B-17 My gal sal

runninwild · **Joined:** Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:13 pm **Posts:** 25

Jerry O'Neill wrote:

Spunds great!
Any changes to the forward end of the Corsair planned to bring it back to a Dash 4 nose?
Jerry

The Corsair is being prepped for a new paint job. Other than that I know of no other mods planned.

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 6:52 am

Sounds like good news all around..thanks for the update!

SN

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:24 pm

Personally, I would rather see the B-17 sitting on the floor. The museum could charge a buck or two extra to go thru it. Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks for the update. BTW, how complete will My Gal Sal be in the interior? Is it just a shell?

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:42 pm

Here are some snapshots I took when Bob Ready was nice enough to let my wife and I tour his hangar back in '05. As you can see, Sal's interior is very complete, down to a reproduction of the original electrical system. Even the interior colors are largely correct, something rarely seen on restored Forts. At the time the original ball turret had been reinstalled, the bottom half of which was ground away in the original forced landing (since Mr. Ready planned to display the aircraft as it lay on the icecap.) I'm assuming the WWII museum will install a complete turret.

I don't really like the idea of allowing visitors to crawl through museum aircraft. For a combat aircraft, you have to remove a lot of equipment and widen hatches or modify the structure to make it accessible, and wall off most of the interior with plexiglass to keep it from getting trashed. Cargo aircraft are roomy enough to allow relatively easy access. Most of the Presidential aircraft at the NMUSAF are configured to allow visitors to walk through, but these are basically airliners that are designed for easy access by the public. Even then, it's a tight fit getting through those aircraft with all the plexiglass walls.

SN

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 5:51 pm

Thanks for the photos. Yes, the interior looks very complete.

runninwild · **Joined:** Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:13 pm **Posts:** 25

Pat Carry wrote:

Personally, I would rather see the B-17 sitting on the floor. The museum could charge a buck or two extra to go thru it. Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks for the update. BTW, how complete will My Gal Sal be in the interior? Is it just a shell?

As we all know this is a very large aircraft. You must remember that the Museum is in downtown New Orleans just off of Lee Circle. Floor space is very limited. That is why all of our aircraft on display are suspended from above. If our aircraft were displayed on the ground, we would have room for little else.
It is also very difficult to move around inside, especially in the cockpit area. I can hardly fit through the bomb bay, and there are also liability issues with people getting hurt. I would like to have a gun station, or maybe a working turret for the public to interact with. That would be cool, with maybe a screen showing some fighters coming at you. The interior looks very good. There has been some talk of removing some stuff to save weight, but I don't know if that will happen.

kalamazookid · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:44 pm

runninwild wrote:

Pat Carry wrote:

Personally, I would rather see the B-17 sitting on the floor. The museum could charge a buck or two extra to go thru it. Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks for the update. BTW, how complete will My Gal Sal be in the interior? Is it just a shell?

As we all know this is a very large aircraft. You must remember that the Museum is in downtown New Orleans just off of Lee Circle. Floor space is very limited. That is why all of our aircraft on display are suspended from above. If our aircraft were displayed on the ground, we would have room for little else.
It is also very difficult to move around inside, especially in the cockpit area. I can hardly fit through the bomb bay, and there are also liability issues with people getting hurt. I would like to have a gun station, or maybe a working turret for the public to interact with. That would be cool, with maybe a screen showing some fighters coming at you. The interior looks very good. There has been some talk of removing some stuff to save weight, but I don't know if that will happen.

Welcome to WIX and thank you for taking the time to update us on what is being done with the B-17 and other aircraft. We appreciate hearing from you. Hope to get down to see the museum some day.

runninwild · **Joined:** Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:13 pm **Posts:** 25

kalamazookid wrote:

runninwild wrote:

Pat Carry wrote:

Personally, I would rather see the B-17 sitting on the floor. The museum could charge a buck or two extra to go thru it. Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks for the update. BTW, how complete will My Gal Sal be in the interior? Is it just a shell?

As we all know this is a very large aircraft. You must remember that the Museum is in downtown New Orleans just off of Lee Circle. Floor space is very limited. That is why all of our aircraft on display are suspended from above. If our aircraft were displayed on the ground, we would have room for little else.
It is also very difficult to move around inside, especially in the cockpit area. I can hardly fit through the bomb bay, and there are also liability issues with people getting hurt. I would like to have a gun station, or maybe a working turret for the public to interact with. That would be cool, with maybe a screen showing some fighters coming at you. The interior looks very good. There has been some talk of removing some stuff to save weight, but I don't know if that will happen.

Welcome to WIX and thank you for taking the time to update us on what is being done with the B-17 and other aircraft. We appreciate hearing from you. Hope to get down to see the museum some day.

