Warbird Information Exchange

Imagine my suprise yesterday to see a B-17 sitting on the ramp at my local airfield on a Saturday morning !

The UK's only airworthy B-17G ~ 44-85784 / G-BEDF ~ better known as "Sally B" had taken time out of her 31st airshow season to pay a two week visit to Southend Airport for a respray and very nice she looks too !

The first image shows the nose art as it used to be .....



And here is a picture of how it looks now .....



Here are some more shots taken across the ramp at Southend .....

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Peter

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Much improved!

Now that is some nose art!

I am glad she is over there. If she was on the US circuit, some PC whiners would complain that the gal on the nose was neeked and that she needs to be covered up less it currupts some ittle kids.

Wow! And the plane looks good also.

I wonder what Sally thinks? And is it supposed to be a portrait?

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

never hurts for a gal to lose a few pounds! the plane looks great also. by the way is that an f model upper turret on sally or did the g models have that style of glass also??

<Gasp>...we wouldn't want to have our kids see nudity on an aircraft whose mission in life was to kill people and destroy property, would we?!

I'm not sure of which style of turret a "G" model would or could have, but I seem to remember that this turret was installed in 1989 when they filmed "Memphis Belle" and retro-ed 4 B-17G's to "F" model look a likes. The fifth aircraft was Bob Richardson's B-17F and didn't need the movie mods. (except that turrets were added)

Jerry

On a rather minor note,

IIRC, Sally B is also missing the "cheek" guns in the "bumped out" pieces normally located on either side of the nose in a "G" model.

However, that is really a very minor detail overall. Sally B is a very nice a/c with a terrific group of supporters keeping her flying. Unfailingly kind during my visit in '99.

it seems to me that i have seen several g examples without the bumped out cheek guns although i agree that the bumps are more common. was this plane possibly decked out to look a bit more like an f model for the movie due to the period that it was supposed to represent? i supppose it must have been. there may have been a bit of a crossover period during production where a few planes may have been caught in the transition. look at some pics of the piccadilly lilly sometime. it has the more traditional g model turret as well as the lack of a bump on the left side of the nose instead featuring a larger square window in its place. meanwhile the bump is present on the right side. this aircraft may not be the best example to use as it has been used for filmwork and possibly modified,but according to one of my development charts the b17 model g-1 had neither the bumps nor the large square window that the lilly had but 3 smallish oval shaped windows and the familiar g style turret. some of the f models infact did have the bumped out cheek guns themselves. the only things that would throw this plane out from being one or the other would be the obsevation dome in the navigators compartment and the antennas. hope im not being too nit picky here, just trying to relay the information that ive got. sim

Did they checked the #3 cowling again???

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Trae

For reasons that remain obscure, the USAF DB-17Gs and DB-17Ps had their left cheek gun fairings removed from the nose positions. That's the case with the Chino airplane and many of the other surviving B-17Gs as they left the USAF as drone controllers. Most, such as Sentimental Journey have had the cheek fairing reinstalled during their restorations.

In case you missed it..This is the reason for cowling #3...

http://sallyb.dcgservices.com/history_frameset.php

Go and read 'Arriving in the UK'...

Paul

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THANKS FOR THE INFO!

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Never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly!!

http://www.390th.org/
www.LSFM.org

Trae