B-17G's in Olive Drab .....

[Ken]

Forgive the most novice of questions. Was 44-83735 modified to look like an earlier G or does it maintain its factory configuration? I missed something in the translation.

[bomberflight]

Hi Ken ~

44-83735 went thru a number of changes during her career. Page 3 of the thread in the Retro Aviation Hanger shows how she looked upon arrival at Duxford and when she was rolled out to go into the American Air Museum

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=40406&start=30

As far as I know ~ every effort was made during the first restoration to bring the airframe back to original DL-95 series standard ~ with the Cheyenne tail that would have been standard in the 8th AF for a late B-17G.

However ~ the aircraft was a derelict hulk when stored in France ~ so many parts had to be sourced for it ~ and these may well have come from earlier models.

[Firebird]

One more picture, this one in color!

Another vote for Miss-Chief here...... such a mix n match 'in field' scheme would be such a refreshing change for a major museum

[The Inspector]

Mr. Styling does indeed do very nice work and highly accurate, unfortunately every B-17 he's got shown is an F model and the former Mary Alice is a G so the schemes won't work.

[DLSheley]

I like this one, but it would be lacking the Cheyenne tail.


B-17G-35-BO (s/n 42-32012) from the 614th Bomb Squadron, 401st Bomb Group. Flew 60 missions.

[bomberflight]

I was just thinking while making some coffee ......

Wouldn't it be so much easier if someone came up with an early tail section to replace the Cheyenne unit.
Then there would be plenty of schemes to chose from !

By the time I got back to the computer ~ I'd also realized that this could be a blessing and a curse .....
With so many schemes to chose from ~ how would you chose just ONE !

I've been trawling thru a US online resource ~ with lots of interesting stuff for the history buff

http://www.footnote.com/search.php?f_an ... mit=Search

Don't spend all day in there !

[Ken]

I was just thinking while making some coffee ...... Wouldn't it be so much easier if someone came up with an early tail section to replace the Cheyenne unit. Then there would be plenty of schemes to chose from !

Let's say that's possible ... B-17 experts chime in ... what other mods would then be required to match an early G?? (waist windows, radio operator gun/hatch, cheek gun arrangement, etc) The flip side of creating a "replica early G" is that a late model G is lost in the process.

I don't yet have an opinion, pro or con, but the discussion is a valid one.

Ken

PS: If this does happen, I'll throw "He11's Angel Out of Chute 13", B-17G-10-VE Flying Fortress s/n 42-39993 612th BS, 401st BG. Colorful markings with existing photos of both sides, flew tours with a few crews, had a streak of over 100 missions without an abort, and her last AC, my wife's Grandpa Jim, is still around getting ready to celebrate the big 9-0.

Don't have time to post a pic, but thanks to Jack Cook there is at least one in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31406

[DLSheley]

I was just thinking while making some coffee ...... Wouldn't it be so much easier if someone came up with an early tail section to replace the Cheyenne unit. Then there would be plenty of schemes to chose from !

Let's say that's possible ... B-17 experts chime in ... what other mods would then be required to match an early G?? (waist windows, radio operator gun/hatch, cheek gun arrangement, etc) The flip side of creating a "replica early G" is that a late model G is lost in the process.

I don't yet have an opinion, pro or con, but the discussion is a valid one.

Ken

PS: If this does happen, I'll throw "He11's Angel Out of Chute 13", B-17G-10-VE Flying Fortress s/n 42-39993 612th BS, 401st BG. Colorful markings with existing photos of both sides, flew tours with a few crews, had a streak of over 100 missions without an abort, and her last AC, my wife's Grandpa Jim, is still around getting ready to celebrate the big 9-0.

Don't have time to post a pic, but thanks to Jack Cook there is at least one in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31406

You'll be interested in seeing this,Ken.

[Ken]

There is a shot of an another original jacket from that crew in previous threads:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=26531&start=0

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18861&start=0

[Invader26]

My late father-in-law's unit the 815th BS, 483rd BG operating in Italy had O/D B-17's. Google or look at site for 483rd.