Warbird Information Exchange

Hi

Hope someone can supply any information, I would like to ask if Paul Allen ever had two B-17's.
I know he had or they still have in the collection 41-9210 but did they own or maybe still do a later model a F or G.

Any information welcome.

They have only had the one B-17

He has CF-ICB.

The one my Dad flew for Kenting.

It sure would be nice to see 41-9210 back in one piece again some day! These are the last known photos taken of the aircraft in one piece, when it arrived at Arlington in 1999 after having been under restoration in Florida and acquired by Paul Allen. It looked incredibly evocative in the polished bare metal and USAAC markings. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ ... -42-29782/

The JNE Spirit of St. Louis Facebook page just recently shared a brief clip from around 2002/2003 which shows part of the wing sections of this aircraft under restoration at the time, stripped down to bare bones.

I posed this to a docent at FHCAM about a year ago. He said that given what it would take to put it back together, the cost of operations, and the number of single engine projects they could get going for the same expense we should not hold our breath on seeing the B-17 anytime in the near future. There are just too many other projects in line ahead of it - see Ju 87 for example. That's going to be a huge draw. Not that a B-17 wouldn't, but there's already at least one in the Seattle area and several more spread about the country. Ju 87s? Not so much.

Regarding B-17Es, I bet we see Desert Rat/Tangerine fly way before 41-9210.

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

I seriously wonder whether or not, now that Paul Allen has passed away, if a project like the B-17 would ultimately be sold off to allow the organization to focus resources on other projects? Not that they need money right now, but almost every organization like this one, which is started as the pet project of one individual, goes through a winnowing process after that person dies. A huge, 4 engine, multi-million dollar project like this B-17 wouldn't be nearly as efficient for an organization to do compared to one that rebuilt something smaller and far more rare. But if they don't need the money, and have ample storage space, it could be that there will be no need for it to see the light of day for decades.
kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

Maybe loan it to a museum.

Phil

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A man's got to know his limitations.

This.

Weren't they working on a Fw 189 at one point in time as well? Or did that go somewhere else?

I saw it at Arlington around 8-9 years ago...it looked like a brand new airplane. The center section was fairly complete with a lot of new metal. The level of detail they are striving for was slowing the project considerably. A few years later they were saying that worked had slowed to focus on the more exotic airframes. When they moved most of their projects to Seattle to do 'in-house', that really put it on the back burner. There are/ or were a lot of really cool hush hush projects going on that have really gone off the radar since PA's passing. I hope they maintain the course, the potential for some really rare airplanes flying again could still happen.

jim

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www.spiritof44.com