B-17G "Chuckie" Update

[StangStung]

Being as this is the first B-17 I ever saw/touched, I will always follow this thread as long as someone is willing to post. Somewhere around I have a postcard from the early 1980s which I bought over at Arlington (Texas) Municipal when Chuckie made a stop there. I remember being behind her when she cranked up those engines and thinking, "This is the best thing I've ever seen in my life!" Since then, there's been a few things to rival that feeling, but not much.

Good work! She's looking great!

[JBrawner]

Well this is one of the first 17's i saw/got dirty from... i was about 10 and got to close to the tail guns looking inside and got a little grease on my white jacket. who knew id get to start turning wrenches on her about 9-10 yrs later and then follow her to her new owner and my new employer. she just cant shake me yet, no matter how much dna she keeps trying/getting from me on a daily basis. we heard about LB shortly after it happened.. i was actually on the wing/nacelle of number 3 cleaning checking out a small oil leak and my heart sank. so i guess ill just post some nice pictures i took this morning when we rolled out chuckie to do a run up.
btw sorry but all i have at work is my iphone 4.... decent pictures but not better then my point and shoot.



this one was taken a few weeks ago but shows the other plane i get to work on that needs some tlc..... no not the 190(thats another crews plane)

[TAdan]

Great updates Jon. Thanks for sharing what's new with Chuckie.

Love the shot of the 190 and the Ju-52.

[B-17 guy]

So I must ahve missed it but when did she get the ball turret?

[JBrawner]

She got the turret about 2-3 months ago while it was down in florida for some sheetmetal work.


here are some happenings this week, hope you enjoy.









and with some help of Don aka spanner, in the way of how the raider's has it's set up... we will be working on the dome in the nose soon too.(thanks Don! )

[AIRIC]

It was great to see Chuckie at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Hamilton Airshow over the weekend.







More images can be founf here http://www.airic.ca/html/2011hamilton.html

Cheers,

Eric

[Ztex]

Cool to see those doors Jon!

[JBrawner]

ok so here is a small update on the 17, not much since we cant fit her down in the maintenance end till the pby is done with its inspection and such. so we keep slugging away at getting ready for the dome and the doors are coming along nicely. anyone know of a flying 17 that has them on, just out of curiosity? we also have the walk around that goes to the back of one of the doors which i didnt snap a pick of yet but will tomorrow. I think you all will like the other things we were talking about today when looking through what parts and pieces we have and what will be going back into the plane, sorry no word on the mickey unit as of right now.. they are still looking into making it interchangeable. other then that i think we will hopefully get some thumbs up on what we are going to be doing and no i dont want to say anything as of yet..... its not a secret, i just dont want to give away surprises too easily. oh we ahve having the decals/stickers remade exactly to spec and will be put back on... they ere cool looking but cracking and not really able to be saved with the repairs to the wood, sorry.

[JBrawner]

ok we have more work done at least to a point, till we get some parts in and help with pictures/other parts etc. tomorrow is wiping down the 17 and ju-52 so no more fab work, our painter will be busy finishing the second door and the walk-around that goes on a door.
want to say hello to a lurker out there who frequents our hangar and chats with us, he came in and asked me about the doors so im making sure to post tonight to show one finished(minus placards-not in yet) and one that is almost done.






the last one is the regulator for the walk around... the bottle was getting prepped for paint so i didnt get a chance to snap a pic. i also want to thank those who have replied to pm's about helping out with detail pics of interior pieces such as the astro dome, out parts manual isnt the most detail thing for some reason, but with a few pics that bomberflight has posted and more he hopefully can get we can move forward with getting ours put back in.
Now to find pieces for it and the turrets and the........... man it never ends does it?

[JBrawner]

We are looking for the rest of the astro dome, we need a few parts. What we have is already pictured above, we need thd parts that attached the dome to the aircraft. The top if the fuselage ring the inside ring and anything else I can't think of at this moment. If anyone has pieces, pls send me a pm. One price is like the one taigh has in another post..... Which I wish I could get along with that top turret. Thanks for any leads or help anyone has in this.

[JBrawner]

Here is what we have The bag has the two locks for the fuselage and the center camlock looking lock

[Chuckie]

Jon, the 3 pieces to mount the astrodome were all molded into one fiberglas piece. You have that piece in your parts collection. The B -17 Co-op had produced those for the B-17's, since the original 3 pieces were no longer available.

[Rob Mears]

Since the hurricane I've had the museum's webcam page saved in my 'favorite places' toolbar which has made for an interesting study in the day-to-day routine of the air museum. I've actually been suprised at the number of symposiums, gatherings, etc.

As for Chuckie, I don't think a day has gone by that she hasn't been parked out on the ramp. The answer may already be somewhere in this thread, but I was hoping you could tell me what the ultimate plan is for getting her under cover, especially with all the beautiful new plexiglass bits being added. Regardless, I know you guys will continue to maintain her at a level beyond my humble expectations. She's without a doubt in the hands of an exceptional organization.

[CrewDawg]

Well I can't control whether she's in a hangar or not in Virginia, but I can say for sure that she'll be in a hangar on the night of October 15th....the Vintage Flying Museum hangar!! She's coming back to Texas to attend the 21st Annual Big Band Hangar Dance and Silent Auction on Saturday October 15th!

Negotiations are ongoing with Alliance Air Show and hopefully those will pan out and even more of North Texas can come and enjoy her. If you want to be guaranteed to see all of the bits and pieces that have been added to her since she left Texas, come out to the dance. Tickets are available online http://www.vintageflyingmuseum.org/danceTickets1.htm

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Jerry Yagen for agreeing to bring her down for the dance! This means a lot to Ms. Chuckie and to all of us at the Vintage Flying Museum.

[Ztex]

It sure is good to see her again!