Remains of WW II bomber found

[Warbirder]

Can't put it in my living room, but this is an engine from a B-17 bomber found at an old bombing range. We found 3 of 4 engines and both landing gears. Bob

[RON (PA)]

That is a great find. Hopefully you can find some more items there. There will probably be too much metal to use a detector, but it might be worth a shot. Great job..

[Mr.Jody]

Where is this at?

[Warbirder]

It's on a WW II bombing range in FL. I have a map of all 153 ranges, if you're interested in searching.

[Mr.Jody]

Sounds kind cool, except finding and stepping on a bomb or mine.... ...

[Warbirder]

Mr Jody - Mines and bombs are no problem. Get everyone to walk single file. Make sure you are last in line.

[Mr.Jody]

....

[Shortstack]

Warbirder, if you could get even ONE of those landing gears out, the scrap value of the aluminum alloy would be pretty great.
Or, were those made of steel back then?
If the landing gear are restoreable, that might be a money maker, too. I think there are only a half a dozen B-17s still flying.

[Sorroque]

Warbirder, if you could get even ONE of those landing gears out, the scrap value of the aluminum alloy would be pretty great.
Or, were those made of steel back then?
If the landing gear are restoreable, that might be a money maker, too. I think there are only a half a dozen B-17s still flying.

Are you kidding? The FLYING FORTRESS would not have been made of aluminum!
Updated statement July 13th., 2009.
Is aluminum bullet proof? It seems pratical for lightweightness.
It just didn't seem to me it would ever be used as fortress material. Nickel is bulletproof but heavy.

[Shortstack]

Warbirder, if you could get even ONE of those landing gears out, the scrap value of the aluminum alloy would be pretty great.
Or, were those made of steel back then?
If the landing gear are restoreable, that might be a money maker, too. I think there are only a half a dozen B-17s still flying.

Are you kidding? The FLYING FORTRESS would not have been made of aluminum!

Perhaps you should try rereading my post. I said the LANDING GEAR ASSEMBLY. Aluminum alloys are a lot stronger than steel while being a lot LIGHTER in weight. Now the question I raised was if the low cost method of refining aluminum was discovered by then, the landing gear assemblies this man found would be valuable for scrap or even as rebuildable replacement parts for the small number of B-17s that are still flying.

I just checked aluminum smelting and found that the economical methods for smelting this metal was discovered in the late 1880s. Therefore, YES, FLYING FORTRESSES WERE MADE OF ALUMINUM. Aluminum ALLOYS to be exact. Before this time, processed aluminum was worth more than gold, ounce for ounce.

[Jon Phillips]

Yeah...I don't know what you guys have been hearing, but they were made out of aluminum....In fact, one of the most famous B-17's was called the Aluminum Overcast....They had plexiglass all over them as well.....

[Warbirder]

Here's a picture of a B-17 landing gear. What appears to be dual wheels is not so. This is one wheel but you can't see all the magnesium that burned away. That's the white ash. The two drums shared a common tire.
The guy is my friend and fellow searcher, Dennis Coley.