Sally B - the future

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Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 924

Although i was not there i have heard that Sally B gave an amazing display at Old Warden on Sunday. However apparently it was announced by Elly Salingboe that this may have been the last time that she dispalyed there, or anywhere for that matter, as the funds have now dried up and they cannot afford to operate her.
This is serious, surely someone, us , anybody can help. Why does the B-17 not attract funds ? everybody appreciates the importance of this aircraft operating in the UK surely. I know that there are a lot of projects out there that require public support and funds and i contribute where i can, but Sally B running out of money is very sad.I know that they have been very unlucky with engine problems over the last couple of years and obviously that has left a financial shortfall.
This must leave the operators only two options, park her up as a static display at Duxford or dare i say it, the other one - a US buyer !. That must be very real at the moment, horror of horrors as once gone its very unlikely that she will return.
What can we do? I looked at their web site but it does not seem very current.
Any news, preferrablly better, would be gratefully appreciated.
Phil

Original post

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 50

RE: Sally B - the future

If I was them, I would sell shares in it to the members and anyone else who wanted to join.
Personally I would just love to own a piece of a B17,as long as the shares were not so expensive that the majority of ordinary enthusiasts could not afford it.

Just my tuppence worth ,for what it's worth.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 781

RE: Sally B - the future

I agree with Fury. As long as the shares are a reasonable price, it would be great to own a bit of aviation history! The last thing we want is this aeroplane making the return journey, back to the USA, never to be seen here again.
I hope a few more people put notices up on the forum, then perhaps Flypast Magazine might get involved and stir up some action!
Here's hoping!

Regards,
Neilly

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,553

RE: Sally B - the future

One of the posts on this subject suggests that FlyPast magazine need to get involved... it's worth pointing out that they already are. Ken Ellis's editorial in this month's issue tells of FlyPast's decision to sponsor Sally B, and has a photo showing the FlyPast logo on the nose of the aircraft, taken during the Flying Legends weekend.

I don't know the exact details of the sponsorship, and I dare say that the FlyPast team have made as much of it public as they can. However, there are still a number of airshows that Sally B is due to take part in this year, including Shepway, Raydon, and Duxfor in September.

There is also a FlyPast / Sally B day in October (can't remember the exact date); the general theme is that it is a day for enthusiasts to get closer to the aircraft - a donation of £395 (I think) will allow them to have their names put onto a panel which will fly on Sally B during next season. My description doesn't really do the idea justice, so I'd urge you to take a look at this months FlyPast and see for yourselves just how committed FlyPast are to Sally B.

And before anyone asks, no, I don't work for FlyPast! (Although I'm open to offers... ;) )

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 50

RE: Sally B - the future

As the majority of people here on this forum probably buy Flypast,I think we already know how committed Flypast is to Sally B.
Frankly, £395 sounds a bit rich just to have your name inscribed on a panel for only one year, that amount is a lot of money to me and many others no doubt,its not good value as far as I am concerned ,even considering the other fringe benefits.

Solution No1:
I would much rather spend that kind of money on buying a share in Sally B as long as I was guaranteed reasonable access to it.

Solution No2:
Much better than having to pay £395 to have your name on it,why not ,when it is due for a repaint,take the B17 round the shows and allow the public to inscribe their own names with a marker pen or similar for a fee of £10.I bet you would have people lined up in their hundreds for that kind of opportunity, I know me and my family would be there at least.
I wonder how many names yopu could fit on a B17???
It would also have a direct link with 8thAF history as several B17s and others were scribbled all over by base personell before going back home.
It would make a good news story for the media also.

Solution No3:
Hows about EXPANDING the organisation into a fully fledged 8th Air Force Memorial/Historic Flight,even if only temporarily with loans/leases of other aircraft.
B24s are a bit on the thin side but the P51,P47,P38,C47 and Spitfire Mk V(in 8th AF markings of course)are fairly plentiful.
It is my consideration that a "team" such as that could be quite successful around Europe ,and would most likely be able to attract more and bigger sponsorship,especially from US companies,along the lines of the OFMC with Brietling.
They could even take a year off from Europe ,say every fourth year,so as not to become "stale" and do a sponsored televised tour of the USA and Canada or even as far afield as Australia and New Zealand etc.

Solution No4:
How about a re-enactment scenario.
You take eight rich people (not including the pilots) and you flog them a dream of a lifetime!
You get them to go back in time to WWII ,living ,eating ,sleeping ,and flying 25 missions wearing the original types of clothing from Duxford .
You could add the fear factor by making a computer programme delete a certain person on a mission,the people not knowing who was going to get it THIS time.Then you just add a replacement and keep going until 25 missions are done,but meanwhile the participants have paid up for the whole mission tour up front,that should give them the s***s knowing that they could possibly lose most of their money after one or two missions!
I suppose flying missions to Germany would be a bit insensitive so perhaps they could just fly round Britain for several hours!?
Also make a brilliant telly series ,although I'm not sure if turning it into a game show would be right and proper.

Solution No5:
They take Sally B around to Open Days at airports and airfields all around GB and Euroland.You could have actors playing parts and period vehicles etc to entertain the crowds.

Solution No6:
Repaint Sally B more regularly to maintain awareness in it.
Ever noticed the renewed interest in the BBMF aircraft every time they are repainted?
I would love to see the B17 painted in all over black as "Tondolayo" or even silver again.

Well that's enough solutions for now ,what do you think, will we see any radical ideas or will we be hearing about financial troubles from the owners this time next year,and the next etc etc????

