A B-17 flying fortress flight crew on a media flight may have briefly entered the local area class B...

Attributes
ACN	1074749
Time
Date	201303
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Flying Fortress (B17)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Exhaust Pipe
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Total 13200 Flight Crew Type 1200
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Airspace Violation All Types

Narrative:

I departed in a B-17 for a local 15 minute media flight accompanied by my co-pilot. Charts and equipment on board and in use included a garmin 430; and 396; current sectional chart and a local area TCA chart. As the airplane climbed on runway heading; I executed a climbing turn to the north. Just then I then detected a change in sound in a power plant and rolled the airplane wings level. While scanning the instrument panel for abnormal indications I asked the co-pilot if he had heard any unusual noise. The co-pilot said no; so I again rolled right and continued my turn to the east. It was then the tower advised us that we clipped the edge of the adjacent class B although I didn't believe my momentary northerly heading placed me that far out and that I was still below the 1;800 foot shelf; at 1;500 feet. I did not declare an emergency but continued monitoring the engines and instruments. We were back on the ground in 15 minutes as planned; and the awaiting crew chief advised me to shut down. It was then discovered we had completely lost the exhaust stack on the number 3 cylinder of number 4 engine; and the cowl flap was burned.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B-17 Flying Fortress flight crew on a media flight may have briefly entered the local area Class B while investigating an aurally perceived power plant anomaly. After landing they determined an exhaust stack from the Number 4 engine had departed the airframe.

Narrative: I departed in a B-17 for a local 15 minute media flight accompanied by my co-pilot. Charts and equipment on board and in use included a Garmin 430; and 396; current Sectional Chart and a local area TCA Chart. As the airplane climbed on runway heading; I executed a climbing turn to the North. Just then I then detected a change in sound in a power plant and rolled the airplane wings level. While scanning the instrument panel for abnormal indications I asked the co-pilot if he had heard any unusual noise. The co-pilot said no; so I again rolled right and continued my turn to the East. It was then the Tower advised us that we clipped the edge of the adjacent Class B although I didn't believe my momentary northerly heading placed me that far out and that I was still below the 1;800 foot shelf; at 1;500 feet. I did not declare an emergency but continued monitoring the engines and instruments. We were back on the ground in 15 minutes as planned; and the awaiting Crew Chief advised me to shut down. It was then discovered we had completely lost the exhaust stack on the Number 3 cylinder of Number 4 engine; and the cowl flap was burned.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

A B-17 flying fortress flight crew on a media flight may have briefly entered the local area class B while investigating an aurally perceived power plant anomaly. After landing they determined an exhaust stack from the number 4 engine had departed the airframe.