B-17 Flying Fortress/44-83735 ~ the Duxford resto thread

[bomberflight]

I only paid a very brief visit to Hangar 5 Friday ~ just to check that Mary Alice had settled into her new surroundings









More soon !

[bomberflight]

It must be time for another update

Let's take a look in the Conservation Hangar





Skin panels are being removed so a detailed interior inspection can be made to check for corrosion.

These next images represent ~

Before .....



During .....



And After .....





You'll have noticed that the waist section has been masked off and surrounded with plastic sheeting



This part of the fuselage has been selected as a test area ~ to see how much paint stripper needs to be applied



A hive of activity on the flaps



Next stop for this visit is the American Air Museum



At first sight ~ it doesn't appear that there's anything going on in this building ~ but where's that hammering coming from ?



Disassembly continues !



Another update soon

[hahnej]

What is the configuration of the window/hatch over the radio operator's compartment? Looks different....?

[the330thbg]

That was awesome.

Many, many thanks!!!!

[RAMC181]

What is the configuration of the window/hatch over the radio operator's compartment? Looks different....?

It's the final type of hatch with provision for a .50 gun before the option was deleted.
The gun mount is fixed in position over the rear radio room doorway (unlike the previous retractable mountings), and was a similar pattern to the enclosed waist gun mounts.

Hope that makes some kind of sense.

All the best,
PB

[bomberflight]

Thanks for the input RAM181 ~ I thought it must be the gun mount but was hoping someone out there with genuine knowledge would put forward the answer !

I'm planning on visiting Mary Alice today ~ so the next update will be posted later

[bomberflight]

The paint stripping test was a success !



I've tried catch the light in the hope you can see the slight difference in the sheen of the centre panel .....



If you skip back on in this thread to the pix supplied by Tony Clarke ~ the B-17 arrived at Duxford with passenger windows in the fuselage.
This is one of the locations where new skin was added and the passenger window fitting was removed ~ as part of the restoration back into
"bomber" configuration.



The IWM team report that there is some minor surface corrosion on the two original panels and this will be treated during the refurbishment.

Sorry this is such a short update. There's a long way to to go on this project ~ so stay tuned !

Last edited by bomberflight on Sat May 28, 2011 1:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

[The Inspector]

I'm facinated by the latticework roof beams and the bias planking in the hanger door panels, it truly is a very classy place to do a classy restoration-and I'm sure the ambiance of the building adds to the spirit of the restoration. Someone in the past when the building was designed and built had a really good eye to towards the future.

[APG85]

I'm facinated by the latticework roof beams and the bias planking in the hanger door panels, it truly is a very classy place to do a classy restoration-and I'm sure the ambiance of the building adds to the spirit of the restoration. Someone in the past when the building was designed and built had a really good eye to towards the future.

I agree...a beautiful building. I could look at pictures of it as well as the planes!

[bomberflight]

The original hangars at Duxford pre-date World War 2 and have listed building status because of their historical / architectural significance in British history.
They're commonly known as Belfast Hangars ( named after the Belfast Truss construction of the roof timbers ).
They form part of the "standard" RAF building designs used after WW1. ( Guard Room / Admin Block / Officers Mess etc )
The advantage of a common airfield design layout was when you first arrived at the main gate ~ you would recognize the buildings and understand the geography

[bomberflight]

It was a public holiday in the UK yesterday ~ so while there was no work underway ..... there were a lot of visitors at Duxford

The inner wing sections have been corralled in the American Air Museum.



We saw last week that a lower wing panel was being de-riveted ( hmmm ~ is that the right term I wonder ..... )
And now a section on top of the wing has been removed too .....





Now lets hop across to the Conservation Hangar

The fuselage has been repositioned under an overhead gantry and scaffolding is being errected around it

















I think that the paint will be coming off very soon !

[the330thbg]

It was a public holiday in the UK yesterday ~ so while there was no work underway ..... there were a lot of visitors at Duxford

The inner wing sections have been corralled in the American Air Museum.

Looks like some sort of 'Stealth' version of a B-17

[RAMC181]

The original hangars at Duxford pre-date World War 2 and have listed building status because of their historical / architectural significance in British history.
They're commonly known as Belfast Hangars ( named after the Belfast Truss construction of the roof timbers ).
They form part of the "standard" RAF building designs used after WW1. ( Guard Room / Admin Block / Officers Mess etc )
The advantage of a common airfield design layout was when you first arrived at the main gate ~ you would recognize the buildings and understand the geography

Duxford's hangars and original surrounding buildings are indeed a classic example of a standardised late-WWI RFC aerodrome.
By 1917 the usual RFC layout was precisely as Duxford is today; viewed left to right seen from the flying field were two Coupled General Service Aeroplane Sheds (currently Hangars 5 and 4), then a single Shed (the one blown up during the filming of Battle of Britain) then another Coupled shed (now Hangar 3). The single Shed was usually the Aeroplane Repair Shed, and often had two Aeroplane Stores built on the rear wall. Behind the right-hand shed would be a pair of open-fronted buildings facing each other across a yard, this was the MT Section.
A Hangar in RFC terms was normally a temporary wooden framed structure with a canvas covering, i.e. the Bessonnaux Hangar.

Below is a section of a 1920s Ordnance Survey map of RAF Weston-on-the Green showing the WWI buildings, the same image can be precisely overlaid onto many RFC/RAF aerodromes built between 1916 and 1918:



All the best,
PB

[The Inspector]

Uniformity! WHAT A CONCEPT! I'm surprised some wag hasn't placed a pair of wheel chocks under the wing center section with a sign reading 'early stealth bomber'

[Chuck Giese]

We saw last week that a lower wing panel was being de-riveted ( hmmm ~ is that the right term I wonder ..... )
And now a section on top of the wing has been removed too .....

Looks like they are removing the trailing edges from the inner wing panels. Got a set hanging up on the hanger wall that we'll get to one of these days....