B-17G "Chuckie" Update

[b29flteng]

It is a major structural component of the airframe, thus the name of stress panel. It is made of much thicker aluminum skin with, at times, framework attached on the inside. The airframe needs to be supported while these panels are removed, otherwise the airframe could twist out of shape.

[Pogo]

Very cool, thank you sir.

And now, if anyone cares to go further into it .... possibly with illustrative photos? .... please know that there is at least one person watching who is intensely interested in learning more, both the theory (engineering) and practical (A&P) ends of it. I've been around these things forever as a museum volunteer type, but somehow never learned the finer points of 'em.

[LysanderUK]

Very cool, thank you sir.

And now, if anyone cares to go further into it .... possibly with illustrative photos? .... please know that there is at least one person watching who is intensely interested in learning more, both the theory (engineering) and practical (A&P) ends of it. I've been around these things forever as a museum volunteer type, but somehow never learned the finer points of 'em.

There's a good example of a stress panel over on the "What's up with Hot Stuff" thread in the Hangar section, showing what one looks like and the kind of work and thought that has to go into removing one. Click on the link and go down to the post for April 26th...

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25790&start=345

Hope this is of help!

[Pogo]

Oh, I get it now -- stress panels are like extra strong skin sections that pick up loading where lack of internal structure is been necessitated by fuel cells and such? Is that reading it right?

THX, LysanderUK ..... there's just no way I can keep up with all these threads!!

[b29flteng]

Oh, I get it now -- stress panels are like extra strong skin sections that pick up loading where lack of internal structure is been necessitated by fuel cells and such? Is that reading it right?

THX, LysanderUK ..... there's just no way I can keep up with all these threads!!

Correct

[Second Air Force]

Here is a photo of the inboard right hand fuel cell access opening on Chuckie, with Ellen preparing the bay for installing the fuel tank. The white truss is the inboard wing rib and connects to the forward and aft spars.



The stress panel bolts to the green flange around the opening with a gazillion 1/4" screws in a double row. The panel essentially makes the fuel bay opening as strong as the panel would be as a solid assembly. As b29flteng stated, we install the stress panels if we have to move the airplane for any reason as they maintain the structural integrity of the wing structure between the spars. On the B-17 there are four stress panels, one at each main fuel tank.

Scott

[Pogo]

Thanks again, y'all -- it's this exact sorta thing that keeps me donating $ to WIX (good faith plug for site ops).

[Second Air Force]

We're glad to share info when we can, Kurt--and thanks for supporting the WIX operation.

Here are a few photos of the action this weekend. The first one is Brian, Bill, and Steve working on the aft spar:



Rick and Steve installing inlet ducting in the leading edge of the opposite wing:



Steve installing the intakes in the right wing root. If anyone has a NOS set or two of these ducts just collecting dust every B-17 operator/restorer would love to talk to you.



The prop-less left engines waiting for the propellers to come back from the shop, with Miguel working on left wing items:



And, last but not least, we have a couple of new mascots/hangar critters. Steve found this little guy scuttling across the hangar and picked him up for a visit. As we were leaving yesterday we found a second one.




Ellen and Karen worked on prepping the wings and nacelles yesterday and we had other volunteers toiling away in the heat on some of the other projects we'd like to finish soon.

More later,
Scott

[boeingb17f]

We're really going to miss you at Thunder Over Michigan this year Chuckie. You would have broken the record for the most B-17's in the air at the same time since WW2. We have 8 B-17's that will be there so far. We're trying to get Fuddy Duddy to attend, but not having much luck. 8 B-17's is great, but 9 wouild be better. 10 with Chuckie!! That would put a tear in anyone's eye!! We miss ya!!
Keep em flying!!!!

[CrewDawg]

Who said we weren't going to Thunder? We're working our butts off to get back in the air in time for August 6-8! We just completed the inspection of the spar bolt holes (no defects found thank you very much!) and are going to be reinstalling the last of the bolts in the next week or two. Once we get that done we hope to finish the last of our maintenance and be flying in late June or early July.

You guys can help by donating to VFM and Thunder and helping Michael Luther get sponsors to help pay for all of these B-17's to come to Michigan. The average operating cost of a B-17 is $3500.00 PER HOUR of operation. The folks at YAM and Thunder are spending a lot of money to bring the Gathering of Fortress's together, every little bit helps so buy your tickets now!! This will most likely be the last time any of us see this many B-17's in the air in one place, at one time. Each year the number of flyable airframes sadly decreases due to the ever increasing cost of operation.

We are more determined than ever to bring Chuckie to TOM since Doc passed away. We VFM volunteers feel that it's our job to make sure that Doc's legacy continues and that we keep his B-17 flying for many years to come.

[Second Air Force]

Ditto to what Bill said in his last post. No one at VFM has any intention of missing TOM if we have anything to say about it.

Scott

[pmahaffey]

We (Steve and I with help from Byam Prop Shop) have completed the inspection of the prop for the number one engine. It will be back on the airplane this weekend. I am going to start tearing down the number two prop on monday. I plan to take some photos of that process. Things are really starting to come together. See everyone at Thunder over Michagan.

Patrick Mahaffey
B-17 "Chuckie"
B-25 "Pacific Prowler"
B-26K

[CrewDawg]

More progress this weekend, as promised Pat hung the #1 prop back on the airplane after completing the prop A.D.

Installing the prop distributor valve.





Torqueing the prop nut


Inside the prop hub prior to installation


Prop installed


Pat should have #2 done this week and we'll put it on next weekend, I'll try to get more pictures then.

In other news, I installed 3 more spar bolts and we only have a handful more left to install. If all goes well we'll be putting those in next weekend also.

Rick serviced the #2 and #3 engine turbo oil tanks that had been refurbed and bled the air out of the oil pump pick up tube. The engine turbos have thier own oil supply and pump to lubricate the turbo bearings. Since the turbo's on Chuckie are still fully operational it's crucial to ensure that those bearings have a correct supply of clean oil. The turbo's can spin at incredible speeds and any problems with the supply of oil to those bearings can cause a turbo to fail. We don't use them very often, but if we need them, we want them to work.

It's all starting to move pretty quickly now, we're hitting a lot of major milestones in quick succession. The spar A.D. was the biggest hurddle and we've all but cleared it. Installing new bolts is much easier than removing old ones. As I've said previously, once the bolts are all back in we can install the inboard fuel tanks, do our leak checks, reinstall the panels and do some engine runs. Thunder over Michigan is looking better and better each weekend!

[Second Air Force]

I was digging in the Structural Repair T.O. while catching up on paperwork and stumbled onto this:



I didn't think Burt Rutan was old enough to have worked on wartime Fortresses!

Scott

[RAMC181]

Just something random I spotted, following on from another thread regarding "The Best Years of our Lives" movie.

Isn't that an H2X scanner support frame in this still?





All the best,
PB