My father was a B-17 tail gunner. 15 missions before shot up with flak. Never spoke about it until his later years in life. Had a great run 93 yrs old 2015.
@@mtgering Mike Kellner is the owner.They work all the time on it but Saturdays are the main work day..give him a yell and make sure they are working and come on out..
That put a lump in my throat. My grandpa's brother flew 6 missions over Europe in a B17. I never got to meet my great uncle, but when I saw this, I cried.
Three of my family members were in wwll and one served on the USS TEXAS one flew 10 missions in a b17 and one was in the us 163 fighter division he flew in a p51 mustang
Awesome project. There are 1 or 2 out there - not many of this magnitude. Appreciate the hard work - it's an art at this level. It will be incredible when you get it out of the barn!
The narrator describes the aircraft as one of the "few tall tail" B-17's. In fact, it is quite the opposite: the B-17E model was the FIRST of the tall-tail B-17's, which also included widening the fuselage from the radio compartment to the tail to accommodate tail gunner position and give a little more room for the waist gunners. The smaller tails were on the original Model 299 prototype through the B-17D model. There is only one "shark fin" B-17 known to exist, "The Swoose," owned by the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. Restoration of that B-17D has been deferred for many years, in favor of restoring the more famous "Memphis Belle" B-17F.
Just so you know: while the "E" variant is rare, being the first model with the redesigned vertical stabilizer, (you call the "tall tail") they made them all like that all the way up to the "G" variant in 1945. The so-called "tall tails" never "broke off" during "certain conditions" unless those "conditions" included exploding flack or mid air collisions. It was the smaller vertical stabilizer design from the earlier variants that had stability issues hence the redesign. I don't mean any disrespect but please, if you're going to shoot a TH-cam short about something, especially something that you've visiting for 5 years, do some research - it's a fascinating story, this bird's history and service. Thank you, Greg.
Originally the B-17 had a smaller tail and no tailgunner position. Starting with the B-17E model, the after section was redesigned and a larger fuselage, tail section, and tailfin were added. Most B-17s built were the B-17G model with a powered nose gun replacing the hand held guns on the E and F models.
..yeah..the B-17, beginning with the "E" model, had the fuselage aft of the cockpit, and the tail, extensively redesigned..so much so, I never understood why it didn't warrant a new designation..strange..for example, one B-17E was converted to use Allison liquid cooled engines...only an engine change, not a major airframe redesign, yet it was redesignated a "B-38"..and the B-17F that was converted to a bomber escort was redesignated "YB-40"..there are a lot of examples of this sort of thing..where seemingly minor changes got a new designation, while major redesigns sometimes did not...even applied to sub-types, such as the P-47D..early ones had the B-C type razorback fuselage and sliding canopy, then they cut down the fuselage and added a bubble canopy..yet, it was still a "P-47D"..you'd think that would have automatically resulted in it being a "P-47E", "P-47F", or whatever the next available sub-type was....
Good Lord!!! I've restored dozens of cars, but I wouldn't know where to begin with that beauty! Good luck to the crew taking this on, and it's good to see one of your videos again.
..I doubt it..they would probably be stumbling over each other, some of them wouldn't know what they were doing, others would want to "be in charge" and boss everybody else, some would bicker and not get along..better off to have a small group of people who are skilled and work well together...
At 3:33 , the engines appear to be twin-row radials, whereas the B-17 used the single-row Curtiss-Wright R-1820 . Might these engines be for a different project ?
So, are they going to move the project somewhere else, or just build the barn around it as it gets assembled. It looks like the fuselage is about 90% complete. Clearly you can't mount the tail and wings in that barn, it would look like Alice in the White Rabbit's house with bits and pieces sticking out all over the place. Still, nice to see this old bird coming back together. We need to keep our past to help us remember.
So what brand of engines were fitted to the B-17? Studebaker built engines at the Indiana plant under contract for the Govt during WW11 ~ really interesting video and now following its progress, thanx
We regardless of generation must never forget that brave young men flew and maintained these giants that took the war to the enemies of peace . God bless them all.
