Warbird Information Exchange

Hey Trey great photos. Could I use them on a web page I put together about the Dirty Bird?

http://www.twinbeech.com/dirtybirdOSH09.htm

Here is another nice piece of artwork shot by Steve:



Thanks,

Taigh

_________________
To donate to the PV-2D project via PayPal click here http://www.twinbeech.com/84062restoration.htm

We brought her from: to this in 3 months: Help us get her all the way back

All donations are tax deductible as the Stockton Field Aviation Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Tell a friend as the Harpoon needs all the help she can get.

Thank you!

Taigh Ramey
Vintage Aircraft, Stockton, California
http://www.twinbeech.com
'KEEP ‘EM FLYING…FOR HISTORY!'

Thanks Trey, I posted your pictures, with credit, to:

http://www.twinbeech.com/dirtybirdOSH09.htm

If anyone else has any shots of the Dirty Bird, especially the people painting on the Beech, please let me know as I would like to post them on the web page.

Al, Spookythecat, can I use your awesome photos?

_________________
To donate to the PV-2D project via PayPal click here http://www.twinbeech.com/84062restoration.htm

We brought her from: to this in 3 months: Help us get her all the way back

All donations are tax deductible as the Stockton Field Aviation Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Tell a friend as the Harpoon needs all the help she can get.

Thank you!

Taigh Ramey
Vintage Aircraft, Stockton, California
http://www.twinbeech.com
'KEEP ‘EM FLYING…FOR HISTORY!'

Wasn't just kids painting by your pics. Some of those short shorts...Rawr!

_________________
"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

Little did I know when I started this thread that there were so many great pictures of Taigh's a/c out there that you all would share with us.
It is great to touch the 'birds and there is/was a father/son Mustang in previous years at OSH (2007 & 2008) & Gathering of Mustangs in 2007 that had "touch me" signs on it and had steps so people could sit in the cockpit. Talk about creating a Warbird Moment for kids (and adults too)...
Thanks Taigh for sharing such a great idea.

Brilliant Taigh!
YOu might have invented a new airshow/oshkosh attraction. "The flying canvas" where airshow attendees can paint up an old airplane. The rain is perfect because just like sand castles, the slate is cleaned periodically and the fun starts all over again.
What a unique way for kids and the crowd to interact with a real flying piece of history. I would even pay a few bucks to get to paint my name under the cockpit window and photograph it.

Wonderfully entertaining thread and congrats to Taigh & his crew for coming up with such a novel and popular idea for OSH.

I actually came across this thread while checking out Taigh's Web site at www.twinbeech.com. I've always had a fascination with the Beech 18 series and I'd love to restore one someday, too (after finishing a Goose first. Both are classic R-985 powered taildraggers, but afterall a Goose does a Twin Beech one better by adding amphibious capabilities to the fun!)

There used to be a derelict Beech 18 airframe not far from my home. It was in a municipal garage or warehouse facility in Burlington, NC, but it disappeared about 10 years ago. I don't know what happened to it. It had N6418C still visible on the faded paint - that N-number was registered to Harry Doan also.

(I don't have a photo hosting account yet, so if anyone is interested in copies of photos, send me a PM.)

Speaking of Harry Doan, hey Bill aka TPFM, how long did you work for him? I assume that given your career path you were at ERAU in Daytona for that college research paper on the Beech 18 spars. I started there in the AV-Tech program in 1985 and I spent as much time as I could hanging out at Harry's hangar in New Smyrna Beach. I even got a chance to chat with him one day. He went off on a rant about the corruption in the lot bidding process to obtain surplus aircraft out of Davis-Monthan and what a big deal it was for him to obtain his C-123.

My only other experience to date with the wonderful Beech 18 series was with N26PL, the Perrone Leathers' tri-gear. Anyone remember the photo of it on the cover of Trade-a-Plane? Photo credit went to Charles Stites, an aviation writer who lives here in Chapel Hill. He promised me "camera ship pilot" credit but somehow they left that out of the photo caption. N26PL is painted in a psuedo-Army olive green and white scheme and the TAP photo shows it over Jordan Lake south of Raleigh, NC bathed in glorious evening sunlight. First we had spent most of the day trying to fix a landing gear problem before it could fly again. That was a fun day.

All the best to Taigh, Bill, and all the rest of you Wixers and Beech 18 fans!

-Dave M.
Chapel Hill, NC

Taigh,

I just finished reading your Web page on the restoration of AT-11 s/n 41-27603. The page says that it has not been updated since January 9th, 2006 (more than 3 1/2 years ago.) Obviously, this thread proves that you are still actively working on Twin Beeches. I assume that you have at least made some progress on that airplane since then if in fact you haven't already finished it.

Do you have any plans to add more to that Web page?

I feel sure that many other Wixers would enjoy reading more about it, too. Of course, that kind of stuff is fascinating to anyone interested in aviation or Warbirds, but it is especially interesting to me. I'm involved with a similar, but probably much more involved, "resto" project on a Grumman JRF-5 Goose. From one perspective though, our focus is unfortunate because instead of an authentic Warbird restoration, our goal is to prototype new production for the McKinnon G-21G turbine version of the Goose. Toward that end, we have totally disassembled it and we are developing tooling, jigs, etc to produce completely new parts for 100% of the aircraft. Needless to say, it is slow going. Down the road, however, we may be able to support other Goose owners by providing brand new PMA parts for older Gooses. We'll have to see. (We haven't PMA'd any parts yet.)

Keep up the good work on the Beech 18's!

-Dave M.

Hello again Rayjay,

Yes, I am still working on Beech 18's.

No, I have not been able to update the website as much as I would like. Time is something I wish I had more of as there are many areas of my web site that I would like to update and many new topics to explore.

Yes , we have made good progress on that particular AT-11 that is until about a year ago. Sadly the owner has put the project on hold as he and his partner have lost their jobs with the airlines and money is tight. The AT-11 is suspended from the hangar trusses until further notice.

We presently have 5 AT-11's at our shop along with 10 other Beech 18's of varying models. Some are long term custom or authentic restorations. Some are in for maintenance and some are future projects. When you are serious about a Beech 18 project let me know as I should be able to help you find one that fits your needs.

_________________
To donate to the PV-2D project via PayPal click here http://www.twinbeech.com/84062restoration.htm

We brought her from: to this in 3 months: Help us get her all the way back

All donations are tax deductible as the Stockton Field Aviation Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Tell a friend as the Harpoon needs all the help she can get.

Thank you!

Taigh Ramey
Vintage Aircraft, Stockton, California
http://www.twinbeech.com
'KEEP ‘EM FLYING…FOR HISTORY!'