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If the aircraft were all built to the same standard, what (specific) internal differences did they have between them? And were all of their parts interchangeable?All were built to the same "standards." Basically Douglas and Lockheed (Vega) became Boeing subcontractors and were given production drawings and tooling (they probably built most of the latter themselves). There's been discussion about which plant built the "better" aircraft but in essence if it passed production and flight test inspection it really didn't matter.
They should of had NO differences and all their parts should have been interchangeable.If the aircraft were all built to the same standard, what (specific) internal differences did they have between them? And were all of their parts interchangeable?
Did this apply to both the B-17F and B-17G models? How do you know that the B-17s from all three manufacturers were built to the same standard?They should of had NO differences and all their parts should have been interchangeable.
Would have been very little difference between the different manufacturers, as they were all working from the same set of design information.If the aircraft were all built to the same standard, what (specific) internal differences did they have between them? And were all of their parts interchangeable?
Did this apply to both the B-17F and B-17G models? How do you know that the B-17s from all three manufacturers were built to the same standard?
The only manufacturer that had major quality problems while building subcontracted aircraft was Brewster Aircraft.
Didn't Curtiss have issues with the quality of their P-47s?
The website B17queenofthesky.com mentions structural differences between the B-17F's built by the different factories. Are those claims accurate or not?This applied to any aircraft where the aircraft was subcontracted to another company. If Lockheed or Douglas B-17s were not built to the same standard, you would have had several thousand B-17s delivered with different parts and components, no interchangeability and a lot of pissed off people, but it's obvious history tells a different story, that's how I know. I also worked at Lockheed Burbank for a number of years and actually worked with people who worked at Vega.
To ensure that these aircraft were manufactured properly, the government assigned inspectors and quality assurance personnel to oversee production, a practice still in place today.
The only manufacturer that had major quality problems while building subcontracted aircraft was Brewster Aircraft.
I would say they are probably wrong, but putting a disclaimer out there, "if," and a big if a structural deviation was allowed between what Boeing designed and what Lockheed and Douglas built, it would have had to be approved by Boeing and the government. I've seen no specific evidence anywhere that this was the case or any specifics on what was supposed to be different.The website B17queenofthesky.com mentions structural differences between the B-17F's built by the different factories. Are those claims accurate or not?
What specific modifications did Lockheed do to B-17s?I would say they are probably wrong, but putting a disclaimer out there, "if," and a big if a structural deviation was allowed between what Boeing designed and what Lockheed and Douglas built, it would have had to be approved by Boeing and the government. I've seen no specific evidence anywhere that this was the case or any specifics on what was supposed to be different.
Lockheed did do some modifications to B-17s but this was separate and distinct from was was coming off the general assembly line.