WANTED: B-17G Flying Fortress radio equipment

This is a long message... please read it all!

The Vintage Flying Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, home
of B-17G N3701G, "Chuckie", is seeking DONATIONS of
any kind of radio and radar equipment that would have
been used aboard B-17G's built from early-1944 on.

Our airplane is a B-17G-70-VE, serial number 44-8543A.
She was built in January, 1944, by the Vega division
of Lockheed (B-17G's were built by Boeing, Douglas,
and Vega). She was converted to a "pathfinder" model,
which means she had a radar set installed in place of
the ball turret which allowed bombing through overcast.
Very few Forts were converted for this mission, and it
is possible that our Fort saw combat time over Europe.
The combat records of the pathfinder Forts are still
classified, so we may never know for sure.

Right now, the only original radio gear installed in
the airplane is a BC-348-P receiver and shock mount.
We need everything else. Some of the specific items
we seek are the BC-375-E transmitter, tuning units
TU-4B through TU-10B, BC-306 antenna matching unit,
the wooded tuning unit storage rack that mounts to the
rear bulkhead, ceramic feedthrough insulators, power
and control connectors, and cables. We're also looking
for command set transmitters, receivers, racks, cables,
control boxes, spline cables (the LONG ones that will
reach the flight deck ceiling), modulator, and so on.

Obviously, we are looking for NICE equipment that is
in display condition because we display the airplane
both in the Museum and at air shows and fly-ins. We'll
certainly accept donations of "parts units", but the
primary focus is on acquiring gear that looks good
enough to be installed in the airplane. We want to
impress our tour guests at the air shows with a great
looking radio room! Do you have some surplus military
WW2 airborne radios stashed in your garage or attic?
Would you like to see them go to a good home? Please
donate your equipment to VFM and help us restore the
radio compartment in our beloved B-17! Any radios and
accessories that we don't use in the airplane will be
either put on display in the Museum's exhibit hall or
sold off to generate money to help finance the effort
(no matter how much gets donated, we'll still end up
having to buy some stuff to complete the job!).

We are a small museum, and we have very limited funds
available to spend on things that don't actually help
us to keep the airplane flying. We are looking for
DONATIONS of equipment. We are a 501-c-3 tax-exempt
charitable organization, and we will provide a tax
receipt for your donation.

"Chuckie" is one of approximately 15 B-17s worldwide
that are still in flyable condition, and one of about
10 that is flown regularly. Please don't "bash" me
if my numbers are off by a plane or two; the numbers
go up and down as some Forts come out of restoration
and others go down for heavy maintenance or retirement.
She participated in the fabuluous Thunder Over Michigan
air show in 2005 in which EIGHT of the remaining B-17
population were not only present at the show, but flew
together! It was the largest gathering of civilian
B-17s in history, and it may never be repeated.

Please visit the Museum's web site:

http://www.vintageflyingmuseum.org

I have been authorized by the Museum to be the focal
point for this effort. Please address your messages
directly to me.

We're also looking for a complete chin turret if you
happen to have one stashed in your barn! Actually,
we will graciously accept donations of ANY B-17 parts
that you might have lying around.

My final request is this: If you have nothing nice to
say about this effort, please say nothing. If you are
not a warbird fan, if you believe our effort is a waste
of time and money, if you think we're "glorifying" war,
if you think operating antique warplanes is dangerous
and should be outlawed, etc, etc... you're entitled to
your opinion, but I respectfully ask that you keep it
to yourself.

Thanks and 73,
Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Vintage Flying Museum member

In rec.radio.amateur.boatanchors =K=5=D=H= wrote:

My final request is this: If you have nothing nice to
say about this effort, please say nothing. If you are
not a warbird fan, if you believe our effort is a waste
of time and money, if you think we're "glorifying" war,
if you think operating antique warplanes is dangerous
and should be outlawed, etc, etc... you're entitled to
your opinion, but I respectfully ask that you keep it
to yourself.

Up to this point I agree with everything you have to say.

But I'll say what I please about your efforts, and defend to the death
the right of others to say it, as well.

You don't have to like it, and you don't have to read it, either, but
everyone else is as entitled to state his, her, or its opinions on old
warbirds as you are.

