The A2-A Lower Turret Hanger.
The hanger is of the fixed type for the A2-A turret, fixed internally to the ceiling of the fuselage by a bolted swivel. Compared to the A13-A and A-2 types which are lowered in and out of the aircraft, mainly found on B-24s., but were on B-17s as well. The B-24 also uses a front nose wheel with the main landing gear. It has no rear (tail) tire therefore the tail clearance to the tarmac can vary.
In these three photos, this is what the hanger looked like as it was first found in USBC-002. Tangled in the parachute and on top of the turbocharger, there was quite a debris mess to be removed. A large amount of live munitions were also found and removed by the Luxembourg Explosive Ordnance Disposal (SEDAL) team. They worked on site throughout the recovery neutralizing several UXO hazards. Hats off to my team of dedicated brothers in arms.
Final free of 80 years in the depression of deposits, this is what the hanger looked at the time before restoration and cleaning. The following photos show the next phases of restoring the hanger in a useful form to the exhibit and fitting back on top of the Trunnion that once supported the assembly inside the aircraft and made azimuth and elevation movements possible.
As can be seen, the original legs are quite bent, and no longer support the hanger system. It was also not possible to use the original legs after cutting them as they were too far bent, so new legs were cut and put in place, I also added locking nuts on the support of the trunnion so the legs could be removed or set on them and keep the assembly firm.
The finished hanger as it sits. The fitting on top of the trunnion was a perfect match-up and worked great. The original oxygen tank ( G-1), was also recovered, but was not mated to the pole, it is instead on display next to the hanger assembly.