When were the B-17 wing tip vents added? I know they were to vent the Tokyo tanks which were fitted during the later B-17F production blocks. I’ve also seen plenty of B-17G’s without any vents, and I seem to recall in one of Roger Freeman’s books that vents were retro-fitted.
I’ve seen photos with one vent, and others with the more usual two vents, but I don’t know when either were introduced. I’m planning to build a 1/48 scale cutaway of a BO-1 block B-17G, but I’ve never been able to determine if vents were fitted to the tips, and if so, how many.
I’ve asked this on a modelling forum, thought I’d check out here too.
Info anyone, thanks?
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th August 2012 at 20:25
Thanks.
By: P Bellamy - 19th August 2012 at 20:21
I appreciate it’s quite some time since this was last discussed, but copies of the 2nd Strategic Air Depot (Alconbury) records finally turned up today, and contained this entry:
16th August 1944
Special Projects:
An order for 4000 wing vent assemblies is being manufactured by the Sheet Metal Shop. This week 1800 have been completed and turned in to Depot Supply for distribution to the various sub-depots. These vents for wing tips will be installed on all aircraft in the 1st Bomb Division. This should eliminate danger of explosion caused by accumulation of gasoline vapors.
All the best,
PB
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th November 2011 at 11:37
I’m quite happy for them not to be there. It means I got my 1/6 scale B-17 right from the start!
By: Bomberboy - 29th November 2011 at 11:32
He said that the vents did originate in the 15th Air Force, and became a field modification.
So a good call by T-21 who was nicely on the money, but not ignoring the fact that the prototype 307 airliner had vents fitted by Boeing and that Graham qualified had flown many years earlier.
he concluded it was unlikely to have the tip vents modification..
Somehow I get the feeling that you wished that it did have them fitted, because they are a feature.
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th November 2011 at 09:48
The person at the Museum of Flight that I emailed is out of office for a few days, but a colleague replied with an initial response. He said that the vents did originate in the 15th Air Force, and became a field modification. He said that Douglas Block 85 was the first on the Douglas line to have them fitted in the factory.
Since the B-17G that I want to model was a first block Boeing aircraft, and wasn’t in service for long before it was destroyed in a take off crash, he concluded it was unlikely to have the tip vents modification.
By: Arabella-Cox - 22nd November 2011 at 14:32
It was a couple of hours searching last night, and three this morning!
By: Bomberboy - 22nd November 2011 at 14:29
I’m probably just being really sad; vent spotting!
😮 Blimey, how long did all that lot take you?
You know one thing is for sure, irrespective of the photograph, whenever I now look at a B-17 picture, i’ll always have a look at the wing tips. perhaps that’s equally as sad.
By: Bomberboy - 22nd November 2011 at 14:26
along with another showing a pair of vents on a 15th AF machine.
I take it to mean that this was an ex 15th AF machine that had then be re-assigned to the 8th AF with the 398th BG at Nuthampstead?
By: T-21 - 22nd November 2011 at 14:11
Steve,nothing like venting your enthusiasm,good research so far .
By: GrahamSimons - 22nd November 2011 at 10:38
Page 75 showing Boeing model 307 prototype NC19901.
Thank you for pointing that out – I had not noticed it, although they are just visible as tiny dots! If they are wing-tip vents, on what is in reality a B-17 wing, then they have to have been fitted prior to the crash date of NC19901, which was 18th March 1939.
The pic in question is below – along with another showing a pair of vents on a 15th AF machine.
By: Arabella-Cox - 22nd November 2011 at 10:12
I’d say it was more likely the other way around?
Sorry, brain in neutral!
So far, I’ve seen B-17G pictures supporting all the Boeing aircraft from batch 20 to 105 having twin vents. Two of which have natural metal vents on red painted wing tips, suggesting they were field mods after group markings had been applied.
I’ve seen Douglas from batch 80 to 95 all with single vents.
Vega aircraft in batches 105 to 110 all with single vents.
By: Bomberboy - 22nd November 2011 at 08:54
From everything I have seen and I used in my book, so-called ‘Tokyo’ tanks appear to have been factory installed from Block B-17F-25-DL (a/c 42-3074 to 42-3148) which gives a start date of around April 1943 for Douglas-built aircraft. Block B-17F-80-BO (42-29932 to 42-30031) shows a date of April 1943 for Boeing-built aircraft and Block B-17F-30-VE (a/c 42-5855 to 42-5904) which shows a date of March 1943 for Vega-built aircraft. Those month dates are for the delivery date of the first aircraft listed in each block.
Clearly then that gives a fairly precise date for factory-installed tanks – and therefore a sort of ‘start date’ for the problem that needed a solution – however, I can find no reference to the word ‘vents’ in the Block details I have seen.
Interestingly, Your recent tomb shows an aircraft with what really appears to be wing tip vents on an earlier aircraft?
Page 75 showing Boeing model 307 prototype NC19901. :confused:
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November 20, 2011 at 9:22 am