"My Gal Sal" Restoration Progress
After months of pushing, pulling, cutting, riveting, cussing, and going through a box of band aids "My Gal Sal’s" cockpit is just weeks away from completion. Once the top turret is set in place the outside skin will be applied. It’s a great moment to see what was the most difficult part of the restoration in its final stage of completion.
"My Gal Sal's" fuselage is on its final leg of completion
One of our most exciting days was the installation of "Sal's" top turret. When you do a restoration of this magnitude you set certain goals to measure your success. One major goal was the installation of the turret. We are happy (and relieved) to tell you that the turret fit like a glove. Now we are ready to start applying skin to the cockpit section while we wait for the remaining nine structural ribs for the front section to be made. Still a lot of work ahead of us, but nothing will stop us now from completing one of the best B-17 restorations (static or flying).
When you look back to the pictures of the cockpit before the restoration started and now when you look at the cockpit today, you have to believe in miracles.
It won't be long before the front section of "My Gal Sal" will be joining the aft section. The dream of restoring a piece of history is finally coming true.
As we start the restoration on the last ten feet a few remaining beat-up pieces of the nose section are pulled from the pile of metal. The following pictures are of the right side of "Sal's" nose section. You can still see some of the letters of "My Gal Sal's" name. We will use the window frame and the gun port for the restoration. The skin will be carefully removed and put on display.
The following two pictures show the forward crew door being installed on the left side of "Sal's" cockpit. It won't be long before the last nine forward structural ribs are installed. The final chapter of "My Gal Sal" is beginning.
First picture of the nose assembly set in place. Structure is not riveted or attached. Main I-beams are not installed. When I-beams are put in place, each rib will be attached for structural integrity. It's real exciting to see this last part of the restoration beginning to take place.
As we untangle the pieces of "My Gal Sal’s" nose section there are a wealth of parts that we will restore and put back in place. Remember the saying "One man’s junk is another’s treasure". Boy is this the truth.
The rest of the skin has been applied to the cockpit. Once the access panel covers and the windows are installed the cockpit will be complete. The ribs of the front section are in place and awaiting the front glass nosepiece that was restored in Cincinnati. It won’t be long.
There is a lot to do when trying to restore a B-17. It becomes an even bigger challenge when it’s a B-17E. There are many differences between the E-model and the G-model and parts of the G-model don’t always fit an E-model. This has put a great deal of strain on restoring "Sal" to her original status. Fortunately we have people like Bruce Snyder and David Ninni who have the patience and the skill to take damaged parts and make them as good as new. Here are a few examples of how good they are.
