Warbird Information Exchange

Hey all,

Most of you are aware of a series of photos taken by B-17 guru Karl Hauffe in the fall of 1979 of Memphis Belle while she was still a gate guard in Memphis, TN. Well, I've been referring to these recently and I thought I might give Mr. Hauffe a hand by cleaning the pictures up and removing the blue-tint left by the flash. Kudos to Karl and hopefully, this will be some use to the USAF and other restoration effforts.


Bombardier's Control Panel


Navigator's Bulkhead/Instrument Panel Rear


Fuse Box/Cockpit Bulkhead (note the oxygen bottle mount)


Instrument Panel/Throttles


Bombbay (complete with Karl's friend Randy sweating out the Memphis heat)


Pilot's Window (replaced with plastic)


Bombbay Armor Plate (behind the Fuse Box/Cockpit Bulkhead)


Cockpit


Bomb Rack (Left Outboard)


Bombbay Fuel Pump (in front of the Radio Bulkhead)


Radio Operator's Gun Mount/Ball Turret Mount


Radio Operator's Bulkhead (note the insulation)


Waist Guns (note the field modified ammo boxes)


Top Turret Controls


Co-Pilot Controls (note the insulation and bronze green paint)


Pilot Controls


Bombardier's Station


Hydraulics System/Cockpit Bulkhead


Top Turret


Top Turret base


Nose Floor


Main Entry


Nose

Very interesting pics, thanks for posting.
I saw her in Memphis in 1984 (from the opposite end of the airfield mind you.)
I was a passenger in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Dakota.
Memphis was a refuel stop on our way to Harlingen Texas.
I knew that she was on site and made a point of pointing her out to the others in my group.

Andy

The Belle really suffered while it was there on display. Looking forward to the day when she emerges from the restoration shop in Dayton. I'm sure thats a few years away yet.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

As she sits now in the restoration area she's a beauty! I highly recommend a trip through the restoration area. I've done it a few times already and after each visit I walk out with eyes wide and lower jaw hanging low!

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A&P/I.A., A.A.S./Aviation Maintenance technology
Warbird salvage/recovery
One day I'll get that P-40!

Once the new building there at the museum is open hopefully full attention by the restoration staff will be directed towards the Belle. Whomever is going to paint the new nose art will have quite a rewarding job I would think.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Great pics thanks !

Just think, somewhere out there are probably guys with a yoke or an altimeter or whatever on a shelf that they point to and say, "That's off the Memphis Belle," and the more serious warbird nuts just roll their eyes and say, "Sure it is..."

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Keep 'em Flying.

They actually have the original yokes and control panel. The yokes were taken, then later the guy felt bad and sent them to Robert Morgan.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

I stand corrected then. I had remembered the yokes were taken but forgot they were returned.

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Keep 'em Flying.

There are plenty of other parts stolen from the Belle that I'm sure are gathering dust in Memphis area antique stores to this day. Not to mention in some man cave set ups in that same metro area.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

If anybody reads this, I got a question about the ammo boxes in the waist area. Karl said that these were tail gun boxes modified for waist usage. Now, apparently, this was pretty common...


The Belle.


Clark Gable on board 8-Ball.


A William Wyler publicity shot of Invasion 2nd.


The hydraulically boosted set-up on the YB-40.


My question is this: I have never seen one of these ammo cans in person. Are they metal or heavily varnished wood? Does anybody have one or a a clear picture of one. The same goes for the ammo feed chutes in the Clark Gable picture, which appear almost solid - I've even seen pics of the Memphis Belle showing the waist with this odd-looking setup.

I realize that quite a lot changed during our involvement in the war, but I find it odd that with all our preservation efforts, early war setups like these remain so alien.