That said, I hope you're successful in your quest.

--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO

Tired old sysadmin

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

=K=5=D=H= wrote:

because we display the airplane
both in the Museum and at air shows and fly-ins.



*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

I'm appalled to see your group is flying this priceless airplane.
Sooner or later someone will crack it up and there will be one less for
future generations to see. Please put pressure on your group to ground
it permanently and preserve it forever so out great-great grandchildren
and all future generations can have the opportunity to see the real
thing and not some replica.

73, Bill W6WRT

Good luck, I hope you are successful in your search.

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 21:34:28 -0600, (=K=5=D=H=) sent into
the ether:

WANTED: B-17G Flying Fortress radio equipment

This is a long message... please read it all!

The Vintage Flying Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, home
of B-17G N3701G, "Chuckie", is seeking DONATIONS of
any kind of radio and radar equipment that would have
been used aboard B-17G's built from early-1944 on.

Our airplane is a B-17G-70-VE, serial number 44-8543A.
She was built in January, 1944, by the Vega division
of Lockheed (B-17G's were built by Boeing, Douglas,
and Vega). She was converted to a "pathfinder" model,
which means she had a radar set installed in place of
the ball turret which allowed bombing through overcast.
Very few Forts were converted for this mission, and it
is possible that our Fort saw combat time over Europe.
The combat records of the pathfinder Forts are still
classified, so we may never know for sure.

Right now, the only original radio gear installed in
the airplane is a BC-348-P receiver and shock mount.
We need everything else. Some of the specific items
we seek are the BC-375-E transmitter, tuning units
TU-4B through TU-10B, BC-306 antenna matching unit,
the wooded tuning unit storage rack that mounts to the
rear bulkhead, ceramic feedthrough insulators, power
and control connectors, and cables. We're also looking
for command set transmitters, receivers, racks, cables,
control boxes, spline cables (the LONG ones that will
reach the flight deck ceiling), modulator, and so on.

Obviously, we are looking for NICE equipment that is
in display condition because we display the airplane
both in the Museum and at air shows and fly-ins. We'll
certainly accept donations of "parts units", but the
primary focus is on acquiring gear that looks good
enough to be installed in the airplane. We want to
impress our tour guests at the air shows with a great
looking radio room! Do you have some surplus military
WW2 airborne radios stashed in your garage or attic?
Would you like to see them go to a good home? Please
donate your equipment to VFM and help us restore the
radio compartment in our beloved B-17! Any radios and
accessories that we don't use in the airplane will be
either put on display in the Museum's exhibit hall or
sold off to generate money to help finance the effort
(no matter how much gets donated, we'll still end up
having to buy some stuff to complete the job!).

We are a small museum, and we have very limited funds
available to spend on things that don't actually help
us to keep the airplane flying. We are looking for
DONATIONS of equipment. We are a 501-c-3 tax-exempt
charitable organization, and we will provide a tax
receipt for your donation.

"Chuckie" is one of approximately 15 B-17s worldwide
that are still in flyable condition, and one of about
10 that is flown regularly. Please don't "bash" me
if my numbers are off by a plane or two; the numbers
go up and down as some Forts come out of restoration
and others go down for heavy maintenance or retirement.
She participated in the fabuluous Thunder Over Michigan
air show in 2005 in which EIGHT of the remaining B-17
population were not only present at the show, but flew
together! It was the largest gathering of civilian
B-17s in history, and it may never be repeated.

Please visit the Museum's web site:

http://www.vintageflyingmuseum.org

I have been authorized by the Museum to be the focal
point for this effort. Please address your messages
directly to me.

We're also looking for a complete chin turret if you
happen to have one stashed in your barn! Actually,
we will graciously accept donations of ANY B-17 parts
that you might have lying around.

My final request is this: If you have nothing nice to
say about this effort, please say nothing. If you are
not a warbird fan, if you believe our effort is a waste
of time and money, if you think we're "glorifying" war,
if you think operating antique warplanes is dangerous
and should be outlawed, etc, etc... you're entitled to
your opinion, but I respectfully ask that you keep it
to yourself.

