Aero Vintage Books

Saw this image while trolling eBay. It was a combination "Best Years of our Lives" thought mixed with all those days as a kid laying on my bed imagining being in one of the model B-17s hanging from my ceiling being attached by model 109s and 190s.

So I grabbed the photo. Got it today. On the back it said "Inside the bomber Oregon City, 1955"

Oregon City is just south of Milwaukee Oregon where Lacy Lady spent her years so this has to be inside the nose of her. The look on the kids face said it all for me as I knew what he was thinking

1955 was the year my Dad graduated High School. I showed up in 1960. Time files apparently

It is most unfortunate that the people that are restoring this very low time B-17 do not have a bloody clue what they are doing.....

As seen from the recent "" Restoration "" shots, they painted the interior green, instead of the correct bare metal...

I wish these so called people, if they do not have any common sense to ask experts, what is correct, just leave these aircraft alone....

terveurn wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 1:04 pm It is most unfortunate that the people that are restoring this very low time B-17 do not have a bloody clue what they are doing.....

As seen from the recent "" Restoration "" shots, they painted the interior green, instead of the correct bare metal...

I wish these so called people, if they do not have any common sense to ask experts, what is correct, just leave these aircraft alone....

Lacys lady.JPG

In all fairness to the B-17 Alliance Foundation, IIRC, the "restored" nose was effectively a "new build" using the rotted out original for patterns for parts. Many of the other sections of airframe are also badly rotted out and will need to be replaced entirely. While the inside paint may not be "period and/or factory correct" they are still spending the time and $ to preserve & restore the air frame that was otherwise scrap. Had they left the aircraft alone, there would be nothing left to save.

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In all fairness to the B-17 Alliance Foundation, IIRC, the "restored" nose was effectively a "new build" using the rotted out original for patterns for parts. Many of the other sections of airframe are also badly rotted out and will need to be replaced entirely. While the inside paint may not be "period and/or factory correct" they are still spending the time and $ to preserve & restore the air frame that was otherwise scrap. Had they left the aircraft alone, there would be nothing left to save.
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I understand all of that -- the problem is, they had to replace the sheet metal and if they left the metal bare (or clear coated), it would have been period correct.

This is 1960's mind set that ALL American aircraft were 100% zinc chromate... Anybody that built monogram from that time frame remembers that the interior was supposed to be green (according to the instructions)

If the B-17 Alliance Foundation had somebody on staff that knew what they were doing, they could have save a lot of money NOT painting (hell, just the disposal fees as extremely high).

terveurn wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 11:25 am

In all fairness to the B-17 Alliance Foundation, IIRC, the "restored" nose was effectively a "new build" using the rotted out original for patterns for parts. Many of the other sections of airframe are also badly rotted out and will need to be replaced entirely. While the inside paint may not be "period and/or factory correct" they are still spending the time and $ to preserve & restore the air frame that was otherwise scrap. Had they left the aircraft alone, there would be nothing left to save.
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I understand all of that -- the problem is, they had to replace the sheet metal and if they left the metal bare (or clear coated), it would have been period correct.

This is 1960's mind set that ALL American aircraft were 100% zinc chromate... Anybody that built monogram from that time frame remembers that the interior was supposed to be green (according to the instructions)

If the B-17 Alliance Foundation had somebody on staff that knew what they were doing, they could have save a lot of money NOT painting (hell, just the disposal fees as extremely high).
[/quote]

Again, in all fairness to the B-17 Alliance Foundation, the nose of the plane was restored in what '97 or '98? Its been 20+ years already. "Restorations" of eighties/nineties vintage, "period correct" was not so much of a concern. We are still talking about a time when the internet was in its infancy, and the technical manuals containing period correct knowledge were all still on microfiche. Keep in mind Shoo Shoo baby was "restored" in the same manner of "not period correctness", around the same time, by USAF personnel. Give it time, the Lacey Lady has a long way to go.

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Give it time, the Lacey Lady has a long way to go.

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Doubt if this airframe will ever be restored by the family...

I expect that in the next 5-years somebody will offer them 3-5 million for this airframe, which considering the condition is about correct.