Amarillo B-17 Mechanic School

[Second Air Force]

Here are a few more photos of complete airplanes, all F models in this case.

This first airplane is "Old Patch", the same airplane getting a #2 prop changed in two of my earlier photos. She was a B-17F-40-BO, 42-515? The photo is dated 14 June '43, and she survived to serve in the CONUS for most of the rest of the war, whatever the last digit was.


La Hula Rumba, with Drew Field codes and no astrodome:


This is an interesting ship as she later served as one of the YB-40s according to Baugher, then to Walnut Ridge after hostilities:


Steve B. and I wonder if anyone has the exact serial number for Amarillo Avenger. We worked on this for a while without a definitive answer. I did notice today that the caption at the bottom of the photo says she was named by the students at Amarillo. Also, notice that she doesn't have an astrodome.


This is self explanatory:


As is this one. It does show that the liferaft compartment was evidently unpainted on at least some F models:


This is the classroom trainer that goes along with the last picture:



That is about the end of complete or mostly complete airframes in the Amarillo photo file. Next I'll start on the school mock-ups.

Scott

[Dan Johnson]

Interesting to see the later style top turret on La Hula Rumba.

Thanks for sharing all these photos. Great stuff!

[Second Air Force]

Interesting to see the later style top turret on La Hula Rumba.

Yeah, I noticed that also. I have some photos in a book somewhere of early F models assigned to CCTS airfields with the later turret enclosure. It makes sense to give the gunners "modern" equipment to train on.

While going through this collection of photos it dawned on me that the AAF seems to have sent active airplanes to Amarillo for the students to work on. I will have to do more research into the curriculum to see if the mechanic trainees worked on live machinery before graduation. It would make sense to do some inspections/maintenance on CONUS trainers utilizing supervised trainee mechanics.

Scott

[Second Air Force]

Here are a few more photos of engine related training:

Two shots of uncrating an 1820:



Prepping a replacement:


Cylinder change class--just wait until they're changing one in the rain at an 8th Air Force station! (And hopefully they'll have a ring compressor when they get into the field...... They even staged photographs at Amarillo.)


Setting the valve lash:


One of the test cells. Notice the Fortress cockpit section between the engines:


Another test cell set-up:


Props next,
Scott

[Second Air Force]

I found this in the Base Historical records and it seems to fit this time of year. And, Santa, if you're listening, I wouldn't mind having that slat-grille Jeep under the tree.............



Happy Holidays to all!
Scott

[miketull]

Thanks for all the pictures. If you have more I hope that you will post them.

[Second Air Force]

Here are a few more photos--sorry I've been a bit lax in my posting.

First, the operation and maintenance of the beloved putt-putt:


Engine fire extinguishing demo--I love the look on the operator's face!


A couple of turbo/induction system shots. What I wouldn't give to have some of these training mock-ups today!!






This one gives a pretty good idea of how the glycol cabin heaters were set up:


Prop governor class:


Instrumentation mock-up:




Scott

[miketull]

Thanks again for the pitcures. This type of picture that shows the details of a B-17 are very rare.

[aerovin2]

Ditto. Thanks much for posting the photos as they show the kind of technical training needed by the under sung guys who kept the airplanes flying.

[Second Air Force]

Being a mechanic myself, I found these photos very, very interesting. On the other hand, all the neat cutaway mock-ups give the budding mechanic a distorted experience. Wait till they get to an 8th or 15th Air Force station and have to change a turbo on a real Fortress with all the sheetmetal riveted on and a crew chief yelling at them to hurry up!

Here are a few more:

The part we all love, the paperwork!


Technical Library:


Safety wire training bench:


Hydraulic system mock-up:


More to come,
Scott

[miketull]

Thansk for these pictures. I save them as part of my slide show.

[Second Air Force]

Here is a group of Propeller School photos. I especially like the prop governor rigging mock-up that leads it off:











I hate to say it, but I only have one more group of quality photos from Amarillo. There are some microfilmed copies of other pictures that I'd be glad to post if y'all want to see them. They are kind of fuzzy but still interesting.

Scott

[miketull]

Sure, I would like to see them.

[Second Air Force]

This is the last batch of photos that we personally scanned at Maxwell, starting with a couple of landing gear school photos and then some miscellaneous shots.





A nice shot of taxiing/runup practice with a BT-9:


Airfield portable lighting:


Motor pool with the twin water towers, a distinctive feature of Amarillo:


The cantonment area during the early days of the field:


Aerial view of the hospital, one of the larger hospitals in Texas by the time it reached its peak:


This photo was uncaptioned, but the buildings appear to be classrooms and technical training buildings. I'll look through the text to see if I can find a certain identity for them.


I haven't figured out (yet) how to pull individual photos from the CD I got from Maxwell. Once I figure out how to capture the photos I'll post some.

Scott

[miketull]

Thanks again for the pictures.