B-17 flightsim project.....

[Dutchb17]

Hi Guys.

First let me introduce myself.

I am David and I currently live in the Netherlands. I am a long time fan of the B-17 Flying Fortress, triggered by a book I read in the early '90s.

Recently I have been planning on bringing a B-17 back to the Netherlands.

At this point I have written two e-mails, one to the French Musee de l'Air about 44-8889, F-BGSO, which is currently in storage and not much work is being done on it at this time and maybe the near future, the second one has been sent to http://www.warbird-parts.com, on their website they say that they are selling a restoration project. I am not sure if it is still available, because I am not sure if the website has been updated recently.

Perhaps the whole idea is a longshot but I want to try. Currently I am planning on setting up a foundation and a sponsorship to finance to the whole plan. But first I need to know if these two B-17's are up for sale.

I believe that a B-17 also belongs in the Netherlands to honor the airman that fought for our freedom.

I hope you guys can provide me with help and tips to accomplish my mission, maybe you know if my efforts are futile or not.

Kind regards,

David van Coolwijk

[DryMartini]

Hi David.
Welcome to all things B-17.

That project on Warbird-Parts, if I'm not mistaken,
is long gone. I remember looking at that listing
12 years ago. Maybe Chuck remembers better than me.

There are B-17 bits and pieces around. There are also
guys who will lead you to believe there are pristeen wrecks
just waiting to be taken out of the jungle, or off the
mountain, or raised from the bottom of the sea.
Watch out for them.

[hang the expense]

Good luck with that.Its a bit late I'm sorry to say by about 30 years.

[Dutchb17]

Well, was my guess as well, but do you mean it's too late for both B-17's? As for the B-17 project I could imagine it was long gone. Perhaps the French B-17 could still be possible if they are willing to sell it, however they haven't replied yet.

Other thing I have been planning on is building a B-17 cockpit Like this one https://www.facebook.com/pages/B-17-Coc ... k=timeline (Dave Littleton's?). There is a small museum here in The Netherlands with some bits and pieces of crashed warbirds, my plan is to build it there. Whithout blueprints or a real cockpit as a reference will be very hard to do, I have been thinking of making some sort of a flightsimulator for people to get a real feel. Are there people here that are willing to provide me with some info on this?

[DryMartini]

OK then - sections of B-17s are easier than a whole one.

There have been many who wanted to build sections for museums.
Not cheap, but that can be done.

I know The B-17 Alliance Group had plans on a flight sim/B-17 cockpit.
We can make sections (Nose, cockpit, waist, tail), as well as Hang.

Just a matter of what you want.

[Dutchb17]

That is great news! Something to start with! So you mean you might be able to help me out with building a new cockpit section?

If you are willing to help me out with that, that would be great!

I am pretty serious about this, I am planning on funding this by crowdfunding and sponsorship etc.

Thanks..

[DryMartini]

David,

I'm not going to dissuade you from your project.
The B-17C forum is my dream, which is S-L-O-W-L-Y
coming together.

If you are serious, then PM me an email address.
I can forward you some "project" presentations
and their estimated cost (from 4-6 years ago),
just so you know what questions you'll face,
decisions you'll need to make, and of course
just how much you'll need to raise to do it.

Sound good?

[Dutchb17]

Hi Bill,

I'll PM you.

[Dutchb17]

Next week there will be arriving several drawings, I hope they will be useful.

[Dutchb17]

I started a facebook page yesterday to follow the progress so far. The address is : http://www.facebook.com/b17sim Please like and share!

Today I received a 415 page partslist by mail, I had hoped that there were some more details in it about the cockpit and especially, but there are not any in there. Any guys who can help me out with the instrumentpanels?

[DryMartini]

I have not seen a PM. Try emailing me,
Or email the moderator and get a hold of me.

[Dutchb17]

That's odd, I did send you a pm! I will email you instead!

About the French B-17, it is not for sale, they say it is part of the French Heritage. At this time I am emailing with the curator of the museum about visiting the B-17 to take pictures inside and where possible take measurements.

Here's a link with pictures of its current state: http://www.pyperpote.tonsite.biz/listin ... &Itemid=55

Not much left.....

[linda001]

Next week there will be arriving several drawings, I hope they will be useful.

I could not find that. Can you navigate me?

[Dutchb17]

They have arrived, not very useful I'm affraid. I did get a an illustrated parts list in the meantime. I had it printed into a book form. Still need to post the pictures.

[Dutchb17]

Last week the blueprint for the instrument panel arrived, so I can start building the panel.

Question remains, what kind of material was used for the panel, was it aluminum? I have read phenolic was used, but that is kind of hard to come by and pretty expensive. Any suggestions?