Duxford Tuesday May 22nd:
It was another big day for the B-17 today. First on the agenda this morning was the refitting of the fin.
With the right equipment available, a painstaking but straightforward job. Most of the colour shading is due to dust remaining from her stay in Hangar 5:
The other exhibits in the American Air Museum restricted the space available:
More of a colour difference apparent here, again partly due to the harsh lighting, but actually a common feature of production aircraft. With different sections being produced in separate workshops there was often some variation in finish:
8th AF groundcrews would have loved equipment like this:
Finishing touches:
Job done:
Although the project is under cover, the large windows meant working conditions were hot:
Next on the list was refitting the port inner wing section:
Preparations for lifting the fuselage and removing the transport wheels:
The fuselage, airborne again, is placed on jacks:
Firmly jacked, the fuselage is readied for the first (port) inner wing section:
The crane driver's view, although he's strangely absent during the lift:
The attachment joints are cleaned and greased:
The lift commences:
The reason for the crane driver's absence, he's using a remote control to finesse the final fraction of an inch:
A tense moment. Anyone who has taken a machine apart will know it's harder to put it back together:
New bolts, of course, being eased into place:
It has been a year, but the B-17 formerly known as Mary Alice is looking like an airplane again:
Job done, only a few hundred smaller tasks remain:
Many thanks to the man on the spot for the great photos. More soon....
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