Worlds only USMC Mitchell PBJ-1J Restoration CAF's Semper Fi

[flyingsailor]

One of the other sites has a picture of Jason waving to the crowd at some point during the races yesterday. For those of us who have met Jason it was great to see, I was really worried when initial reports were talking about a back injury and surgery, my mind jumped to the worst possible situation.

I can't find the image right now, but will edit in a link later

Chris

[Dan Newcomb]

We are almost done with the two forward belly skins. I know the rest of the guys will join me in saying goodbye to dimpled skins! I hate working with them. I have much better luck with counter sinks any day. It was a struggle all day long to get on the rivets to buck them. Several rivets had to be shot two or three times and we found that many areas are impossible to get at and will have to be cherries. Jeff surveyed the areas of the left wing that were exposed when we removed the hat channels and found (SURPRISE!) a few areas of corrosion. The good news is that there appears to be only one area of concern. That is a whole lot better than the dozens of areas we dealt with on the other side!

[Taylor Stevenson]

After all these great photos, I sure cant wait to see her at shows! You gonna bring her to midland next weekend??

[Dan Newcomb]

We got together yesterday for a rare Monday workday. It was a fortunate thing we did. When we got to the hangar we were met by a production crew setting up to shoot a television commercial involving our C-46. Sound wasn’t involved yesterday so our riveting wasn’t an issue. They shot stills using a cherry picker for most of the day. They will be doing sound today and tomorrow but we won’t be there to create problems for them. I almost made the decision not to post today. Not a lot of exciting progress to report I’m afraid. I realize most of you probably wouldn’t get too excited about us shooting new floors in the nose or replacing the bolts on the right gear or dressing out the surface corrosion we found on the left wing but that is what we did. It was a typical day really. That is what we have been doing for years now. That is what we will be doing for a few more years. At this moment I really envy Gary Austin and his winter project of modifying the B-24 927. This year will be my sixth year, my sixth winter on our project. I wonder how many more winters we will spend before we fly?

[Greg87]

The time you're spending really shows, great job, looks great now, it will look stunning when it's finished. Great attention to every little detail!

[b17engineer]

Dan,

I have a box of the promised draw cleco with me at Midland. I just need for China Doll to show up to hand them over. The Hellcat ond Zero got here OK today.

More later,
Rick

[Dan Newcomb]

They were doing engine checks on the Doll yesterday afternoon. I couldn't get down there yesterday but Marc told me that if things checked out they would leave today.

[Django]

Hang in there Dan. You guys are doing a great job!

[b17engineer]

Dan,

The clecos were handed over today and you should have them soon. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the other box that I wanted to include, so I'll just have to mail them to you and the wing.

RICK

[Dan Newcomb]

Thanks Rick!

We will be putting them to good use as soon as we get them. We never seem to have enough of them. Some of them will soon adorn China Doll. She needs a few skins replaced. Hope to see you at CMA one of these days.

Dan

[Dan Newcomb]

We had a small crew yesterday with Scott, Jerry, Ken and I. Eric Van Gilder dropped by for lunch and it was great to see him. I had a hard time recognizing him with out a camera in front of his face!

The best news was that Gill showed after a couple of days in the hospital. It was great to see him back!

Jerry continued working on cable runs. Ken started cleaning up and repairing the close out panels for the tail. Scott and I spent the day working on the floor behind the cockpit. Scott is really something. Bucking rivets in this forward area is a real bear. Stuffing two pleasing plump bald headed old farts, (wait a minute he has a full head of hair at least it looks like his) in such a small space is no easy thing to do. I know it hurts like hell to buck some of these rivets but Scottie never complains other then an occasional “Ouch”!

In the afternoon we were treated to a little moral booster as Executive Sweet fired up and blasted off for parts unknown. Dang, those R-2600s sure sound sweet! As we watched her suck up her gear and bank right for a downwind north departure we were all thinking the same thing. Someday that’s us boys! Someday that’s us!

Dan

Go Get 'em Scottie!!

[Alan Brooks]

Great work Dan, Scottie, Eric, Gil and crew. Can't wait to see her in the air! With three of the 25's down for engine issues for the big show, you can never have too many on the schedule......... Alan

[Dan Newcomb]

The most exciting part of my day at CMA was just getting there! During my drive over the Grapevine I experience rain, heavy winds and thick fog, all at the same time! Ken and Roger made some new close out panels for the tail and Jeff and I started formulating our plans for running the hydraulic lines. Jerry is working on the cable runs for the engines. Jerry’s work is so beautiful he should be making watches!

Dan


The watch maker


The old and the new



Ken and Roger bending metal

[Dan Newcomb]

Sorry for the lack of reports lately. My second favorite airplane needs a little attention. Wow! I'm over 30,000 hits!

[b17engineer]

Dan,

I finally found the missing clecos, have boxed some up and will be putting them in the mail to you shortly. I hope you found the draw clecos of use, even if they were old.

RICK