Some nice US 8th Airforce finds 30/1/11

**381st digger** · 03-21-2012, 10:13 PM

A couple of shots of Simons great find just after it came out of the ground.

Andy

**381st digger** · 03-21-2012, 11:07 PM

A couple more bits.

First up is a B17 fuel cap.
Next is a set of flying goggels. As you can see they have seen better days but they a quite thought provoking. I wonder what there story is.
Next is an oxygen flow indicator.

Andy

**381st digger** · 03-21-2012, 11:21 PM

Right i need some help with this next one.
Im hopeing its a hub from a control yoke of a B17 but as it is missing a part number or better still a big fat BOEING so im not so sure. As you can see its 4 1/2 inches across. Has anybody got another one for size or any other sugestions as to what it may be. ((PLEASE SAY YOKE HUB))

Andy

**gremlin** · 03-22-2012, 11:57 AM

And another bit ... which came out over Xmas ... which I kept simply because its in good condition ... has some nice stamps and the original olive drab paintwork mostly intact ... as to what it is ... not sure .... Any ideas?

Thanks,
Gremlin

ps. In case anyone is wondering ... the possible control yoke hub is not Andy's most impressive find ... the best, as they say, is yet to come!!

**big ned** · 03-22-2012, 02:28 PM

Hi Gremlin,

Here's a pic of a similar looking control yoke cap, it is unmarked like yours, not like Boeing or Vega which were stamped large with the manufacturers logo. This is the cockpit of a Douglas built ship, B-17G 'Nine-O-Nine' of the Collings Foundation.

The only slight difference I can see is that the caps in the pic appear a little more convex.

Regards, Ned.

**cornishboy** · 03-22-2012, 02:55 PM

Wow amazing finds.The goggles suggest that they had women pilots back then? I know that because my other half always sits on her shades too

Keep up the good work!

**381st digger** · 03-23-2012, 08:58 PM

This is a find that i was never expecting to dig up!! A nice set of aerial gunners wings

Sadly they have deen badly burnt.
They are marked STERLING on the back but seem to only be silver coated. Sadly there is no makers name.

Andy

**381st digger** · 03-23-2012, 09:27 PM

A couple of snap shots of my war room in my new house. Its not very well set up at the moment but i will get round to it when the mrs lets me

99% of this stuff is on the forum but if anyone has missed anything and would like a better photo feel free to ask.

Andy

**381st digger** · 03-23-2012, 09:45 PM

This next one is slightly off thread because it came from a 9th air force base that my Family farm is on. I found 2 of them in a pond about 10 years ago. I kept this one and the other one is in the 381st bomb group museum. Its not related to the 381st but it was a nice piece to have on display. I think its a 200 round ammo can from a top turret of an A20 havoc.

Andy