Warbird Information Exchange

Stratofortressflyer,

I too have researched Lil for some time and worked on her a little in Tulsa a few years ago. Remember that this airframe was a Consolidated test-bed of sorts and that many new ideas were tried on her prior to introducing the changes on the production lines. The two-piece windshield is most likely one of these modifications that was first tested on Lil. I don't know if a date exists when the mod was done, but I suspect it predates the actual introduction on the assembly lines.

Scott

Gary,
Got my little piece of history in the mail today. I love it. My wife walked into the kitchen as I was opening the mail. She thinks we are all nuts and she's probably right. Still, it's a good kind of crazy. Thanks again.

_________________
Albert Stix Jr.
"Work is the curse of the drinking class"

Stratofortressflyer, I'm not sure where you got the "M" model nose information, but in the history of AM927 that I just posted, it clearly says that the nose section was from an RY3. I got this from official documentation that the folks in the B-29/B-24 Squadron (including Scott), have found for us over the years. What's equally interesting is that you were actually in that nose for several days, prepping it for paint and perhaps didn't notice the large paint mark on the floor of the nose, in between where the two pilot's seats are.......




Now, I don't know much about RY3's, and if they had two piece windshields or not, so perhaps this one has been modified. However, I think it's safe to say that with the documentation we have and the "writing on the walls" (so to speak), we could definitely get away with saying that the nose section on AM927 came from an RY3, not an "M" model.


I also know everone is waiting for me to get back to work on the Liberator and is equally anxious for more updates. I apologize for being tardy in getting them to you. I should be back to work tomorrow and should be having updates on the B-24 coming back with more frequency quite soon. Thanks for being patient with me in the mean time.

Gary

I do believe that it is the "mystery of the girl" that keeps you guys coming back for more!

Gary,

Not to get off topic but I have a quick question regarding the replica .50 cals for Lil which were made by Aero Trader. As far as I know the guns are machined from a solid block of aluminum. I was curious if they have the edgewater adaptors machined into the gun or if you had to actually purchase the adaptor and mount it to the gun? The reason I'm asking is because I've checked online for edgewater adaptors and they run about $200 a piece!

John

Here is more:

There were from 33 to 39 RY-3 airframes constructed, so the "RY-3 38" on 927 fits. I've been digging through photos and every RY-3 I can find has the original multi-pane enclosure. All of these little details just make this airplane more and more fascinating, and she is a time capsule of Consolidated engineering work done throughout the war. The ultimate prototype!!

Also, the British had Prime Minister Churchill's Liberator II, AL504, the second Liberator II built, converted to more-or-less RY-3 configuration late in the war. The photos I have seen of this a/c show the original canopy configuration as well.

Scott

Sasnak is correct, I was talking about the green house (aka, the windows)on AM927 being from the "M" model. Indeed it is interesting how this plane was used as prototype for various B-24 mods, but I cant wait to see the full B-24A setup.

Stratofortressflyer, sorry for the confusion regarding the greenhouse setup. Like I said, I don't know much about these old airplanes, but am trying to learn. I'm sure that someday we'll have some form of documentation or something in writing to tell us about how and when the greenhouse section was changed, but until then, I reckon we'll just have to keep guessing.

jpeters, I'll look into your question about the guns.

Gary

I talked with Gary earlier this afternoon in the main CAF hangar and he has just returned from more running back and forth from Midland to deep south Texas on his PBY and other adventures.

After sharing a few stories with us, he should be getting back to work on the B-24 conversion full-speed and will be posting some interesting shots from his trip and work shortly, I think. Stand by for Gary...

Randy

Gary

there was a very interesting manilla envelope waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday; that's pretty much the coolest thing I've received in the mail, and I can't thank you enough.

Keep up the great work; thanks for letting us all see it in progress, and especially thanks for making me feel like a small part of it.

You guys are a class act.

cheers

Greg V.

Sorry for the delay, but the long awaited updates are back!

Today it was me, Daniel, and one volunteer (James West). Although the forward progress would only be considered moderate, we were as busy as a one legged man in a butt-kickin' contest. As I type this, Daniel and James are both still working, but we will all be calling it a day soon.

Daniel got here yesterday, but with him coming out to help me with the PBY wings and the fact that we were basically shut down from making any noise in the hangar (due to another event held in here ), all that he was able to do was to prime the inside structure of the entry door.

Today, however, he got right after it. It has been an all day job, but he's been riveting that inside piece of skin to the door structure.......








James replaced a few bad nutplates on the wings and tail and then moved on to some other tasks. I had him pressure test the old alcohol tanks that are also the fairings that go behind the main landing gear, when retracted. Most folks probably don't know this, but those were used to hold the alcohol for the propeller de-ice systems. My plans are to use them to hold smoke oil for a future smoke system that I would like to install. The movie and "Hollywood types" seem to like that option.

