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

[lmritger]

Absolutely terrific- not only the progress and the decision to leave her in "factory fresh" paint, but the detail photos showing the method of attaching the wings. Amazing to think how much load those wing attachment bolts would take during the war...

Thank you for all these updates, they're wonderful!

Lynn

[B-17 guy]

Beautiful pics!

So, the final decision on the name is, no name and actual serial number, factory fresh, right?

[Django]

I don't think anyone has said definitively that it will remain factory fresh markings.

[Ken]

I don't think anyone has said definitively that it will remain factory fresh markings.

I agree ...

[herbert 1]

I don't think anyone has said definitively that it will remain factory fresh markings.

You'll find that it is staying sans nose art and unit markings, from the horses mouth...

[richcarrick]

this thread is so awesome!

I'm currently scratchbuilding a 1/32 B-17. What I really need at the moment are detail shots of the inside of the upper turret, with all the operating mechanism, the gun selector switches, the motor that traverses the turret, the platform the gunner stands on etc...

I would be eternally grateful if you could get some pics?

thanks & keep up the great work ,it is really invaluable to modellers

[The Inspector]

Now, after looking at these pages of assembly, imagine lots of folks doing the very same tasks 16 times a day and it still wasn't enough production volume (2/3rds of a complete airplane every hour) so Douglas and VEGA got tapped to pitch in on top of what they were already contributing to the war effort, and it was mostly shoe clerks, housewives, and middle aged folks who were too old for military service.

[D/C/W]

Continuing from the last update...
With inner wings attached, the wheels were refitted at the end of last week.













Before the jacks were removed, advantage was taken of the extra height to install the ball turret:



















The B-17 was therefore seen back on her wheels in time for last Sunday's Jubilee Air Display:

[APG85]

Wow, she's starting to look like an airplane again. Great stuff!

[tex-fan]

i have used a pallet jack quit a bit. but never to install a ball turret. great job on the WHOLE project. thanks for the updates!

[D/C/W]

Duxford Tuesday June 5th:

Here are a few photos to catch up with progress on the Duxford B-17.

Last week saw the outer wing panels re-attached:





This could be the last chance to observe the inside structure for a while:



The American Air Museum now has a B-17 on display again, only a few hundred parts to be added:





As requested, here are a few details from the upper turret. The confined space makes photography difficult, but these shots show the ammunition boxes and firing controls:

[richcarrick]

excellent! Thanks a million mate

[Ken]

I look forward to these updates each time I log into WIX. Thanks!!!

[b29flteng]

Thanks for always remembering us blokes over here and keeping us updated! Great pics!

Probably been asked before: Anybody have an idea about what was mounted (and now gone) below the left trigger grip of the top turret and now has a radioactive sticker? I'm assuming it was a dial that had radium...

Oxygen pressure gage??

[richcarrick]

is the top turret of the B-24 the same as the one used in the B-17 or are there fundemental differences? I know the ball turrets were almost identical on the two aircraft types.

I've also noticed from my research that there are often small differences between B-17 top turrets, no doubt as the construction was sub-contracted to various companies?