Update on B-17G "Aluminum Overcast"

aerovin · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2023 9:10 pm

I just posted an update on B-17G 44-85740 (EAA's Aluminum Overcast) that I had a chance to check out during Oshkosh week.

https://www.aerovintage.com/2023/08/02/update-on-b-17g-44-85740-aluminum-overcast-july-25-2023/

The disassembled B-17 was temporarily pulled out of the EAA maintenance hangar for other airshow activities. The good news is that the EAA reports that the FAA has pre-approved the required repairs to the wing attach structure (as per the current AD), so the EAA can move forward and get the work done. The EAA is still hoping for a summer 2024 rebirth and, with nine months to go, it seems on the surface to be doable. However, time will tell and, understandably, there won't be a rush to get it done.

phil65 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2023 10:06 pm

Thanks for the update, she looks lonely...

Phil

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2023 1:05 am

Any guesses as to the source/ID of the replacement vertical?
And did they get a good deal on it, or did they have to pay re-tail?

...I'll see myself out.

mazdaP5 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2023 6:55 am

Chris Brame wrote:

Any guesses as to the source/ID of the replacement vertical?
And did they get a good deal on it, or did they have to pay re-tail?

...I'll see myself out.

Dan K · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2023 7:36 am

Chris Brame wrote:

...I'll see myself out.

Chris, might I humbly suggest a self-imposed, 2-week ban from posting. :lol:

And Scott, thanks for posting.

As far as I could tell, AO sat outside all/most of the event up at the Weeks Hangar.

Did anyone else feel EAA should have towed her by the crowd? Maybe surround her with pretty volunteers requesting a $5 donation? Monday's pocket change could've paid for much of the rebuild!

Just sayin'...

hurricane_yank · **Joined:** Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:33 pm **Posts:** 434

Dan K wrote:

Chris Brame wrote:

...I'll see myself out.

Chris, might I humbly suggest a self-imposed, 2-week ban from posting. :lol:

And Scott, thanks for posting.

As far as I could tell, AO sat outside all/most of the event up at the Weeks Hangar.

Did anyone else feel EAA should have towed her by the crowd? Maybe surround her with pretty volunteers requesting a $5 donation? Monday's pocket change could've paid for much of the rebuild!

Just sayin'...

Totally agree...have it by the old brown gate with donation buckets. Missed opportunity.

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2023 9:52 am

Totally agree. Why EAA didn't want to have that project front and center is beyond me. Aside from maybe someone in the organization saying: "We don't want to show off unfinished projects! Nobody wants to see that!". At least I've encountered this mentality before in our own museum at times. People like a good sad story, and being able to help fix said sad story. If they passed the hat around front and center, maybe at least ADJACENT to Boeing Plaza, I bet they would have raised some decent money to help.

Warbirdnerd · **Joined:** Fri Apr 30, 2004 7:34 pm **Posts:** 2923

Here is what the RedTail looked like in 1990 when the MN Wing started raising funds for it. No pretty girls just a sign and a donation bucket...

Scan0017 by Bryan Darnell, on Flickr

K5DH · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2023 1:27 pm

Definitely a missed fundraising opportunity for AO.

I remember seeing the CAF's SB2C Helldiver wreckage on a trailer at a Breckenridge air show "back when". They had set up a display to tell the public about the rebuild and there were donation buckets available. People were dropping money into those buckets right and left.

aerovin · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2023 6:05 pm

For what it is worth, the EAA seriously considered towing it out to the airshow side but decided, for whatever reason, not to put it on display.

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Update on B-17G "Aluminum Overcast"

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