Warbird Information Exchange

Darn it, Django, I DID forget the Jeep project!!!!! Gary has some original windshields and I'm gonna buy one for a pattern, so I guess you could say I've got a start on it. At the hangar dance the other night we had a really sharp GPW parked under Chuckie's right wing and I was sizing up the project.

Thanks for reminding me of yet another thing to do,
Scott

Ok guys,its been over a month.I just rolled through the pages and man what detail.I built one of kosters conversions and it it one nice kit.You can certainly get lost in the detail.Hey I have the masters for a Vac form 32nd scale B-17 if anybody is that crazy.

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Hang The Expense

Winter will soon be upon us.......even down here. I just haven't been inspired to work on the YB in earnest. Once I figure out how I'm going to build that 1/1 scale radome I might start feeling like working in 1/48th scale again. Heaven knows it's cheaper working on the little ones! I think I'm going to start on the aft fuselage when I do get going again.

You're right about the Koster kits--I highly recommend them! As for that 1/32nd Fortress, I have a few pieces of a 1/48th B-36 that I started back in the early eighties........

Scott

Was the dome in one to one scale made of wood?If so find a wood worker with a large lathe with a fixed end plate.Shold do the trick.If you dont know of one I will put you in touch with a pattern maker I know that has just what you need. I just like this axe thing.FAH

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Hang The Expense

The 1/1 scale radome is made of fiberglass or plastic material. I'd thought that they were all a big fiberglass layup, but it appears that some later domes (probably post-war) were segmented plastic. I've got a pretty good handle on how to make my form, and laying up the dome will be just like building a boat or Corvette. Go to the Chuckie thread and study the pair that Fortress Fan posted. They're definitely WWII issue and are made from the wartime fiberglass. I'll probably start building the form in the next couple of weeks.

Scott

We finally got some modeling weather the week of Christmas. Here is a little update on the long-dormant Y1B-17.

The last couple of sessions have been devoted to working on the forward fuselage and under-cockpit areas. I first built up the cockpit floor and instrument panel front piece. This had to be finessed and shortened to adapt to the shorter forward fuselage and new bomb bay bulkhead. Then I started adding detail parts to the kit pieces, including the lower bulkhead enclosure and the floorboard that runs down the middle of the belly. The putty on the aft cockpit bulkhead will later be smoothed out and some details added:


Once that was all fitting as it should I moved on to the bombardier/gunner section. A floorboard was added for the gunner to stand on and the instrument panel/lower bulkhead were fitted to the fuselage halves:


Since it was decided a long time ago to open the forward entry door I had to add details to the lower fuselage area. I've spent enough time in this part of Chuckie to be able to build the floorbeams from memory. I hit my head on them enough last summer to leave a lasting impression.


Here is a shot of the floor supports and right-side frames and stringers. I built the stringers this way so that I can slip them into the main fuselage in one piece. Once all the preliminary fitting and adjusting of the entire fuselage is complete I'll glue the three left and three right fuselage sections together at the joints. Then painting, detailing, and final assembly will go forward much like any kit, left and right halves.


Scott

Scott,

Awesome work you've got going on your YB-17.

I'm working on a Model 299, and feel your pain regarding all the unanticipated work that goes into making a conversion of this type. I wound up making molds for the nacelles, cowlings, turrets, nose area, and the entire dorsal area, upon which I made plastic pieces from vacuforming.

I'm curious if your research indicates whether the nacelles of these earlier aircraft may have been a bit narrower than the B-17G, in addition to the length differences. Some crude conversions from line drawings suggest that they may be.

Lemme know what your thoughts are - I'd be happy to share any info from my research that you feel might be of benefit.

Cheeers,

Geoff

Hmm...I hadn't really done much measuring of the diameter of the nacelles. You just might be on to something. The 299 almost surely had smaller nacelles since the Pratts had a lesser diameter. I know that the nacelle structure on the Y1Bs was entirely different than the later Fortresses, so I think I'll have to get the calipers out again. I'm glad you mentioned that possibility.

Start a thread if you're so inclined, we'd love to see your 299 being built. It sounds like a great project!

Scott

Thanks Scott,

Once I get some pics of the work in progress, I'll post them for you to take a look at. You had some really good approaches to this conversion that I had not thought of - looks like I'll have to implement some of your ideas on the next model (if I ever get through this one without my wife kicking me out of the house!).

Cheers,

Geoff

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S.

Scott,

A while back there was a photo of a flight of early model B-17's over an ocean liner.., was this the 'Rex'? She was an Italian Ocean Liner that noneother, than Curtis LeMay navigated over 600 miles out to see to intercept in 1937. Was the photo?

Many thanks!

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S.

Yes, the photo of the Y1B-17s was taken during the Rex visit. That really didn't win any friends with the U.S. Navy!

Scott

So, LeMay is in one of those birds.., COOL!!!!

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S.

From some of the historical accounts I've read (and they don't all agree with each other) LeMay was a junior-enough officer that he was assigned as the lead navigator for some of these goodwill/record flights. He was a qualified B-17 pilot but lacked the rank to do the driving. He definitely looks young in the photos of the time! It's interesting that he came out of the Pursuit side of the Army Air Corps and became a bomber man, not unlike several other Bombardment leaders of WWII.

Scott

My favorite quote about LeMay is depicted in Strategic Air Command. Lemay standing not far from a B-36 smoking a cigar when a line mechanic came over to his aid and said, "Sir does the General know that smoking that cigar can be dangerous? This airplane could explode" The Generals Aid's response, "It wouldn't dare."

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager