Belle and Swoose 3/11/11

[mustangdriver]

Great stuff for sure. The Belle was move in October of 2005. But that move was from Milington where it had be taken apart for a few years. Not sure when it was last on display at Mud Island.

[Pat Carry]

The two main parts of the Belle's fuseulage were joined together sometime this past week.

Fantastic! Any idea how close they are to attaching the wings? When I was there it looked like they had cleared enough floor space to facilitate getting her back into more-or-less one peice. How long has it been since she was disassembled and moved from Mud Island anyway..ten years?

SN

The Belle was removed from Mud island in the summer of 2003.

[B-17 Buff]

Thanks for the pics and update... its good to see that the belle is progressing and slowly coming together with the care and attention to detail she deserves.

Seeing her cockpit again I cant help but remember the day(s) the guys let me go over her back in '99 down on Mud Island, they said i spent forever just sitting in her cockpit soaking up the atmosphere! Something I will never forget.

[Misterg97]

Thanks for the update and pictures! I was just wondering what the latest was with these two planes. Wonder why they didn't fully strip the old paint off of the Swoose before installing the bathtub...?
Great stuff...

The bathtub is not permanently installed ...