Warbird Information Exchange

Just got back in this afternoon from the aircraft retrevial road trip from disaster central. Been working on getting my Aero Commander project out of a storage yard near Phoenix for over a year now. Drove out Saturday to do the final disassembly and haul the whole thing home.
Discovered a just "wonderful" suprize on Sunday night working in the gear wells.....ex-folliant corrosion on the gear truss side plates and engine mount ears. Repairable by replacing the parts, but way expensive. With that info and finding significant surface corrosion in most of the skins below the window line, it put the project in the category of being too much rebuild for what it would be worth. If we were talking a super rare bird, it might be different.
So started drilling and cutting up the fuselage to get to the saveable items...and by 2 in the afternoon we had smoked two generator sets and two air compressors. By Wednesday morning, we were on the fourth compressor and eaten up over 30 blades for the sawzall and four panel cutter tools.
Got it all cut down and divided out into salvage material, trash and useable parts by Tuesday night. Loaded all day Wednesday and got ready for the trip home.
Headed out Thursday just before noon after finishing up getting the site all cleaned up. Was going great on the way home other than the mileage was cut down about 50% due the wind load. Got to Sweetwater, Texas and was tagged by the Weights and Measures group of the DPS for a full inspection. The end of it was that we got written up for being one foot over width without a permit. Won't find out until Monday on what that is going to cost me.
So, the final count for the trip....3 smoked compressors, 2 dead generator sets, $75 in expendable tools and an unknown amount for the ticket...and a scrapped aircraft....

Sheesh...the stuff we tolerate for our passions and hobbies.

Sorry for your woes, Craig. But just think, in a few years you'll be able to laugh about this trip over beers.

I'm sure putting the AT-21 back together will be child's play after this trip!

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Ugh,

That's terrible Craig. How disappointing.

I'm praying that my trip goes a little bit better, I am hauling the remains of two PT-19A's and two PT-26's, (which also includes eight Ranger engines and an extra set of wings), back to Wisconsin from Texas in a little over a week, and I am more than a little concerned about our short time schedule and massive amount of work to be accomplished to get it all disassembled, loaded, etc. (Also praying for good driving weather once I get back up here close to the north woods...)

Hopefully your ticket won't cost too much.

Steve

HI SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE IVE FOUND THAT IF YOU TAKE ALITTLE MORE TIME AND DO IT RIGHT IT WILL PAY YOU BACK TRIPLE FOLD AT THE TIME OF REASSEMBLY WOULD IT HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE WORK TO DISASSEMBLE AND SHIP THE A/C THAN THE EFFORTS TO CUT IT UP?SCRAP IS SCRAP IM NOT SURE WHAT I WOULD DO IN YOUR SITUATION,BUT IVE SEEN SOME VERY GOOD PROJECTS RUINED BY FOLKS THAN THINK IF YOU CUT THE WINGS OFF WITH A CHOP SAW THAT SOMEBODY ELSE CAN FIX THAT PRETTY EASILY. IVE SEEN SOME PRETTY NASTY WORK DONE IN AN EFFORT TO SAVE A LITTLE TIME,IT CAN COST THOUSANDS AT THE TIME OF REASSEMBLY.IM NOT TALKING ABOUT A CIVILIAN A/C THAT IS BEYOND AND USE IM TALKING ABOUT MANY OF THE DISPLAY/STATIC A/C,RECOVERY OF CRASHED/DITCHED A/C ECT.THE RECOVERY AND SHIPMENT IS EVERY BIT AS IMPORTANT AS THE RESTORATION PROCESS,THEY GO HAND IN HAND!!FOLLOW THE MANUALS,BUILT A FEW SHIPPING FIXTURES,AND YOU WILL SAVE LOTS MORE IN THE LONG RUN THANKS MIKE

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IF YOU CAN FIND IT WE CAN FIX IT

Hi Mike: Normally when I move a project bird, we do a careful disassembly and mount the major section in transport fixtures. Unfortunately, corrosion had done so much damage to the lower fuselage of this Commander, that it passed the point of being economically rebuilt. A quick estimate was that it would take over 1500 manhours to replace the lower sheetmetal and stringers that were bad. Couple that with the fact that the raw stock and ordered repair parts were now going to be in excess of half the value of a pristine flyer, and the decision was pretty easy to scrap. We had planned to drill it all apart at the aft production joint and through the cabin top to remove the wing in one piece, but the best of plans... We basically cut the fuselage ahead of and behind the wing and trucked the entire wing and fuselage section in one piece. We also cut the forward fuselage just ahead of the seats so that we could salvage out all the hard to get bits and pieces from the flight deck area.

I definately agree with you that people get too much in a hurry in trying to move some of these aircraft and that they do much unnecessary damage by not doing their homework and a careful evaluation of what is needed to safely disassemble and move the aircraft. I moved a P2V-7 Neptune from Houston to Fort Worth a number of years ago. It took two of us almost a year to completely disassemble it and have it shipped.

It's time now to get finished with her, numerous Commander guys are already wanting parts lists. I've had this move hanging over my head and slowing all the other projects around here long enough. The wife has put her foot down quite emphatically that any more aircraft that follow me home must be currently flying.... I do owe her some time and effort on household projects for a few weeks before I attack anything else.