B-17G "Chuckie" Update

[seabee1526]

I hope to see "Chuckie" in Michigan this August.

[CrewDawg]

We're working our butts off to be there!

[K5DH]

Here's why we were replacing the window on top of the nose:


John on the inside. . .


. . .and me on the outside! (it was c-c-c-cold in that hangar!)

[Second Air Force]

Today was one of those rare days that really makes working on these WWII aircraft worth the skinned knuckles and muscle aches. We had a 35-mission 379th Bombardment Group pilot visit the Museum and take the left seat in Chuckie for a time. We'll have more to tell later, it's time to hit the hay.

Scott

[Django]

Did he share any stories?

[Second Air Force]

Did he share any stories?

I didn't accompany him on the tour of the airplane but I believe Hawkeye filmed part of his time in the cockpit. I'm embarrased to say Ellen and I both forgot his name (and didn't write it down--I was working under the wing most of the time he was at the museum) . Ellen asked me to look up through the bomb bay, and he was in the left seat with his right hand on those beautifully designed B-17 throttles as if it was just a few days ago that he'd last flown her. Here's a photo we took during the cockpit visit. I promise to get his name from our docent so y'all will know who he is.


When the tour was over we spoke for a good bit about his training. He lit up when I asked him if he had any time in the B-24--turns out that he and his crew did all their stateside training in the Liberator, only to be dropped off as replacements at Kimbolton, home to a Fortress unit! The transition wasn't all that hard, and after a couple of practice missions the crew started off on a successful 35 mission tour.

He and his crew flew their trips late in the war and saw very few fighters. Being in a Fort rather than a B-24 turned out to be an advantage, to his way of thinking, as the extra 5000 feet of altitude they could get out of the B-17 felt comforting when the flak was flying. He really enjoyed the extra stability and ease of handling of the Fortress in tight formations, especially when the airplanes were heavily loaded.

Visiting with veterans always makes working on these old girls all the more rewarding. It's interesting that we're now seeing Vietnam vets coming in to visit the B-26K. Another generation, another piece of history to preserve.

Scott

[Django]

That's really cool.

[Second Air Force]

The final piece of the radome form jigsaw puzzle is in place. We had many errands to perform yesterday and ended up near a big sporting goods store. After shopping through the beach and swimming pool accessories we didn't see anything that would work for us. As we were walking out the door we remembered getting Ellen one of those big workout balls a couple of years ago and our problem was solved. I purchased a 75cm. "core ball" and blew it up with the air compressor to about six inches larger diameter than it was intended to be .......and it didn't blow. All I had to do was let out enough air to make it slide into the cylinder and the form is complete.


Now all I need is five gallons of resin and I can start slapping fiberglas on it.
Scott

[RAMC181]

Excellent idea Scott, can't wait to see the result.

[Second Air Force]

Thanks, Paul! I didn't think Reebok would be my answer, but improvisation wins the day. The ball cost around twelve dollars versus a couple hundred for the styrofoam ball I originally envisioned using, and I think I'll be able to make more than one dome if I am careful with the mold release on the first one.

S

[Pogo]

May be too late by now, but where are you getting your epoxy from? Will Raka or US Composites work on A/C? I can vouch for 'em working perfectly on cedar strip kayaks and canoes.

[Second Air Force]

Thanks for those leads, Pogo. I haven't really had time to look for the resin just yet and I'll take those products under advisement. The radome project will likely have to be pushed back until winter maintenance, but I do intend to get the dome built now that the weather has warmed up. It'll be a lot easier to not have to heat my little shed while I'm laying up the dome.

On a related subject, we got a bit of work done on '543 yesterday. Ellen, Leo, and Rick closed up the outer wing access panels after I gave them a final inspection and clearance to close. Mike was clearing up non-routines on the #1 engine and Steve and I did some miscellaneous jobs.

Scott

[Django]

Neat. You're well on the way now.

[CrewDawg]

I know that it's been a while since I updated everyone on our progress so here's the latest. Yesterday we removed the last two spar bolts! This may not sound like much but each of the bolts fought us tooth and nail coming out. This is a major milestone in our progression towards flying again. The next step is to do an Eddy Current inspection on the bolt holes to detect any cracks in the structure and install new bolts this will complete the dreaded spar bolt AD. We hope to have this next step done in the next two weeks. Once the bolts are all back in, we can re-install the inboard fuel tanks and stress panels. We have replaced the fuel hoses in the wing that were accessible with the tanks out. The ones that we took out were not in bad shape however they were old so we changed them to be on the safe side.

Pat and Steve are working on doing the prop Airworthiness Directive (AD) that is due on the #1 and #2 props. Steve worked a deal witha local prop shop in which Pat and Steve do the disassembly and cleaning and they do the inspection then Pat and Steve reassemble the props all at the prop shop. They are only charging us for parts so this saves us literally thousands of dollars.

We have also found a vendor to inspect and recharge our engine fire extingusher bottles and will be shipping them out in the next day or two. The altimeters and altitude encoder have also been removed and sent out for check as well.

Once we have the fuel tanks back in we will take it outside and run engines and verify everything is ok with them. When the engine runs are completed we will bring her back inside and put her up on jacks and do the gear inspections. If all goes well we hope to be flying in late June or early July in time to get a few shakedown flights in before going to Thunder.

I want to say thank you to the team for all of the hard work that they are putting in. Pat and Steve are working on the DC-3 projects 5 days a week and then putting in time om the B-17 in the evenings and weekends. Mike Tolfa and Miguel have been instrumental in removing spar bolts and reassembling the systems that were taken apart to gain access to the bolts. Scott (Second Air Force) and Ellen Hochtein have been working hard on the seat installations and the Pathfinder radar radome. Rick Reynolds is always there to do whatever is needed, whether it's a big job or small one.

That's all for now, enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, remmber those who served and thank a Vet!

[Pogo]

I wonder if somebody would care to give a brief overview of what a "stress panel" is, how it works, etc.? From outward appearance, they look like sheets of skin that are held on with a zillion nuts instead of rivets, right?