Thanks, and I will try to keep everyone up to date on the work. The Museum is a terrific place, and not just for aircraft. I got to ride in an M4 Sherman tank a couple of months ago. We even have one of the heavy water barrels from the German atomic program. PT 305, built in New Orleans by Higgins Shipyard in being rebuilt to like new condition, with plans to run it in Lake Pontchartrain. There are sooooo many things to see. It is worth the trip.

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:47 pm

Yes, thanks for the updates. My wife and I visited the museum in 2000 for the grand opening. What a celebration that was. We look forward to going back there soon to see all that has happened to the museum since then. Also, we have also been members for many years. Keep up the good work.

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 6:51 pm

runninwild wrote:

I am currently working as a consultant for the National WWII Museum and can update everyone on the status of the B-17 projects. Due to the time schedule for the display, airframe 44-83387 is not coming here. There was just too much work to complete for the short schedule. "My Gal Sal", 41-9032, is here and will be displayed in the Freedom Pavilion:The Boeing Center scheduled for opening on January 11, 2013. I am currently working on strengthening of the lift points as it is our intention to display "The Gal" in a combat configuration. She will be suspended in the air inside the pavilion, fully armed and crewed, with the bomb bay open dropping a stick of bombs. She never got a chance to fight, but it is our intention to show what she could do. There are some rather extensive mods necessary, particularly to the bulkhead 7, where she will be suspended from. Mr. Ready and his people did a remarkable job, but it was never their intention to hang the aircraft. For safety reasons, I am replacing bulkhead 7 and strengthening the entire area. Remember, people will be walking underneath the aircraft while it is on display. After the structural mods are complete we will mock up and fit check the entire airframe, then disassemble it for transportation to the Museum. At present, the aircraft is in a warehouse for the mods. 4 other aircraft are scheduled for display with The Gal, a B25J that has been converted to a PBJ configuration, a F4U-4 Corsair, a TBM Avenger, and an SBD Dauntless. I can't tell you how much fun it is working on these aircraft. I even got to meet a Corsair pilot last month. He was 90 years old, but he acted like he was 19 when he saw our Corsair. He was soooooo cool!

There must be a tremendous amount of work taking place on the aformentioned aircraft to get them ready for the new pavillion opening in January. How much work is being done to the b-25 to get it ready for display? Is the SBD the same aircraft that has been at the museum for awhile or is it the Lake Michigan bird recovered a couple three years ago? I know there would be alot of hoops to jump thru and much red tape but how sweet would it be if the museum could work out a deal with the USAF to get the B-24 from Barksdale before it rots away. I'm sure the USAF would like to see the Liberator preserved even if it means giving it to an organization like the Natl Museum of WW2. What a great addition it would make to the museum's collection.

runninwild · **Joined:** Mon Apr 02, 2012 4:13 pm **Posts:** 25

There must be a tremendous amount of work taking place on the aformentioned aircraft to get them ready for the new pavillion opening in January. How much work is being done to the b-25 to get it ready for display? Is the SBD the same aircraft that has been at the museum for awhile or is it the Lake Michigan bird recovered a couple three years ago? I know there would be alot of hoops to jump thru and much red tape but how sweet would it be if the museum could work out a deal with the USAF to get the B-24 from Barksdale before it rots away. I'm sure the USAF would like to see the Liberator preserved even if it means giving it to an organization like the Natl Museum of WW2. What a great addition it would make to the museum's collection.[/quote]

The SBD is the same one that has been at the Museum. The TBM we just got a couple of months ago. I am not sure where it came from but it is nice. The B-25/PBJ I have been working on in my volunteer time. 44-29812, "Safe Return" is still in pieces, but the airframe is mostly original. It is in fair condition after being in an amusement park in Minnesota for 25 years. it still needs some structural work to make it safe for hanging but I am working on that. We already have a B-24 in the shop. I don't know the airframe number of it, but the plans are to display the restored forward fuselage on the ground so the visitors can get a close up view. We have no room for an fully assembled Liberator. My son works for Homeland Security and lives in Bossier City near Barksdale. I plan to go to the Museum there on my next visit.

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:49 pm

Quote:

We already have a B-24 in the shop.

What's the ID? Does the museum have the complete airframe, or just the forward fuselage? I realize that space is a premium, but it would be a real shame for an aircraft as rare as a B-24 not to be displayed in one piece.

Steve the Liberator fan.

TAdan · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 7:47 pm

Here is a thread on the B-24 nose from a while back.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39626&hilit=privateer+nose

Mike · **Joined:** Tue May 04, 2004 8:54 am **Posts:** 3331

Thanks for the updates runninwild. I visited the museum last month, and noticed that the Bf109 was no longer on display. Is this also planned to go into the new annex?

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:21 pm

TAdan wrote:

Here is a thread on the B-24 nose from a while back.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39626&hilit=privateer+nose

Thanks for the memory jog! Looks like it'll be a nice display.

SN

Warbird Information Exchange

B-17 My gal sal

Who is online