B-17 Swamp Ghost news

[groundpounder]

I saw the swamp ghost two weeks ago sitting outside. I would have to say that there isn't really a whole lot to work with without replacing major portions of the aircraft. The aircraft has been ridden hard and put away wet. The wings are bent and look like they were hacked off with an axe around the fairing area. Nothing inside at all but a gutted shell. Some wiring remains, the fuselage doors for the waist gunners are still there which is cool, the tail gunners area is pretty much destroyed, bent right up. Engines are toast. I was surprised at the good condition of the aluminium in some areas, especially where the vertical stabilizer joins the dorsal. Shiny like new.

I would have to say that conservation is the only realistic way to go here. Too much would have to be replaced and its historical value would be gone.

[B-17 guy]

Pics please! This aircraft is in original condition, including factory colors. I'd love to see good pics of her. I'm mainly looking for interior to see what colors are where plus I'd love to see the engine cowls, mainly to see the difference between E and F/G cowls.

I'm trying to see that the interior of the swamp ghost is not covered with interior green, and she is natural metal.

With the cowls I'm trying to see how many panels there are. The F and G models had 3 cowl panels. I know that when the paddle props were added to the F's the cowls had to modified to allow the blades room for feathering. So I'm trying to see the differences between the E and F/G cowls. Are the E's more like a D's cowl panels? Or more like the F/G, three panels but rolled back farther to allow the needed room.

I build models and like to as accurate as possible.