by Felix/FFDS » Mon Dec 26, 2005 9:56 pm
You'll have fun in that B-17.
It was being restored in Kissimmee. OVer the years I've seen it "grow" from a jumbled metal carcass to the an almost complete plane (sans engines).
That B-17 has an interesting history. At one time it had five (count them) five engines. #5 was actually a turboprop engine, mounted in the nose, for which the cockpit was moved, I believe, about five feet to the rear. When flying, that one turboprop engine had more than enough power to move the B-17 comfortably through the air.
Tom Reilly's group of restorers carefully took the surviving parts, reused what could be reused and built up new parts where needed.
The end result was the B-17 that flew about a year ago..
Felix/FFDS