Warbird Information Exchange

and so for the first time in 68 years (give or take a couple) the Rear and the Forward Fuselage are alligned

Awesome!

Fantastic. Amazing that the airworthy B-17 population will be growing soon.


Chappie

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Brrring. Dispersal? TWO SECTIONS SCRAMBLE!!

She is rapidly outgrowing her present home.. great job!!

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Cheers,
Peter

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There's a nice 8-page article on this airplane and its restoration in the new issue of Air Classics (just got it in the mail). Lots of good pictures too.

hi everyone sorry for the extreme delay in posting anything. (getting married will do that hehe) was out at the shop today and a lot has been going on! We are removing the last remnants of the XC-108 conversion from the radio room along with working on the bomb bay and the front entry hatch. Also we have removed the lower forward fairings from the radio room area as well and have started the rehab process on them as well. The rudder has been fabric covered and is going into storage for the time being. Here are some photos.


cockpit entry door (this will give you an idea of what size the doorways should be)


radio room door frame removed to restore to proper width


right forward lower fairing removed and prepping for repair


forward entry hatch repaired and replaced (it swings great!)


hatch itself


xc-108 floor being removed


rudder re-frabriced and sealed


both name's temporarily clecoed onto the plane's nose for a tour group. That was the location they were originally and Tangerine was first followed by Desert Rat. Though Tangerine was found much more recently

Thanks, Jim! I'd been wondering where the names were on the nose. Right side only?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

As far as we know they were only on the right side. there has been some sanding done on the right side but no yellow lettering has appeared.

To avoid any confusion between names, you could just paint it as "Memphis Belle"

O.K., just so no internet confusion arises from this comment, IT IS JUST A LITTLE JOKE.

(No B-17's have been harmed in the making of this joke.)

Love the updates Jim.
Thanks.

Andy

haha Andy i'll be sure to pass that onto Mike I will say though that years ago before the Desert Rat name was found there was serious talk amongst Mike and the group at the time of naming it Black Jack after a Pacific theater E model. Thankfully the names were found though. Just one more little bit of uniqueness for this rare bird

To reduce further confusion I say they name her "HELLS ANGELS"

Hi everyone. Time for some more updates!

Work has been moving steadily on the radio room floor/camera bay rebuild and with removal of parts from the wing and nacelles.

here are some photos.

seat mount for left side of radio room


two seat mounts for right side of radio room



camera bay rebuild in progress (ours was removed and faired over for the cargo floor)


radio room floor channel fitted (shiny metal part near top of photo)


original parts left from camera bay


writing found on fuselage inside the left wing root fairing


parts removed recently from right wing


oil separator from engine nacelle 3 still with oil inside from 1945!

actually the reefer cars are down the road! (we are pretty close to the Illinois Railway Museum)

I got a photo from Mke and Chris today The center truss aka bomb bay walkway was removed today for repair and replacement. Here is a photo of it out of its natural element.
the greenish color that you see in the photo is original paint from 1941. Gives you an idea of what the elusive "Bronze Green" color actually is. Most of the assembly is usable but the spar tube needs replacement as does some of the sheet metal and angle iron.

I also immediately thought of Ray Moore.
He posted photos of five ship sets of this exact section. Nice work too.

Really appreciate the updates. Please give my best to the whole crew.
You folks are doing some amazing work on this monumental project.

The Rat will be one special Flying Fortress

Andy