I've been following this project since 1985 when I first heard of it. I was told it was a D model but as with rumors that was incorrect, these guys are legends, everyone in the war bird movement knows about Desert Rat. 👍👍👍👍👍❤🇺🇸
I’ve visited this plane/site years back while driving up to Fontana, just outside of Walworth, WI. My Grandmother lived by the observatory. Great to see the progress! Your channel has great content, looking forward to watching more in the future!
So great to see this. What a great job they are doing. We've heard of the Dessert Rat on many occasions. They would be our peers so to speak, since we are also restoring a B-17 "G" model. Thanks for sharing the history behind the aircraft and this quick paced video update on their progress. Its great to know we are not alone in this grand endeavor! They are a few steps ahead of us, but one day our B-17's could fly together! We are located in Salem. OR.
Wonderful. My father few 35 missions in a B17 and restoring this plane keeps the history alive. And that is priceless! I bet tons of folks with help if there would be a gofundme listed......
This is absolutely amazing to see. If I were not so far away I would love to buck some more rivets on such a wonderful aircraft. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I wear a military green colored t-shirt with the United States Army Air Corps Insignia on the chest area along with my 1940's Coca * Cola logo red colored ball cap hat. The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was active from 2 July 1926 - 9 March 1942 and was disbanded 18 September 1947. The Lineage of the United States Air Force are as follows : Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps 1 August 1907 - 18 July 1914, Aviation Section, Signal Corps 18 July 1914 - 20 May 1918, Division of Military Aeronautics 20 May 1918 - 24 May 1918, Air Service, U.S. Army 24 May 1918 - 2 July 1926, U.S. Army Air Corps 2 July 1926 - 20 June 1941, U.S. Army Air Forces 20 June 1941 - 18 September 1947 and United States Air Force 18 September 1947 - present. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and de facto aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1941-1945). It was created on 20 June 1941 as successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and is the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force, today one of the six armed forces of the United States. You're welcome for the clarification.
Step One: Get a barn. Step Two: Put a B-17 in it. Step Three: Learn that the amount of movement in the finished video is extremely magnified on the screen when you watch it. I had to stop watching about halfway through the video. It was making my eyes hurt it was jumping around so much. Very cool aircraft and story. I hope I get to see it in the air once it is finished.
It makes me smile every time I see the dedication to these old work horses. It also makes me sad to think about the loss of all those old planes before someone decided to save the history and glory of those old girls.
You must have aquired a ton of manuals and blue prints to under take such a hudge project. My late father worked on those birds during the war. I have an old Homelite 2 cycle engine that ran a 25 volt charger for the aircraft batteries. It came from the tail section of a B17. It's for sale if you're looking for one. It does not have the generator part.
My father was a B-17 tail gunner. 15 missions before shot up with flak. Never spoke about it until his later years in life. Had a great run 93 yrs old 2015.
I've been lucky enough to volunteer on the Desert Rat for several years..it's been slow going but the work is first rate...this bird is going to fly.
Currently going to school to get my A&P in Indianapolis. How can I get involved with this project? This is awesome!
@@mtgering Mike Kellner is the owner.They work all the time on it but Saturdays are the main work day..give him a yell and make sure they are working and come on out..
@@guyjohnson2856 Thanks!
The information is also in the description
Good on you , I hope it's fun.
Wow, this guy has some skills. Doing this work in a relatively small space too, that takes a lot of effort to keep organized. Hats off, man.
That put a lump in my throat. My grandpa's brother flew 6 missions over Europe in a B17. I never got to meet my great uncle, but when I saw this, I cried.
Same
Three of my family members were in wwll and one served on the USS TEXAS one flew 10 missions in a b17 and one was in the us 163 fighter division he flew in a p51 mustang
Awesome project. There are 1 or 2 out there - not many of this magnitude. Appreciate the hard work - it's an art at this level. It will be incredible when you get it out of the barn!
I wasn’t expecting this… so glad I subscribed to this channel 😁
please keep us updated?
The narrator describes the aircraft as one of the "few tall tail" B-17's. In fact, it is quite the opposite: the B-17E model was the FIRST of the tall-tail B-17's, which also included widening the fuselage from the radio compartment to the tail to accommodate tail gunner position and give a little more room for the waist gunners. The smaller tails were on the original Model 299 prototype through the B-17D model. There is only one "shark fin" B-17 known to exist, "The Swoose," owned by the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. Restoration of that B-17D has been deferred for many years, in favor of restoring the more famous "Memphis Belle" B-17F.
