Switch to full style
A place where restoration project-type threads can go to avoid falling off the main page in the WIX hangar. Feel free to start threads on Restoration projects and/or warbird maintenance here. Named in memoriam for Gary Austin, a good friend of the site and known as RetroAviation here. He will be sorely missed.
Post a reply

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Fri May 06, 2011 3:47 pm

Interesting notion Peter. Lord knows I will defend the decisions regarding the nose art on Ol' 927 to the death... :lol: and of course I would be thrilled to be able to get involved somehow if that were even an option but I'm torn on that. I think in the context that kind of setting it makes more sense to just pick one that is historically accurate as a representative of the entire 8th AF. Where as the B-24 is a flyer and needs to market herself and the CAF to continue flying.

How do you pick though? That's the hard part of course as any and all are worthy. Do you choose a crew that survived or one that didn't?

I am with you on the NMF. The skins so far look to be really nice.

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Tue May 10, 2011 10:25 am

I have to own up ~ this post covers three visits to Duxford !

A quick visit on Sunday saw staff and volunteers alike busy in the AAM .....

Image

and Hangar 5

Image

Moving on to Monday May 9th .....

A lot of the work being done is not obvious in the pictures I took and I was beginning to think I would struggle to have enough material for posting.

That's when Chris Knapp, the Conservation Manager came over and said hello. He's been following this thread on WIX and likes the positive contribution that
everyone has made to it so far. ( I'd like to echo that thought ! )

The Imperial War Museum exists to educate ~ so I'm sure we all appreciate the next few pix that I took thanks to Chris.

With the Ball Turret removed ~ this next shot was taken with me lying on the floor so I could shoot up into the "void" above.

Image

I've taken hundreds of pictures of B-17's ~ but that shot is a first !

Standing up and looking forward into the Radio Room shows what a nice job was made of fitting it out when it was originally restored

Image

And then turning 180 deg ~ we get the view looking aft down through the waist section

Image

To me this looks rather different from the B-17's I've been blessed to fly in while in the USA. There are no passenger seats in this one !

Note too that both the waist .50 caliber machine guns have already been removed.

The quality of the interior work continues when we look at the Tail Gunners position ( again the guns are already out )

Image

Image

Just look at the attention paid in labeling connections .....

Image

I should make it clear that I don't have privileged access of any sort ~ I'm just a humble museum visitor. ( All be it a frequent one )
All the restoration team are friendly and will answer questions about what they are doing. I just happened to be the bloke with the camera yesterday.

Seen enough ? Bored already ?? Or do you wanna see some more ??? :D

We're back up to date now ~ the next pix were taken today( May 10th )

The B-17 has been brought forward up to the glass wall. This has allowed clearance to get to crane over the last engine so it could come off.

Image

It wasn't long before it was out the doors on it's way to Hangar 5

Image

Image

While work continues in the AAM ~ sometimes out of our normal field of vision

Image

Over in the Conservation Hanger ( Hangar 5 ) ~ the parts already stripped and cleaned are looking really good

Image

Image

You'll have noted that the Ball Turret has taken offence at being called R2D2 and has been replaced by something far more sinister

Image

So I guess that better be it for this post ~ Stay tuned for the next update :wink:

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Tue May 10, 2011 11:38 am

Thanks! I never gave any thoughts to the skirting around the hole the belly turret goes into until your photo. thin plywood is a logical choice, thin, flexible, easily replaced, and non strategic so metal can be conserved to be used elsewhere. I really like the details shots like the access plates on the underside of the wings and how they were hinged and not just in place with 27 PK screws and the look down the tailcone with the ammo boxes, keep shootin' !!! :D :D :D

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Tue May 10, 2011 1:31 pm

bomberflight wrote:Seen enough ? Bored already ?? Or do you wanna see some more ??? :D


I think I can speak for most Peter... No, no and yes!!!! ;)

Thanks very much for the pictures and information, most appreciated. :D 8)

Mark

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Wed May 11, 2011 8:43 am

Thanks so much for another great update. And a big Thank You to the museum staff for allowing you access inside the fuselage. 8)

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Wed May 11, 2011 10:03 am

Yes, a big thank you to you and the museum for giving you access.

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Wed May 11, 2011 2:58 pm

Alternatively, keep her as Mary Alice...

..as she was by the autumn of 1944, a mix of field-applied OD and NMF replacement assemblies.
The yellow fin flashes were in place by then, on the NMF replacement fin, so a splash of colour too.

Or would that look too "tatty"?

