Thanks Mark thats brilliant .

What brought this question into my mind was a picture i saw some time ago a pile of Lincoln cockpits all piled on top of one another !

I just thought has nobody saved any at all ?

What can i say other than wow !

You have been busy , i have seen and saved the photos of the aircraft and the ground crew but i never new the missions or the aircrew names .That is absolutely brilliant , you all might be asking what is my interest in this aircraft ?

I have been trying to restore a B17F top turret  which i found in a scrap yard in Warrington many years ago the chances of identifying the actual aircraft as far as i was concerned was nil .How ever after talking with Gerad from the B17F LUCKY THIRTEEN crew , he informed me that the sperry A1 turret was last fitted to a B17F at a certain number .Unfortunately i just do not have that number to hand but that meant all the B17s after that number had no relevance  to my research so looking back some production batches stayed in the states and some went to the Pacific theater  of Operations.

After crossing off all the aircraft that went missing in action only two B17Fs went to Burtonwood for major repairs , as we know one was SALVAGE QUEEN and the other was PANAMA HATTIE  42-29933 flying with the 379th , she did eighteen missions , apparently theres a BBC recording of the top turret gunner and the pilot being interviewed !

I have studied photos of both aircraft and they both appear to have identical turrets  , which is a shame because i still can not pin the actual aircraft down that it came of so i have decided to honour both crews and squadrons  . .

Thanks for the kind words gentlemen , i must admit i do enjoy in trying to restore aircraft turrets for me its like trying to find the impossible or should i say the chase and the amazing people you meet on that journey. I am still looking for parts for the Lancaster FN5 front turret  and the upper turret FN150 mainly the turret rings .

I am glad its not only me who can not find things through the Key Aero search tab i thought i was loosing it for a moment !

Has any body got any of these items tucked away in their store room or under a bench ?

The first is the ninety degree elevation gear box which carries the drive shaft to both gun mounts  the operators view has a turn handle which i presume engages and disengages the transmission as and when required.

The second picture is of the shutters which slide up and down with the movement of the gun mounts  and any thing else which might help with its restoration ?

Thanks…………

Hi Oracal

Is there any way you can view this AP before you put a request into Kew ?

Or is it a case of making a visit to Kew ?

Many thanks

Hi Oracal thanks for your input , have you any ideas as to where i could obtain such an AP ?