Model B-17 Wing Aileron | MEMPHIS BELLE (1990)

Stock #34282

MEMPHIS BELLE (1990)

Model B-17 Wing Aileron

Our expert's notes

A model aileron used on one of the B-17 models in the production of the Second World War movie Memphis Belle. The film tells the story of the 25th flight of a B-17 bomber and her war-weary crew. She is the first plane to have survived long enough over war torn Europe to potentially achieve this feat and, as such, she garners much interest from the American Air force hierarchy.
The remarkable and acclaimed movie, loosely based on actual events, starred Matthew Modine, Sean Astin, Harry Connick JR, Billy Zane, Eric Stoltz, D.B. Sweeney and John Lithgow. A number of real B-17's were located for filming with some of them being airworthy. With so few real planes available and with such dramatic action required, a number of model miniatures, of differing scales, were required for filming.

This aileron was used as part of one of the beautifully constructed large scale versions of the B-17 aircraft used in the film. These particular aircraft were used for the close-ups and during the intense aerial combat sequences, where use of real aircraft was not advisable. Made of balsa wood with paper wrapping in the traditional aircraft model making style, this aileron was made for the right wing of a B-17 and has been finished in the traditional green and grey of the USAAF 8th Air Force.

Damaged through use on the production, several of the interior balsa wood ribs have been broken, and the paper skin of the aileron has come away at various points, but in spite of these minor flaws the aileron remains in an overall good production-used condition with minimal additional wear from time spent in storage.
Size

Item size: 39.37" × 4.72" × 0.79" (100cm × 12cm × 2cm)

This item comes with a Propstore Certificate of Authenticity

This item is located in London.

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