Here are couple of pictures documenting continuing progress on the nose gun counterbalance wire and pulley systems.
In the first one you'll see that I managed to tighten up the wiring for the stbd. cheek gun.
In the second one, I have hand placed the port cheek gun into position. I've also run the first strand of wire from the nose to the after bulkhead.
The second strand, not yet installed, will run from the top after bulkhead on the port side where this wire is heading, down to the starboard side below the side windows. A third strand will then intersect from the base of the port nose gun to up against the starboard bulkhead.
How do I do this without gluing the fuselage halves together?
If you look at the base of the port cheek gun you will already see a wire extending upwards and apparently intersecting with the attachment point at the port upper bulkhead. However, this is an optical illusion. In fact, once the gun is glued in that wire will be bent down to the area where the second strand of wire intersects with the starboard bulkhead below the window. No one will be able to see that it is not physically attached to that point.
I already have a solution for the counterbalance and pulley system for the Plexiglas nose gun, which is seemingly impossible to install because it all fits together after the Plexiglas nose is attached to the fuselage. However, the solution is pretty simple. Wait and see.
If you're wondering why am going to this extra effort on this, when this work is finished I will add a quote from my book about an incident in the nose of a B-17 involving exactly this equipment. That will make it clear why went to the extra effort. Consider it a tribute to somebody who died.
