visited American Aero Services yesterday

[Matt Gunsch]

My day job took me to Daytona Beach to inspect some cessna 172S models and I had a late flight out, so I was able to look around a bit and ended up at American Aero Services. Nice bunch and I was told to look around all I wanted. The Collings B-17 was still in pieces and appeared that not much was being done, the TF-51D was there for Maint, the B-25 was stuffed in the back of the hangar. The highlight was getting to look at the PBY they are doing, it is going to be a fantastic plane when finished, with all the antenna wires on it it looks like a flying clothes line. They are somewhat of a PBY center with 3 airframes there. No sign of the TP-51C or the B-24. In the PBY hangar there was some tail assembly pieces that look like they were from a He-111 recovery.

[Dan K]

Matt, you know the rules:

No pics = You were never there.

[Matt Gunsch]

it is such a PIA to post pics, I have to resize them all, but here is the PBY

Attachments

[Dan K]

That middle pic sure looks like a tub off a He 111.

Part of this...?

http://americanaeroservices.com/Heinkel ... rphc2.html

https://www.key.aero/article/lady-lake- ... e-magazine

Last edited by Dan K on Sun Aug 27, 2023 8:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[marine air]

Thank you for posting, as they are all very interesting. I think that's an HE-111 belly "ash bin" type gun position. seems like they used them pre-war and returned them in the post war Spanish built CASAS. Sad to see the B-17 disassembled as they bought it airworthy but it probably needs attention somewhere. That might be the first properly restored and authentic PBY. That's the early nose turret and maybe it will have more guns as well.