Absolutely amazing. Quite the undertaking. My dad fixed the communication equipment on the B-17’s
Wow what an amazing plane. Amazing barn (warehouse) those twin 50cal machine guns in the tail look real to me. Awesome video, thanks!
I can't wait until this B17 is finished.
Just so you know: while the "E" variant is rare, being the first model with the redesigned vertical stabilizer, (you call the "tall tail") they made them all like that all the way up to the "G" variant in 1945. The so-called "tall tails" never "broke off" during "certain conditions" unless those "conditions" included exploding flack or mid air collisions. It was the smaller vertical stabilizer design from the earlier variants that had stability issues hence the redesign.
I don't mean any disrespect but please, if you're going to shoot a TH-cam short about something, especially something that you've visiting for 5 years, do some research - it's a fascinating story, this bird's history and service.
Thank you,
Greg.
Great work. I'm amazed that work can be accomplished in that barn. Looks like organized chaos.
Beautiful, godspeed!!!
Originally the B-17 had a smaller tail and no tailgunner position. Starting with the B-17E model, the after section was redesigned and a larger fuselage, tail section, and tailfin were added. Most B-17s built were the B-17G model with a powered nose gun replacing the hand held guns on the E and F models.
..yeah..the B-17, beginning with the "E" model, had the fuselage aft of the cockpit, and the tail, extensively redesigned..so much so, I never understood why it didn't warrant a new designation..strange..for example, one B-17E was converted to use Allison liquid cooled engines...only an engine change, not a major airframe redesign, yet it was redesignated a "B-38"..and the B-17F that was converted to a bomber escort was redesignated "YB-40"..there are a lot of examples of this sort of thing..where seemingly minor changes got a new designation, while major redesigns sometimes did not...even applied to sub-types, such as the P-47D..early ones had the B-C type razorback fuselage and sliding canopy, then they cut down the fuselage and added a bubble canopy..yet, it was still a "P-47D"..you'd think that would have automatically resulted in it being a "P-47E", "P-47F", or whatever the next available sub-type was....
Well done to all those concerned keep up the good work.
Good Lord!!! I've restored dozens of cars, but I wouldn't know where to begin with that beauty! Good luck to the crew taking this on, and it's good to see one of your videos again.
That was great! Hope you keep us updated!
Ahh this is Awesome! Cant wait to see her flyin again, keep us posted if you can, great video, thanks Brother 👍🏻
Fantastic project
I love this stuff. Thanks for posting it.
Very interesting..thank you for posting.
You mostly need hundreds of volunteers to help.
..I doubt it..they would probably be stumbling over each other, some of them wouldn't know what they were doing, others would want to "be in charge" and boss everybody else, some would bicker and not get along..better off to have a small group of people who are skilled and work well together...
Woow Your work is wonderful 👌🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
thank you for the information i would sure love to be their to help restore that great part of history
You can drop them a line and help. Info in the description
that is so awesome
Great video today .Got my support.
That is a cool find !
At 3:33 , the engines appear to be twin-row radials, whereas the B-17 used the single-row Curtiss-Wright R-1820 . Might these engines be for a different project ?
I have no idea, you would have to ask them.
I love watching this stuff and l love The flying fortress
🇦🇺👍🇦🇺👍🇦🇺👑🙏
So, are they going to move the project somewhere else, or just build the barn around it as it gets assembled. It looks like the fuselage is about 90% complete. Clearly you can't mount the tail and wings in that barn, it would look like Alice in the White Rabbit's house with bits and pieces sticking out all over the place. Still, nice to see this old bird coming back together. We need to keep our past to help us remember.
They will do final assembly at a hangar at a nearby airport.
You think it’s still got the manufacturers warranty
So what brand of engines were fitted to the B-17? Studebaker built engines at the Indiana plant under contract for the Govt during WW11 ~ really interesting video and now following its progress, thanx
can we visit your barn
Hey I live in marengo is this open to the public to see?
You can contact the owner, in the description is his info.
What are the corrugated pieces that look they are from a Junkers?
