no retardant on the fire. Immediately after the airtanker passed over the drop target, it made a steep left turn. The airplane stalled while being maneuvered at a low airspeed and at low altitude in a confined area. It impacted a densely timbered hillside. Joe LeRoux and Bob Masters died on impact. |
Revisions
Contributor466thHistorian
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