June RAT Update

[DryMartini]

Been a long time in coming, and I finally had some free time to post.

Question: How do you keep a B-17 aligned as you work on it?
Answer: Call Ray Moore, and have him bring the heavy artillery!

As you can see, the RAT is no longer on tractor wheels. It has its own
forward fuselage jig.

Thanks in kind to the hardest working man in the business, who designed
and precision built the jig based off drawings and measurements.
Here he is!


Here is a view looking forward into the bomb bay. Note how the longerons fit right into their cradles.


Here is Mike making some minor adjustments. Minor, because he is not
using a sledgehammer.


The old and the new. Now, to get the old off the plane....


And here she is, resting on the new jig. Level as...well...Illinois.


Someone remarked the other day, "Wow. That jig looks almost professional!" I don't know what is "almost" about it.

Now, to get it painted.

[hang the expense]

Well thats as nice as I have seen.The main point is you can get at it to rivet.Major,major deal.Nice job Ray.

[SPANNERmkV]

Ray Rocks!!!

That looks top notch.

I just primered over a lot of the same territory you are working on there.
Man I wish TEXAS RAIDERS was still nice shiny NEW metal.

Are you going to paint your bomb-bay or leave it au natural?

SPANNER

[DryMartini]

Spanner,

We will prime the bomb bay, and then paint it
silver. We'd love to keep it NM, but corrosion
control is job #1 right now.

[partschaser]

In a previous post, MustangDriver asked about the B-17 interior colors (http://aerovintage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=495). If I understand that posting, the bomb bay is painted chromate green. Is this bronze green? In this thread, DryMartini says they are going to prime the Desert Rat's bomb bay and then paint it aluminium. Is the bomb bay color different for the B-17E?

[DryMartini]

Addressing the bomb bay color issue -

I have seen B&W photos of early model B-17s, and
they are (either) natural metal or painted silver.

Now, Ray Moore has supplied two photos, both
believed to be of Douglas made B-17s, where the
longerons and stretchformed channels in the bomb bay
are painted green primer. I know the steel carry through
tubes were painted with black tinted primer when they were
not Cadmium plated.



This photo is of the radio room, but you can see that the longeron
running into the bomb bay is painted, as are the stretchformed
and extruded parts that make up the radio room hatch.



I believe the photo is accurate for Douglas made planes.
I don't believe Boeing painted/primed anything in the
bomb bay. If someone knows better, please post or
email me.

Hope this helps - and thanks Ray!

[gary1954]

Bill, An old-timer that served in the 8th AF who lives near me, said that the interior of his F model was NMF.
The Rat is looking great man.

[aerovin2]

With three different builders building over three years, I would imagine there were significant differences in the interior finishes of most B-17Fs and B-17Gs.