"Different" B-17's ...

[Mark Allen M]

I've got a bunch of 'other than normal' B-17's to post if anyone is interested in "different stuff".

Below: ORIOLE air to air missile testing in 1952. Martin Co. photo shows equipment to be removed from a previously modified PB-1W for use in ORIOLE tests. Baltimore, MD
What's those hanging down from the gun barrels?



Below: Another PB-1W for use in ORIOLE air to air missile test as a test bed aircraft. All kinds of 'weird stuff' sticking out of the nose of this one.



Below: Converted B-17F 42–29782 with even more 'weird stuff' attached for some type of testing I can't recall off hand - survives in flyable condition but limited to static display, Museum of Flight, Seattle

[Mark Allen M]

And of course there's this one. I believe this B-17 is listed in the WIX B-17 index somewhere if I recall.

[JohnB]

The bottom aircraft is 44-85813, used by Curtiss Wright as an engine test bed. Like the P&W testbed (now owned by the Liberty Foundation), it had its original nose replaced with various engines and props. At one time it was used supporting Super Constellation development.

After being sold, it was ferried to Black Hills aviation with that temporary nose.
It then served as a fire bomber until 1980 when it crashed and became the basis for the Champaign Lady project.
I visited the Champaign project in 2011, is must be almost finished.

Also, a nice shot of a '57 Plymouth and a '62-3 Ford.

[aerovin]

I've got a bunch of 'other than normal' B-17's to post if anyone is interested in "different stuff".


What's those hanging down from the gun barrels?

Presumably ejector chutes to keep shells from hitting the radome when firing the chin turret.

These photos are great, particularly the first two. After doing research on PB-1Ws for many years I have not seen these photos nor mention of the ORIOLE air to air missile tests.

Looking at B-17 In Blue (https://www.aerovintage.com/product/b-17-in-blue/), I see that PB-1W BuNo 77232 (B-17G 44-83864) was bailed to the Glen Martin Company at Baltimore, MD, in February 1950, where it remained until July 1952. The Martin Company developed the AAM-N-4 Oriole air-to-air missile at Baltimore and it was being tested in that time frame. I suspect that this is the aircraft in the photo. (it went on to fly civil as XB-BOE and then tanker N73648). I noted in the book it was bailed for "an undetermined test program'...perhaps it is now determined. Interesting stuff.

Interesting to see how the radome fairing was integrated into the forward escape hatch. Great detail in the first photo.

Last edited by aerovin on Sun Nov 19, 2023 9:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[aerovin]

I've got a bunch of 'other than normal' B-17's to post if anyone is interested in "different stuff".

Below: Converted B-17F 42–29782 with even more 'weird stuff' attached for some type of testing I can't recall off hand - survives in flyable condition but limited to static display, Museum of Flight, Seattle

It could not have been B-17F 42-29782 as that airplane was surplus and displayed at a Stuttgart, Arkansas, park after 1946. This photo is of one of three possible B-17s...44-83461 or 44-83587 or ??? and in the Cloud Physics Project out of Olmsted AFB in the 1950s. More photos and details in Alwyn Lloyd's Detail and Scale volume 3 on pages 62-63. Interesting modifications. Thanks for posting all of these.

[Noha307]

What's those hanging down from the gun barrels?

Presumably ejector chutes to keep shells from hitting the radome when firing the chin turret.

A slightly different purpose, but it reminds me of the fume extractors on the bottom of some B-25 noses. Given the shape and mounting location, they are a bit reminiscent of gun turret stabilizing fins as well.

[Ken]

In the first photo, it is amazing how similar in shape the radome is to the one adopted on the AD-4W and AD-5W Skyraider. The chin turret protrusions are fascinating ... which begs the question, do we know that the guns were installed for these tests, or could there be another purpose for the add-ons?

Ken

[sandiego89]

In the first photo, it is amazing how similar in shape the radome is to the one adopted on the AD-4W and AD-5W Skyraider......

I would not be surprised if the Avenger, B-17 and later the Skyraider used the same radome. Under project Cadillac the AN/APS 20 radar was fitted to both the Avenger and the B-17 (and PB-1) during the same time window.

[Dave Hadfield]

If you want to see "Different" B-17s doing incredibly useful, productive, work, look at Kenting, in the 1950s and '60s.

They had two, CF-ICB and CF-HBP, which mapped a very large part of the wild places of the earth using hi-res cameras. The B-17 could get higher than almost anything else with a big load due to the turbochargers, and in those days R-1820s were cheap.

Later they were able to economize and use a P-38 for jobs such as the Andes. Same idea: high altitude, side-scanning cameras, high-res, for stereo analysis of terrain to make topo maps with very accurate relief.

My Dad flew them then, and I remember crawling around inside. Sort-of. I was 3. But even at that age I knew it was cool.

Last edited by Dave Hadfield on Wed Nov 22, 2023 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Dave Hadfield]

Incidentally, both aircraft still exist. HBP is in Savanah with the 8th Air Force Museum, and ICB is with whatever the Paul Allen collection has become, in pieces AFAIK.