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When American war veterans and US Air Force members gather at the American military cemetery near Cambridge to mark their Memorial Day next weekend, the aircraft type that many of those in the 5,124 graves once flew in, the B17 bomber, will be conspicuous by its absence.
The last Flying Fortress in Britain will not be making a tribute flypast because it has been grounded by a new European regulation that puts the B17 into the weight category of an airliner, boosting its insurance premium by an unaffordable 500 per cent.
The Sally B is the last airworthy B17 bomber in Britain
The owners of Sally B, the name of the B17 based at the Imperial War Museum's aviation collection at Duxford, regard the situation as outrageous and ironic.
"The idea that the aircraft that flew to liberate Europe, and now flies in honour of the men who gave their lives for that cause, should be put out of action by the very people who owe their freedom to its existence beggars belief," said Ellie Sallingboe, the head of the aircraft's operating company.
US veterans' organisations, such as the Eighth Air Force's 91st Bomb Group, agree.
"It is tragic that this aeroplane will not be flying because of an EU rule," said Vince Hemmings, who helped to set up a museum at the old US Army Air Corps base at Bassingbourn, Cambs, and plans to lay a wreath for the 91st Bomb Group at the American cemetery in Madingley.
"The men in these graves deserve better than their plane being grounded by some ruling on insurance."
Of the approximately 45,000 American airmen who lost their lives over Europe in the Second World War most took off from British bases.
Lt Col Edward Gates, the president of the 91st Bomb Group Association, said from his home in Tacoma, Washington, that the Sally B was a "great symbol of unity between Britain and America", which, he was confident, the 1,000 or so surviving veterans would agree had to be saved. At the US Embassy in London, Lt Col Benjamin Coffey, US Vice Air Attache, said he hoped that the issues could be resolved. "This 60th anniversary is the last chance a lot of veterans will have to see the bases from which so many of their colleagues never returned," he said.
But, according to senior officials from the Department of Transport, nothing can be done about the rule.
It took effect on May 1, with no exceptions allowed, and applies across the EU.
It is also supposed to affect the only other B17 flying in Europe - Pink Lady, operating in France - although a spokesman for the company said the French government had not enforced the rule and Pink Lady was flying as normal. The Sally B, as a civilian aircraft owned and operated by a small group led by the Danish-born Mrs Sallingboe, appears to be unique in suffering so much from the EU rule, which is designed to increase third-party protection in the event of a catastrophic crash.
Britain's only other comparable Second World War plane, a Lancaster bomber, is owned and operated by the RAF's Memorial Flight and falls under government insurance.
The RAF also flies Spitfires, Hurricanes and a C47 Dakota, which are also exempt. A civilian C47 in Britain is owned by the private Air Atlantique cargo airline, which includes it on its fleet insurance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...neu21.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/05/21/ixhome.html
maximus otter
The last Flying Fortress in Britain will not be making a tribute flypast because it has been grounded by a new European regulation that puts the B17 into the weight category of an airliner, boosting its insurance premium by an unaffordable 500 per cent.
The Sally B is the last airworthy B17 bomber in Britain
The owners of Sally B, the name of the B17 based at the Imperial War Museum's aviation collection at Duxford, regard the situation as outrageous and ironic.
"The idea that the aircraft that flew to liberate Europe, and now flies in honour of the men who gave their lives for that cause, should be put out of action by the very people who owe their freedom to its existence beggars belief," said Ellie Sallingboe, the head of the aircraft's operating company.
US veterans' organisations, such as the Eighth Air Force's 91st Bomb Group, agree.
"It is tragic that this aeroplane will not be flying because of an EU rule," said Vince Hemmings, who helped to set up a museum at the old US Army Air Corps base at Bassingbourn, Cambs, and plans to lay a wreath for the 91st Bomb Group at the American cemetery in Madingley.
"The men in these graves deserve better than their plane being grounded by some ruling on insurance."
Of the approximately 45,000 American airmen who lost their lives over Europe in the Second World War most took off from British bases.
Lt Col Edward Gates, the president of the 91st Bomb Group Association, said from his home in Tacoma, Washington, that the Sally B was a "great symbol of unity between Britain and America", which, he was confident, the 1,000 or so surviving veterans would agree had to be saved. At the US Embassy in London, Lt Col Benjamin Coffey, US Vice Air Attache, said he hoped that the issues could be resolved. "This 60th anniversary is the last chance a lot of veterans will have to see the bases from which so many of their colleagues never returned," he said.
But, according to senior officials from the Department of Transport, nothing can be done about the rule.
It took effect on May 1, with no exceptions allowed, and applies across the EU.
It is also supposed to affect the only other B17 flying in Europe - Pink Lady, operating in France - although a spokesman for the company said the French government had not enforced the rule and Pink Lady was flying as normal. The Sally B, as a civilian aircraft owned and operated by a small group led by the Danish-born Mrs Sallingboe, appears to be unique in suffering so much from the EU rule, which is designed to increase third-party protection in the event of a catastrophic crash.
Britain's only other comparable Second World War plane, a Lancaster bomber, is owned and operated by the RAF's Memorial Flight and falls under government insurance.
The RAF also flies Spitfires, Hurricanes and a C47 Dakota, which are also exempt. A civilian C47 in Britain is owned by the private Air Atlantique cargo airline, which includes it on its fleet insurance.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...neu21.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/05/21/ixhome.html
maximus otter
