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

ZRX61 · **Joined:** Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:16 am **Posts:** 2308

Yup, & you can buy the stuff to do it with your 4x rivet gun

Hardest part would be making the former out of some hardwood & that ain't all that difficult at all.

The Inspector · **Posted:** Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:31 pm

A quality DOTCO and a trip to the woodcrafting store. NEAT! THNX

ZRX61 · **Joined:** Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:16 am **Posts:** 2308

Get the catalog from this place:
http://www.tinmantech.com/

Noticed that on the cover is a photo of a P51 header tank being gas welded

bomberflight · **Posted:** Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:59 am

Fasten your seat belts for another update

Work on the undercarriage leg is progressing ......

Even if sometimes ~ it appears there's no one working on it

There can't be many people who can claim to have nealt inside the firewall of a B-17 nacelle

We can see that the newly overhauled parts ( painted silver ) have been installed

Another update soon :wink:

bomberflight · **Posted:** Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:59 am

I managed to remove the double post ......

Another update soon :wink:

peter · **Posted:** Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:07 am

Double posted updates?

The Inspector · **Posted:** Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:20 am

first post -1 L/H side, second post, -2 R/H side :lol:

bomberflight · **Posted:** Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:16 pm

Doh ! How did that happen :roll:

If you're reading this and you've just had the feeling of update da'ja vue ( spelling ? )

It's like the Inspector said ~ left leg and right leg pix !

If there's now only one seat belt pic post ...... errrr ...... I don't know what I'm now waffling on about :lol:

Because I managed to delete the double post !

The Inspector · **Posted:** Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:26 pm

Can you give us a definate 'maybe'? :wink:

CrewDawg · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:10 pm

While you've got the gear off the ground and the wheel/brake off, take a look at the bottom of the chrome cylinder where it joins the lower axle fitting. You'll see at least one small circular lead plug in the chrome that is about a 1/2" in diameter. The lower axle fitting is threaded into the bottom of the chrome cylinder, a hole is drilled and a pipe plug is threaded into it to prevent the two from unscrewing (

) from eachother. Lead is then melted over the pipe plug to form a smooth surface for the strut seals. If there is only one plug, that means that the gear is basically original and has not had any issues in this area. If there is more than one plug, that means that the original plug started to wear in the hole and it was repaired. The repair is to separate the two pieces, rotate the cylinder 180 degrees (I think :roll:

), drill a new hole and replace the plug. You're only supposed to do this repair once and then the strut is unserviceable if the plug loosens again.

The reason I know this is because just before Chuckie went to Virginia, we found the left gear was loose here. We just happend to have a servicable gear in stock.

bomberflight · **Posted:** Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:30 am

That's a wonderful insight Bill ~ many thanks for sharing that info :drink3:

bomberflight · **Posted:** Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:11 am

Time for another update !

The inner wing sections are now looking like new

Though there's still plenty of detail work to do

Skins are being riveted back in place around the life raft hatches

The wing stubs are now being cleaned ......

You've gotta love those curves

Around the other side ~ cleaning has highlighted much of the pipework for the de-icer system

This pipe system has to be inspired by genius ~ how on earth did someone figure this out and make it work

Meanwhile ~ the horizontal stabilizer is making progress too

I'm assuming this stringer is all original ~ even though one section is painted and the other isn't

Here's a posed picture of stringers ( right to left ) before ~ during and after the cleaning process .....

And finally ~ a picture of the American Air Museum taken last Monday ......

I won't be visiting Hangar 5 for the new couple of weeks ~ expect the next update sometime around October 22nd :wink:

Ken · **Posted:** Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:39 am

Any more discussion of a paint scheme for this airplane and a target date for when she ~might~ be back on display?

bomberflight · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:37 pm

I'm back ~ finally

Let's kick off with the question from Ken ~ as of today ~ Oct 24th 2011 ~ there is still no final decision about what paint scheme will be
selected for the the B-17 when it goes back into the American Air Museum. The plan is to have the major sections back in the AAM
before the Spring Air Show in May 2012.

There's quite a bit to update you guys on ~ so let's get started .....

Corrosion was discovered in the top of the nose section

And this has been treated and is almost ready to be buttoned up again

Restoration work on the inner wing sections has been completed and they have been shifted across Hangar 5 into the paint area

All that empty space next to the fuselage didn't stay vacant for long .....

As work gets underway to paint strip the rear sections of the inner wings

Meanwhile ~ detailed work continues on smaller components

Including the second horizontal stabilizer

Another update coming soon :wink:

K5DH · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:55 pm

An example of what NOT to do: In the latest group of photos, there are two fellows who are obviously working with chemical stripper. They're wearing protective suits and chemical-resistant gloves, as they should, but they're not wearing SAFETY GLASSES. Danger, danger, danger. . . :shock:

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

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