PB

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Thu May 12, 2011 9:26 am

Sasnak ~ if my Euromillions lottery ticket ever comes up ~ my B-17 will fly as "Little Miss Mischief" :)

It might seem the perfect scheme to tell the story of the Mighty 8th, the punishment they took and the ingenuity of the ground echelon in
keeping them flying. But I wonder if the average party of school students would grasp those facts in the amount of time they spend looking
at any particular exhibit.

I recently had the pleasure of providing a personal unofficial tour of the IWM at Duxford to a fellow member of the Lone Star Flight Musuem
who was on vacation from Texas. We managed to go around all the hangars plus AirSpace and the AAM at a steady pace ~
but there wasn't much time to just stand and stare in a 4 to 5 hour visit.

RAMC181 ~ I understand this scheme was chosen originally by the late Roger Freeman ~ so there's a good reason for it to return to those colors.

All we can be 100 pct sure of right now is it will look fantastic when it's done and whatever the scheme is ~ some folk won't like it.
I'm glad it's not me who has to pick just one solution out of so many worthy choices :wink:

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Thu May 12, 2011 9:57 am

And so we come to activities on Wednesday May 11th ...... :D

Let's start in the Conservation Hangar ~ where work continues to remove paint.

Image

The leading edges of both wings are now in this building

Image

And all four engines have been reunited

Image

Moving down the airfield to the American Air Museum ~

Image

Are those blue stands big ? or are the BIG ??

With equipment moved out of the building ~ we can now see the all the fuselage. I've included this shot because at this point
the main gear leg is down ~ although the wheel has already been removed.

Image

Now I've watched the movie "Memphis Belle" a few ( dozen ) times ~ so I know the main gear can be hand cranked using a handle
in the bomb bay ....... while hanging on for dear life as per Hollywood.

What I didn't know was an individual leg can be cranked up :o Just like this ......

Image

You can see the Drag Strut ( I found the name on a diagram in my B-17 workshop book ) is moving slowly but surely

Just keep cranking ...... have someone else take over ...... more cranking ......

Image

And up she goes

Image

So that's one down ( or should that now be UP ) and one to go !

Image

Image

While this is going on ~ other team members are delving into the nose

Image

and removing the front armament

Image

Meanwhile ~ another section is moved out of the AAM and down to Hangar 5

Image

One last picture to finish up for today. Remember those big blue frames ? They've been taken outside and laid down.
Someone said to me ~ don't they look like WW2 tank traps on a Normandy Beach ?

Image

Another post coming to you soon :wink:

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Thu May 12, 2011 3:28 pm

Keep it coming! One hot thread right now.

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Fri May 13, 2011 8:31 am

Awesome!!

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Fri May 13, 2011 11:08 am

It's amazing to see it come apart like that and then to go through the tiny door. 8) :lol:

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Sat May 14, 2011 2:32 am

Let's kick off this quick update with a view from outside the American Air Museum glass wall

Image

With the wheels off and the undercarriage retracted ~ the B-17 is now sitting low to the ground

Moving inside the building we can now see the aircraft from a different set of angles .....

Image

Image

Image

Let's take a look now at the lower wing attachment bracket .....

Image

Image

Detaching the inner wing section in progress !

Image

And here's a view of the upper wing attachment bracket .....

Image

Image

In this pic we can also see the battery tray ( painted black ) and more pipework than I could imagine in this section !

Image

We'll finish this post with another shot taken outside

Image

More soon :wink:

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Mon May 16, 2011 12:33 pm

A view of Mary Alice taken on Sunday ( May 15th )

Image

And now a view from today ......

Image

Yes the cranes have arrived and the time has come to remove the inner wing panels !

In the next couple of pix ~ we can see the project team working or releasing the lower attachment pins ~ whilst the cranes take the weight

Image

Image

Image

That's it ! The inner wing is now detached and ready to be steered away from the fuselage .....

Image

Image

Image

By lunchtime ~ the inner wing has been safely lowered into the desired position

Image

Image

Now it's safe to do so ~ I was allowed to get some shots of the wing joint area to share here on WIX :D

Image

Image

I don't know when the cables and pipework was cut ~ it could be this was done before the B-17 was trucked to the UK in 1975 .....

Image

Image

That's one side done ~ the inner wing on the other side should be detached next.

Image

And the Vertical Stabilizer will need to come off too so the fuselage can go out thru the doors

Image

As we can see ~ the Rudder has already been detached and gone to the Conservation Hangar.

Image

Another quart of elbow grease has been applied to the pieces already in Hangar 5

Image

Image

And that's it for this photo marathon ! :wink:

Re: B-17G ~ 44-83735 ~ the Mary Alice thread .....

Mon May 16, 2011 4:39 pm

bomberflight wrote:Detaching the inner wing section in progress !

Image


Inertial adjustment device for percussive persuasion ;)
Post a reply