Grissom B-17 Restoration update Sept 2010 part 2

[mustangdriver]

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7516649/19916901

This is a video that we made that we are hoping to kick off the updates. As the restoration is carried out, we are going to update it with more little movies. I have been working with them and are starting things like an official facebook page, and some more modern ways of advertising. Right now we are looking for a great candidate of a B-17G to repaint the aircraft as. So far we are thinking of "Bertie Lee" of the 305th Bomb Group, 364th Bomb Squadron. This aircraft was flown by Medal of Honor winner Edward S. Michael. Right now we are looking for a way to get paint to repaint the aircraft.

Last edited by mustangdriver on Tue Sep 21, 2010 10:19 pm, edited 4 times in total.

[mustangdriver]

And for the record the long term goal is to get this B-17 indoors.

[hercules130]

Got a chance to visit Grissom a few weeks back, nice collection and friendly gentlemen. They sure could use a set of 89 wings, those grow on trees right?

[mustangdriver]

Yeah the F-89 will be a major project. They are great folks out there and are very dedicated, so anything can happen. We are working on fundraising for a building for some of the older aircraft along with restoration of the B-17. The restoration will be cosmetic at first, and once indoors more serious work can start.

[6trn4brn]

Very nicely done with the video Chris! That old girl holds a lot of fond memories for me. A ton of heartbreak as well in all of the efforts that went unfulfilled in trying to get her some help John Crume (museum founder) told me that when the NMUSAF were restoring Shoo Shoo Baby, they came and stripped the Belle of everything inside...that is why she is the way she is inside. They did in turn donate the ball turret as it was excess to their needs. I hope that with the contacts you have at the NMUSAF, something can and will be done to bring her back so some of her original glory. Richard and I were going through boxes of slides one day and we found a black and white slide of her taken shortly after she arrived at Grissom. I have no idea if he kept that slide out or not.

I always thought it to be such a waste to see all of the empty hangars (sp?) on the base and all of the old girls sitting out in the open, exposed to the elements. Would be incredible if you could contact the right personnel and have at least one of the old hangars donated to get some (if not all) of the old girls inside! A new building on the grounds of the museum would be the ultimate, but as is always the case, money

I was planning a vacation around the ill-fated Elkhart Airsho, with as much time as possible spent down there at Grissom. Looks like it will be a Thunder vacation instead, but Grissom will be my favorite part of the vacation! Am certainly going to be contacting you as the time grows nearer and hope we can walk amongst the old girls at Grissom, sharing stories

Take care and good luck buddy!

Darrell (proud Grissom member and volunteer!)

[6trn4brn]

Thought of a couple of udder things...coffee is kicking in finally!

John Kerr is a member here at WIX and has some great pictures of the girls from way back in the day.

Stoney is also a WIXer who flew Passionate Paulette in the move Catch-22...he has some great pix of her in her movie get-up!

And if ya ask Richard or Rollie, one of the instructor pilots for the B-58 still lives in the area, and visits Grissom quite frequently.

[mustangdriver]

Yeah, that is my hopes. We are hoping to get the outside up to par, and also the waist area open for tours on the weekends. Then maybe we can set up and take pictures of visitors and the waist guns, and for $3.00 you can get a tour inside and a picture of you at the waist holding a 50 cal. Just a way to get some cash flow for the old gal. Another thing we are doing is changing the markings to a more historically significant and authentic. We want to really put this B-17 and museum on the map. I am creating a facebook page for them as well. many museums are turning to this very popular and very free way of getting their name out there.

[gtokid]

Another B-17G from the 305th/364th is "Flak Eater", 44-6009. It has a pretty cool scheme with the shark teeth on the nose turret.

Todd

[mustangdriver]

That is another scheme being considered!!

[Steve Nelson]

Hmm..the wife and I will be heading back to Michigan from Terre Haute on Memorial Day. I bet I could talk her into a side trip to Grissom. Will the museum grounds be open that day?

SN

[mustangdriver]

The museum will be open on Memorial Day. Hope to see you there!

[mustangdriver]

We really got into the aircraft a good bit today, for the first bit of evaluation and cleaning. There are some parts of this B-17 that are almost untouched from the 40's, and then there are some that are just in need of repair. Just a question, we found an extra set of fuel selectors in the radio room. There are also the normal set located in the standard area near the bombay. Anyone know what the extra tank selectors were for?

[Second Air Force]

Chris,

Those radio room valves are called remote control valves. They are connected to syphon tubes that lead to shut-off valves on the outer end of the outboard main tanks. These controlled the transfer of fuel from the Tokyo tanks to the outboard mains. Notice that according to my T.O. copy they list these as used on earlier Gs. Your airplane sure isn't an early G, so maybe it was a retrofit. I'll have to see if Chuckie has or ever had these valves. One valve connects the inner four aux. tanks to the aft o/b main and the other connects the outer five aux. tanks to the forward i/b main.





Scott

[mustangdriver]

Thanks for the info. This is one interesting B-17. She needs help though. For a while it was displayed with it's tail in the air, and that worked against the drainage system developed on the plane. I would say that after cleaning and that skin is going to be the first thing to have to be replaced. The good thing is that we are looking at moving the aircraft into a hangar for the restoration, and then display until funding will allow the museum to extend their current building to house the B-17.

Off the top of their head does anyone have any figures about how many gallons of paint it takes to cover a B17 per coat? Thanks.

Pics to come in the next few days.

[JBoyle]

The San Antionio F-89B s/n 49-2434 needs a nose...and a F-89 for sale in California.

I doubt if anyone has F-89 wings...unless they check DM area scrapyards or Aberdeen proving ground.

Also the New England Air Museum recently restored their F-89J 52-1896 (with some parts from Aberdeen)...they might have some ideas.