Warbird Information Exchange

Gary,

If you want to forward the pictures to me I would be happy to post them to my Photobucket account and share them here. Assuming it is OK with the owner of the photos of course.

I think it should get the old poka dot paint job it had as an air tanker back in the late 70's Just kiding, I do like the idea of a Coast Guard scheme.

Scott.....

My buddy was saying in it's CG service, it had the R-1830 engines vs what's on there now.

The switch over to higher horsepower WRIGHT R-2600s from P&W R-1830's was a standard swap for tankers better power and there were a LOT of R-2600's sitting around.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Ugh...Chemical Paint Remover. I hate that stuff, works great though! Instant migraine even through a respirator (yes, properly fitted and worn) and bunny suit.

Looking forward to seeing the new paint job!

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Rob

Polka dots, Polka dots, Polka dots

Boston Strong

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A man's got to know his limitations.

My first ride in a '4Y was in T-121 in 1998 with Gene Powers, the late Rick Schwartz and the late Jim Reynolds. We departed Greybull with a load of water and spent the next two hours bombing around the Bighorn Basin. What a ride, I'll never forget it. When we landed, I climbed down the fuselage, looked up at Gene and thanked him for letting me go along, his reply was, "You're buying the beer."

That evening, Rick and Dana Place were dispatched to a fire near Jordan, Montana, but didn't make it when #3 swallowed a valve and they had to dump and return back to GEY. As luck(?) would have it, Gene was at the airport when they landed as well as myself. Needless to say, he was not happy. He wanted that jug out of that engine before morning and that's all there was to it.

Dana knew I worked in the helicopter division and he asked me if I'd help Rick remove the jug, Gene's reply went something like, "I don't care where the lad works, this thing needs to be ready by morning!" So....I now found myself perched up on a ladder right along side Rick, sucking on a flashlight, following his directions and working for as long as it took us to remove the cylinder.

I wound up buying Rick a beer when we finished, I stayed off the clock so, I guess, in a way I did buy Gene his beer.

What a funny thing to remember....I can only hope that 'ol Igor Schwartz will be looking down on the new paint job with his seal of approval.

Thank you for the post, N4073F.

It appears one of the concurrent themes of the legacy of H & P was that over the years Dan and Gene hired quality people who were really dedicated to their craft and trade and their co-workers, whether they were fixed or rotor wing guys or gals.

I suspect if Rick and Jim were still with us they'd approve of the attention this airplane is getting, and that those fortunate enought to be around it truly appreciate it.

Thanks for sharing.

- Robert in PHX

I lived in the Denver area back in the early 80s when Tanker 121 used to be stationed at Jeffco during the summer. When I first saw her, she had a fairly basic paint scheme: white fuselage with a red band (where the old yellow CG band was.) I remember when she showed up for the 1985 or 86 season in her new colors. I suppose they served the intended purpose of making her VERY visible, but I'm certainly not disappointed to see them go...

SN

...just for reference:

..."Tanker 121" hauling retardant at Hemet (HMT) 15 Sept 1979...with polka-dots...

...and 20 years later at San Bernardino (SBD) 29 Aug 1999...with stripes...

...Sledge

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When I first saw the stripe paint scheme on tanker 121, I thought it was left over from a gig as a south of the boarder airliner....

Biggest flying loaf of Wonder Bread I ever saw!

It will be great to have this bird back in blue on the circuit.

August

I'm just curious, other than seeing the neat pics, how does one get '-4Y' out of a PB4Y-2 designation?

A few options ...


Tri-color scheme


Tri-color scheme 2


Solid Blue scheme


Solid Blue scheme 2


And if you don't want to spend money on paint scheme


And if you don't want to spend money on paint scheme 2

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“PMURT KCUF”

Mark, as this was an ex-USCG PB4Y, then I would agree with the others that your "lowest cost" option is to return it to the USCG configuration as it's already essentially there. Even better on the paint front since it was natural metal with yellow stripes and black border and a black anti-glare panel and that's it.