Official B-29 Doc Restoration Thread

[APG85]

What is the white area on the top of the forward fuselage...?

[ryguy135]

Wow guys thanks for the support! I'm going to have to up my game now! Our project director is retiring from Boeing next week and will be at the hangar full time to help direct traffic a little better starting next week I believe. I'll let him know about this thread and try to keep the updates rolling in a little better.

[earnie]

sweet doc has been stuck thanks mods

[ryguy135]

Alright, I'll do at least one update a week, so here's this week's....

TJ, our project manager, retired from Boeing last week and will now be at the hangar 50-60 hours a week. TJ is a great guy and really get's things rolling. Things are really going to start happening quicker I expect.

We're wanting to get going on the engines, but we haven't received the engine mounts from our engine supplier yet. They were supposed to arrive with the second engine, which came a week and a half ago, but they weren't in there. In the mean time the other engineer on the project has been working on modding fire shields to mount to the new engines and figuring out how to get the bits and ends to meet up. The exhaust is going to be the big hurdle and it's yet to be planned out.

The belly skin between the bomb bays was dropped a few months ago due to severe corrosion and USAF mods when a radar was attached to it. This week a tooling stand was built up for it and Spirit Aerosystems is going to get us a new skin to replace the original. Also, I believe the frames will be replaced in the area where the radar was attached to make it as original as possible.

The elevators needed work done to their trim tabs that is now complete. They might go on again as early as this afternoon, but Thursday is more likely.

Lastly, the aileron damage that occured when the outboard wings were going on has been repaired and the covering replaced. A pic of this work was just put up on the Facebook page.


As for me, I'll be spending the next week drawing up a few missing brackets on CATIA so we can get them built and installed.

Cheers!

[wingman1]

Alright, I'll do at least one update a week, so here's this week's....

TJ, our project manager, retired from Boeing last week and will now be at the hangar 50-60 hours a week. TJ is a great guy and really get's things rolling. Things are really going to start happening quicker I expect.

We're wanting to get going on the engines, but we haven't received the engine mounts from our engine supplier yet. They were supposed to arrive with the second engine, which came a week and a half ago, but they weren't in there. In the mean time the other engineer on the project has been working on modding fire shields to mount to the new engines and figuring out how to get the bits and ends to meet up. The exhaust is going to be the big hurdle and it's yet to be planned out.

The belly skin between the bomb bays was dropped a few months ago due to severe corrosion and USAF mods when a radar was attached to it. This week a tooling stand was built up for it and Spirit Aerosystems is going to get us a new skin to replace the original. Also, I believe the frames will be replaced in the area where the radar was attached to make it as original as possible.

The elevators needed work done to their trim tabs that is now complete. They might go on again as early as this afternoon, but Thursday is more likely.

Lastly, the aileron damage that occured when the outboard wings were going on has been repaired and the covering replaced. A pic of this work was just put up on the Facebook page.


As for me, I'll be spending the next week drawing up a few missing brackets on CATIA so we can get them built and installed.

Cheers!

https://www.facebook.com/DocsFriends

this it?

[Chappie]

Great update. Love seeing the work getting done. Are the engines similar to the hybrid engines that got FIFI back in the air?


Chappie

[earnie]

may I ask why ? the ailerons were on the outboard wings prior to the installation, it would seem that there would be less chance of damage to them, and they have to be rigged anyway, so just taking them of and installing the outboard wings would have been a better option,
I love how the work is going , this little thing bugged me,=a repair to a new skin

[ryguy135]

may I ask why ? the ailerons were on the outboard wings prior to the installation, it would seem that there would be less chance of damage to them, and they have to be rigged anyway, so just taking them of and installing the outboard wings would have been a better option,
I love how the work is going , this little thing bugged me,=a repair to a new skin

There was talk about doing this. The ailerons were attached several years ago before restoration resumed earlier this year. Some argued to remove the aileron and then reattach it once the wing was installed, but the guys in charge decided to go ahead and raise the wings with them attached so that we wouldn't have to attach them while up 15 feet off the ground and risk damage that way. The LH wing went on like a glove, but the RH side (where the rear spar was replaced) took a little persuasion. During this, the outboard wing swung away from the wing on the crane and struck the spar chord when it swung back towards the wing, damaging the aileron covering and the inboard aileron rib. The repair to the covering and the rib was pretty easy and straightforward, so all in all I still think it came out better than removing and reattaching the aileron.

[lbarber]

Great updates guys, looking forward to seeing more!

[ryguy135]

Not a whole lot of big news to announce. Preparation continues to hang the #1 nacelle and then the engine. Fuel cells have started to arrive. Tuesday we jacked the outer wings so we can remove the wing panels and install them. The elevators are ready to go on, but first the horizontal stabilizer needs polished. Work on the belly skin continues and the right aft bomb bay door is to be removed soon so it can be reskinned.

Also, we shipped all of our exhaust pipes out today. The same people that made the new systems for Fifi will mod ours to work with the new engines.

[Zac Yates]

Not a whole lot of big news to announce.

"Big" or not, any news is good to see with a project of this magnitude!

[DuxfordThunderbolt]

Here are a couple of pics of Doc taken at the McConnell open house in 2010. I'm so excited to see that restoration is progressing!!

[Old SAR pilot]

I think most of us are really glad you're posting whatever your able to do, so many thanks from me for keeping us in the loop and continued good luck!

Amen to that, Chris!

[C VEICH]

Undoubtedly the restoration of "Doc" has to be one of the most exciting projects currently being undertaken in the warbird community. And considering some of the stuff being worked on right now that is saying something! Can't wait to see another B-29 get air under her wings. Onward and upward!

[ryguy135]

Well the rear bomb bay door was removed and put in its fixture to be reskinned this past week. Otherwise work continues to hang the #1 Nacelle and continue installing systems. Tomorrow the crew will be out at the Kansas Flight Festival seeking donations. Looks like the weather will clear in time to make for a great show.

I'm going to talk to the project director next chance I get. I'd be happy to take photos of the crew and keep our facebook page more up to date, just need to talk to him about taking over that responsibility. Right now he does it himself and getting the plane flying is a bigger priority than PR for him right now.