Warbird Information Exchange

Great to see the old girl spreading her wings. I bet she can't wait to get air under them!

SN

Next Stop....Paint "Booth", break out the BIG BRUSH!

Well Dang!
The right wing extension accidently jumped up onto the airplane yesterday.
Kudos to David Carr, Chuck Conway, Ken Hyman, Randy Wahlberg, David Winchell and anybody else who left before I got there after work.
(timed it PERFECTLY, I did! )

Pictures as soon as I get some.

SPANNER

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Wow!! Awesome. Any word on a test flight date?

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Many items on the punchlist before we can set that.
David and I talked about that at length last night and it is going to take some concerted effort and a few more wrenchslingers.

But as we say in the band... STAY TUNED!

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Good Luck with the punch list. As with Yellow Rose, check it, recheck it and make sure she is 100%! You want to find it bad on the ground, not in the air. Might try to swing by the operation there next month as we are buzzing through town.


Chris

Something worth posting.
Another engine run, this time with Wings On!


Everybody lift now... No Comedians!

I thought YOU had the fasteners!
(Photo Credit- Col. Kevin Hong)

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Certainly nice to see all four turning!!

Great job!!!

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S.

Getting closer!

Is that a static discharge wick on the tail gunner's canopy? Never seen one mounted there before.

SN

During the runup the pilot had to be saying to himself........."brakes don't fail me now". Maybe the guy in the Falcon was saying the same thing. Good to see her coning together.

Looks are a little deceiving but YES, if the brakes had failed the SOP was CUT POWER or go differential if only one side of the brakes failed, and to stand on the good brake and swing her around all the while slowing down.

There really was more space between the Falcon and the B17 than appears in the photo due to perspective.

And Steve that is indeed a static wick. All the CAF heavies are supposed to be IFR compliant in case they get caught in the weather on long transit flights. I am sure someone will correct me on this, but that was what the intention was, as explained to a poor misinformed American Down on his Luck! (Better have some beans, gonna be mighty rough country tomorrow!)

Now we are in ETERNAL parts search mode. We are always missing something! Now it is the counterweights for the ailerons.
Everybody KNOWS they have seen them, they just don't know where!
Oy vey!

AS THE SPANNER TURNS

SPANNER

_________________
Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Good to see all 4 turning with the wings on... Now to put some air under those wings......

Lynn

Progress Report...
Randy Wahlberg found the aileron counter-weights at "somebody else's" shop! And it is a darned good thing he did, because they are left and right aileron specific, serial numbered and they are widely different weights to accomodate the trim tab mechanism that is only on the left wing.

THANK YOU shout out to Craig cvairwerks for the FOD posters. We are doing a concerted effort to help people find religion regarding NOT leaving tools and fasteners where they shouldn't. I have posters up in various locations and because there are enough different ones I can one-two punch them. FOD is never ending. Every manufacturer, A&P shop and other maintenance facility or restoration shop can never relent.

I have the top turret cuppola mounting ring "almost" finished. I ran out of hardware, but trusty Bud, the Supply Officer has an order in for just what I need.

We are in the two steps forward- one step back phase. Someone got ALL excited and put the oil cooler inlets back on BEFORE they bothered to treat the rust on the grates. Back off they came and we are putting the fix on them. (Mrs. 2nd AF took them off back in the day and I am sure she was wondering to what end. We really did remove all the oil coolers and got them yellow tagged and re-hosed.- Thanks Elly! )

90 per-cent of the NASTY (temporary) wiring on the hydraulic panel has been removed and the "real" wiring installed, for those who were commenting on the previous photos of that job. Stan is still hunting up one more connector and the job will be totally sanitized.

The airbox system was re-installed in #4 nacelle by Ken and friend, so we now have filtered air on all four engines. Two of the airboxes had all manner of cracked sheetmetal and crimes against aviation.

What else? I HATE OSHKOSH!!! Our Maintenance Officer and the IA are both up there this week and I am stuck here with the humidity.
But the B17 still loves me! sniffle and whine!

There is bound to be more I am forgetting but that just saves more for the next post.

First edit--- Now I know the MAJOR item I forgot. The CO2 fire suppression bottles and valves were rebuilt and re-plumbed. The last dates on the bottles were from a Galaxy a Long Time Ago and Far Away.
Now they are stamped 2009 just like we like them!
SPANNER

_________________
Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

This Saturday the wingtips got installed, so TR is now 103 ft and some odd inches of BEAUTIFUL!

Chuck got the tips repainted so all's we have to do is paint everything in between them and the B17 will look just like new.

There has been some paper-pushing but the one thing we are having to do is go through some of the eddy current testing for the 73 and 77 Wing Spar carry-through ADs and Chuck got the bolts out and we are just waiting on the Tester dude. And crosssing our fingers.
While one doesn't think one will have a problem on airplane parts that haven't been flown since last tested one never knows does one?

I may not be around computers much for the next week so if any other CAF-GCWingers are out there feel free to post project reports.

Also... I think we are mentioned in this month's Fly Past magazine...
Haven't seen it, but what is not to love?

SPANNER

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

After a short vacation- refer to the I AM NOW A PEACEBIRD OWNER thread-

TEXAS RAIDERS is coming on nicely.
Ken and Ole and others are now trying to sort out the cable tension issues.
While everything seems to flip and flop none of it has the safety wire in place and a lot of the connexions need to be "centered" and checked with our tensiometer.

David Carr and Ashley (FortressFixer) have decamped for Yankee land.
David to M.I.T., Ashley to Harvard Law.
We will miss them both!!!!!!!!!!

Chuck Conway is taking on the Maintenance Officer job and he is doing excellent work.

Fortunately the 70 mph winds last week that took the roof off our storage unit did not do any grievous damage to our airplane parts inside.
Chuck and crew got us into another unit so no B17 parts are being abused.
We even got a scented candle out of the deal!

The crew has been variously making the bomb-bay doors successfully swing! Hooray... I have been cleaning one of them to prep for paint.
It is currently beautiful in an ugly sort of way.

The flaps now deploy. I am not certain if the crew got the indicator to properly indicate. Full Down was righteous, but full retracted was half a tick off.

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork! 337s are being prepped, AD compliance forms are being written up, NDT testing is being performed and noted.

Amidst all that, members' loved ones are having surgery, undergoing chemo, passing away... Prayers sent out for them ALL!

We have a company making the top turret plexi-glass from our molds in order to expedite that project.

Sending out the invertor to a shop to be rebuilt and yellow tagged.

And last night we saw what has to be Cleco the kitten's sister blast through the hangar. Mostly solid black with what looked like mud slung across her face. Cute as a button!

Gotta get to work here.

SPANNER

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.