B-17 Parts for project

[Dave]

Hi, I am new to this forum and I am looking for some help.
I am building a B-17 replica cockpit section using as many original parts as I can get, I have managed to get about 80% of the parts I need, but I am missing a few.
Does anyone know where I can find any brake metering valves (they mount on the sides of the rudder pedal supports), any condition will do, I can make some if I get one to copy, P/N 3-9584-4.
I have some photos of the project so far but I am not sure if you can post them here
Thanks

[DryMartini]

Do you have the blueprint for the part?
I don't have my index at work here, but I may be able
to provide you one.

[Dave]

I do not have any blueprints, as you can imagine, they are hard to come by over here in the U.K.
I have a large machine shop that I can make parts in so if you have any drawings these would be a great help.
Great work you are doing on the B-17E, How are you progressing?, Are you planning to update the photos on your website?

[DryMartini]

Yeah - The page on usaaf.com is just someone's spare web space.
I'm trying to find the time to do an official Desert Rat web page.
Private message me at home and I'll see what drawings I have.

[metlman17]

Dave and DryMartini, you guys have some interesting projects in the works. Do either of you have any pictures, I would love to see them. I would like to put together a B-17 main instrument panel with all of the old instruments that I have. Would either of you have a drawing of the panel that shows the supporting structure? Thanks

[DryMartini]

Dave sent me some nice pictures of his setup.
Our panel is of an 'E' model, and is all aluminium.
Later 'G' models had phenolic panels. ALso, the panel
seemed to change several times over the production run,
so it will do some good to choose a particular serial number
and work from there.

I have microfilm drawings, but it can take some time
to find all the parts under a given assembly. That, and the
film is about 1" x .75" with varying quality. I'd be happy
to help - even more so if you make extra parts for our bird.


Dave - I have not forgotten about you. Look for more
email from me this weekend regarding that brake assembly.

[Dave]

Try this link
http://users.adelphia.net/~b17panel/b17panel/index.html
This guy sells the panel assemblies

[DryMartini]

I found the main assembly prints for the B-17E control pannel.
Are you still interested in making one yourself?

[metlman17]

Dave, thanks for the link. I have seen his panels and they certainly look well worth the money, however my wife would have a thing or two to say about spending that kind of money on my hobby. That really sounds whipped doesn't it LOL. My main interest in B-17s is with the sw Pacific area. A B-17e panel would fit right in with my interests but most of my engine instruments are more appropriate for a B-17f or B-17g model. It looks like most of the flight instruments would work though. I know that the B-17e panel is aluminum but is it the same shape and size as a B-17f? Would the e panel be the same just different material? I have also sent a request to the Smithsonian for any info that they might have on this subject so it should be interesting to see what they come up with.
PS does any one know of a website, book, or source for high quality cockpit pictures?

[ww2John]

Go to the Memphis Belle web site for a good quality picture of their instrument panel:

http://www.memphisbelle.com/modules.php ... _album.php

[metlman17]

Hey John that is an excellent cockpit photo! Is that what the Memphis Belle instrument panel looks like now or is it a computer generated graphic? I am sure it is not the original panel with the sky superimposed into the picture. However, they should make a poster of it and sell it in their gift shop. Since you are posting on this board I figure that you must like Flying Fortresses. Do you have a favorite area of interest? Thanks for the link.

[Dave]

Try this link
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mclaydon/
Good photos of the inside of B-17 'Mary Alice'
Click on Aircraft walkthroughs and then click on the B-17

[DryMartini]

The panel assembly itself didn't change dimentions, but the material and
positions of the instruments did. I believe most if not all 'F' models had
aluminium panels. The 'G' had aluminium and wood & phenolic panels.

[metlman17]

Hello Dave it is amazing how many times that I have been on the Mary Alice web site and have missed those pictures. They are incredible thanks for passing that on to me. The instruments in those pics look just like mine LOL. This is starting to get exciting. Dry Martini, you say that the B-17f panel is aluminum, do you know what grade and how thick? I have seen panels for sale at warbird parts that were just aluminum sheets with cutouts for the instruments. Do these require the plywood frames that the B-17g had or are they just aluminum cut to size? The industrial park that I work in has several machine shops that have water jet cutters. Does anybody have any knowledge of how much it will cost to have a panel water jet cut from aluminum sheet?

[DryMartini]

Your questions are answered (kinda):

I found and cleaned up some scans and this is what I have:

For the B-17, the main panel is divided into three sections:
The Pilots, Flight Instruments, and the Copilots.

The panels for the B-17E (I have not found the B-17F/G's prints yet) are:
Pilot = Drawing 6-9293
Instrument = Drawing 6-9294
Copilot = Drawing 6-9295

In 1942 terms, each panel is Aluminium, 1/8" thick, 24ST, Sheet Spec QQ-A-355
(This is 2024-T3 alloy in modern terms)

These parts are used in Assembly drawing 15-7380.

All these specific drawings are used in the B-17E only.

I'm fairly sure that most F models used the same material, just
under a different part number. When I find them, I'll confirm.
Per your post, you were interested in Pacific based '17s, most
were C's, D's, and E's, with a few F's.

At this time, I do not know if the aluminium panels could be/were used on
the plywood frames, nor of the phenolic ones were used on the aluminium
frames. I don't see why they wouldn't be interchangeable. Again, I'll post if I find that information.

As for cost, I don't know that either. It would be a small run, with
precision (+/- .02") cuts.

HTH