Warbird Information Exchange

David,

Are you guys bringing a Sabre to Michigan in July? That would be outstanding! By the way the cockpit photos are really useful for model builders. The white paint show the detail much better than gray or black. As I'm sure you know the Korean vintage birds were for the most part all black.

I'm pretty much having to re-build the entire cockpit for the 21st Century 1/18th model. The cockpit is undersized so I'm doing some major plastic surgery and entirely scratch building the instrument panel... your pics will be really helpful.

Great work,

Mike

Hey Mike, I am the one who referred you to this site from the HyperScale forum, glad you joined. There is a Modeller's forum here and would like to see progress pics if you would like to keep us updated on your project, sounds interesting! Here is the link to the forum http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... m.php?f=15

Tim,

Thank you so much for the direct to Dave. He has given me some incredible pictures of the loveliest aircraft ever built. His input is going to make all the difference in doing this model right! Thanks again and yes will be more than happy to periodically post progress. Will be my pleasure.

Regards,

Mike

The other Sabre on the field was in the process of restoration to fly. It is an F model and a very good airframe. Currently the owner is looking for someone to start on the project again. I'd love to help as I've grown fond of these birds, but I have my hands full with what's on my plate already. I sure don't want to see this airframe become a static as it would make an excellent flyer.
We are planning on bringing the Sabre to Thunder in july. I'm really looking forward to that show and seeing the great lineup of Warbirds on the list. I think we are slated to fly in the show as well. Mike, I'll be glad to have you or any other Wix members tour the the plane and take as many photographs as you like.
David

Back to work today on the inspection. Tom worked on the lube and I sort of moved things around for the engine removal next week. I think the most I managed to accomplish tonight was opening up the cockpit for inspection. Here's a few shots of the cockpit

Here's a couple of shots of what it took to get 2 of the 4 Oxygen bottles out. Looks like a bunch of spaghetti.



That's it for tonight. I should have some more photos Monday.
David
WHF Maint

Wow, everyone says jets are easier to work on, but from some of those pictures, it looks like it's pretty cramped and complicated to me. Glad y'all are doing it though...it's sure a good lookin' airplane.

Gary

Good morning Gary, I hope your day goes well. You are right about things being cramped. I feel like they built an airplane around the intake and engine. I was reading in an F86 book I have how the Sabre was built with maint in mind and had to laugh. Having worked on F15 and 16's these old jets are far from maint friendly. They are challenging and I like to work on them regardless how tough things might seem. It's rewarding to watch them come to life after heavy maint and a little nerve racking until the test flight is over.
Once again we appreciate the good comments on her looks!
David

After taking the weekend off, it's time to get back to work. The gantry crane and hoist that I ordered came in today, so it was time to assemble them and see if my measurements would work. I was concerned that the legs would hit the trailing edge of the wing. It turns out that I have about half an inch of clearance. Not a lot, but enough anyway. I took a couple of photos with the rig in place. I need to put the spare exhaust cone on with a few bolts as I need the weight on the back end. Once that is done it's time to pull the engine. I'll post pictures of that as soon as I get the engine out. I'm hoping to do that tomorrow if I can round up my help.


David

Well this morning we removed the engine without to much trouble. It took 3 of us to get it out. Talk about a tight fit.




David

OK, so when do you stop? What's the overall plan? This is really cool stuff! When are you leaving for Michigan. I get to ride with Paul, "T33 Driver" and it would be cool to hook up and fly over together.

Would love to come visit one weekend. PM me and let me know how to hook that up, if ok. Old Indy car fabricator here and would love to see your gig up close & personal.

Thanks for the posts and insight!

_________________
"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Geez Louise! There's a lot of "stuff" crammed in there. I don't know how y'all work on those ol' complicated jet-type airplanes.

The updates are great. Keep them coming. Lots of learnin' goin' on here.

Gary

I don't have too much more to come apart. I have to tear down the front of the engine a little yet. Once that's done and some work inside the fuselage is finished, we can re-install the engine. All this work is just part of the annual. I get to do this on a yearly basis. It always feels good to see it come back together after looking the way it does right now. I still have a ton to learn about the F86 and luckily I work next door to the Guru who use to take care of this plane. His help is greatly appreciated.
Gary, as always thanks for checking on our work as you accomplish a huge transformation of OL927. I can't wait to see her finished.
Sdennison,I think we plan on heading over to thunder on friday July 6th.
That would be kind of neat to fly over with Paul's T33 and our F86 and T2.

Awsome pics man, do you plan on going to KOSH with it?

_________________
Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager