Status of Aluminum Overcast after Hurricane Ian

[aerovin2]

There has been lots of speculation in the past few days about the fate of the EAA B-17G, 44-85740, that flies as Aluminum Overcast. As most readers know, this B-17 has been undergoing long-term maintenance to repair a wing issue. The location of the airplane is in a hangar at the Punta Gorda, Florida, airport, which was hit head on by the massive Hurricane Ian this past week. This morning, EAA posted an update about how the airplane weathered that devasting storm.

EAA News Here: https://www.eaa.org/eaa/news-and-public ... ricane-ian

Here is the entire update:

September 30, 2022 — EAA’s B-17 Aluminum Overcast, which has been based in Punta Gorda, Florida, for the past year while awaiting repairs to its wing structure, apparently sustained only minor damage as Hurricane Ian came ashore in that area of the Gulf Coast earlier this week and caused tremendous damage in that region.

“We were incredibly fortunate that the aircraft did not suffer any major damage, from what early indications tell us,” said Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO and chairman of the board. “Our thanks to Arcadia Aerospace Industries for looking after the airplane and taking all the precautions they could prior to the storm’s landfall and during the event.”

The hangar where the B-17 was parked did suffer substantial damage, but early inspection shows only one piece of structure struck the B-17’s tail section, which is repairable. The fuselage was not damaged from initial inspection done on-site, although there is a great deal of debris in the hangar that must be cleaned up.

“The first priority is ensuring the hangar structure is safe to enter before sending our people there to further inspect the airframe,” Pelton said. “We don’t have an exact timeline for that to occur, but we are very fortunate compared to the very sad loss of life and property that occurred throughout southwest Florida during the hurricane. Our thoughts are with all in that area, including our many EAA members and friends.”

Aluminum Overcast has been in Punta Gorda since March 2021, when a routine pre-flight inspection revealed a crack emanating from the left sheer web, which is a secondary support structure for the wing. The only way to repair that is by removing the wing. The repair itself is not overly complicated, but getting to it is. As the wing was removed, EAA teams noticed other things that would be best served by repairing them at the same time. The proper parts for the vintage World War II bomber are currently being specially manufactured for the repairs.

[terveurn]

wait a minute -- a preflight inspection revealed a crack in the left sheer web ?

I might be mistaken, but don't you have to take off the wing fillets to check the spar sheer web on a B-17 ?

Most preflight inspection I have accomplished are basically making sure that both wings and tail are attached, the tires are round, majority of the major / important pieces are not missing, no big puddles of liquid under the aircraft and the log book has no open write-ups.

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[aerovin2]

I understood that a fillet was bulging where it should not have been bulging, thus drawing further attention.