Thanks and 73,
Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Vintage Flying Museum member




I've learned that I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy it! (That is what my X-wife told me)

Remove the x for e-mail reply
www.outdoorfrontiers.com
www.SecretWeaponLures.com
A proud charter member of "PETAF", People for Eating Tasty Animals and Fish!!!

Unreal...... Lemme guess, you collect boatanchors, restore them, then refuse
to power them up?
Someone once told me ham radio is a 'condition', not a hobby. I'm starting
to think he was right.
rb




"Bill Turner" wrote in message
...
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

=K=5=D=H= wrote:

because we display the airplane
both in the Museum and at air shows and fly-ins.



*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

I'm appalled to see your group is flying this priceless airplane.
Sooner or later someone will crack it up and there will be one less for
future generations to see. Please put pressure on your group to ground
it permanently and preserve it forever so out great-great grandchildren
and all future generations can have the opportunity to see the real
thing and not some replica.

73, Bill W6WRT

Best of luck from Oshkosh ! "Aluminum Overcast" made it's first flight
March 7th since it's gear collapse about a year and a half ago. As long as
it was necessary to repair the nose, props and fit new gear it underwent an
entire overhaul and received four brand new engines as well ! It's amazing
what can be found for these old workhorses if you look hard...... it starts
it's yearly tour at San Diego's Gillespie Field Airport on March 31st.

Although they are fast fading away, the look in the eyes of the men who
crewed these that visit while it's on tour are worth all the effort. I've
seen 80 year old men walk over and kiss her nose and quietly shed a tear.

Mike, W9WIS

So; if they don't fly it, don't keep it airworthy, what if a hurricane
comes along, does it just sit and wait to be ripped to shreds? More
power to them, if they fix it they should fly it. I know of a collector
of fine rare cars, he isn't afraid to send them off to vintage races or
put them on the road. I am also amazed how collectors rebuild from
almost zero remains, so even if it gets busted up...

Bill Turner wrote:

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

=K=5=D=H= wrote:



because we display the airplane
both in the Museum and at air shows and fly-ins.





*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

I'm appalled to see your group is flying this priceless airplane.
Sooner or later someone will crack it up and there will be one less for
future generations to see. Please put pressure on your group to ground
it permanently and preserve it forever so out great-great grandchildren
and all future generations can have the opportunity to see the real
thing and not some replica.

73, Bill W6WRT



--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

Put the data plate in a safety deposit box and fly the plane!

RST Engineering wrote:

The only thing you have to have "original" on an aircraft is the data plate.
Everything else can be salvage, new parts, homebuilt parts, whatever. The
data plate is the key.

Jim






I am also amazed how collectors rebuild from almost zero remains, so
even if it gets busted up...







--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"©

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."

"Follow The Money" ;-P

For crying out loud Mike, was that TRULY necessary?


"Mike Andrews" wrote in message
...
In rec.radio.amateur.boatanchors =K=5=D=H= wrote:

My final request is this: If you have nothing nice to
say about this effort, please say nothing. If you are
not a warbird fan, if you believe our effort is a waste
of time and money, if you think we're "glorifying" war,
if you think operating antique warplanes is dangerous
and should be outlawed, etc, etc... you're entitled to
your opinion, but I respectfully ask that you keep it
to yourself.

Up to this point I agree with everything you have to say.

But I'll say what I please about your efforts, and defend to the death
the right of others to say it, as well.

You don't have to like it, and you don't have to read it, either, but
everyone else is as entitled to state his, her, or its opinions on old
warbirds as you are.

That said, I hope you're successful in your quest.

--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO

Tired old sysadmin

"Bill Turner" wrote in message
...
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

=K=5=D=H= wrote:

because we display the airplane
both in the Museum and at air shows and fly-ins.



*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

I'm appalled to see your group is flying this priceless airplane.
Sooner or later someone will crack it up and there will be one less for
future generations to see. Please put pressure on your group to ground
it permanently and preserve it forever so out great-great grandchildren
and all future generations can have the opportunity to see the real
thing and not some replica.

73, Bill W6WRT

An airplane that is not flown is so much scrap metal. They were designed
and built to be flown and in the air is where they belong. If someone wants
a static display let them build a replica.