TA TA

ps: I can already almost hear people saying "That'l Never Work",but what else should they do,sell it??????????????

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 1,343

RE: Sally B - the future

I agree with some of the ideas, especially the one about touring the country. The CAF do it with many of their aircraft and park them up for a few days and let the public in for a small charge.

In my opinion, the simplest thing to do would be to offer flights in the B17 for a reasonable amount. You could fit a fair few members of the public in and they could be part of the crew for an airshow sortie for the day.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,228

RE: Sally B - the future

just putting finger to key to say that I wholeheartedly agree with nearly all of the proposals put forward above, putting names on a b17 was done during the war-a whole sqaudrons worth I believe, I think this idea would easily be most successful, since if this is done at say, RIAT where there is easily a hundred thousand people there over the weekend, probably twice that number, then you can count on at least 5%, in my opinion who would want to pay there money to have there name on history, you could even charge £5 and make a handsome sum, thats 5000 people, and £25000 good or what???

coanda:7:7

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 924

RE: Sally B - the future

I'm glad that i raised this topic am very pleased that so many have replied and come up with some very good and sensible suggestions.
As a Flypast subscriber i had already read Ken Eliss's piece and was pleased to see their support , but i did not realise at that stage just how dire the situation was.
I really like the signing the aircraft idea, its simple would take little expenditure to set up and would bring in rapid funds. As Coander says a quick £25,000 would be brilliant, although in B17 operating costs i doubt that amounts to many flights, so it would need to be repeated or run in conjunction with other fund raising. I do think, as already suggested, that the 'sign your name' plan would attract some press attention, which in turn could generate more funding.
I have been doing my bit for the Vulcan fund by selling picture through Dave Keys web site (http://home.clara.net/dak2/index.htm), i might suggest to him that i we do the same for Sally B.
Phil

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,907

RE: Are you lot sure ???

Ok at 4:20 pm BST on Saturday 18-08-01, I saw a B17 in all green USAF markings (ww2 style - from my Wrbirds book it looks like the coulour scheame from the film mephis bell) fly over my house very low. now thats coming rouglhy from east kent (the only airfield that way is Manston, though it could be an overflight of my very small local rochester airport) to west kent.

now forgive me if i'm wrong but this is flying, and the only other b17 (flying) i can find about is confederate AF and its one is i cna only see in silver.

can you explain ???

rabie :9

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 50

RE: Are you lot sure ???

Are us lot sure about what?

It probably was SallyB that you saw, no-one has actually said it has stopped flying, and hopefully never will either!
There is however a real possibility that it might be grounded, in GB at any rate, this according to the owners alledgedly.

If it wasn't SallyB you saw then it would have been the French based B17 "Pink Lady", although very unlikely considering it only appears to come over here once every couple of years or so, although I think I am right that it has been to Flying Legends at Duxford two years in a row now, please correct me if wrong.

Actually ,can anyone say exactly how many times it has been here, including for the Memphis Belle work where I was lucky to see it and the other four flyers (plus Mary Alice in the hanger) back in the summer of 89.....wonderful time that was, seeing FIVE B17s and the B25 cameraship taking off together, and FIVE Mustangs and THREE Hispanos waiting for their turn........dreams are made of less than this.....

Cheers,FURY.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 1

RE: Sally B - the future

I'm on the other side of the pond, but still it's heartening to
read all these creative ideas being raised with the aim of keeping "Sally B" where she belongs: in the sky above the UK, where she means so much to so many.

There is indeed a precedent for a B-17G covered from Norden to Cheyenne with signatures...Boeing's 5000th Fort, nicknamed "5 Grand", was signed by all the employees as she came down the line, and was delivered that way for service. (The real "5 Grand" is long gone now, but photos--and an incredible 1:48 model at the NASM storage facility--survive.) So...refinish "Sally B" in semi-gloss silver with the serial and nose art of "5 Grand" (of course the "Sally B" art would stay, on one side), then let the
paying public have at the completion of the scheme!

IAT would indeed be quite the venue for such an idea given the
sheer size of that show; but it needn't be limited to one event,
or even just one season for that matter. Over here, CWH did this sort of thing with one of their Harvards (CF-UUU) a few years ago, and the aircraft spent an entire season gathering signatures and off-the-cuff art from museum supporters. A B-17 is far larger than a Harvard, of course; I could see this idea helping defray the cost of operating the Fort for two or three years at least...
and the historic precedent that exists for doing this with a B-17
is rather the icing on the cake.

Rides in "Sally B"? I wonder what the CAA would think: but this
does happen with at least one B-17 in the States, the Yankee AF
example at Willow Run, Michigan, quite regularly in the summer...
CWH do quite well with two Harvards and a Stearman on pleasure flights: how about a T-6 ("Little Sally"?) finished as an 8AF B-17 unit "taxi"...?

Whatever ideas do or don't get taken up, I wish B-17 Preservation the very best in their continued efforts to keep
"Sally B" overhead, over there! And kudos to FlyPast for its
involvement and commitment as well.

Cheers

Steve Tournay
Hamilton, Canada

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,907

RE: Are you lot sure ???

oh ok i was undr the impression she was not flying and when i saw i said W.T.F. cos of what you lot had said. of course i hope that she still goes on flying cos its great.

rabie :9

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 50

Sally B ,the future

Just had a look at the SallyB site and they have got the latest news and an order form for the £395 "name on the plane" scheme.
Says nothing about any other ideas though or whether their scheme is expected to save SallyB from going back to the USA.

HoHum!