Memphis Belle gets its Wings Back

[Bomber_12th]

The B-17F Memphis Belle, which has been under complete rebuild and restoration at the USAF Museum for a number of years, is reaching a milestone this week, in that with the full completion of the restoration of the wings, they are being attached to the fuselage once again, for the first time since the aircraft was dismantled and shipped to the museum facilities. The starboard-side wing is attached, and the port-side wing will be attached within the week. After that, the Belle will also be sitting on its landing gear for the first time in many years.

A bit of a photo-report can be seen here:

http://www.warbirdradio.com/2011/10/new-pictures-memphis-belle-restoration-photo-tour/

The amount of work still remaining, I believe, will mean that the aircraft is still at least a year or two away from being fully completed. The level of detail work is absolutely amazing, returning the airframe to exactly as it was when original manufactured and in service. A lot of the interior-sides of the skins, on all B-17 makes/models, throughout the wings and fuselage, were not originally primered or painted, but simply left bare metal from the factory. In most restorations, to protect the metal, a museum typically would just paint these skins in chromate primer, even though that wouldn't be authentic. On the Belle, the USAFM used a special clear-coat finish to paint the bare metal on the interior of the aircraft, which protects the metal from corossion, while keeping a completely authentic original appearance. The same level of care has been taken with every part/assembly, so what you look at is exactly as it originally was in WWII, without compromises. You'll be able to see photos from the interior of the aircraft, and know that all of the finishes and all of the equipment/hardware that you see is spot-on, as to how a WWII-era B-17F really looked.

The USAFM also has the last surviving early-model "shark-tail" B-17, "The Swoose", under restoration. It will be getting much more attention after the Belle is finished.

 

[CWOJackson]

She is indeed looking very nice.

I've photos I took of her a couple of years ago and the change is remarkable. At that point in time one of their biggest concerns was how they were going to treat her skin to remove all the graffiti. The usual process they had wanted to use had been banned.

 

[crashaz]

Good news on Belle!!

Really can't wait to see 'The Swoose' though... she is so different and the only survivor of the Far East USAAF prewar Philippines bombers.

Guess you see where I stand on the restoration controversy. Unique as she was... it was still as a glorified transport aircraft. Would want her in the 1941 config as a tribute to the Phiippines, Colin Kelly et. al.

 

[Bomber_12th]

It will be interesting to see how "Swoose" eventually ends up. Its sounded like, over the last year, that the plan will be to finish it in its bomber configuration, painted in olive drab over grey. The 'bathtub' belly-gunner's position has even been fabricated to match the configuration the aircraft was in while it sported the olive drab over grey scheme. Recently there was some mention on the internet that these plans weren't yet fully comitted too/might change, which also means that the 'bathtub' might or might not be fitted, depending on the final direction that is chosen.

These photos are all copyright to Steve Nelson from the Warbird Information Exchange. The 'bathtub' was fabricated/reproduced by the talented folks at Aero Trader (most famous for being THE B-25 restorers and other large warbird restorations and complex airframe component builds.)

"The Swoose"

The ultra-rare 'bathtub' gun position - the original is long gone, so a new one had to be reproduced.

A view from the inside:

 

[Navy Chief]

Impressive restoration work!

I assume, however, that the "Belle" will remain as a display aircraft only? To me, it seems somewhat sad to spend years restoring that great aircraft, but never see her fly again.....

NC

 

[Bomber_12th]

Some more photos taken by Steve Nelson, this time showing some of the individual assembly restorations for the "Memphis Belle".

A view of the nearly completed dorsal turret for the Belle, waiting to be installed. Through the decades of time following WWII, a lot of it spent out in the open, a lot of parts from inside the aircraft went missing. A lot of time and energy has been invested in tracking down all of the needed parts to fully complete and out-fit the aircraft - including a few folks whose job it was just to ensure that the dorsal and ball turrets were fully furnished with nothing missing/incomplete.

The ball-turret in the foreground, when this photo was taken, was waiting to be fitted to the USAFM's B-24D (the airframe's actual original ball-turret), while the ball-turret in the background is the Belle's.

A view inside the out-fitted ball-turret.

The cockpit on the Belle is still a ways away from completion. B-17 cockpits were usually always painted bronze green/dark dull green over all, and you can see traces of this dark green cockpit paint on the base of the engine controls pedistal.

One of the main tires for the Belle, featuring an original tread-pattern (looks entirely suitable for muddy conditions as could be encountered at wartime bases in England).

 

[Bomber_12th]

Impressive restoration work!

I assume, however, that the "Belle" will remain as a display aircraft only? To me, it seems somewhat sad to spend years restoring that great aircraft, but never see her fly again.....

