The show always attracts attention. It’s not an exhibition, not a concert. It’s guaranteed that aces will take part in the show and demonstrate their unbelievable stunts. The air shows started after World War II. Hero pilots demonstrated stunts that saved their lives during the battle. The pilots organized themselves into groups and traveled first across the United States and then across the world. They gathered fans to look at the planes in the sky and on the ground. Find out more at dallas-future.
Entertainment and demonstrative military plane flights were so popular that every country that has aircraft holds or has held an air show. Not only the military takes part in this entertainment, but also small commercial and private aircraft. There are shows featuring high-speed airplanes that also perform barrel rolls, loops and dives.
All the stunts and pirouettes have a big impact on the plane and the pilot, almost a cosmic overload. Sometimes some mistakes cost you health, and sometimes they determine your life.
Air shows are held all over the world, including in Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America.
The oldest ones are European, and the youngest ones are Asian. Here you can see not only aircraft but also helicopters and, earlier, airships. Even new spacecraft are presented at aerospace exhibitions.
Catastrophe in Dallas
One of the days when the primary air show, CAF Wings Over Dallas, was held in the U.S., the most terrible disaster in the air in the entire history of action took place. Two World War II-era planes collided in the sky above the airfield.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
The first plane is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. This modification took part in air battles during World War II. Flying Fortress was the first aircraft of its kind, built from a single sheet of metal, which added strength to the hull. The model was created as a bomber with four engines.
The B-17 model was created in 1934 as a coastal bomber against ships. Generally, 12,726 aircraft were produced. The bomber could lift bombs weighing 1,000 kg. Already in 1941, the plane had made its first attack on a German ship. Unfortunately, it failed to destroy the ship. It hit and missed.
In June 1942, B-17 bombers entered the theater of war in Europe. Unfortunately, the Germans quickly found a weak spot in the Flying Fortress – when attacked from the front, the Boeing pilots could defend themselves with only one machine gun. After the heavy losses of the Flying Fortress, the higher command made a decision not to release the B-17 bombers without fighter cover.
B-17s were used as support for the forces of the Soviet Army to bomb cities captured by the enemy.
After World War II, B-17s were bought by Israel and used in the Palestine War to attack Egypt. Brazil also had Flying Fortresses in its arsenal.
The B-17 had great fame for its military merits due to its ability to land even when having large holes in its fuselage. But the pilots and crew were not protected from a frontal attack. Also, the plane was catching fire quickly.
Bell P-63 Kingcobra
The second plane was a Bell P-63 Kingcobra, an American-made fighter with one engine. The aircraft was developed at the beginning of World War II. During the period from 1942 to 1945, 3,303 models of this aircraft were produced. The Soviet Union received 2421 under the Lend-Lease program. At that time, the aircraft was equipped with a breakthrough in aerodynamics, a laminar wing, which allowed the aircraft to fly faster.
On February 21, 1942, the Bell P-63 Kingcobra flew for the first time. Due to many improvements and weights, planes crashed during test flights. But the constructors didn’t lose their enthusiasm and constantly came up with new solutions.
Finally, in the summer of 1944, the plane was brought to perfection. The majority of the created units were sent to the Soviet Union.
The planes were transported by air. The Kingcobra had to overcome the 6,200 km route on its own in several stages and in separate groups accompanied by a bomber.
There was no longer any need to fight German fighters as the theater of events shifted to the East against Japan.
Relocating to the east, Kingcobra planes flew in the protection of bombers. They worked as bombers, fighters, and landing troops. The Japanese did not resist the advancing Soviet troops, so it was no way to test the Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighter in combat.
None of the Kingcobra planes transferred under the Lend-Lease to the USSR ever returned to the United States.
After the end of World War II, the aircraft was in service with France. It participated in the war in Vietnam and was in service in Honduras. In the USA, the Kingcobra wasn’t used as a combat aircraft.
Victims of the crash
It is reported by local mass media that there were six people in the Flying Fortress and a pilot in the Kingcobra. All were killed.
The details of the crash have been reported, “Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighter and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress collided at the same altitude. The fighter caught the bomber’s engine with its wing, resulting in a collision that caused both planes to crash.”
Unfortunately, no one is immune to mistakes or carelessness. Human lives are the result of such mistakes. No matter how safe it is to fly, the human factor has never been canceled.
