In July 1994 the B-17 came in before its scheduled winter maintenance due to a problem with contaminated fuel purchased in California. Fearing an emergency airworthiness directive from the F.A.A. against the aircraft engines that obtained this fuel, the bomber returned to Florida early from its national tour.

All engines, fuel and oil tanks, accessories and hoses were removed and overhauled at the request of the petroleum company.

During this project it was decided that American Aero should pull the wings from the fuselage and inspect the spar terminal ends for cracks and corrosion.

Gary Norville takes up the story “We used a crane to lift the B-17 and then retracted the main gear, setting it down on 24 inch jacks and cradles. Once this was accomplished we removed the outer wing panels and main wing panels. All eight terminal ends were removed and inspected. The terminal ends were then cleaned, NDT’d, nickel plated and baked to relieve hydrogen cracks using visual and x-ray inspection. No damage was found in the spar or terminal ends and they were re-assembled.”

The wings were re-installed and once again the B-17 was back on its main gear. In January 1995 the project was complete and Nine-o-Nine was ready to commence its next nation-wide tour. An entire photograph album was created to document what was found and repaired to maybe help other B-17
 Co-op members if they were faced with the same project.