PV-2D Harpoon 84062 (Tanker 101) comes back to life

rwdfresno · **Posted:** Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:40 am

cco23i wrote:

O.K Taigh, does this mean this may be in the road for bomber camp? Or is it out of the "childrens" way?

Scott

Perhaps the more advanced skip bombing and torpedo camp :lol:

cco23i · **Posted:** Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:28 pm

The scarey thing is Ryan, we already have our Navy gear!

Scott

Shay · **Posted:** Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:08 pm

Great thread Taigh

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

peter · **Posted:** Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:50 am

Taigh,
have you seen this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdcwo9Pk36U

Taigh Ramey · **Posted:** Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:11 am

Hey Peter,

No I haven't seen that video. Thanks for the link. Its a good one.

I have seen other cool dive videos on the Lake Washington Harpoon. This is a good one:

http://vimeo.com/21543043

This is a great wreck and is in good shape. It is amazing how she is nose down in the bottom like a great lawn dart, buried up to the windshield perfectly straight into the silt.

The crash report talks about how she was skipping on the tires across the water as she was settling down. The bomb bay doors look untouched too which is incredible to me for a ditching.

The magnesium wheels and brake housings have disolved which is common even after very short term submersion so one tire is sitting all by itself on the bottom and the other one is trapped by the gear. You can see the one brake pack of discs all by itself just hanging on the axel.

The whole tail section it broken off very cleanly at the production break and is sitting next to the wreck. I wonder if this broke off when the tail gear hit the water. It is as if some of the bolts sheared as you can see the bolt holes in the bulkhead where the tail and the fuselage were bolted together.

The main cabin door is still closed but the center panel is missing from where the life raft was deployed. The raft was carried inside the entry door and even had a mechanism to deploy it automatically when it detected water.

An excerpt from the crash report can be seen here:

http://homepage.mac.com/ljjames/scuba/reviews/pv2si.html

Cool wreck. I wish I could dive to 250 feet to see it for myself

Taigh Ramey · **Posted:** Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:51 am

We got some more work done on the Harpoon on Friday and Saturday. Ricky worked hard all Friday on the left engine to finish up the oil leaks and getting everything secure once again.

He continued on Saturday and was joined by Ken and Murray. Here is a shot of Ken working in the nose and Ricky hard at it on the left engine:

Smile for the camera! OKAY NOW STOP SMILING AND GET BACK TO WORK!!

Here is Ken bolting on the ADF loop antenna LP-21-LM on its original location. The AN-104 VHF antenna can be seen in front of it and the navigators astrodome just to the rear. I finally hooked up the AN-104 VHF antenna from WWII to the comm radio and it worked perfectly. Maybe it's my imagination but to me it works better that the more modern antenna we removed and tossed in the trash can.

With all of the modern antennas removed here are three original 'protrusions' that help to restore her authentic profile. Its the first step of many. Antenna wire, IFF antenna, second AN-104, Turret etc. You can see the flare gun port covered over with aluminum tape. The shock mount/flare gun mount was still installed and was never removed. They simply taped over the port to keep the rain out. One of the many cool little original things about this Harpoon.

The Sacramento chapter of the 99's came by for a visit on Saturday afternoon.

Ken gave them a tour of the shop and our overstuffed museum. We need a large building so we can bring out all of our display material and equipment.

Here is Ricky again up to his elbows in R2800 as he has been for the last two days. Murray was helping out by working on the oil cooler regulator. Freshly overhauled and yet the temperature/sequence adjustment screw is frozen solid. I don't think the overhaul shop even touched it because the adjustment screw was frozen in the housing. Both sides are the same. Even the hardware is starting to rust

What is up with that expression on Murray's face? Can he be having that much fun working on the Harpoon? The answer is in the photo... what kind of sick and twisted people are these guys anyway?

peter · **Posted:** Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:38 pm

Cool video Taigh thanks for the link! I wonder why this wasn't recovered??
Thanks also for the update! It is the little things like the antennas and astrodome being fitted after all these years that really make this restoration stand out! Well done guys!!

Fouga23 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:06 am

I love seeing this bird coming back to life

cco23i · **Posted:** Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:11 am

GREAT shots Taigh! KEN WORKS? :lol:

Scott

the330thbg · **Joined:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:06 pm **Posts:** 2713

Thanks Taigh!!!!

wendovertom · **Posted:** Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:41 am

Looking great! I'd be more than slightly irked with the overhaul shop on the regulator issue. . .

Shay · **Posted:** Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:44 pm

What all will be required to install a turret and armament when the time comes?

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

GARY HILTON · **Posted:** Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:48 pm

Murray's just doing the Harpoon Huggie.

the330thbg · **Joined:** Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:06 pm **Posts:** 2713

Nice shot

51fixer · **Posted:** Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:12 pm

the330thbg wrote:

Nice shot

Is that an OHSA compliant ladder in use?

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PV-2D Harpoon 84062 (Tanker 101) comes back to life

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