B-29 pilot's instrument panel
- Thread starter daveT
- Start date
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Skyediamonds
Staff Sergeant
- 1,226
- May 26, 2018
Just like so many other aircraft, there will be slight variations from one plane to another. Would it be possible, in the absence of any manufacturers drawings, to simply overlay a photo & draw up a panel?
EAIAnalog
Airman
Here is the engineering drawing (split across two images) for the pilot's instrument board. It's a pretty close match to your first image. The 8- images are 17" x 44", but can be expanded in 11" increments. The scales on the drawing should help.
I have a B-29 pilots instrument panel, it came out of a Japanese museum over 30 years ago. I still have it packed up but can send photos and/or make a drawing. The small panel on the top was missing so a copy was made and put in place. There were many variations and things were changed and modified for years with the B-29 panel. I have a feeling that my B-29 co-pilot's panel came out of a plane that was modified to a KB-29 because it has a number of old decals/placards that date to the late 1950s and a good friend just informed me that he saw two B-29 panels that were phenolic!
EAIAnalog
Airman
I talked with an old friend about the scaling on the 8-2074 drawing. While there are no dimensions on most of the drawings, he pointed out that the flat panel in the A-11 position has a hole that is speced at 1.95". Using that as a reference, we have the following scaling. The tic marks along the bottom of the drawing (the zone definers) are 10" apart. The "rulers" on the drawing are 10" long with tic marks every 1/2". Putting this all together, we can estimate that the original full size drawing was probably 34" x 132". Eyeballing the panel above the zone 7-10 position, it's about 30" wide, which seems reasonable. From a different drawing, the shaft that supports the rudder pedals is 28" long.
- Thread starter
- #6
daveT
Senior Airman
THANK YOU!
- Thread starter
- #7
daveT
Senior Airman
This project is definitely making progress! I have found someone who can laser cut the panel! I accessed the Travis Heritage Center B-29 to be able to take measurements! I have most of the indicators and just this weekend I was able to acquire a B-29 flap position indicator, so after I finish the pilots' panel I may do a co-pilots' panel.
Thanks for all the support!
Thanks for all the support!
Attachments
EAIAnalog
Airman
Is there an aircraft serial number associated with the pilot instrument board in the first picture? The engine fire warning setup and the IFF set up are not what I'm used to seeing. If you have access to the board, drawing numbers are usually stamped on parts. Having some of those would be helpful.
So I looked around for drawings related to the engine fire warning tack-on. All the drawings I could find were from mid-February 1945. These are modification center drawings, and I have no idea when they were implemented. I would have thought that all engine fire issues had been resolved by this time. Evidently not.
So I looked around for drawings related to the engine fire warning tack-on. All the drawings I could find were from mid-February 1945. These are modification center drawings, and I have no idea when they were implemented. I would have thought that all engine fire issues had been resolved by this time. Evidently not.
Richard Woods
Recruit
- 2
- Nov 11, 2017
Hi chaps,
I'm in the UK and decided to start a side project. I normally muck about with a big Avro bomber, but wanted something to build in my spare time, so decided to start with the B-29 instrument board and console.
I used the drawing posted here, and bought a few manuals for the B-29 and Boeing drawing standards to get everything to scale. Progress photo attached, with everything mocked up (hence no clecos!) its still very much work in progress.
Does anyone know where I may be able to get more drawings to expand my build more? Things like the aisle stand, or the frames that mount the rudder bar (and has the instrument console sit on top). Obviously to build co-pilots side I can just mirror image this one to some extent, and I've found I can use some B-17 drawings for rudder pedals and the like, but there doesn't seem to be much B-29 info out there, especially in the middle of England...!
Kind regards,
Rich
I'm in the UK and decided to start a side project. I normally muck about with a big Avro bomber, but wanted something to build in my spare time, so decided to start with the B-29 instrument board and console.
I used the drawing posted here, and bought a few manuals for the B-29 and Boeing drawing standards to get everything to scale. Progress photo attached, with everything mocked up (hence no clecos!) its still very much work in progress.
Does anyone know where I may be able to get more drawings to expand my build more? Things like the aisle stand, or the frames that mount the rudder bar (and has the instrument console sit on top). Obviously to build co-pilots side I can just mirror image this one to some extent, and I've found I can use some B-17 drawings for rudder pedals and the like, but there doesn't seem to be much B-29 info out there, especially in the middle of England...!
Kind regards,
Rich