Nope, they are internal parts of the wings
Why doesn't Boeing step up?
Does he still have the sperry ball turret?
He does!
By far the coolest part of the b-17!
Looks like he needs a bigger barn
One ward (awesome)p.s. I want to take a flight when it gets done American Nostalga!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think he's planning something along those lines.
At what point in time does the plane become a reproduction given so much of it isn’t original
We regardless of generation must never forget that brave young men flew and maintained these giants that took the war to the enemies of peace . God bless them all.
Brave souls who once flew those are honoured . Thanks for the tour👍
I've been following this project since 1985 when I first heard of it. I was told it was a D model but as with rumors that was incorrect, these guys are legends, everyone in the war bird movement knows about Desert Rat. 👍👍👍👍👍❤🇺🇸
I’ve visited this plane/site years back while driving up to Fontana, just outside of Walworth, WI. My Grandmother lived by the observatory. Great to see the progress! Your channel has great content, looking forward to watching more in the future!
Thank you!
So great to see this. What a great job they are doing. We've heard of the Dessert Rat on many occasions. They would be our peers so to speak, since we are also restoring a B-17 "G" model. Thanks for sharing the history behind the aircraft and this quick paced video update on their progress. Its great to know we are not alone in this grand endeavor! They are a few steps ahead of us, but one day our B-17's could fly together! We are located in Salem. OR.
Wonderful. My father few 35 missions in a B17 and restoring this plane keeps the history alive. And that is priceless! I bet tons of folks with help if there would be a gofundme listed......
I'll ask the owner to set one up.
Wow, cool beyond words. Now that is a labor of love. You're within spitting distance of Osh Kosh. You headed up there for AirVenture?
No, sadly not. It always falls on another event I go to.
This is absolutely amazing to see. If I were not so far away I would love to buck some more rivets on such a wonderful aircraft. Thank you so much for sharing this.
The description has the info on talking to the owner.
I wear a military green colored t-shirt with the United States Army Air Corps Insignia on the chest area along with my 1940's Coca * Cola logo red colored ball cap hat. The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was active from 2 July 1926 - 9 March 1942 and was disbanded 18 September 1947. The Lineage of the United States Air Force are as follows : Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps 1 August 1907 - 18 July 1914, Aviation Section, Signal Corps 18 July 1914 - 20 May 1918, Division of Military Aeronautics 20 May 1918 - 24 May 1918, Air Service, U.S. Army 24 May 1918 - 2 July 1926, U.S. Army Air Corps 2 July 1926 - 20 June 1941, U.S. Army Air Forces 20 June 1941 - 18 September 1947 and United States Air Force 18 September 1947 - present. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and de facto aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1941-1945). It was created on 20 June 1941 as successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and is the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force, today one of the six armed forces of the United States. You're welcome for the clarification.
Step One: Get a barn. Step Two: Put a B-17 in it. Step Three: Learn that the amount of movement in the finished video is extremely magnified on the screen when you watch it. I had to stop watching about halfway through the video. It was making my eyes hurt it was jumping around so much. Very cool aircraft and story. I hope I get to see it in the air once it is finished.
Are they restoring this to flyable or a static display?
That's the question
No, this bird is going to fly.👍❤🇺🇸
It will be restored to full operations.
My uncle that I never met, flew in a B24 for a number missions one day she vanished never to be found again
Damn
Who can I contact to bring a group to help buck some rivets?
The info is in the description to contact the owners.
Wow that looks like an amazing restoration. Keeping track of where they left the wrench might be an issue.
Is the Kalamazoo Air Zoo involved with this project?
They are not
Wow! Looks great, but they sure have their work cut out for them. Good luck and looking forward to someday seeing the only E model in the air!!
It makes me smile every time I see the dedication to these old work horses. It also makes me sad to think about the loss of all those old planes before someone decided to save the history and glory of those old girls.
You must have aquired a ton of manuals and blue prints to under take such a hudge project. My late father worked on those birds during the war. I have an old Homelite 2 cycle engine that ran a 25 volt charger for the aircraft batteries. It came from the tail section of a B17. It's for sale if you're looking for one. It does not have the generator part.
You can contact them through the link in the description
Great!!
Fix the bomber please
They are