Warbird Information Exchange

We are pleased to say that two of the Nimrods are coming Saturday to see Kay getting ready for her debut. Ken Yancey, our favorite Aggie graduate, who acquired the call sign of "Magnet A$$" over the Laotian HCM Trail by bringing several airplanes back to NKP with the tails full of holes. Leon Poteet, who flew with Paul Marschalk back in the day, had visited Kay very early on with Paul. Regrettably, Paul has passed on now, but Hawkeye got some very good video of his visit that day. His call sign was "Hulk" so we miss "Hulk" even today. The guys are bringing their wives so we have promised to be on our best behavior. No, really! We will. Hawkeye is breaking out the grill for burgers and watermelon. It just doesn't get any better than that! The ice tea won't last long with the heat predicted on Saturday, but drop on by and meet these two A-26 vets from the Vietnam era. They are very interesting to chat with. We are looking forward to their arrival.
Meanwhile, work will continue on Kay to get us up to the final details. Canopies and paint are the biggest items left. Lots of little things too. Cheers, JR

Its confirmed...No 2 cowl flap motor is tango uniform. Standing by....

_________________
The real JR

Dang! Yes, it is broke. I didn't do it. I was gone to Toronto and just got back, so there! It was probably that pesky raccoon that keeps visiting the hangar?? Anyway, we are looking for an overhaul manual or replacement unit for the cowl flap motor. It is an EEMCO DC Actuator, Type D-139. If you happen to have either of these laying around, please PM me. We have checked all of the usual sources. Looking forward to our Nimrods coming to visit on Saturday so don't forget to come out to meet them. Glad to be back in the Republic... the Other JR

Always good to look at "Mona" but in this case, the right prop has been exercised by the prop feather pump. That's always a good thing. It means a lot of things are working and the new oil that was put in is getting to the right places. Work continues on the cowlings. Arnold worked really hard on the fabrication of attach fittings Saturday and Sunday. Most of the old ones were cracked. Might be he can get those finished soon... three left to go I think he said and we can see how everything lines up for putting the cowling on and "Mona" will have her new dress. We had an outstanding visit with two of the Nimrods, Ken Yancey and Leon Poteet...and their wives on Saturday. Demonstrated the bomb bay doors in operation for them. They were impressed with all of our progress compared to a few years ago. Hawkeye grilled some burgers and chicken for lunch for everybody and that is always enjoyed. Cold iced tea and watermelon sure were good for a nice hot July day. We hope the guys come back soon and tell us more stories. Meanwhile, we want to give a shout out to Tim Savage and crew with "Silver Dragon" at Oshkosh. Got a picture of the nose art this morning. Looking good!! Wouldn't it be grand if we could have a three ship at Oshkosh with the Dragon, Buba and Kay representing the three wars the A-26 fought in? Yes, there were many other conflicts it was used in like the Bay of Pigs in Cuba or the Congo, but those were not major US events compared to WWII, Korea and Vietnam. If you would like to see more pics of our Nimrod visit, check out our Facebook pages. http://www.facebook.com/a26specialkay and http://www.facebook.com/invadersquadron Thanks, JR

There are several Nimrods who live in the area around Austin. As much as it would pain this Aggie to get close to the site of the Burnt Orange Community College, we talked with our visiting Nimrods about bringing Kay down that way so that those who have difficulty traveling will get a chance to see her. San Marcos looks like the best place. Col. Tim Black, who was among the last to return from NKP with his A-26 to the Boneyard is still an active pilot on the CAF B-25, Yellow Rose, which is based there. I wonder how hard we would have to twist his arm to go fly Kay??? JR

Forgot to mention that JR got the other nose gear door apart and started cleaning that up. Arnold will get the sheet metal this week for the outer panels. Lots of progress this week. Doing the happy dance in the Republic in spite of the heat!! The Other JR

Larry and Bob worked on programming the GTN 650 with the ELT today. Arnold picked up a bunch of items we needed such as batteries and metal for the nose doors. He continued working on the brackets for the cowl ring attachments. We were lucky to find 16 brackets in San Antonio so those are now on the way. Ditto on a cowl flap motor for the right side but it may take awhile to get here from New York... no, not the city, the state. So overall it was a very good day even though the temp made it to 100 degrees.
Had another thought about Oshkosh next year. Only one A-26 made it there so far. Maybe we could get Tim S to bring his back while we gather up some others besides Kay. Buba would be a good candidate since it is in Korean colors. At minimum, we need one from each era: WWII, Korea, and VN. But wouldn't it sound good for more than three to do a flyover? I am drooling over the idea.
Also working on something that we hope becomes an annual event. The former Perrin AFB near Sherman, TX, aka Grayson County Airport, nee North Texas Regional Airport is hosting a GA cross country race on 10 Oct. It gave us the idea to have a "Warbirds Return to Perrin" Fly-In. As it happens, Perrin was the Pilot Training Base for the A-26 during the Korean War so naturally there has to be an A-26 there, right? Since the base started in 1941, it hosted many types of trainers and base aircraft right up thru the T-33, F-86 and F-102. We have gathered about 8 of these airplanes so far and looking to find more. It could be a heck of a lot of fun as many will sell rides. The GGA C-47 will be there for that. Will post more about it as it develops. Meanwhile, might want to reserve a spot on your calendar for Oct 10. JR

You also have another Invader over in Mt. Pleasant that would be a good candidate for a multi-ship gathering.

