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B-17 G 44-83814-95-DL Now What ?

Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:18 pm

Greetings
Got a ? With the move of the Swoose From the NASM to Dayton I was wondering will the B-17 G that NASM has now, Will she be restored or what ? Hope that it will not languish like the Swoose did ! But with that siad glad that it was saved and not smelted !!

Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:23 pm

I would love to see it restored to a natural metal finish, with just national insignias. Just like it would have rolled out of the factory. That way it honors all of the men that flew, crewed, worked on, built, and designed the B-17.

Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:38 pm

Does anyone have any more recent pics of it? I saw a pic of it in the desert when it was stroed at Pimain the 1980's. Then it was flown to Dulles. I think it is bare metal.

Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:24 pm

Image
Image

These are the two pics I found of it on the internet.

Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:27 pm

Thanks for the photos .......................So As I stated in the opening of this thread Now What :? With SSSB going to the NASM will this one be released to be sold back to private hands or will she be used as a trade to another Museum ? can never have too many flying B-17 in the Air :wink:

Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:31 pm

Some people are going to die when they hear me say this, but I think it should be given to a musem and restored to flying status.

...I am shocked and horrified...

Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:24 pm

mustangdriver wrote:Some people are going to die when they hear me say this, but I think it should be given to a musem and restored to flying status.


...restore a plane and actually FLY it? heretic...witch....burn him at the stake!

Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:32 pm

You were one of the first I thought of. ha Ha :lol: 8)

Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:03 am

mustangdriver wrote:Some people are going to die when they hear me say this, but I think it should be given to a musem and restored to flying status.


Who are you, and what did you do with Mustangdriver?

Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:13 am

Ha Ha well here is how I see it. This B-17 is no longer needed at the NASM due to Shoo Shoo Baby. Even though I am sad to see SSB go, NASM will give it a great home. It has no combat history and was converted to a firebomber. That is the same fate that many of the flying B-17's have. I say either fly it, or put it on loan to a museum that the B-17 is key for like the 8th AF Museum in GA.
I am not again flying warbirds at all. I just think there needs to be that "balance" I always talk about.

Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:40 am

Hello all,

My dream trade would be for it to be offered to the War Eagles Air Museum (Santa Teresa, New Mexico) in exchange for their Tupolev Tu-2. NASM has only one a/c from WWII Russia so the Tupolev would fill a serious gap inthe collection, and the B-17 would be more popular with New Mexico visitors than a rare Russian bird.

The Swoose/SSSB trade makes a lot of sense for both museums. The NMUSAF did not really need two big-tail B-17s and my guess is that Swoose would have soaked up NASM restoration resources for ten years, that could probably be used for restoring close to a dozen other aircraft. NMUSAF has the resources and, with MB, the recent experience to make a fairly quick restoration.

The question that has always been in my mind is why NASM took on the B-17G in the first place. This was accessioned in about 1984, when what NASM was really yearning for was a B-24 (there had a front fuselage, which I think has gone to England).

Does anyone have pictures of the inside of the Dulles storage hanger that includes the B-17. There is also a US-built Canberra and a B-25 trainer there. I have heard that the Canberra may be heading to Warner-Robbins in Georgia. The B-25 should be close to display-worthy as is. The Ju-52 and Shuttle Enterprise were also in this storage building, so there should now be much extra room there unless NASM has acquired some aircraft that I do not know about. That is the one NASM building that I have never been in.

Kevin,
.

Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:25 am

mustangdriver wrote:Some people are going to die when they hear me say this, but I think it should be given to a musem and restored to flying status.


Please change all your passwords ASAP. The membership details have been hacked and stolen.
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