RIP the B-17 and P-63 aircrew

I was sad to learn that the B-17 Flying Fortress that was delighting me over the course of a week this summer, by flying over my house with those big radial engines, was the one that got nailed by a Bell P-63 Kingcobra over Dallas Executive Airport on Saturday. 

It appears that the P-63 pilot was banking left and descending, and the B-17 was in their blind spot below and right. The Kingcobra hit the Fortress fuselage hard, just behind the wing, and bisected it. With no pitch or yaw control and severely forward center of gravity, the remaining wing and forward fuselage immediately nosed into the ground just a few hundred feet below. RIP the six aircrew of both aircraft…