B-17G Champaign Lady Restoration

[Taylor Stevenson]

As a "younger face," nearly every "older face" has gone out of their way to mentor, teach, and help.

Chappie, there are quite a few young up-and-comers. We always need more, though.

[Matt Gunsch]

As a "younger face," nearly every "older face" has gone out of their way to mentor, teach, and help.

Chappie, there are quite a few young up-and-comers. We always need more, though.

That is because we forgot you were there, all we ever saw of you in flight was the top of a head.....

[Urbanab17]

Forgive me if this was answered previously, but can anyone say how/why the 401st BG was chosen for the markings? (We have a family connection and are pleased at the coincidence.)

Ken

Ken,
After a couple of years the volunteers working on the airplane started thinking about markings and nose art. Both the name "Champaign Lady" and the 401st BG markings were suggested-by and voted-on by the volunteers. They had their reasons for both but it was the volunteers that decided.

Dave
Champaign Aviation Museum

[390BG]

Seasons Greetings from Urbana

[Pat Carry]

Seasons Greetings from Urbana

A much sought after piece of equipment for the rear turret! Merry Christmas!

[390BG]

Data Block added to nose.

[RAMC181]

I should be back helping out in the hangar in a couple of months, all being well.

[Zeus-cat]

The first twelve elevator ribs are almost done. Here are the left hand ribs laid out in order. This view shows the inside of the ribs.



Now the right hand ones. This view shows the other side of the ribs.



Using 21st century technology to make small parts that would have taken a long time to make by hand. These are supposed to be made from phenolic, but 390BG had some of his students make these elevator pieces on a 3-D printer. I can't imagine how long it would have taken us to cut and shape these from phenolic. Not to mention the smell of cutting, sanding and filing phenolic; I hate that smell. Anyway, the pieces fit in the pointy end of the ribs to allow a rivet to be installed there.



And we added lettering to the seat cusions.

[JohnB]

Far be it for me to correct their excellent work, I've been to their shop and was mighty impressed.

BUT for a G model, it should be USAAF, not Air Corps...the USAAC ceased to exist in 1940.

[390BG]

Mary Alice (Duxford)

[JohnB]

That doesn't make it correct.

Okay...say all the late model B-17s did have seat cushions with "Air Corps" on them.

WHY????

[APG85]

That doesn't make it correct.

Okay...say all the late model B-17s did have seat cushions with "Air Corps" on them.

WHY????

Because during war, people were slow to "update" things. I imagine it wasn't unusual to see old markings on "new equipment" that had been installed on a new plane. Still happens today. A unit changes its designation but the old designation is still found stenciled on equipment years later. Seat cushions could have been "New Old Stock" or come from a warehouse where they had been marked and sitting on a shelf awaiting installation...almost impossible to remove old marking from fabric...

[JohnB]

Sorry, but I don't subscribe to the theory that the military was THAT messed up (I'll leave that to MASH and Catch 22 fans, i.e. the guys who think the military won by luck).

The USAAC became the USAAF in June, 1941. I can certainly believe existing USAAC contracts would have been delivered after that date in the old name.
But since the US was still 6 months away from entering the war and not even in Boeing's wildest dreams would they have thought 13000 ac would be made, I can't believe that the existing contract was never amended or reordered. The NOS theory just doesn't hold up...unless some genius knew that there would be thousands of B-17s built....and they were still on the shelves at the end of the war. Even if the item isn't B-17 specific...a generic cushion...I don't see it happening.

Since the Army had a system of changing important documents...TOs and TCTOs, I find it hard to believe they couldn't fix something like that. We're not talking about a major redesign here, just a correction on the contract and a new stencil.

The USAAF was pretty good at amending contracts....otherwise we would have ended the war flying B-17Es and P-40s.

Any other restored B-17s out there with USAAC seat covers? The Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby (probably the finest restored B-17) doesn't.

[Jim MacDonald]

JohnB,

I have no problem believing it at all. I don't have the paperwork in hand to prove it, but my father caught the tail end of WWII & was in the AAF. He got out sometime in '46. After he died, my mother & I were going through his paperwork & I was surprised to see that a lot of the paperwork was AAC Form XXX. He went back in after the AAF became the AF & if I remember correctly, all of those forms were AF forms.

During my AF career a lot of the forms that we used were marked at the bottom for example, AF Form XX Version 10 (use until supply exhausted) & we'd also have the same form Version 12 in use at the same time with Version 11 never having been in our shop.

You said that the Army had a system of changing out important documents, which makes sense. TOs & TCTOs would be higher on their list to keep updated rather than generic seat cushions used in a wide variety of their aircraft.

I'd rather depend on period photographic evidence (Mark?) of what was used instead of "probably the finest restored B-17" that might have had her ratty torn AAC seat cushions replaced with something else that was available at the time the restoration work was being done or at some other point in her lifetime.

Mac

[390BG]

From the B-17G Parts Manual (Revised 1 September 1945).