B-17E ‘Desert Rat’ – March 2021 Restoration Update
B-17E ‘Desert Rat’ – March 2021 Restoration Update
Image courtesy of Lucas Ryan
Mike Kellner and his team of volunteers in Morengo, Illinois have been steadily working away on the restoration of Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress 41-2595 for much of the past four decades, and we have covered their remarkable grassroots effort from time to time. Recently, we had the opportunity to catch up on progress with the Vintage Aviation Museum‘s Director, Sean O’Brien, who shared the latest developments with us which we thought our readers would enjoy learning about…
The Desert Rat restoration team has been working on a variety of different things while awaiting the manufacture of new wing spars. Work on the tail turret has been progressing nicely; the E-11 recoil adapters have been restored and the fabrication and installation of replica .50 caliber guns is now finished.