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Post by McFly on Apr 21, 2021 19:14:00 GMT 12
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Post by Mustang51 on Apr 21, 2021 20:11:31 GMT 12
Than nose perspex will be a huge job. I assisted Jim Ricketts of Aero Nostalgia in California to make one for "Nine-O-Nine". What a job. One huge piece, huge reinforcing ring for fuselage attachment, bomb aimer's glass and reinforcing strips, openable small window panel.....a very substantial job and always with the thought that slight twisting while manoeuvring would crack it
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Post by McFly on Apr 21, 2021 20:52:38 GMT 12
Than nose perspex will be a huge job. I assisted Jim Ricketts of Aero Nostalgia in California to make one for "Nine-O-Nine". What a job. One huge piece, huge reinforcing ring for fuselage attachment, bomb aimer's glass and reinforcing strips, openable small window panel.....a very substantial job and always with the thought that slight twisting while manoeuvring would crack it Perhaps this might be useful (although will need to scale it up a bit)..
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Post by kiwi285 on Apr 21, 2021 21:52:02 GMT 12
Thanks for the photos of the model McFly. That is certainly an impressive piece of plastic moulding. There is a small circular hole in the top of the fuselage where the upper turret should be but it is far too small. We did at one stage talk about trying to recreate the turret. I believe that the turret gunner sat on a small seat that formed part of the turret mechanism. Looking at the size of the turret copula there must have been virtually no room to move past it when it was operational. God help anyone trying to bale out in a hurray especially with gravitational forces in play as well. We are going to leave the small cutout there and put a small fan in there to blow cool air into the cockpit as there is little air circulation as it is. It will also allow visitors to get a good look at the cockpit area to get a feel for the complexity for the pilot and co-pilot in a WW II bomber. At this stage we are not certain of what we will do for the glass nose section. Such a moulding will be way beyond our capabilities. Time will tell so watch this space.
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Post by Mustang51 on Apr 22, 2021 11:35:15 GMT 12
Looking at the nose from the front, if I remember correctly, there was a small circular window on the left side that would allow the bomb aimer to clean off the outside face of the flat glass panel through which he sighted,. Some of these noses also had the small metal "ball" mount into which a .50cal machine gun could be inserted for better forward protection and they had some further perspex reinforcing
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lspace
Flight Sergeant
Posts: 28
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Post by lspace on Apr 22, 2021 21:42:17 GMT 12
If you recreate the fuselage as Charlie Brown's "Ye Olde Pub" you wouldn't need to worry about the nose......
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Post by Mustang51 on Apr 22, 2021 22:09:21 GMT 12
Off topic and I may be wrong but I have been told that plans are very advanced for the production of a movie based on "A Higher Call". If that is the case it shall be fantastic featuring "Ye Olde Pub". The book is a masterpiece and covers the full gamut of operations by the Luftwaffe mentioned in the book. More importantly, all the aircraft are available for filming except the Heinkel biplane. DB powered Bf109s, Me262, B.17. If you have not read the book....get a copy immediately and spare the time it deserves to read and absorb. A truly human story not just aerial action
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Post by McFly on May 4, 2021 16:45:55 GMT 12
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Post by dazz on May 4, 2021 22:13:50 GMT 12
Damn, that last shot looks pretty slick!
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Post by kiwi285 on May 5, 2021 6:13:49 GMT 12
Thanks for the photos McFly. I haven't caught up with this project but it certainly looks impressive. The budget for this build must be enormous.
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Post by Mustang51 on May 5, 2021 13:00:27 GMT 12
Its a Spielberg production so...........it will be big !
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 5, 2021 13:52:20 GMT 12
Being Spielberg and Hanks, it will also be terrific television. They both make brilliant films and TV, and together they are the best. and have a brilliant team with them. I have been looking forward to this series for years, I cannot wait to see it.
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Post by kiwi285 on May 30, 2021 15:01:24 GMT 12
Colin, Alan and Dion are making great progress with the nose section of the B-17. It is starting to look the part. Very sad to report that our man building most of the guns for our aircraft recently passed away so Lance and Danny are taking over most of Noels work and taking them to completion. Lance is also running wiring into the fuselage so that we can run lighting and the TV sets that will show fighter attacks on the aircraft as per period operations. Cal and I are still working away on the bomb racks and have finally started to install these into the fuselage. We have recently had about 5 or 6 new volunteers start with us after an advert was released asking for interested people to came and see us. Finally some of the projects that have arrived over the last year or so are now starting to get some attention but hangar 3 is getting a little crowded at times. Andrew is keen to start the steel support work for the B-17 fuselage and wants the centre section up asap. This has caused some revised plans and time lines to get everything into this sections sooner rather than later. 280521 (3) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr 280521 (8) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr
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Post by Venomnut on Jun 8, 2021 10:18:29 GMT 12
Mike, I have sent you a message. Cheers, Jason.
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Post by kiwi285 on Jun 9, 2021 17:13:10 GMT 12
In amongst other tasks, Cal and I managed to hang up the bomb shackles and the release junction for each one on the port side of the fuselage. The intension is to recreate part of the bomb rack only on the starboard side. Colin and helpers have just about completed skinning the new nose section and I think they have done a great job skinning a multi curved surface. Once it is all filled and painted you will have trouble recognizing the woodwork. 090621 (2) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr 090621 (3) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr
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Post by ZacYates on Jun 9, 2021 20:08:36 GMT 12
It looks fantastic, what a credit to the team!
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Post by kiwi285 on Jun 25, 2021 16:09:31 GMT 12
Cal and I have been busy building viewing platforms for the Vampire so not a lot of work has been going into the B-17 but Colin and the team are getting towards the end of the nose section construction. Here are a couple of photos of the new nose section. We know that the contours are not quite right but we are doing the best with what we have available. An original second hand Perspex nose cone for a B-17 with set you back about $US 800 plus freight so that is not a starter. Once the fuse is 10 feet up in the air no one apart from enthusiasts will know the difference. We received another project at the hangar yesterday and we are scratching our heads wonder where that will fit and when can we get to it. I have posted a couple of photos on the general Classic Flyers thread. Looks like we might also get a Canberra rudder to repair so there is NO shortage of work to get on with. 250621 (5) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr [url=https://flic.kr/p/2
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Post by kiwi285 on Jul 3, 2021 14:58:52 GMT 12
The team have virtually finished the construction of the nose section and have moved onto other work within the other two fuselage sections. Dave has taken over and has started the long job of filling and sanding all of the joints. I see our mystery painter has been back in and has started sanding down the filler and primer on the outside of the original fuselage sections in preparation for painting the external olive drab. We are plodding along.
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Post by kiwi285 on Jul 14, 2021 16:30:02 GMT 12
Cal and I have nearly completed the bomb bay set up so we need to start work again on the mould for the 500lb bombs. Some of the team have been filling in the edges of the floor in the rear fuselage to make it suitable for the public. I see Mike was in yesterday and has started filling in the gaps in the plywood skinning around the nose and that is starting to fair all the curves into each other. 140721 (1) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr 140721 (2) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr 250621 (11) by Mike Feisst, on Flickr
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Post by kiwi285 on Jul 16, 2021 16:22:58 GMT 12
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