Bald Eagle Aviation

Jim Beasley · **Posted:** Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:16 pm

Nelson Ezell did the overhaul on this and it is really magnificent. It's also surprising how compatible the Bearcats are with it.

Jim Beasley · **Posted:** Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:21 pm

It's like a big messy T6. It's very stable and climbs very well. No matter how hard (to a point) you hit the runway is still will be a good landing. The seating position is good for long flights but lots of rudder work gives your legs a workout. The gunsight works which is pretty cool, too. The Spitfire is faster and the vertical penetration is very similar to the Bearcat and the Spitfire. Neat airplane.

Trey Carroll wrote:

Jim, compared to all of the other fighters of the era, in your opinion, what are your thoughts on flying the Corsair?

Congradulations!

TC

Lightjug · **Posted:** Thu Feb 25, 2010 11:55 pm

Jim Beasley wrote:

It's like a big messy T6. It's very stable and climbs very well. No matter how hard (to a point) you hit the runway is still will be a good landing. The seating position is good for long flights but lots of rudder work gives your legs a workout. The gunsight works which is pretty cool, too. The Spitfire is faster and the vertical penetration is very similar to the Bearcat and the Spitfire. Neat airplane.

Very cool. Thanks for the summary Jim

marine air · **Posted:** Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:22 am

That's awesome!

Iclo · **Posted:** Fri Feb 26, 2010 1:34 pm

It's the ex-french owned Corsair ? (If I don't made a mistake)

Regards

richkolasa · **Posted:** Sat Feb 27, 2010 12:52 pm

Jim Beasley wrote:

It's like a big messy T6. It's very stable and climbs very well. No matter how hard (to a point) you hit the runway is still will be a good landing. The seating position is good for long flights but lots of rudder work gives your legs a workout. The gunsight works which is pretty cool, too. The Spitfire is faster and the vertical penetration is very similar to the Bearcat and the Spitfire. Neat airplane.

Trey Carroll wrote:

Jim, compared to all of the other fighters of the era, in your opinion, what are your thoughts on flying the Corsair?

Congradulations!

TC

Congrats on the rating, Jim! Looking forward to seeing you at Key West.

Rich

BenG · **Posted:** Sat Feb 27, 2010 1:26 pm

Iclo wrote:

It's the ex-french owned Corsair ? (If I don't made a mistake)

Regards

Yes, it is the former Christophe Jacquard Corsair.

51fixer · **Posted:** Thu May 13, 2010 12:13 pm

Now that the unexpected engine change on the T-6G is done that is up and running and I have moved onto the Spitfire to prepare it for Reading.
The Griffon ate up a Cam Lobe on the A bank. It was discovered in the fall by inspection and has been parked in one of the multiple corners in the hangar since.
(I think Jim's next hangar will be a circular structure so there are no corners. No corners, no broke airplanes sitting in a corner. It's logical at least.)
The Finger that the cam lobe displaces has a contact pad coated in a layer of hard chrome. If that chrome breaks down and flakes off it becomes a cutting tool and erodes the cam lobe.
Finger showing that damage-

The damage to the cam lobe-

We have some NOS cam racks but they are for the B side. We had Roush NDT and polish a set of cams. Both A and B cams are the same P/N in a Griffon. They are the same part number.
The puzzle begins with fitting the cam racks to an engine. I had hoped it would just pop in but clearances have to be set up for each set of fingers. There are 12 sets of fingers on each cam rack.
New clearances are .005" - .010". Book says max is .020. The bigger the clearance the more oil you lose so this is an important step.
Measuring clearance on a set of fingers in place on the engine-

The shims come in different thicknesses varying by a little as a .001".
Box of spacers and shims-

Hopefully we can run this afternoon.
Rich

LARGEFLYER · **Joined:** Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:31 pm **Posts:** 181

Rich / Jim,

Looking forward to having the Spitfire at Reading again this year! It was a bit hit last year!!

Greg Witmer
Mid Atlantic Air Museum
WWII Weekend Aircradft Coordinator & Airboss

Jim Beasley · **Posted:** Thu May 13, 2010 12:35 pm

looking forward to it for sure. What a great show.

LARGEFLYER wrote:

Rich / Jim,

Looking forward to having the Spitfire at Reading again this year! It was a bit hit last year!!

Greg Witmer
Mid Atlantic Air Museum
WWII Weekend Aircradft Coordinator & Airboss

mlenoch · **Posted:** Thu May 13, 2010 12:41 pm

Rich:
The box of shims reminded me of the pain & hassle that the work entails.
I'll have a scotch before bed tonight...........I hope I can calm down.
I'll be thinkin' 'bout ya. G'luck.
VL

51fixer · **Posted:** Thu May 13, 2010 4:13 pm

vlado wrote:

Rich:
The box of shims reminded me of the pain & hassle that the work entails.
I'll have a scotch before bed tonight...........I hope I can calm down.
I'll be thinkin' 'bout ya. G'luck.
VL

Vlado,
Sorry, didn't mean to give you nightmares.

T-6G had a leaky prop seal and hyd fitting on the new hyd pump. Just launched him for Andrews AFB show.
Back to the Spit.
Rich

Airplanejunkie · **Posted:** Thu May 13, 2010 5:42 pm

51fixer wrote:

It was discovered in the fall by inspection and has been parked in one of the multiple corners in the hangar since.
(I think Jim's next hangar will be a circular structure so there are no corners. No corners, no broke airplanes sitting in a corner. It's logical at least.)
Rich

Put that way, I was thinking of the possibilities (not to mention the job security for you) offered by, say, an octagonal (or maybe even a heptadecagonal) hangar. :shock:

Steve

Glenn Wegman · **Posted:** Thu May 13, 2010 9:19 pm

I'd be looking for possible coil bind on that valve spring the way it knocked the top off of that lobe. It usually knocks the leading radius off when the finger/chrome is the cause.

51fixer · **Posted:** Fri May 14, 2010 9:33 pm

Some further details-
Some stud holes for the rocker covers were stripped. Common with the British fine thread studs. (1/4-26 thread in this case tapped into Alum)
Fixture to locate, drill and tap for the Recoil repair inserts-

Plug and o-ring as fitted to both ends of the Cams-

Example of cam drive shaft which engages the horizontal drive gear. Shaft is a vernier drive which requires cams to be timed as a magneto is.
I won't go into details as not to cause Vlado to drink heavily.

Valve adjustment. 48 per head x 2 heads-

Oil flow from cam rack as verified by using preoil pump-

Rich

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