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She was one of the most famous of all....

Paul, you may be right along with BOCKSCAR, which is at the USAF Museum, but, this an all together a different story. A story of survival and which one crewman who walked approximately 104 miles in the desert to find help and water and died there hoping that he could save the other crew members. Plus the fact the she survived over 15 years along with her crew of skeletons in the desert and the plane that was remarkably well preserved that they later found out that all of the .50 cals were still were loaded and were found that after a good deal of cleaning them up some would still function. We could only speculate to what happened with her (Lady Be Good). Plus the diaries kept by two of the crew memebers and wrighting in their diaries and seeing what they wrote in them is just as facinating if not more so..

Plus the fact that I can somewhat feel the pain that they all went through, I can almost relate to some of what they went threw that at one time I had became so sick and deydrated that every single joint in my body hurt so badly that I could not move without extreme pain and the fact that I kept passing out, that after approimately 1 1/2 liters of IV to get me back to at least start talking again and a staying at the hospital for 8 days to find out why I got so deydrated, that according to a few of the ER doctors told me and my wife that within another 48 hours or less I probably would have not of made it. I can only imagine that this is what they went through at the time of their deaths. Also, how they kept their hopes up high. So yes, you drop a nuclear weapon and it makes history with everybody coming back ok.

Paul, I am not trying to down play your answer. I am just giving you another side of a B-24 that means more to me, thats all Paul. By the way, I appreciate your input.
 
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It says on the wikipedia page:

In August 1994, the remains of the craft were recovered by a team led by Dr. Fadel Ali Mohammed and taken to a Libyan military base in Tobruk for safekeeping.[SUP][6][/SUP] The remains were subsequently moved and are now stored at Jamal Abdelnasser Air Force Base, Libya.
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Another site says:
Unfortunately once the story broke to the public in the 60’s no one respected the war grave and the wreckage was plundered by souvenir hunters everything was stolen from the inside of the preserved B24 even the heavy engines were stolen. Complaints to the Libyan government resulted in the hulk of the Lady Be Good being crudely cut into sections and it was dumped in the back yard of their national museum. That is where the Lady Be Good is finally at rest crumpled together in an insecure back yard where thieves continue to cut sections from the fuselage and sell them on the local markets!
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Hi Mark,Very interesting thank you, i was lucky enough to go to Dayton Ohio USAF museum in 84 but can't remember any stained glass there well it was a while ago now and the old grey matter is not what it used to be, but it was a great museum.
Cheers
Andy
 
Hi V40,That is a tough one, Lady be good is indeed a famous aircraft,for being a time capsule and famous for the bravery and sheer guts of the crewmembers,the remains of Lady be good in whatever condition remain as a memorial to a very brave crew,lets hope that the new regime or whoever is in control over there treat the remains of this aircraft with a lot more dignity than has been shown in the past,the Memphis belle,the Enola Gaye and Bockscar are also famous but for different reasons,plus the fact that they returned to base and were put on display as a tribute to all who took part,the Lady be good remains as a tribute to the unfortunate crew,I sit on the fence on this one,
Cheers,
Don,
 
V40 said:
Even though the "Memphis Belle" may of been one of the most famous bombers of all time in WWII. It is off my opinion, which may not agree with others, is that this is the most famous bomber of WWII!
If anyone has ever been to the USAF Museum, you will find some stained glass windows that commerate the them






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRzCTIO4jgo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Be_Good_(aircraft)
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What about the Lancaster, S for Sugar? On display at Hendon. :wavey:
 
S181,
I am Part and partial to the Mosquito myself. Ingenuity in a well designed airplane. Don't really know anything about the Lancaster.
 
The Lancaster could carry up to 22,000lb of bombs which was one of the largest bomb loads of any bomber of the Second World War.

The Mosquito could carry 4,000lb.
 
One thing I found amusing about bombers,all but quiet a bit later than the above,was the Vulcan bomber...at air shows when I was a kid one would do a fly over at airshows and over the speakers...'this is the last remaining Vulcan flying today'....we even had a Vulcan bomber preservation society.....fast forward to 1982 and what bombed Stanley airfield in the Faulklands..Vulcan bombers!:xd:.....oh and it's the Vulcans 60th anniversary this year
 
They announced yesterday that next year will be the last year that the Vulcan will be flying. So go see it while you can.
 
Geez when I was a teenager I went down to see the Dayton Air Show. I saw a Nimrod and had the honor to go up to a Vulcan and just touched it, ahh allot really. When she took off and flew over us she was a very graceful airplane. Although extremely loud when flying over, I still watched her in amazment as she could turn like I have not seen before except in fighters. I will never forget her. Thanks UK for sending her over.
 
I think they should have preserved at least one Nimrod in flying condition. I am glad I got to see one in flight at Airborne Eastbourne in 2003.
 
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