09/04/2026
A pair of unique updates on Boeing B-17F “Lucky Thirteen” (42-3455, 384BG).
With the Type A-2 Ball Turret’s power assembly restored, attention has shifted toward wiring. This primarily entails the brush assembly which, longtime followers might remember, our example came from the midair collision of “Dorsal Queen” (42-30264) and “Raunchy Wolf” (42-3290, 385BG) on 26 September 1943 – twenty days after the loss of “Lucky Thirteen.”
The brush assembly consists of a phenolic cylinder with a series of copper bands. Copper rods brush against these bands as the turret rotates, transferring power into the ball below. On the A-2, from top to bottom, these bands cover the Ground, two Microphone lines, two Headset lines, two Spare lines, and Main Power.
Because of Electro-Magnetic Interference brought on by the drive motor, reception on the A-2’s communications equipment was not great. As such, subsequent turrets featured a noise filter, prominently mounted on the hanger assembly.
Taking this A-2 brush cylinder apart, we found something unexpected. One of the microphone lines had been replaced with a shielded wire, furthermore having a braided line bridging it to one of the turret’s two ground lines. We have no idea if this was a field modification or something done at the Briggs factory. However, it does show that someone, somewhere, was working on the problem of EMI on the A-2 prior to the introduction of the A-2A.
Next, we have an incredible donation from our friend Scott Burner. Scott is the grandson of TSGT Leonard Nealis, flight engineer/top turret gunner on “Little America” (42-30033). The original co-pilot on “Little America” was 1LT Russell Faulkiner, who went on to become the pilot of “Lucky Thirteen.” In fact, they were good friends and Nealis witnessed “Lucky Thirteen” drop out of formation on her last mission; seeing Faulkiner’s safe return months later was a much-welcomed shock.
The Burner family are some of our closest friends and are truly wonderful people. And this donation was certainly a much-welcomed shock: Scott donated an original rain cover for the Type A-1 Upper Turret.
The Type A-1 Upper Turret went through several dome variants between the two A-1 manufacturers: SPECO of Ohio and Emerson Electric of Missouri. Of the two, SPECO built slower, being somewhat hands-on in construction, whereas Emerson built on an assembly line. As such, SPECO turret’s changed dome designs regularly throughout the war. Emerson only changed domes once. This is one of the ways you can spot an Emerson-built turret in wartime photos – later-Fs with early style domes had Emersons.
The Type 1 and Type 2 domes were identical, each being the first dome made by the two companies. As such, while this particular cover is dated 1942, it is still appropriate to the A-1 on “Lucky Thirteen.” And it fits the dome perfectly!
Special thanks to Michael Cook and Fred Bieser for their help on researching the ball turret brush assembly, and a very special thanks to Scott Burner for this awesome donation!
Additional info in the photo descriptions.
Keep the show on the road!
