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"Are you kidding me?!? I'm needing help every stinkin' day I work on these ol' jalopies. I can assure you that there's plenty of work now and will be plenty of work after the first of the year. Come on down. If it's work you want, we'll sure find some for you." — Gary Austin

Fabricating tail gunner compartment structure: Part V - Originally Posted Nov. 19, 2006

Making this lower section of the tailgunner's section has been challenging to say the least. It may just be that I'm having a bad couple of days, or it may just be that it's out-smarting me. Either way, the scrap pile and hours of wasted time are accumulating. I didn't take as many pictures of the process as I probably should have, but here's what got done today...

Q&A

Question by Sasnak:
Is it your intention that the tail gunner doors be functional? From the last photo you posted, it looks like a complicated rail-system. Do you have detail drawings on how to construct the tracks for the doors as they come around the rear?

Answer By Gary:
I have every intention of making the tail gunner doors functional. They certainly are going to be difficult to make. But as my good friend and mentor, Nelson Ezell used to tell me, "It's just a dumb piece of metal, make it do what you want it to do.