B-17 Flying Fortress/44-83735 ~ the Duxford resto thread

[CAPFlyer]

Peter, again thank you for posting and keeping us up to date on this process. I would like to respectfully disagree though with the premise that a lot of compromises have to be made that sacrifice authenticity in a flying aircraft. I think the many flying FHC examples support the fact that you can have it both ways.

Ryan

Ryan, unfortunately you are comparing apples and oranges. The regulatory environment in the US and Canada are much different from those in the UK and Europe. For one, the US and Canada actually understand that airworthiness isn't in the gizmos and dodads, it's in the proper maintenance and training. Unfortunately, the UK (by way of the EU) have bought into the idea that more tech automatically means more safety and have enacted blanket regulation to ensure that's the case. As such, for any new aircraft to be granted airworthiness, it has to meet modern airworthiness and navigation capabilities. This is why the Lufthansa Starliner will have a glass cockpit - without it, the plane would never be allowed to fly in Europe and carry paying passengers. This is the reason that Air Atlantique grounded its DC-3's - they were made to adhere to safety regulations that were nearly impossible to implement in the aircraft and their request for an exemption was denied. Some have gone through the expense and bureaucratic red tape to get exemptions for already flying aircraft, but others (like the SCFA/Breitling Connie guys) are finding it's harder and harder to get them and it's less and less possible to just break even in their operations. So, when they're talking about "authenticity", they're talking about wholesale reworking of the panel, not just adding a handheld GPS, radios, and a semi-modern 6-pack to the pilot's side.

[The Inspector]

FHC uses a very small handheld that the helmets mic/phones plug into for comm with the tower and center and it fits down alongside the seat in a very minimalist holder that is also removable.But then again, they very rarely leave KPAE airspace.

[bomberflight]

Hmmm ~ maybe I didn't explain things very well. And you have to remember I'm not speaking on behalf of the Imperial War Museum ....

Mary Alice had been a working aircraft that became a picked over derelict by the early 1980s. It was slowly transformed into a world class
museum exhibit at Duxford. It's never been a "warbird" as most of us understand the term.

IWM don't restore aircraft to fly. The conservation treatment process now being performed on the B-17 is to conserve a
museum artifact for future generations of museum visitors to come and see.

Lest we forget the importance of what the building and its contents represent ~
I'll quote a piece of text directly from the IWM - American Air Museum website ......

"The American Air Museum in Britain stands as a memorial to the 30,000 American airmen who gave their lives flying from UK bases
in defence of liberty during the Second World War, and also honours those who fought in Korea, Vietnam, Libya, Iraq and other conflicts
and battles of the 20th and 21st centuries."

You can read more about the importance of the AAM and it's role in the Duxford landscape by following this link
http://aam.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.3637



The temporary nose art is based upon an image of a B-17 from the 100th BG. I zoomed into the nose art in Photoshop ~
then traced each letter onto graph paper. Then spent a couple of hours coloring them in !
It's not 100 pct accurate because I tweaked the "s" and "v" to make them more legible.

I bought the flag in the museum shop at Rantoul last year during my summer vacation.
It rode with me on board three B-17's ~ Texas Raiders, Thunderbird and Liberty Belle !

All being well ~ I'll have a picture post for you sometime tomorrow !

[APG85]

Very, very cool picture! Love the flag!

[Django]

Cool photo with the flag!

[sgt hawk]

Thanks for the "Rosie's Riveters" Bomberflight.

[bomberflight]

A long day in the American Air Museum for the Imperial War Museum team today. Here's my photo report of what they achieved

Just after 08:00 and the cross bar is coming out of the door frame .....



The inner wing sections have a big day ahead of them now they are firmly locked into there custom made transport frames



The crane drivers confer on the challenges they face in the confined space available



And at times today there will be only a few inches to spare



The final team briefing ~ nothing is left to chance in this arena.



Ready ..... Steady ..... Lift Slowly ......



And now GENTLY start to rotate the wing section into the vertical .....











WOW ! The was so much "fun" ~ let's skip lunch and do the other one !











The American Air Museum now has the most unique pair of sun shades in the world !





And what's the combined span of these two sections ? It must be at least six feet !



More soon ~ Stay Tuned !

[Rubenandres77]

Greetings!

I just joined this forum because of this thread. I could not avoid to come and express my gratitude to Peter (Bomberflight) for the great labour documenting this restoration. And of course to congratulate him for his involvement in the process.

I was looking for references on the B-17 in order to make a 1:33 paper model of a Fortress with Cheyenne Turret, but what I found here is far better than any reference material available.

Thank you very much for the photos, and thanks also to the other members of the forum who have shared information. It is great to learn from you.

Will be following this thread with interest.

Warm regards,

Ruben

[The Inspector]

Welcome to the WIX Rubenandres7,
Hopefully you've been 'observing'how we roll (I hate the term 'lurking' it sounds like the wierd 13 year old down the street peeking in the window).
You'll hopefully enjoy your time here and realize we all fuss and fight but eventually make up and very few hold grudges -

[bomberflight]

Welcome to WIX Rubenandres7 !

Nice to have you on board this restoration journey with us

[bomberflight]

Today's post is not really an update on the restoration of the B-17 ~ it's 4th of July photo call for Duxford's very own "Rosie the Riveter" !















Special thanks once again to the Conservation Team in Hangar 5 and Friends Of Duxford Volunteer Co-ordinator "Rosie"

[TAdan]

Thanks for the Rosie shots, very cool. And thanks for the 4th of July wishes, glad there are no hard feelings.

Any plans for other temporary nose art? Looks like a fun way to do a few "what if's" before the restoration moves forward.

[ZRX61]

Good grief, was that panel part of a "who can bang the most rivets into one patch" competition??? What the hell is on the other side of it???

Today's post is not really an update on the restoration of the B-17 ~ it's 4th of July photo call for Duxford's very own "Rosie the Riveter" !

[The Inspector]

Like those do ya?? Then go back a few pages and look @ the rivet farm Boeing installed on the rear spar carry through trunnion fitting on the Left side! No Edge Margin, heads darned near overlapping, and I'm wondering how many of them are shanked out between layers. 'Beverly! we ain't piece work'

[Taigh Ramey]

Hello Peter,

I am a late comer to your thread and I have spent a bunch of time catching up. I want to thank you for your doing this as I know it takes time to put together. I also would like to thank you for this:



I am a long way from home now feeling a bit sad on missing out on spending the 4th of July with my wife and kids but the photo above really brought a smile to my face. For that I am very grateful. It is also extra special to get such a nice 4th of July message from our wonderful friends 'over there'.

Thank you Peter and please thank your wonderful Rosie too. She looks great!

Taigh