Aero Vintage Books

This is likely a silly questions. I'm curious if there were ever plans to have an H model Fortress. I've noticed that in many (but not all) assembly drawings, the parts list includes a column labeled "H" following E F G. It has the same flag as G, falling into the G series. So... Why is it there? Was there going to be an H model if the war had not ended?

Probably just a placeholder. I've never seen any indications that any production line update to the B-17G was ever considered. The small changes to update the B-17G were covered by the block system; by 1943 the B-17 design was out of date and any efforts to improve the airplane had long since given way to the B-29. But, of course, there was a B-17H...all modified B-17Gs that carried air-sea rescue lifeboats...later to become SB-17G.

FoCoB17G wrote:This is likely a silly questions. I'm curious if there were ever plans to have an H model Fortress. I've noticed that in many (but not all) assembly drawings, the parts list includes a column labeled "H" following E F G. It has the same flag as G, falling into the G series. So... Why is it there? Was there going to be an H model if the war had not ended?

The flags don't necessarily correspond to the model.

There will be another data block on the drawing that defines serial number ranges, that data block also defines which release column flag to use in the parts list. Sometimes the flags contain letters, other times they use dash numbers.

In your example, there appear to be 3 variants of <part #>-0, 3 of <part #>-79, and 2 variants of <part #>-103. Which of the 8 variants you use depends on the serial number of the aircraft, and/or the part number called out by the higher level blueprint.

Chuck Giese wrote:

FoCoB17G wrote:This is likely a silly questions. I'm curious if there were ever plans to have an H model Fortress. I've noticed that in many (but not all) assembly drawings, the parts list includes a column labeled "H" following E F G. It has the same flag as G, falling into the G series. So... Why is it there? Was there going to be an H model if the war had not ended?

The flags don't necessarily correspond to the model.

There will be another data block on the drawing that defines serial number ranges, that data block also defines which release column flag to use in the parts list. Sometimes the flags contain letters, other times they use dash numbers.

In your example, there appear to be 3 variants of <part #>-0, 3 of <part #>-79, and 2 variants of <part #>-103. Which of the 8 variants you use depends on the serial number of the aircraft, and/or the part number called out by the higher level blueprint.

Right on, that makes sense.

Here is the data block in question:



It looks like my only option is flag G, as flag H does not have any Boeing serials. Flag 120 is "AF 42-31032 & ON (TO BDV683-37)" I can't find any information on the web for BDV# serials, but I assume that this will cover the proper serial as it's the only Boeing option.

FoCoB17G wrote:

Chuck Giese wrote:

FoCoB17G wrote:This is likely a silly questions. I'm curious if there were ever plans to have an H model Fortress. I've noticed that in many (but not all) assembly drawings, the parts list includes a column labeled "H" following E F G. It has the same flag as G, falling into the G series. So... Why is it there? Was there going to be an H model if the war had not ended?

The flags don't necessarily correspond to the model.

There will be another data block on the drawing that defines serial number ranges, that data block also defines which release column flag to use in the parts list. Sometimes the flags contain letters, other times they use dash numbers.

In your example, there appear to be 3 variants of <part #>-0, 3 of <part #>-79, and 2 variants of <part #>-103. Which of the 8 variants you use depends on the serial number of the aircraft, and/or the part number called out by the higher level blueprint.

It looks like my only option is flag G, as flag H does not have any Boeing serials. Flag 120 is "AF 42-31032 & ON (TO BDV683-37)" I can't find any information on the web for BDV# serials, but I assume that this will cover the proper serial as it's the only Boeing option.

Oh gawd, bulkhead 3.... That has to be the most changed bulkhead on the airplane. Fortunately, most of the changes are minor brackets and pass-through holes. Having done this once, I would just put in the major structure, and worry about the rest as you fit out the airframe.