lifeline Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Hi All, Found a short article about B-17E being modified as Armed Transport and used in PTO. https://www.historynet.com/old-soldiers-pacific-b-17-armed-transports.htm The article mentioned several modifications done, such as the elimination of the belly turret; "“One of the first things they did was remove the ball turret because of the possibility of entanglement of the parachutes during a drop mission,” recalled Jack Hoover, a pilot in the 317th Troop Carrier Group. “All the other guns were left operational." And also further modification on the bomb bay; “The bomb bay was the more important part of the reconfiguration. The racks and shackles were removed. Bins were constructed on either side and a steel cable affixed to the area above the bins to attach the parachute static lines. The bottom of the bins were on hinges with electric switches for release, and the release switches were located right in front of the pilot.” I searched the internet for images of the said modifications, but came up empty. I figured the the hole left by ball turret would be just covered by round panel or some sort, but how about the bomb bay with the "bins" and "steel cable"? I imagined it would be a rectangular shape (green zinc chromate colored?) for each side with the a door on the bottom to release the content, with one steel wire on top each bin running from fwd to aft of the bomb bay? Or anyone probably have a picture of the modifications? Cheers, Mario Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cajun21 Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Mario, The only thing I have is a photo of the forward gun modification on "The Last Straw" aircraft. PM me your email and I will send it to you if you would like. It's not much but it's all I got, Cheers, Itch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lifeline Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 On 1/15/2020 at 9:45 PM, Cajun21 said: Mario, The only thing I have is a photo of the forward gun modification on "The Last Straw" aircraft. PM me your email and I will send it to you if you would like. It's not much but it's all I got, Cheers, Itch Email in bound... Cheers, Mario Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.