Warbird Kid wrote:
Still waiting to see one fly. Preferably restored as a Warbird. Any updates on the few out there? Namely where the 3 H&P's went, and how LSFM and Yanks are coming with there's?
What's the difficulty involved with reconfiguring one of these back to the original R-1830 setup?
From what I remember reading somewhere, the overhaul cost on the original powerplants (dash # specific, from my refs R-1830-94) was many fold higher than the B-25 QEC set-up as eventually used; I would imagine that that being said the engines themselves are probably scarcer as well?. Then there's the rest of the firewall forward (mounts/cowlings/ducting etc.), which if you couldn't find them "off-the-shelf" so to speak you'd have to have them made, which I bet would be sickeningly expensive. Not that it couldn't be done of course, but probably an expensive retrofit for engines that make a bit less power than the R-2600's, which is something to consider for an airworthy project. I'd also guess that a higher priority would be getting turrets procured and fitted, especially those huge side blisters and that funky ERCO nose unit, a proper canopy etc. etc.
So I think the short answer would be $$$. Might be cheaper if you got some regular B-24 cowlings and mounted them sideways, if that would even fit mind you, and use a more common dash number R-1830? Still a buttload of work to change something that isn't broken, asthetics aside.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it happen, but at this point I'd be happy to see one airworthy in any finish anywhere!
greg v.
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