The A2A Simulations Community

Hi All,

This is my first post at A2A/Shockwave...nice to be here.

I'm posting because I recently launched a web site dedicated to the infamous B-24 Liberator "Lady Be Good", lost in action with nine crewman on April 4th, 1943. Like many, I've been smitten by the haunting story of William J. Hatton and his crew as they struggled to free themselves from their inadvertant exile to oblivion in the Libyan desert. Though there is still much to do to complete the site, the "Map Room" and "the Diaries" room are now on line. Anyone interested in her tragic saga can visit at: http://www.ladybegood.net

My recently completed tests simulating the last few minutes of the of Lady Be Good's final flight (in order to extract new "forensic" information that may be useful to historians and interested parties) was only made possible by the discovery and utilization of the HBJ B24D Liberator. Without the delicately calibrated brilliance of the Liberator from HBJ these tests could not have been conducted accurately. No other Liberator available even comes close to how well tuned flight dynamics of HBJ's B24D model is. I ran it through a series of rigorous tests to insure it performed according to the WWII Pilots manual and was very impressed with it's flight performance. I could never have performed an LBG forensics investigation with any quantum of accuracy without this model. I'm writing to say THANKS. My heartfelt admiration goes out to everyone involved with the development of the HBJ Liberator and all the A2A/Shockwave aircraft therein an thereout. Well done.

For anyone interested in the LBG saga, some of the questions addressed in LBG forensics report are:

1. At what altitude did the bail-out occur?
2. At what speed was the LBG flying at bail out time?
3. What was the descent rate of the aircraft in feet per minute?
4. Could a Liberator running on the outboard starboard #4 engine be radically trimmed so as to arc to the right, when the torque would naturally pull it strongly to the left?
5. If such trim could be achieved, would the bank angle and general attitude of the aircraft at impact match the crash site evidence?
6. How long after abandonment did the LBG fly alone before crashing?
7. What was the speed of the aircraft at impact?
8. If the above questions could be determined with some degree of accuracy, what other questions or deductions could be inferred from the data?

The full report is now online at: http://ladybegood.net/maps/simtests.htm

Thanks again to the developers of this great flight model...

Sincerely, Ed Truthan

Also of intrest perhaps...

The Map: http://ladybegood.net/maps/map.htm
Google Earth: http://ladybegood.net/maps/LBG1.0.kmz
Map Room: http://ladybegood.net/maps/index.htm
The Diaries: http://ladybegood.net/diaries/index.htm

Wow looks like the 4 engine just ripped it self right off when it hit the ground. Sad demise for her.

_________________

Scott "Shylock" Berge
#7 Narrator
http://www.fsxblueangels.com/