Lady Be Good. The aircraft was intact despite the crash landing and was in an excellent state of preservation. The diary also says the group survived for eight days in the desert, with only a single canteen of water to share. In February 1960, the United States Army conducted a formal search of the area for the remains of the crew. In August 1994, the remains of the craft were recovered by a team led by Dr. Fadel Ali Mohamed and taken to a Libyan military base in Tobruk for safekeeping. The remains of one of the air gunners, S/Sgt Vernon L. Moore, have never been officially found. In April of 1943, she had been reported missing in action during a routine bombing run from Libya to Italy. The joint operation used a USAF C-130 cargo plane and two Army Bell H-13 helicopters. No human remains were found on board the aircraft nor in the surrounding crash site, nor were parachutes found. [1] It played strongly there, running for 326 performances. [2]:p.31 It has been speculated that the dark and empty desert floor may have resembled open sea. On the way, all the aircraft encountered stormy weather. Dick finally tells Shirley that he loves her, while Watty and Susie (in disguise) execute their plan. (U.S. Air Force photo) PHOTO DETAILS / DOWNLOAD HI-RES 12 of 16 The propellers on engines 1, 2, and 3 had been feathered and not under power when the plane crashed. [citation needed], Largely because it was believed that the aircraft had probably crashed at sea, a subsequent search and rescue mission from Soluch Air Base failed to find any trace of the aircraft or its crew. A C-47 that received a radio receiver crashed into the Mediterranean. [1] Hays had been on his first combat mission. A recovery team made initial trips from Wheelus Air Base to the crash site on May 26, 1959.[5]. The plane, which was from 376th Bomb Group, was believed to have been lost—with its nine-man crew—in the Mediterranean Sea while returning to its base in Libya following a bombing raid on Naples on April 4, 1943. Almost 16 years after the disappearance of ‘Lady Be Good’, search teams had a breakthrough about the doomed plane. “Quite simply the best feedback we’ve ever had from an audience” – Jazzamatazz Jazz Club, Coventry 2018 The abandoned Lady Be Good flew a further 26 km (16 mi) before it crash-landed into the Calanscio Sand Sea. DAYTON, Ohio -- One of the four propellers and an engine from the "Lady Be Good" are on display in the World War II Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Lady, Be Good! Leading Lady takes pride in being able to offer women the style, fit and quality they desire. The propeller was transferred from the 40th Troop Carrier Squadron. The first reported sighting of the crash site was on November 9, 1958, by a British oil exploration team working for British Petroleum (BP) in the northeast of Libya's Kufra District. These were quickly photographed and buried on the spot. A somewhat well known Libyan military officer, Suleiman Mahmoud was a commander in Gaddafi's army, where he served as commander of the Tobruk Military Region. A propeller can be seen in front of the village hall in Lake Linden, the home of Robert E. LaMotte. Annabelle Anders. After walking 130 km (81 mi) from the crash site, the location of the remains of the five airmen shows they had waited behind while the other three (Guy Shelley, "Rip" Ripslinger and Vernon Moore) set off north, to try to find help. In 2001, a member of the patrol recalled the incident and photographic forensic investigation of the remains concluded they had likely belonged to a male whose head may have been shaped like Moore's. Attempting to simulate the last few minutes of the of Lady Be Good's final flight in order to extract a few pieces of "forensic" information is of course wholly dependent on insuring that the virtual model, as well as the simulator platform, are as finely calibrated as possible in terms of replicating the flight dynamics and environmental factors that would have naturally been present in life. A most charming musical romance framed around courtroom divorce proceedings, Lady Be Good finds songwriting lovers constantly making up and breaking up amidst their many successes. 274 likes. A US Army helicopter found the body of T/Sgt Harold J. Ripslinger on May 17, 1960, located 42 km (26 mi) northwest of Shelley's body, over 320 km (200 mi) from the crash site, but still 160 km (99 mi) from Soluch airbase. The main characters once again depict a Texas golfer and a British lady. National Museum of the United States Air Force, Diaries of Co-Pilot Robert F. Toner and Tech. His body was then recovered by the US Air Force. Two B-24s attacked their secondary target on the return trip while the other two aircraft dumped their bombs into the Mediterranean to reduce weight and save fuel.[1]. The Lady Be Good had skidded almost 700 yards, the stress of the crash breaking the body of the aircraft just behind the main wings. by the Carl Fenton Orchestra was made during the same month, Dec. 1924, that the show, Lady Be Good, starring Adele and Fred Astaire, opened on Broadway. Although the plane was broken into two pieces, it was immaculately preserved, with functioning machine guns, a working radio, and some supplies of food and water. Meet Lady Be Good We are four professional musicians and friends who want to put on a great show at your party. Set in the 1950s, Lady Be Good is Amber Brock's mesmerizing return, sweeping readers into the world of the mischievous, status-obsessed daughter of a hotel magnate and the electric nightlife of three iconic cities: New York, Miami, and Havana. The body of S/Sgt Shelley was found 32 km (20 mi) away while 43 km (27 mi) further on were the remains of T/Sgt Ripslinger. 