sandiego89 wrote:
No idea on the circled item AFWHITE (light perhaps?), but I also note this provides great detail of the filled in turret area. So it looks like if you checked the Silverplate/turret delete option at the Omaha dealer, it looks like you got a robust plug- not sure if they tried to gouge you with the floor mats and undercoating
I note the double set of rivets around the perimeter of the plug. So is this a hard rivet, or am I just seeing robust double row of rivets along the perimeter of the plug and the plug was bolted in place? I note the rivet patterns on the plug match the fuselage rivet lines, perhaps suggesting frames underneath that connect to the fuselage frames? I imagine with more time a single flush skin in the area would have been easier/lighter, but the plug was expedient without a major tech change.
So in summary, were the Silverplate turret plugs essentially permanent, ie hard riveted?
Yes, the Silverplate aircraft were built as such, and were not intended to be reverted back to "normal" production type B-29s with turrets.
I always wondered why they just didn't run flush "skin" over the areas that housed the turrets, and I believe it was simply a matter of getting them built expeditiously. The structural members were already in place (engineering studies complete, etc.) and it was simply a matter of creating large "patches" to cover the areas rather than re-engineer new structural ribs and stringers.