Memphis Belle update

[mustangdriver]

A guy in my squadron recently made a low pass over the base before departing for the desert. I saw it with my own eyes. I'm pretty easy going, but I agreed that it was a bit much and a breach of flight safety, especially because it was near max gross weight and below our training altitudes. During the investigation, the commanding General had some words with him. The pilot professed that he did it for his family - the General said that the pilot broke the rules and common sense not for his family, but because he was selfish. I'm rarely on the side of the brass, but the General was right.

Cranking the Belle is also selfish. Brand me a stick in the mud, but cranking her is a pure mistake. The systems won't be preserved as they're assembled by the technicians in the same way as if a run was not in the cards. After the run, you'll never clean the exhaust residue, oil, fuel, and other lubricants well enough (compared to no engine run) - it just subjects her to the prep, the run, and the additional chemicals for cleaning. The seams and joints where the cleaner either can't go or subsequently drain will suffer. And no matter how good folks say that oil and residue is "preservative", we know it's wordplay considering the long-term goal of a museum like NMUSAF.

Because she won't fly again, restore and preserve her as best as is possible and leave her be. What's best for the machine beats what's best for man. Having other B-17s fly-by to help celebrate the completion of this great restoration is a fab idea.

If the goal is preserving her for many generations to come, then running her doesn't contribute to that one bit - it's a distraction. You can argue that it enhances her display by showing a video of the run to everyone for the next 200 years. That's no different than us looking back at her running and flying in wartime footage.

If we really cared about the machine and the overall goal, we'd skip it.

Ken

And that is the other side of my battle. Is it worth it? I am not 100% sure what the celebration is going to be. The Belle is being restored to flyable conndition with ALL of her systems intact. But she will never be flown. She is far too important of an artifact for that. So I am not sure we will see the run.

[mustangdriver]

First off gather all of the flying B-17's to do an all B-17 air show

at the cost of mere millions

Again Jack. It was done once before, and the owners did it for just the cost of fuel because they felt it was important to honor the most famous B-17.

[ZRX61]

If the goal is preserving her for many generations to come, then running her doesn't contribute to that one bit -
Ken

Yes it does, if they don't run MB then it won't smell right. Freshly restored birds ALWAYS smell better after the first run, before that they don't really smell like an aircraft.
JCs F7F has been in the US for quite a while & it still smells EXACTLY like Hangar 2 at Dx. It doesn't smell like any of the other birds I've wrenched on at VN, even the others there with 2 R2800's hung on em.
MB needs to be run to get it's stink on, then they can park it.

[mustangdriver]

Is it me, or do B-17's just have a smell like no other?

[ZRX61]

Is it me, or do B-17's just have a smell like no other?

I can't speak for *all* B17's as I've only been in 7 or 8 of them, but I do know "The Movie Belle" smelled like KFC, McD's & a half dozen other fastfood outlets when it landed at Dx to take part in filming about 20 years ago... I think they must have taken off with fastfood on board at every stop on the way to the UK, unless they had a total pig out when they cleared UK Customs...

[mustangdriver]

She has been cared for a bit better since that time. HA HA

[Ryan Keough]

Is it me, or do B-17's just have a smell like no other?

I can't speak for *all* B17's as I've only been in 7 or 8 of them, but I do know "The Movie Belle" smelled like KFC, McD's & a half dozen other fastfood outlets when it landed at Dx to take part in filming about 20 years ago... I think they must have taken off with fastfood on board at every stop on the way to the UK, unless they had a total pig out when they cleared UK Customs...

Could be because Dave T. used to carry a popcorn machine to shows and sell popcorn at the PX under the wing... I am sure that smell could waft through the plane!

Fuddy Duddy never got rid of the smell of spraying chemicals they used when she was a workhorse... to this day I am sure she smells the same!

[astixjr]

Here's a question for the Memphis Belle freaks on WIX. Are there any photos of the Belle taken when it was in service, that show the ball turret in enough detail to determine if it had the end bell caps were installed? These caps attach to the sides of a ball turret and actually make it look much more like a "ball". I'm told that most of the time, the WWII era mechanics removed them so very few sets have survived.

I've got a small pile of parts ready to ship to the USAFM for both the Sperry upper and Sperry ball. If the Belle had end caps, I'd really like to see these originals wind up on the finished Memphis Belle. In the mean time, I'm trying to find a way to make several sets of exact replicas of the end caps for other ball turrets. I've been told that my set is one of only two loose sets known. Anyone know of any others? How about any existing ball turrets that still have them installed?

If I don't send these parts soon, I'm afraid that Roger and Greg will request that the General order a B-2 strike on my house. It would be a short flight from their base.

Last edited by astixjr on Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Shay]

does this help??....click bottom right to enlarge

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Memphis_Belle.jpg

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[k5083]

If the goal is preserving her for many generations to come, then running her doesn't contribute to that one bit -
Ken

Yes it does, if they don't run MB then it won't smell right. Freshly restored birds ALWAYS smell better after the first run, before that they don't really smell like an aircraft.
JCs F7F has been in the US for quite a while & it still smells EXACTLY like Hangar 2 at Dx. It doesn't smell like any of the other birds I've wrenched on at VN, even the others there with 2 R2800's hung on em.
MB needs to be run to get it's stink on, then they can park it.

But then for the smell to be authentic, wouldn't they have to take the Belle back to Bassingbourn in the UK for the run-up? I mean, surely we wouldn't want to embed the smell of Ohio in her!



August

[Ryan Keough]

I mean, surely we wouldn't want to embed the smell of Ohio in her!

Objection! Move to strike! Clearly the witness doesn't realize that Dayton air is much different than Cleveland air... afterall your honor, it was good enough for the Wrights!

[Shay]

I mean, surely we wouldn't want to embed the smell of Ohio in her!



August

The irony of this comment, is that someone from New York said it.

Or is that "Pew York"?


Shay
____________
Semper Fortis