B-17F Nose Glass

[DryMartini]

Plexiglass, that is.
Now, where did I leave off.

Ah, yes. Here! the nose mold almost ready for a coat of Fiberglas:


And - Sha-zam! A mold for the plexiglass nose cone!


Here it is, from another angle:


All HTE needs to do now is get a 1/5 of his favorite Speyside, in order to get the
courage to start drilling on that baby!

This is an interesting picture - A late B-17G, with an early F style nose piece.
HTE and I think it was a field replacement for damage repair, and why not?
Use what they had available. Still, the picture gives a nice perspective on the
nose, doesn't it?

[DryMartini]

Well, it has been a while, and Hang has been on my case about not posting pictures he sends me,
so I give you...

Ta-da!



Oops! Wrong image...





New made B-17F Nose Glass!

Still some details to work through, but it was a successful test piece.
They have ordered new Plexiglas for an attempt at a real part.

Congrats to Tom and his friends on their accomplishment to date,
but we in the B-17 community are expecting more and more as
you raise the bar.

[Dave]

Bill,
Looks fantastic, what thickness of plexi are you using and you must have one hell of an oven for that.

Again, Fantastic stuff

Dave

[DryMartini]

I believe the test piece was 1/4" Plexi.
Came out too thin in the forward section of the nose, so the next test is with
3/8". Part specs call for a uniform 1/4" thickness.

Hang is lucky that he has friends with the ability to form plastic bath tubs.

[hang the expense]

Minor correction.We started with 3/8s and it thinned too much up the front.I picked up a rough late G glass and its thickness up the front is a little over .150.So tomorrow we are pulling a piece of 1/2 inch and we will see what we come up with.The fun begins when I start to trim this rascal to fit a frame 1.

[hang the expense]

The nose glass is now on City of Savanah.It fits really well and MAYBE DRY MARTINI WILL POST A PICTURE OF THE PLANE WITH THE NEW NOSE ON IT.just thinking out loud.

[DryMartini]

Boy! Tough crowd...

Let me pull some pictures out of my bag of tricks....


Thanks, Felix, I got them now.

Complete and ready to transport.


Next Stop - Savannah! Woo Hoo!


And doesn't she look nice!


Another angle. Hope he doesn't tighten those bolts too tightly.

Nice work, HTE.

[aerovin2]

Okay, i have to ask. Why B-17F nose glass on a B-17G? Looks funny and would not fully elevated chin turret guns damage the nose if fired?

[hang the expense]

Early g models had the long nose glass and there are pictures of late g models in the war with replacement f model nose pieces.you just limit the upper travel of the guns to prevent stricking the glass.

[DryMartini]

Hang says "You'll get used to it".

Everyone is so used to seeing those late 'G' Vega noses,
that they forget how nice a Boeing perspex nose looks.

[hang the expense]

Look at my Hang the Expense picture and you can see the long nose on a G model.

[hang the expense]

Hello,hello, is this thing on?????

[JohnDell]

The nose piece looks great. It turned out really well. The “Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby” could use one of those.

Bill, one of these days I will get the time to call you. Hopefully this weekend. I have a couple of B-17G paint questions you might be able to answer.

[DryMartini]

Look under the B-17 tab on this web site

http://www.aerovintage.com/B17Resources.htm

Might tell you what you need to know....

If not, just call or email.

[hang the expense]

The nose piece looks great. It turned out really well. The “Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby” could use one of those.

Bill, one of these days I will get the time to call you. Hopefully this weekend. I have a couple of B-17G paint questions you might be able to answer.

If you notice the picture of shoo shoo baby when she was interned she has the long nose glass.The one on her now, in the air force museum, is incorrect.