Warbird Information Exchange

This is news we have all been waiting for and have been discussing here for many years. Now that the restoration of the Helldiver is complete, next up is Flak Bait!! Work on this combat veteran will start in late summer. The current paint job will me preserved although I'm not certain how they will touch up the nose piece which has been on display for many years now and has been touched by many thousand of visitors. Hopefully this "restoration" project will be very similar to the job performed on the P-61 a few years back. A touch up here and there, make the plane whole again and get it out on the floor. I think everyone will agree, this is very good news for sure.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Great to hear!

-Thomas Reilly

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Warb ... 3861560352
http://warbirdwatcher.blog.com/

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-Thomas Reilly

The Warbird Watcher
http://warbirdwatcher.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Warb ... 3861560352

Hooray! Do they have a spot picked out for it already?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Well, it's about darn time!

Can't wait to see what they'll be able to do with her. They do some amazing work. Here are a few pics from a visit several years ago...

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Share your story: Rutgers Oral History Archive http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/

I am very excited about this news! I hope that my friend, Sherman Best, will still be around by the time it's finished.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Awesome!!!!!!!

AWESOME!

I'm totally stoked about this!

My wife is even more stoked, as she's been listening me b**** about Flak Bait since we visited the NASM in 2008.


SN

My only comment...

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Andrew King
Air Museum Director with no Museum to Direct
Open to Suggestions

Good line, Drew!

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Fantastic news! There are many techniques for paint matching and blending. I'm sure they will be able to match the areas that have been worn away by visitors hands (including mine as a teenager )...

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

Some older shots of the rest of Flak Bait on this thread starting about half way down on page 1 and throughout:

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9909

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To donate to the PV-2D project via PayPal click here http://www.twinbeech.com/84062restoration.htm

We brought her from: to this in 3 months: Help us get her all the way back

All donations are tax deductible as the Stockton Field Aviation Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Tell a friend as the Harpoon needs all the help she can get.

Thank you!

Taigh Ramey
Vintage Aircraft, Stockton, California
http://www.twinbeech.com
'KEEP ‘EM FLYING…FOR HISTORY!'

I dont know that Chris. I would not like to see it hung from the rafters but I dont know how much open space is left on the floor.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

I really hope they conserve it and don't restore it... She is a Level 1 artifact like the Wrong Flyer and the Spirit of St Louis...

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Andrew King
Air Museum Director with no Museum to Direct
Open to Suggestions

Great to hear.

The paint "rub" on the nose is now part of her history. tens of thousands have already seen her!

I can't see this plane being hung from the ceiling. There's way too much detail that can only be seen from eye level. Maybe they'll do what they did for Enola Gay and raise her about four feet off the ground so you can get great detail from one of the skyways.