What we know about the victims of the Dallas air show crash
The Commemorative Air Force released all six names of the people killed in a mid-air crash at the annual Wings Over Dallas Air Show on Saturday.
Just an awful thing. Luckily the only victims were on the two aircraft.
I know we have some prior service folks here, so I thought I would post something about the B-17 involved.
The B-17 involved was nicknamed "Texas Raiders".
Here she is simulating the iconic scene from the movie Tora!Tora!Tora! that came out in the 1970s.
"B-17 Texas Raiders was built on July 12, 1945, by Douglas in Long Beach, California on the very last day of Fortress production at the plant. Like the rest of the B-17’s built at the time, she was unceremoniously taken to the ramp where she waited for a pilot to take her to the scrapyard. Luckily, she was chosen by the Navy as one of twenty Flying Fortresses for use with their Cadillac II project. Cadillac II would lead to the world’s first successful attempt at what we now know as Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWACS).
Texas Raiders served the Navy well for many years in this capacity until being superseded by more advanced technology in 1955. She was then retired to an Arizona boneyard. Once again, a savior came along before she could be scrapped. Aero Service Industries bought her in 1957 for use in aerial survey, high-altitude photography, and aerial mapping. She served her private owner well until 1967 when more advanced technologies again relegated her to obsolescence. Fortunately for all, a deal was struck with the fledgling CAF and for the first time in history a B-17 found its way into the hands of an organization dedicated to education and the preservation of history. Texas Raiders has been a keystone aircraft of the CAF fleet ever since."
B-17 Texas Raiders flown by Gulf Coast Wing of Commemorative Air Force
The Gulf Coast Wing of the CAF operates and maintains the B-17 Flying Fortress Texas Raiders and the Navy JRB-6 Little Raider.
She was a beautiful bird.
Couldn't find anything about the other plane involved, a P-63 Kingcobra.
A tragedy all the way around.
