Neat story. Thanks!

The "bombs" are just shells. As stated, it is now considered an experimental
civilian aircraft, so no live-working armaments of any type are permitted.
Most of the B17s I have had the chance to tour do not even have the motors
for the turrets in them. Only the bubble attached to the fusalage.

One note on the bomb bay doors, however. It seems that all B17s I have
visited still have the bomb bay trap door mechanisms in-tact. This was in
case a bomb were to come lose from the rack, the door would open under the
weight of the bomb, and allow the bomb to fall free of the aircraft. You
would'nt want a bomb rolling around in the plane! It also provided an
emergency exit for many unfortunate crew members whose plane was going down.
We were told on our flight that if we dropped something onto the doors while
in the air, to let it lay there until we landed. If we tried to retrieve it
in the air, we would exit the plane in a hurry.

Russell Underwood