B-17 Restoration Thread...

[Wittpilot]

Like I said, my folks stopped by to see the Desert Rat project in Ill.

Here are just a few pics... They are still ahead of us I'd say in progress, but I think we are catching up fast... Fortunately for us, we have a few more volunteers than they do... Which is a real real shame, because to be part of something like that, is very special...

-witt

[Snuffy]

Witt,

I know for a fact that the band is eliminated with the bare metal "S" in the triangle. I got all, and I mean all of Mr. Freeman's books ... they are all very well read ...

If the letter in the group symbol was bare metal it was bare regardless of what was under, through, or around the group symbol.

Hope ya like paint remover!

[MARQUEE]
Attachment 7005
[/MARQUEE]

[Wittpilot]

Interesting Snuffy... You would have thought it would have made sense and would have been quicker to have painted them in layers like that... Will have to poke around a bit...

[Snuffy]

A white "S" is just as acceptable ... As long as its on a black background.

[Wittpilot]

Okay, I took a picture to better explain the issue with the numbers being incorrect... you can see in the picture below how the stencilling was incorrect... we re-measured 2 inches from the outside and what you see in black was excess.... terrible mess.

Also, I wasn't gonna share a photo of the nose till it was done, but I had to pass it along... she's looking sharp... hopefully it will be rivetted together by the end of fall...

[Marlin]

Beautiful and thanks for posting all shots.

OUTSTANDING:ernae:

[Wittpilot]

The tail has officially been repainted...looks good...yellow all matches... and you can only tell where we covered up the black if you are looking extremely close.... And the other photo shows what we are trying to do to make that bead that goes all the way around the pilots seat.... we are experimenting with different things... this was just a piece of flat aluminum, we bent it on a break, duck billed it around a steel rod, rolled it on an English wheel and then started to bend it.... I forget what you call the tool you use to do that ... its where you move the handle up and down and it either shrinks the metal or extends it to make a curve..... I'm an idiot for not remembering...... oh well....

-witt

[Snuffy]

Thanks for the update Witt. :ernae:

[Wittpilot]

UPDATE!!

Yeah, It's been awhile...

We are working on putting the edge of the seat on... this is how we did it...

Obviously this piece would have been orinally pressed out by a machine...

-bent a piece of aluminum on a break a little passed 90 degrees
-wrapped piece around a piece of steel, duckbilled it around
-rolled it on an English Wheel
-replaced the steel rod with an aluminun one to keep the shape

then we just started shrinking/stretching, bending.... the result shown below...

Also, paint is ordered for nose-art... probably be done before winter comes.....

-Witt

[Willy]

I'm really enjoying these updates and look forward to more!

[Wittpilot]

We cracked the edge around the seat...back to square one on that.... and we will soon have noseart!

BTW... Everytime I've come here this weekend, it had no new threads.... am I missing something here? It can't be that dead in here...no way...

[PRB]

You mean the metal seat part, like in the photo above? Ouch...

[Wittpilot]

Just the ridge that goes around the edge that is clamped on in the photo above..... It has been something that we are finding extremely difficult to replicate...

[OBIO]

Witt

I'm no master machinist, no metalurgist...but are you annealing the aluminum before your begin working with it? I have done a bunch of brake line work on cars...and a little annealing of the cold rolled brake lines sure makes flaring them a lot easier and less prone to cracking.

OBIO

[cheezyflier]

i agree, that should make things easier to work with. but you may find you need to under bend and work into it. once you aneal it, it's not going to want to bend back the other way, should you go to far once.

[Wittpilot]

The bending isn't too hard really, it is the shrinking/stretching that is tricky... the more you fiddle with that thin aluminum... the more it fights you... we have the technique down, it is implementing it that is difficult...

[Snuffy]

Thanks for the update Witt!

:ernae:

[Marlin]

Thanks again for more updates. Good stuff man!!!!!

[Hurricane]

Haven't looked at this for a while but you're making great progress.

I've not done much shrinking or stretching but in my experience its not easy.
What kind of alloy and temper are you using?
Does it provide any additional strength for the seat or is it just a trim?

[Wittpilot]

I don't think it really adds any stability, but it provides a round edge on the seat. The originals were probably pressed out and welded on... ours will be rivetted. And it is has been so long since it was a flat piece of aluminum I can't remember the strength or even what thickness metal we used off the top of my head...

[Hurricane]

Thanks.
I'm re-building a cessna 150 rudder at the moment which needs a few bits stretching and straightning.

[Wittpilot]

Big Update....

A lot of changes over the past few weeks since I haven't been at the airport in awhile....

Will let the pictures do the talking...

[Snuffy]

Lookin Good Witt!

[Bomber_12th]

Awesome update, Witt! I gotta get working on that repaint some day.

[Wittpilot]

Quick Update...

Not much new to report... painting continues.... I mostly do a lot of observing during that part... and we continued work on the seat edge.... I added a little before picture & where we stand now....