Warbird Information Exchange

SOLD

ORIGINAL WWII BOEING B-17G HARDCOVER FIELD MANUAL

Selling from late Father's collection. He was a B-17 Flight Engineer with 8th AF in WWII.

Believe it was fitted under pilot's seat.

600 pages. Can repair about any system on the aircraft with this manual. It's in nice shape. Blue leatherette cover with factory logo and multicolor imprint. Original snap cover. Lots and lots of color illustrations of every last aircraft system in incredible detail.

Have lots of photos I can email if someone wants to seriously buy it please.

Best 4 figure offer please.

New York

Thank you.

is it made of gold?

i just got the original bell aircraft training manual for 20 bucks

As much as I would love them to be four figures, that's a bit steep... Mid to maybe upper hundreds depending on the manual and its condition. I have 20 or so original B-17 manuals. Anyone who gives me four figures each can take them as a lot...

fiftycal, everyone gets a deal now and then. Realistically, original B-17 manuals are around a 10X+ multiple of your Bell purchase price. Once again, depending on the manual and the condition.

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Taylor Stevenson

Will buy any other original 600 page, hardcover, Boeing Field Manuals, in similar condition, for G series B-17 that you have, especially for $20.

Please advise send photos of the Boeing B17G Field Manual you are selling for $20. Thank you.

if it was worth the gold your asking then why is it still for sale? ya strokin

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Thank you.

I very much appreciate the valuable input, intellect and assitance received from this site.

I find all of the Posters here most polite, professional and knowledgeable... a true asset to the Internet.

I feel that I have chosen correctly, in offering our Estate items for sale here.

Thank you, Dolores

thanks

Hello:

Do you have, or are you aware of another excellent+ example of this same 600 page, color, hardcover, leatherbound, factory field manual for sale in the "upper hundreds" please? I have declined a couple of offers in the low four figures and, I have retained the contact information. I would think the persons making the offers, who were associated with B-17 restoration or flying, would likely be interested.

Also, if you have ever seen one of these sold, anywhere, anytime, I would be very interested in seeing the advertisement and price.

I am always ready to stand corrected, but only if it has basis and verifiable reference. Very similar to the Merlin Engine we are trying to sell, the price on this manual really should not be criticized if there are no others for sale on the planet. I wish I could post photographs, but they just don't stick to the photo location here, and I am not computer saavy.

I have number of storage buildings full of amazing vintage aircraft related material, much of which was aquired 60 years ago. The collector was a B-17 Flight Engineer with the 8th AF 390th HBG out of Framlingham England during WWII. He went on to be a manufacturer-supplier for many of the aircraft, and aircraft engine manufacturers right after the war. Some of his customers were Patt & Whitney, Bell, Rockwell, Sperry, Gruman, Curtis, North American and all branches of the U.S. Military. He was always returning home in the 50's with trailerloads of aircraft parts and items his clients felt obsolete, no longer wanted or were selling cheap. For years we had a powered up Norden Bombsite as a glass coffee table base.

The sort of replies I see here, is what causes hessitation on my part to advertise anything. I really don't know which Internet sites are viewed by serious, capable parties involved in aircraft restoration, and which sites are primarily onlookers. I have thousands of unique items to sell, many of which are receipted or valued.

However, after the $20. valuation / comparison comment here, I have concerns over the site veiwer limitations. These items have not lost value. I have, for example, original WWII Combat Pilot logbooks, frameable manufacturers blueprint aircraft marking templates, and thousands of original manufacturer photos, to name a couple, but would not bother to put them up for sale at this point, for fear of more advisement they are valueless.

Thank you. Dolores

These Field Service Manuals show up on eBay fairly often, but they can be tricky to put a value on, as it really comes down to what someone is willing to pay for one. Just as an example:

Here was a really nice one that went for $332.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/REAL-B-17G-FIELD-SERVICE-MANUAL-BOEING-Dated-Jan-29-1945-Seriel-Number-2870-/151371176529?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item233e6cda51

This one sold just last week for $250, but "little Jimmy" wrote his name in it! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-flying-fortress-Boeing-Model-B-17G-Field-Service-Manual-Restricted-/111474665672?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19f46868c8

I should also mention that the F model manuals are worth more than the G model manuals.

As a collector myself, I can honestly say that if you have a four figure offer for your manual, take it and run!!

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~Trevor McIntyre
http://www.TrevorMcIntyre.com

its people like you keep planes on the ground. stop being butt hurt and if you want to sell it advertise it at a reasonable price, otherwise you will get responses that offend you.

what else do you have for sale? how much is the merlin? thanks Robert.

This is a collector's item. All of the operating B-17's have all of the documentation they need (or they wouldn't be flying) so this would be of interest only to a pure collector. They can be an odd lot paying either huge amounts to complete a collection, or balking at retail for operational necessities. Unless there is competition between collectors through an auction or something similar, prices don't get nuts

In the past year or so I sold a hardbound sales brochure for Howard Hughes personal flying boat. Hughes Tool Co. binding, 8X10 color transparencies and signed correspondence. A unique and rare find, but one with a very very limited market. Friends speculated on the 'huge' value it must have, but it sold for a modest (and satisfactory to me) price - to the only person who had any need for it.
Conversely, a pair of mint condition rigger modified jump trousers with a pre-D-day provenance sold on eBay for over $12K. (no reserve, 0.99 opening bid and a LOT of interested parties - NOT MINE, but hoo boy!) The market is really good at setting prices as long as there are more than one interested party.

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Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.