P-63 and B-17 midair Dallas

[RocketMan]

Especially one of the few remaining WW2 bombers. I wonder if the CAF is any better about maintenance than the Collings Foundation (the owners of the bomber that crashed at Bradley Airport in Connecticut) were?

When I was a member of the Arizona Wing of the CAF, we were meticulous about our maintenance.  We were the ones flying in our birds and didn't really want to crash and burn.  We had some very capable licensed A&Ps as members, and they kept us legal, supervising all the work that was done.  One of the members had actually been a flight engineer on Sentimental Journey, our B-17G, for a while shortly after WWII when it was doing photo mapping in the Philippines.  This was before it was sold as surplus by the AAF.
YMMV with other CAF wings in different areas of the country, not to mention the passage of time.  I was a member for over six years during the '80s.

[BobR]

When I was a member of the Arizona Wing of the CAF, we were meticulous about our maintenance.  We were the ones flying in our birds and didn't really want to crash and burn. 

That is usually a pretty good motivator to not cut corners, etc. When I first checked into VRC 30, a squadron in San Diego they had a base wide reputation of all being dopers. I took over the piss test coordinator role for the command and had several all hands piss tests in 6 months plus many random ones . I cleaned up a lot of the drug use by helping them exit the Navy. Those people were working on the planes I was flying out to the carriers on, that is dangerous enough without shoddy maintenance.

bob

[Boomhauer]

I must point out that when in a turn, as a pilot, you are concentrating on where you are going - that is, looking into the turn. That would put the B-17 just outside his field of view. The pilot of the B-17 wouldn't have seen the P-63 coming either, as the P-63 came in from about 7 or 8 o'clock.

Woody

Not to mention the closure rate was such that there wasn’t going to be any evasive action anyway on the part of either aircraft at a “last second” sighting

[AZRedhawk44]

When I was a member of the Arizona Wing of the CAF, we were meticulous about our maintenance.  We were the ones flying in our birds and didn't really want to crash and burn.  We had some very capable licensed A&Ps as members, and they kept us legal, supervising all the work that was done.  One of the members had actually been a flight engineer on Sentimental Journey, our B-17G, for a while shortly after WWII when it was doing photo mapping in the Philippines.  This was before it was sold as surplus by the AAF.
YMMV with other CAF wings in different areas of the country, not to mention the passage of time.  I was a member for over six years during the '80s.

I see Sentimental Journey flying overhead here in Mesa frequently.  I've toured her a couple of times, but never had an opportunity to fly in her (well, never had the money to expend on the opportunity).  She is a beauty to behold, and each time I meet crew members that maintain her I'm impressed by their dedication to keeping the craft in peak condition.