B-17 Flying Fortress/44-83735 ~ the Duxford resto thread

[ZRX61]

About the quality of the hack job with those filler openings... Why not take a wander out to Sally-B & compare?

[peter]

Wouldnt it be great if she was returned to the air again!

[bomberflight]

It must be time for some more pictures from Hangar 5

I popped inside the fuselage via the front crew entrance hatch ~ which is currently only about 18 inches above ground level



Keen observers will have already noticed the little door to the left of the entrance hatch .....



And there are stencils above that ......





Above the entrance hatch and to the right are another of those sets of the release valves ( I hope that's the right term for them )



As we look around this compartment ~ it quickly becomes apparent that this area behind and below the flight deck is a major junction
for many of the controls







This is the view directly opposite the entrance hatch ~ on the co-pilots side of the air-frame



I was left wondering what lurks under the insulated jacket ......



Next to that is another "black box"



And finally ~ I discovered a new angle for pictures by laying on the compartment floor board and looking up at the flight deck





Another update soon

[RAMC181]

I was left wondering what lurks under the insulated jacket ......

That's the gyro for the autopilot.

Next to that is another "black box"

And that's the Radio Compass receiver unit.

It's come on well in there since my first visit:





Keep up the good work,
PB

[CrewDawg]

Those "valves" in the 5th picture are static ports for the pilot and navigator instruments if memory serves me right. You should be able to see some small holes on the exterior skin that correspond to the hoses. I love this thread!!! But it sure makes me miss our B-17. Keep up the the great work Peter!

[The Inspector]

and the 'valves' are actually pre 1950 style tower hose clamps for the static ports that can be loosened or tightened by hand, Chrysler and GM used similar hose clamps in the 70's Chrysler also used the round wire 'DAMMIT THAT HURTS' radiator clamps.
I understand that this is a completely static item and will never fly again, but I want to climb in the front hatch with a handfull of insulated clamps and screws and nuts to get those dangling wires off the structure, it's just bad practice to let it go, the bundle under the compass receiver is a prime example.

[CrewDawg]

Just as a FWIW, the red handle between the hatch hinges is an emergency release handle that literally pulls the hinge pins out allowing the hatch to depart the aircraft allowing a quick egress. The rear door and the tail gunners doors are similar.

[bomberflight]

Many thanks for helping to identify some of the "mystery" parts for me guys !

I think you're input is really adding something extra to this thread

The full time conservation team are kept busy the whole time in order to complete this restoration on time ~
so I don't like to keep asking them too many dumb questions as a volunteer .......

I feel confident know that I can post pictures and ask my fellow WIX'ers !

And speaking of posting pictures ~ I must also pick up on the comment about dangling wires in the last picture post.
I must apologize to everyone working on the B-17 in Hanger 5 for not pointing out that work is being carried out in this
section on the fuselage skin. As a result ~ things may not appear to be correctly stowed in some images because they've
had to be moved or removed. I knew the oxygen bottles had been taken out ~ but to my untrained eye ~ that was all that
seemed to be out of place.

I've taken enough pictures this week for two more picture posts ~ and I'll add them over this coming weekend .....

Meanwhile ~ Happy Friday everyone

[RAMC181]

I'm guessing that this is the area being repaired:



Sorry I couldn't get any clear shots of the stencilling by the two ports on this side.

All the best,
PB

[The Inspector]

Probably said 'STATIC SOURCE' and "AUXILLARY STATIC" or something close to that to identify for maintenance folks doing ASI cals. If ya don't ask questions, you'll never get answers, and anyone too 'uppity' to help you out and explain or demonstrate must have forgotten the time when they didn't know a chicken from a pound of potatos, since a lot of incidental aviation knowledge is absorbed via 'tribal knowledge' passing stuff along around the campfire. Something said today may not make sense, but another little piece will come along, and pretty soon it all fits! Keep asking!!! the only dumb question is the one you thought was too dumb to ask.

didn't really mean to be picky, but stuff like that goes against my Q.C. training and nature, in maintenance that would get you a 'pick up' (minor, easy correction to be made) as it's an 'incident' going someplace far away and dark @ night to happen.

God help me if someone ever makes a 1/24th scale B-17 I'll be busy for the rest of my life!

[bomberflight]

The Inspector wrote

God help me if someone ever makes a 1/24th scale B-17 I'll be busy for the rest of my life!

Hahahahah

I haven't made a model aircraft for maybe 30 years ~ but I find myself wanting to sneak off to a hobby store to get a Monogram / Revell ~ 1/48 scale B-17

But 1/32nd or 1/24th scale would be even better ~ even if I only got as far as completing the fuselage interior.

Would that mean I'd be thinking about B-17's all day every day ?

Uh oh .....

[B-17 guy]

Would that mean I'd be thinking about B-17's all day every day ?

What could possibly be wrong with that?! My misses says I need to get help, I say I need more B-17!

[The Inspector]

And cowbell!

[bomberflight]

Let's start this post with a picture of another Hangar 5 volunteer who has a question ......

Where does this go ?



It was recovered in 1947 from woods near Poddington Airfield ( now Santa Pod Raceway drag racing facility ) by this chaps brother
~ and finally handed over as a Xmas present two years ago !

To the trained eye of one of the IWM members of staff there are a number of interesting things about this .....

The nuts don't match ~ one side is of an earlier type than the other



Looking at the remains of the skin surface ~ one part looks to have been in olive drab and the other in natural metal



And it fits here ......



as one of the attachment points securing the outer and inner wing sections





I've been trying to identify which B-17 this came from ~ it may not have been a based aircraft with the 92nd BG as the crash date
of June 1944 doesn't line up with the groups aircraft histories.

If we can progress the investigation ~ I'll start a separate thread on this subject

Another update coming soon

[bomberflight]

How about a few pictures to illustrate a general update on progress in the Conservation Hangar

The undercarriage is currently being serviced .....







Inner wing sections have reached the final stage of cleaning





I'm a bit nervous about showing you the next shot ~ because the condition of the air intakes is less than perfect ......



Once again ~ it's important to remember that this airframe was used as a spare source for many years before it was purchased
by the Imperial War Museum. We'll never know if these parts were abused and are original or if the originals went onto another B-17
and these were the best replacements that could be found during the original IWM restoration in the 1980's.
What we do know is ...... right now ~ they're all we've got to go on display.

And this is what I'll be working on this week as a volunteer



The horizontal stabilizer has been unzipped for inspection .....



and now the corrosion discovered on the inner skin surfaces can be treated

More soon