I’m building the R/M B-17G for the R/M GB. I had a question for any of you B-17 gurus out there or for anyone that has access to good reference material. Were the black de-icer boots on the leading edges of the wings and such normally present? I’ve heard that the B-17’s came with them, but they normally got tore up pretty quickly and were discarded, or that they were too much of a drag on the plane and were unnecessary so they were taken off. Anyone have any info on this?
Thanks
All the photos I have in a variety of reference books show the B-17 with the de-icer boots
From all of the referencen marerial I have read and seen the deicer boots were almost always intact on most B 17. I have read where they were removed in some instances. I am not sure if this was due to damage or inservicability. I have seen a few without them though. Possibly mabye planes serving in the Pacific Theater flying at lower altitudes found them useless so they removed them. I’m sure there is someone out there that could probally elaborate more on this.
Soulcrusher
Most B-17’s were delivered with deicer boots. Combat units removed them at some point in the aircrafts service life. In the 8th AF they were removed at an aircraft service depot before they were issued to combat units. The boots were considered a liability in combat because damage to the boots could result in the boots flapping around the flying surfaces or in the worst case, wrapping around the control surfaces and limiting their movement. B-17’s did start the combat careers with the boots in place but they were removed if the plane survived long enough.
There were exceptions of course. The best way is to try to find a photo of the plane you are building and go from there.
HTH
Tony H.
Thanks for the info guys! The more I looked, it appeared that the majority actually seemed to not have the de-icer boots as some of you have pointed out. However, I FINALLY found a reference photo of ChowHound. It looks like I gotta put the de-icer boots on after all. Check it out:
That’s a perfect illustration. ‘Chowhound’ obviously went into combat with her boots intact. Whether or not they were still in place on her final mission I can’t say for sure but I would think they would have been removed.
The photo shows her early in her career. If you are going to build her at this point, note that she did not have the red tail and wingtips that the kit shows. The fin does appear to be different color than the rest of the plane but this is because the fin was built by a subcontractor and painted with a different shade of olive drab. ‘Chowhound’ probably had these red markings for the last few missions in her life.
HTH
Tony H.
The photo of Chowhound is captioned as March '44 in other sources and from the markings it is still being flown by the Jerry Newquist crew. The 8th AAF supplements the geometric group markings with colors beginning in the spring of '44. From the photo I believe this plane IS carrying the red markings of the 91st. This plane had actually surpassed the 50 mission mark and contrary to the info on the instructions there were no survivors when flak broke it in half over Caen on 8/8/44.
As to the deicers, I think it’s about 50/50. It was written earlier that most were built with deicers and the 8th had them removed. This is not the case as all B-17s were delivered with deicers though the end of production. Photos show numerous B-17s flying on VE day with rubber boots. You were right to check your references.
Pat
Thanks for the info, Tony and Pat. I think I see one area that Tony was pointing out. Although the tail obviously had the red, I see that the underside tips of the main wing were not colored red. I already followed the directions and painted both the top and bottom of the wingtips red. Oh well. I’m not that picky about historical accuracy, I don’t guess. I’m doing good just to make the model look good, much less being historically accurate.
I always appreciate info though, so thanks for all you guys input.