Anyway, even though I don't plan on using them now, I wanted to make sure they were "leak free" before we painted and installed them. It was a pretty simple test really. Just cap the holes and add a VERY small amount of air pressure. You don't want to blow the tank up here, you just want to put some positive pressure on it and spray the outside with soapy water. The results become clear rather quickly........








That last photo shows an area of leakage that was due to some corrosion of the tank. There would be no way for me to weld up each little pin hole, so a "scab patch" was the quickest way to address this situation. I had James cut out the basic shape of the patch and I formed it to fit the tank. I was going to weld it up today as well, but the welding machine was much smarter than me, and I couldn't get it to work. I'll play with it some more tomorrow.......






In the mean time, I tried to knock out several little projects that will make it easier for me to disperse work to the several volunteers that are scheduled to come in this week and next. The CAF Winter Staff Conference is this coming weekend, and I've had quite a few folks say they want to hang around and help. So, with me being a poor leader, I had to get some little tasks completed so that the volunteers would be able to more easily do the jobs I have lined out for them...such as reassemble some of the cockpit fixtures.

I started with painting the little rudder pedal adjustment thingys. I need the seat tracks reinstalled and plan on letting some volunteers work on that, but I didn't want to lay on them while trying to do this detail work later, soooo, now was the time to do it. It's kind of funny that after all of these years, the Testors Model Paint people are still getting my money. .............




My next little project was to do something with the rudder trim knob and dial. You can see that they were in fairly rough shape and just wouldn't look good in that newly painted cockpit........




The first step for this little project was to lightly bead blast the parts. I didn't want to get too rough with them, since I needed the raised numbers to stay raised. Once the old paint was blasted off of them, I took the knob and brushed the areas clean that will not be painted......






The next step for the knob was to mask off the areas that will not be painted......










Oh, by the way Scott, I got my shirt!




The next step was to prime and paint both the knob and the dial assembly......






As those pieces were drying, I moved on to another project. I need all of the fuel valve handles and emergency landing gear extention handles put back on by the volunteers, but I needed to make them all nice and pretty before they install them. The painting process was pretty straight forward, so I won't bother with posting the pictures of that. However, the knob on the gear extention handle was pretty rough and I thought y'all might like to see how I dressed it up a bit.

The knob looked as if it had been turned with a pair of pliers or something similar at some point in it's life. It is made of Bakelite, or similar material, so I took it over to the lathe to see what I could do with it. The first thing that had to be done was to simply shave off the nasty area to make it moderately smooth again.......




Then I got the knurling tool and installed it in the tool holder. This tool has two little wheels on it, one on top of the other, with sharp little diagnonal grooves in each wheel, going in opposite directions.......




To use it, you simply apply a small amount of pressure, and move the tool down the item you want knurled.......




And here is the finished result of the knurling.......




Eventually, the paint dried on my dial that I was working on previously. I now needed to remove the paint from the raised surfaces on the dial (the numbers, letters, etc.). I started by going over those areas LIGHTLY with a fine file.......




Unfortunately, this piece has had the raised portions worn down over the years, so the file just wasn't getting the job done like I had hoped. So, it was time to break out the Exacto knife, sit down at my desk, and start removing the paint from the numbers and letters by hand. ........




Getting there..........




Aaaaalllmost done........(oh, by the way, I noticed a factory flaw in this part.....there is a number "1" missing from the dial. It was never stamped in it.).........




Finally finished with the scraping. It took about 1.5 to 2 hours to get this finished. Whew!.........




Then, after a little clear coat on the rudder trim parts and the gear extention handle knob, the parts are finished. They're not great, but certainly at least slightly better than they were....




So that's it for today. James has already gone home, but I still hear Daniel out there drilling and riveting. As for me, I'm gonna carry my fat butt to the house and maybe even catch an episode of The Simpsons for a change.

I'll try to give y'all another update tomorrow.

Gary

It's funny how the smallest of items takes up 1.5 to 2 hours isn't it???

_________________
"There are two types of people here; airshow whores and airshow prostitutes. The whores, like you and I, do airshow stuff for free, whereas the prostitutes are paid" - Reg Urschler

Progress is progress, ya can't beat that!

Though things are moving alot quicker with you guys than what were doing over here in Connecticut!

Myself (being the youngest), and a small group of aging vollunters are trying to restore two S-52's back into static condition.

1. One For a Marine Corps museum.
2. One for ourselves!

Even though the Connecticut Air and Space Center doesnt have a huge collection of aircraft, we still have a good number of airframes of some interesting aircraft. The earliest aircraft we have are Korean War era. Maybe someday we'll have a World War II bird with us!

Thanks for the update Gary...It has been sooooo long since your last update that I was beginning to have suicidal thoughts! But now that I've gotten my fix again I now have a reason to go on living.

I'm amazed and impressed at your attention to detail with those small parts. Keep up the good work...I can't wait to see her at Oshkosh this summer (she is going to be there...right?).

John

Anybody else notice that this thread is nearing the 1,000th posting and 100,000th viewed milestones? I nominate it for the WIX Hall of Fame...any seconds?

John