NC

NC,

The original plan all along has been to restore the Belle to perfect, complete operational form. Early on the museum even had plans to do a special ceremony where the engines would actually be run-up. However, because too much internal parts/systems connected with opperating the engines, would have to be replaced with new parts, the museum decided that the aircraft's engines will not be run (despite the fact that they are complete, and capable of doing so) - figuring it would be better to preserve all of the original parts/systems that have been with the airframe all of these years, that possibly could be.

It is one of those things that I think most people would agree, is too much of a historical treasure to fly, and the USAFM itself is not in any position to create nor run a flying operation (heck, I think the city of Memphis. There were plenty of concerns expressed about the museum just running the engines alone, for the always present risk of fire. As has been proven earlier this year, the smallest fire can spread fast, and consume a lot, on a B-17.

Although all of the restoration work goes into a static museum aircraft, why not spend the time you invest on it, doing it full-bore, and absolutely correct, than simply taking short-cuts here and there.

 

[trucker17]

The B-17F Memphis Belle, which has been under complete rebuild and restoration at the USAF Museum for a number of years, is reaching a milestone this week, in that with the full completion of the restoration of the wings, they are being attached to the fuselage once again, for the first time since the aircraft was dismantled and shipped to the museum facilities. The starboard-side wing is attached, and the port-side wing will be attached within the week. After that, the Belle will also be sitting on its landing gear for the first time in many years.

A bit of a photo-report can be seen here:

http://www.warbirdradio.com/2011/10/new-pictures-memphis-belle-restoration-photo-tour/

The amount of work still remaining, I believe, will mean that the aircraft is still at least a year or two away from being fully completed. The level of detail work is absolutely amazing, returning the airframe to exactly as it was when original manufactured and in service. A lot of the interior-sides of the skins, on all B-17 makes/models, throughout the wings and fuselage, were not originally primered or painted, but simply left bare metal from the factory. In most restorations, to protect the metal, a museum typically would just paint these skins in chromate primer, even though that wouldn't be authentic. On the Belle, the USAFM used a special clear-coat finish to paint the bare metal on the interior of the aircraft, which protects the metal from corossion, while keeping a completely authentic original appearance. The same level of care has been taken with every part/assembly, so what you look at is exactly as it originally was in WWII, without compromises. You'll be able to see photos from the interior of the aircraft, and know that all of the finishes and all of the equipment/hardware that you see is spot-on, as to how a WWII-era B-17F really looked.

The USAFM also has the last surviving early-model "shark-tail" B-17, "The Swoose", under restoration. It will be getting much more attention after the Belle is finished.

Great news to hear......Now if we could only get the smithsonian to do the same with the Enola Gay....

 

[robert41]

Thanks for the update B12.

 

[Willy]

for the first time since the aircraft was dismantled and shipped to the museum facilities

Please note that MB was disassembled and starting restoration by the Memphis Belle Association in Memphis when the USAF Museum repossessed her. Along with the restoration a new indoor facility to display her was in the works as well.

A very sore point around here for those of us who donated to her restoration.

 

[Wittpilot]

There were plenty of concerns expressed about the museum just running the engines alone, for the always present risk of fire. As has been proven earlier this year, the smallest fire can spread fast, and consume a lot, on a B-17.

Insert big sigh..........

On a lighter note, we are one radio room seat short in Urbana all of a sudden....... I wonder where that damn thing walked away to..... mmmmhhhhhh...........

 

[Wittpilot]

Great news to hear......Now if we could only get the smithsonian to do the same with the Enola Gay....

Could you elaborate on that a little more? What would you like to see done with the Enola Gay?

 

[Railrunner130]

Probably twenty years ago, I went through the Paul Garber facility where they were restoring the Enola Gay and stored the Swoose. Enola Gay was torn down to nuts and bolts. To my knowledge, they did a full restoration on her. The Smithsonian does not take short cuts. They even had us touch her skin to test a few different clear coats they were evaluating to protect her skin.

If I recall correctly, they took stripped down German WWII aircraft (FW190 I think) layer by layer. They documented every paint scheme on the airplane. Where wood was replaced, they went to Germany and the forest where the wood was harvested to restore it as close as humanly possible.

 

[Allen]

Insert big sigh..........

On a lighter note, we are one radio room seat short in Urbana all of a sudden....... I wonder where that damn thing walked away to..... mmmmhhhhhh...........

Maybe you should put a serial number on your things so you can find them when the walk away....

 

[Bomber_12th]

Insert big sigh..........

On a lighter note, we are one radio room seat short in Urbana all of a sudden....... I wonder where that damn thing walked away to..... mmmmhhhhhh...........

I think I heard about that! Hoping that Don will have another B-17 flying again in the shortest span of time feesibly possible.

"Enola Gay" has been extensively restored/fitted out, from what I can recall. I remember reading that the restoration efforts that went into it, before it was put on display at the Edgar Hazy center, was quite exhaustive, tracing down replacements for all of the missing parts/hardware that had been luted or simply lost from the aircraft, even down to the ashtrays (described as of typical 1940's Ford type).