B-26K Counter-Invader Restoration ("Special K")

[A26 Special K]

Our GGA DC-3 engine has had the cylinders removed in preparation for taking the core to the shop for rebuild. It appears the main bearing let go as there are metal flakes are over the place. I will post a picture closer up tomorrow. This is a Wright 9 cylinder 1820-76D and not your usual DC-3 engine. Again, donations are accepted and appreciated at http://www.gga1.org/our-story This has a link to make electronic transactions with your credit card or PayPal account. Many thanks. The DC-3 is our main source of revenue to keep our airplanes, including the A-26 restoration going. Your help would be deeply appreciated. We need to raise $25,000 for this engine. Even $5 helps. Please consider helping us get flying again. JR

[NImrodA26]

..................those little snakes roaming around that could drop you in two steps if they bit you. What did you call those, btw?? JR
Besides the nickname of "two-step snake", I think the official name was the "Banded Krait". I think they looked similar to a Coral Snake. The saying we had was, "Red on yellow, kill a fellow, Red on black, friendly Jack." Only saw one the whole time I was there.

PS I see you made it to White Sands. What do you think?======Would be nice place if we could see it! Smoke from the fires to our West infiltrating the town. Couldn't see the mountains this evening from Rte 70. But, we'll play the hand we were dealt. Still going to White Sands tomorrow and the Space museum on the way back. According to the news, the smoke is going to follow us to Santa Fe Friday. Still, no complaints. Good trip so far.

[A26 Special K]

The DC-3 engine sans cylinders close up.... notice anything about the metal debris on the rod? Some of it is silver and some steel. What does that tell you?

[A26 Special K]

..................those little snakes roaming around that could drop you in two steps if they bit you. What did you call those, btw?? JR
Besides the nickname of "two-step snake", I think the official name was the "Banded Krait". I think they looked similar to a Coral Snake. The saying we had was, "Red on yellow, kill a fellow, Red on black, friendly Jack." Only saw one the whole time I was there.

PS I see you made it to White Sands. What do you think?======Would be nice place if we could see it! Smoke from the fires to our West infiltrating the town. Couldn't see the mountains this evening from Rte 70. But, we'll play the hand we were dealt. Still going to White Sands tomorrow and the Space museum on the way back. According to the news, the smoke is going to follow us to Santa Fe Friday. Still, no complaints. Good trip so far.

Randy, I hope you did not bring any of those 2 steps home as pets! Sorry about the smoke at Alamogordo. It is a spectacular view of the mountains to the east. Most of those are part of the old reef structure from the Permian. The white sands though are really gypsum and not quartz sand. It was left over from when the ocean evaporated that covered the area at one time. Makes for a great place to fly rockets and do experimental work. Joe Kittinger was there with the rocket sled deal. The first chimp in space, Ham, is buried at the Space Museum. It has stuff from the German rocket program all the way thru to the present in a most unusual floor plan design. You can't go wrong there. All we need is a couple of rocket pods for the A-26 and we will make some really short take offs so see if they have any spares just laying around, ok? JR

[A26 Special K]

For all the sharp eyed wrench twisters out there, what's wrong with this picture besides all the metal flakes?

[Cvairwerks]

Bent rod with some twist in it. Appears to have some impact damage on the left side of the beam, about 4" up from the wrist pin boss.

[A26 Special K]

Bent rod with some twist in it. Appears to have some impact damage on the left side of the beam, about 4" up from the wrist pin boss.

EWwwww, sharp eye!! Yep, the rod is a little bent. Perhaps not as much as the camera angle makes it, but something we have to fix.
Again, we would appreciate any donations to help us with the repair. They are tax deductible since we are a 501c3 Non Profit Foundation. Credit cards or PayPal are accepted at http://www.gga1.org/our-story. Please specify DC-3 on your selection. Thanks, JR

[A26 Special K]

A salute to our veterans this special weekend. We were going to take today off, but many of the restoration team said they would like to come work so we will be at the hangar banging away on the airplane if anybody wants to drop by Meacham Field. Always glad to see visitors and talk about the A-26 story. JR

[A26 Special K]

You might say this was our "Bright Spot" of the day! The guys got the right landing light to extend and retract. We can actually see in the dark now! JR

[A26 Special K]

David and Tim are ganging up on the landing light to make it behave properly. It finally relented and agreed to work. They even found a 600 watt bulb to put in it. So now we have two good landing lights.

[A26 Special K]

Proof that it works. Ahhhh, the pride of workmanship!!!

[A26 Special K]

Here Tim is working over a very important part of the landing gear indication system. We are just waiting on one more part to come back from plating to re-assemble the left gear and have it ready to go back into the wheel well. This will allow us to pull the left engine and check the engine mount while doing a repair on the nacelle sheetmetal. When this is done, the plan calls for the right gear to get the royal treatment. We hope that the experience with the first one will speed up the second. Great things go in little steps sometimes we are finding out. JR

[A26 Special K]

OK, so we had 14 people working yesterday ... where are they? The floor almost looks empty. Well, The real JR was leading a couple of work parties on top of the wings. He was troubleshooting the oil cooler door actuators while others were cleaning up topside areas that were open, zapping them with corrosion inhibitors and closing up the inspection panels. It sure got hot up there with the temps reaching 96 degrees in the hangar. This is a dedicated bunch!! It has been a very productive year for the team. Brings smiles to those who come to Ft Worth to visit the airplane. We hear a lot of people say they can hardly wait to see her in the air. We have to echo that sentiment. The other JR

[A26 Special K]

We are about to initiate the first phase of A-26 pilot training. Here T is trying out our experimental High G simulator! We are applying the same sort of thinking as when Col. Tibbets checked two gals out in B-29's to show the guys in training that it could be done. So guys, if T can do it, you can, too!! It's so easy that even a kid can do it! JR

[A26 Special K]

Our A-26 website has been updated with new pics. You can find us at http://www.A26K.org. Feel free to browse and make comments there. We have also added some new friends who have helped us tremendously in restoring K. Have a good week and a special shout out to all of our veterans!! May God bless you and keep you safe. JR