Hi Ober... yep, we talk with Scott nearly every week about A-26 stuff. He is very pleased with how it handles and the speed of the beast. He is up for a big formation flight of A-26's. The other thing I would like to see is a formation flight of -26's over Kyle Field for the opening of an Aggie football game!!! Eeeehawww
On another note, Saturday, July 25, (tomorrow) the 90th Birthday celebration will begin at 9 am for Meacham Airport in Ft Worth, It will run until noon with free cake and ice cream plus a bunch of other activities even for the kids. There will be some warbirds on display and open for tours including the CAF A-26. Admission and parking are free. There will be parking at 4601 N Main St with free shuttle bus delivery. All activities will happen on the ramp at Broadies on the N end of the airport. Everybody is welcome! JR

Saturday was a hot one! 100 degrees in the hangar. Kay had a few visitors - one was all the way from Paris (Texas) and another from Oregon. Long time WIX follower of our progress. We sincerely appreciate all of our followers and welcome your visits to the hangar!

This morning myself and the 3rd wiper hung out with the DC3 crew and made a morning flight over the Ft Worth area. Great experience as always! Hats off to the GGA crew - Randolph (get to da choppah), Denis, Pat and David. Book a flight and join us!

_________________
The real JR

Ditto on the hot this past weekend. Work continued on the cowling mounts, nose gear doors and the electrical system. Larry, Bob and Stan now have to tackle the electrical rack behind the pilot's seat. We had started to remove it in order to put a seat there, but later decided to keep everything stock. Now it needs to be cleaned up and everything put back where it belongs. The voltage regulators are mounted on a shelf up above this rack so they need to be checked. The shock mounts for the VR's have to be replaced as the old ones came apart. JR and Duke worked on the other nose gear door to get it straightened out. We are missing the middle hinge for some reason so the search is on.
The 90th Birthday party for Meacham Airport was a big success with a good turn out. The live band was the same band that will play for the VFM Hangar Dance on 3 Oct. This is another great event as the Navy A-3 Association will be the partner on this one. Their A-3D will be the centerpiece behind the bandstand.
Speaking of the DC-3, GGA has changed the management of the ride program so the new contact info is this:
817-291-3261 or greatestgenerationflights@gmail.com to schedule a ride or get more information. They have gone to a computer scheduling system that will make it much easier to manage the rides. They have been doing weekend flights thru the summer and have plans to be in the Kerrville area during the Labor day weekend. Be sure to take advantage of this great opportunity. They will also be in Sherman on Oct 10 for the Warbird Fly-in and air race at the former Perrin AFB. Be there for a great time! JR

Very sorry to have to report that one of our team members lost his brother, Wes Sanders, this morning. He was in hospice care for about the past week. Wes was active in the warbird community here locally. He will be missed. Our condolences to his family and friends. Rand has been a dedicated member of our team for a long time so we take this personally. Our team is like family. JR

Well, danged if Hawkeye hasn't gone and done it again! He put together a video update of our restoration efforts on Kay. He used some old footage showing where we were about half way thru up to the present day where we are nearing first engine starts. It also includes the recent visit of two of our Nimrod vets, Ken and Leon. We think he hit a home run with this one. See what you think. Don't forget to turn on your sound!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmlYCMX ... e=youtu.be

We are very pleased to report that Hawkeye's video has proven to be very popular on other sites. Besides Kay, our hangar mate Buba had the link on their Facebook page and it is doing well there. You might be interested in some other historical info on A-26's here. http://www.facebook.com/invadersquadron
Saturday should be a good day. The temps have cooled from 104 down to 98 so we are all looking for our sweaters. Wouldn't want to get chilled. JR is expecting a good turnout again especially since the DC-3 is not flying this weekend so that should free up some of our guys who have been helping with it. It does fly next weekend if you are interested in getting a ride booked. The VFM folks are having a potluck dinner at noon for the hangar rats next Saturday also. Yours truly will be cooling off beside a lake in NM seeing if the trout can be enticed to bite my hook. Time for another fish fry if I am lucky. JR will hold the fort while I am gone. Ya'll come see us when you can. The Other JR, still lovin' the Republic even though it is hotter than the inside of a pizza oven.

Big day for Kay. Rand, Larry, Arnold, Ed, Bryan, Inu, Chiquito, yours truly and the other JR. Started out with the new cowl flap motor on No 2 courtesy of Hayes Intl in Dothan, Alabama. Ran cowl flaps on both Mona and Lisa. Great stuff to see and hear. We felt so good about that we juiced up Lisa with about 30 gallons of W120 and ran the feathering pump. Great results there. No leaks! Prop moved. To top it off before the other JR rang the dinner bell we pre-oiled and cranked Lisa over using the starter! First time in 5 years. Woo Hoo! We are on a roll. After lunch we did the same for Mona. Film at eleven. Arnold and Larry cranked on Mona's cowl supports all day. They are getting close. To close out for beer-thirty, Bryan loaded both PR58's for a trip back to Vintage Carburetor's flow bench. The team is doing all it can to ensure we are ready to run the girls come October. The VFM October Hangar dance is a great opportunity for us to take Kay out for a much needed spa treatment. Stay tuned.

_________________
The real JR