B-17 Airframes and the Greeley B-17 fuselage
Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:31 am
From the WIX site comes news that the B-17 fuselage in the Greeley bar may have been sold to a group from Southern California. More to follow on that.
However, an interesting bit of information comes to me from a knowlegable someone who might be able to shed some light on this B-17. It seems that back in 1976 there was a MGM movie studio storage lot in a canyon above Malibu that contained parts of a number of airplanes, including a P-51 and a PBY. There was also a mock-up of a Bf-109, some F-86 canopies, and the remains of the Tallmantz P-1 Phoenix that had crashed in July 1966. There were also movie sets and a big hangar on the lot.
Significantly, there were two intact camouflaged B-17s. They were both stock military with turrets, etc, and potions of the fuselage skins had been neatly cut with grips attached so they could be removed, presumably for interior filming. The lot was being cleared as the land was being donated to the state by the studio. Shortly afterwards the Mustang was somewhat covertly removed for safekeeping, but the B-17s and other airframe parts remained. Eventually the B-17s were found to be dismantled and, according to a guard at the storage lot, on their way to a restaurant owner in what he thought was Colorado.
This might tie together some of the pieces of the story, and also might suggest that these airplanes were once the property of 20th Century Fox, as that company also held the remains of the Tallmantz Phoenix. It might be that these B-17s had been obtained by the studio for the movie 12 O'Clock High in 1949, in which case the identity of at least one may be known. They may have remained with the studio and used for the later TV series also, but the last two items are purely conjecture.
It may also be that the better part of two other B-17s (less the fuselage hanging in the bar) may be out there somewhere.
The gentleman who passed along this information is trying to locate some photos and identification of these two airplanes and I will pass this along if they become available.
I'm planning on posting this information to B-17 News shortly, but it was interesting enough to me to get it out there right now.
However, an interesting bit of information comes to me from a knowlegable someone who might be able to shed some light on this B-17. It seems that back in 1976 there was a MGM movie studio storage lot in a canyon above Malibu that contained parts of a number of airplanes, including a P-51 and a PBY. There was also a mock-up of a Bf-109, some F-86 canopies, and the remains of the Tallmantz P-1 Phoenix that had crashed in July 1966. There were also movie sets and a big hangar on the lot.
Significantly, there were two intact camouflaged B-17s. They were both stock military with turrets, etc, and potions of the fuselage skins had been neatly cut with grips attached so they could be removed, presumably for interior filming. The lot was being cleared as the land was being donated to the state by the studio. Shortly afterwards the Mustang was somewhat covertly removed for safekeeping, but the B-17s and other airframe parts remained. Eventually the B-17s were found to be dismantled and, according to a guard at the storage lot, on their way to a restaurant owner in what he thought was Colorado.
This might tie together some of the pieces of the story, and also might suggest that these airplanes were once the property of 20th Century Fox, as that company also held the remains of the Tallmantz Phoenix. It might be that these B-17s had been obtained by the studio for the movie 12 O'Clock High in 1949, in which case the identity of at least one may be known. They may have remained with the studio and used for the later TV series also, but the last two items are purely conjecture.
It may also be that the better part of two other B-17s (less the fuselage hanging in the bar) may be out there somewhere.
The gentleman who passed along this information is trying to locate some photos and identification of these two airplanes and I will pass this along if they become available.
I'm planning on posting this information to B-17 News shortly, but it was interesting enough to me to get it out there right now.