1st Lieutenant William J. Hatton, Pilot 2. The crew either dumped their bombs in the Mediterranean or hit a secondary target en route back to Libya. The mostly intact wreckage, and evidence showing that one engine was still operating at the time of impact, suggests the aircraft gradually lost altitude in a very shallow descent, reached the flat, open desert floor, and landed on its belly. The plane had the identification number 64 stencil-painted on its nose and its given name hand-painted on the starboard, front side of the forward fuselage; it was one of 25 B-24s assigned to bomb Naples late in the afternoon of April 4. i am so awf'lly misunderstood, so lady be good, to me. Connecting the dots between the crash site and one crew member’s remains, the team was able to piece together the circumstances that surrounded the mysterious disappearance of ‘Lady Be Good’. Harold J. Ripslinger, "Body and wallets lie among 200-foot dunes" (, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lady_Be_Good_(aircraft)&oldid=1012031286, Aviation accidents and incidents in Libya, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 March 2021, at 06:06. But when the Lady Be Good arrived over Naples at 7:50 pm at 7,600 m (24,900 ft), poor visibility was obscuring the primary target. A U.S. Army de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter with an armrest from the bomber crashed in the Gulf of Sidra. Several of these items are on display. Since 2013 we have performed at over 150 weddings and events together. The survivors then died in the desert trying to walk to safety. Best Horror Movies. oh, please have some pity i'm all alone in this big city. Another British Petroleum oil exploration crew discovered the remains of 2nd Lt John S. Woravka in August 1960. In 1943, the Lady Be Good was a new Liberator bomber that had just been assigned to the 514th Bomb Squadron on March 25. Directed by Mark Brokaw and choreographed by Randy Skinner, the cast featured Tommy Tune and Douglas Sills, with Danny Gardner and Patti Murin as the brother and sister act.[3]. There are no approved quotes yet for this movie. However, it was a British Petroleum exploration crew that found the remains of S/Sgt Guy E. Shelley, on May 12, 1960, 38 km (24 mi) northwest of the recovered five bodies. 1st Lt. William J. Hatton, pilot — W… This page is dedicated to aviation buffs like me who are intrigued by the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the B-24 Liberator bomber named Lady Be Good and her crew. He is amazed to find Susie claiming the money as his "widow". 2d Lieutenan… However, the wreck was accidentally discovered 710 km (440 mi) inland in the Libyan Desert by an oil exploration team from British Petroleum on November 9, 1958. The wreckage of the Lady Be Good was taken to a Libyan Air Force base after being removed from the crash site in August 1994. Jack's uncle dies, and he is apparently a millionaire. as part of their 2013 Summer Festival Season. Only a few traces of the plane washed ashore and one of these was the armrest from the Lady Be Good. We have fun on stage and your guests will too. As they walked, the group left behind footwear, parachute scraps, Mae West vests and other items as markers to show searchers their path. During that fateful trip, Lady Be Good carried nine members of the 514th Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, 9thAir Force. It was first presented on Broadway in 1924; the West End production followed in 1926. The Lady Be Good incident was indirectly referenced in a couple of television shows and movies: In 1953, a British patrol on a desert-crossing exercise found human remains in the same area where those of Shelley and Ripslinger were later found. lady be good, oh lady be good to me. The author fills out her characters far beyond the teaser blurb. "Lady Be Good" tells the story of Dixie Donegan and Eddie Crane, once-married songwriting partners who, although now divorced, are still in love with each other. Movie & TV guides. Kindle Edition. An altimeter and manifold pressure gauge were salvaged from the plane in 1963 by Airman Second Class Ron Pike and are on display at the March Field Air Museum near Riverside, CA. Their names: 1. Lady Be Good arrived over Naples at 7:50 p.m. at an altitude of 24,900 feet, found the target socked-in by bad weather, then turned for home. But the base's radio direction finder only had a single loop antenna. The brother/sister dance team of Dick and Susie Trevor are so broke that they can't pay the rent and have been evicted from their childhood home. In the end, Dick and Shirley are reunited, Jack saves Susie from disgrace by declaring his love, and Jo and Watty pair off happily. After the crew bailed out Lady Be Good continued flying south for 26 km (16 mi) before coming to land, and there was also a chance that the crew might have found the aircraft's relatively intact wreckage, with its meager water and food supplies. Investigations concluded that the first-time (all new) crew failed to realize they had overflown their air base in a sandstorm. The team contacted authorities at Wheelus Air Base, but no attempt to examine the aircraft was made as no records existed of any plane believed to have been lost in the area. [1] These two bodies were the only ones found during Operation Climax. This was the first Broadway collaboration of the Gershwin brothers, and the Astaire siblings play a brother-sister dance te… Lady Be Good is a USAAF B-24D Liberator that disappeared without a trace on its first combat mission during World War II. The musical opened in the West End at the Empire Theatre on April 14, 1926, again starring Fred and Adele Astaire. [1][2]:p.25 The location of the wreckage was however marked on maps to be used by oil-prospecting teams that were due to set out to explore the Calanscio Sand Sea the next year. [note 1]. On April 4, 1943, a B-24D Liberator nicknamed Lady Be Good took off from Soluch, an airstrip located near Bengazi, Libya, for what would be her first and final mission. If they had headed south the same distance they walked north, the group might have reached the oasis of Wadi Zighen. [4], The title was used on an American B-24D Liberator bomber which flew for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II out of north Africa, disappeared on an April 4, 1943 raid on Naples, Italy and was found virtually intact in the Libyan desert in 1958. A Royal Air Force team visited the site in 1968 and hauled away components including an engine (later donated to the US Air Force) for evaluation by the McDonnell Douglas company. Lady Be Good is the second installment in the Wynette, Texas series. [1] After the attack, all planes were expected to return to their bases in North Africa. As they were unaware that any Allied air crews were missing in the area, the human remains were recorded but then buried without further investigation. However, one crew member, Woravka (the bombardier) did not rendezvous with the others. 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