Swedish conversion of Boeing B-17 bombers to airliners. Question about the fuselage extension

[28ZComeback]

Hello all, 

 

 I am interested in converting a B-17 to a postwar Swedish airliner. My sources say that the fuselage was lengthened to accommodate passengers in the radar operator's compartment. In looking at photos it appears that the fuselage was lengthened somewhere near the wing root, but I am not sure exactly where, and now I am beginning to think the nose only was lengthened.  Can anyone shed some light on this subject, or perhaps some online drawings?  Thank you very much. 

Edited September 27, 2021 by 28ZComeback

[Ed Russell]

I don't have it but this might help.

https://www.aviationmegastore.com/swedish-fortresses-the-boeing-b-17-fortress-in-civil-and-military-service-9788389450876-mushroom-model-publications-9788389450876-ww2/product/?action=prodinfo&art=96939

 

 

[Magpie22]

Quote from Peter M Bowers, 'Fortress in the Sky', Sentry, 1976, ISBN 0-913194-04-02:

 

"The modifications were made by SAAB ......... and consisted of stripping the interior, lengthening the nose three feet, and installing seats and supporting facilities for 14 passengers. The bomb bays were also modified to carry 2000 Kg (4400 lbs), of freight and the original bomb hoist were used as cargo hoists".

 

Four photos accompany the single page entry. They clearly show the lengthened nose and windows in the nose and rear fuselage.

 

PM me if you want scan of this page. Don't want to post here due to copyright.

 

Peter M

Edited September 27, 2021 by Magpie22
corrected spelling

[Pin]

https://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2006/february/i_history.html

 

Magna used to have a conversion set for Academy

[Pin]

 

[Orso]

I just read an article from 1944 about the conversion and it say that the conversion moved the  center of gravity rearward so the nose was lengthened and made into a cargo bay carrying 400 kg to adjust this.   

[72modeler]

8 hours ago, Ed Russell said:

I don't have it but this might help.

https://www.aviationmegastore.com/swedish-fortresses-the-boeing-b-17-fortress-in-civil-and-military-service-9788389450876-mushroom-model-publications-9788389450876-ww2/product/?action=prodinfo&art=96939

 

 

The cover photo of that book clearly shows the panel line at which the nose was cut and the extension fitted. The MMP book is the best and only reference for the B-17's the Swiss used for the conversion, and includes the USAAF histories of the aircraft. It would be a very handsome and unique conversion. I think I have the monograph- I will get up to the archives/kit mausoleum in a bit, and if there's anything useful regarding the modifications, I will  amend this post. Good luck. (With the pinched-in nose of the 1/72 Revell kit, you're halfway there- if you can live with those Gawdawful thick wings, that is!)

Mike

[Paramedic]

Heard about this one?

 

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby

[72modeler]

4 hours ago, Paramedic said:

Heard about this one?

 

Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby

Yep! She sure took her sweet time coming back home!

Mike

[Paramedic]

She did. I´m glad she was taken care of so nicely! Makes me happy knowing she finally found her way home.. ❤️

[72modeler]

3 minutes ago, Paramedic said:

She did. I´m glad she was taken care of so nicely! Makes me happy knowing she finally found her way home.. ❤️

We owe you Swedes big time for taking such good care of her all those years and letting her come back home to be restored- very, very few surviving B-17's had a combat record, but were late production, low time airframes that never saw combat. IIRC, the Memphis Belle, Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby,  Swamp Rat, and the Swoose are the only four I can think of at the moment.

Mike

[Ed Russell]

19 hours ago, 72modeler said:

(With the pinched-in nose of the 1/72 Revell kit, you're halfway there- if you can live with those Gawdawful thick wings, that is!)

Hmm... I should get that book. I have the really old 1962 Revell kit which might be a possibility for this conversion - instead of chucking it in the dumpster!

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-h-201-198-b-17-f-memphis-belle--1179531

[Paramedic]

11 hours ago, 72modeler said:

We owe you Swedes big time for taking such good care of her all those years and letting her come back home to be restored- very, very few surviving B-17's had a combat record, but were late production, low time airframes that never saw combat. IIRC, the Memphis Belle, Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby,  Swamp Rat, and the Swoose are the only four I can think of at the moment.

Mike

 

Wish we could take all credit there - but I´m afraid we can´t..

 

I grew up along the south-western coast on Sweden so have heard alot about many of these aircraft. My grandfather was a fireman during the war in my hometown and witnessed a few of them too. But British, ones, a Mossie, among them, that crash landed justa  few days before the war´s end where sadly the pilot perished. I had him retell that story many times before he passed away so I would remember his eye witness report(He and his mates saw it from the local, medieval fortress, smoking.. At first they thought it was a ship in the harbour off-loading coal, the smoke - that was his words). Then they saw that the black smoke was from an aircraft. It bellied in at the grass strip north of town on an islet (quite visible from the fortress).

When they arrived with the firetruck the wreck was burning and the ammo cooking off ("harmlessly" with a *puff!* as he described it). The pilot still inside... But the navigator was hiding behind a stone wall, believing he was in Denmark. He was very impressived with the huge tyres of the aircraft.

 

There was also another tragic event of a P-51B, quite a bit south from my town, that was shot down by a 109, over Sweden. The pilot bailed out but his parachute did not open.. I remebering reading, I´m pretty sure it was this event, about his sister or similar, visiting in the 90s, the place it happened.. Heartbreaking. But at the same time she or the relatives, were very thankful for being able to visit the place. I might have mixed that with another similar event. The Canadian pilot´s (above) relatives also visited iirc.. (Need to recheck this now!).

That pilot and 4-5 other RAF crew have very nice graves at one of the local cemeteries. Those I have visited a few times (a few were from crew washed up from the Kattegat).

 

Sorry for off-topic.😚

 

[72modeler]

1 hour ago, Paramedic said:

Sorry for off-topic.

No need for an apology- that was a very touching and heartfelt recollection, and I'm sure many here who will read it would say the same. So many Allied airmen never made it back home, but are resting in Dutch, Swedish, and Swiss soil, with I have read, their graves still cared for by the locals. Thank you for sharing your grandfather's  accounts- that's how we keep the history and their memory alive. 

Mike