Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
- Freeze Frame
- Texas Flyer wanted
- Just a Year Too Soon
- WWII -- Replacing men with women at the railroad crossing.
- Yes, Icing
- You kids drive me nuts!
- NOT An Easy Job
- I wonder
- Just add window boxes
- Icing Platform?
- Indiana Harbor Belt abides
- Freezing haze
- Corrections (for those who care)
- C&NW at Nelson
- Fallen Flags
- A dangerous job made worse
- Water Stop
- Passenger trains have right of way over freights?
- Coal
- Never ceases to amaze me.
- Still chuggin' (in model form)
- Great shot
- Westerly Breeze
- For the men, a trapeze
- Tickled
- Sense of loneliness ...
- 2 cents
- Charm City
- What an Outrage
- Brighton Park
Photos submitted by Shorpy members!
Print Emporium
New Shoe: 1942
December 1942. "A landing wheel, with its huge rubber 'shoe,' is trundled out in a service tractor to a new B-17F (Flying Fortress) bomber awaiting completion at Boeing's Seattle plant. The tractor operator, like half of the plant's workers, is a woman." Photo by Andreas Feininger, Office of War Information. View full size.
Great Info
Thanks everyone for the tech info and Youtube vid. My Grandpa was an inflight engineer in the European theater and ditched three shot up 17's in the English channel. Funny that he never knew how to swim yet went on to own a fishing resort and guided on the water in Minnesota for 30 years. Never heard many stories because Grandpas and Grandsons have so much else to talk about.
B-17 Turbo-supercharger Training
An excellent AAF/Boeing training film and description of the B-17 engine induction system. The link is to part one, parts two and three are found from there.
http://youtu.be/mzcP1IYHJmc
Drum Brakes
Here is a photo of a B-29 brake I was working on a few months ago. It's called an expander tube brake. Note the sections of "brake linings" around the circumference of the brake. These sections are called "pucks". The "pucks" are forced against the brake drum by a bladder, located under the pucks, filled with hydraulic fluid.
There are two of these brakes mounted in each wheel. Note the second brake laying on the bench.
B-17 Supercharged
Amazing bit on youtube pertaining to the charged system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzcP1IYHJmc
What an amazing plane. Thanks for highlighting the super-charging system.
Drum brakes and turbos
You can see the brake drum that was integral with the wheel very well in that shot. Also notice that directly above the tire you get a good look at one of the turbo-superchargers that were mounted behind each of the four engines.
Take a break
It almost looks like the wheel assembly has a drum brake, like a large truck! Anyone out there know?
Clark Forklifts
Still around, in fact we use one at work that's just about the size of this one.
The Boeing workers in 1942 would probably be horrified to know that they now use Toyota engines!
Yep, when there's a war to be won
There's no sense reinventing the wheel.
Interchangeable wheels and tires
Our aircraft manufacturers were very wise during WWII. This same B-17 wheel and tire can be used on the B-24 and B-29 as well.
Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5