Warbird Information Exchange

second.

All in favor? Motion carried

I think it would be fitting to attempt to have Gary post both magic numbers.
If a record is going to be made, then he should get the honor of 1,000th post and 100,000th view!
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."

He plays with B-29s and B-24s and PBYs and accidentally bought part of a combat vet C-47...he gets the cool post numbers too?

I'm sooooo not worthy....

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"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

Howdy folks, I have a request from y'all. As you know, I'm getting closer and closer to my deadline to get the B-24 up and going. I've been working for months in trying to obtain some much needed parts that would help speed the process up. During this time, I've followed all of the leads that y'all have provided (very much appreciated, by the way), and have spoken with some nice folks.

However, I have also been mislead by one. I spoke for at least two months to Ed Kaletta (not trying to defame the guy, just stating the facts) about his large stash of B-24 parts. Many of them we wouldn't have needed, but many of them we would. I won't get into the gory details of our deal, but after many, many attempts to get the deal done, I finally requested (rather firmly) that we finish this up right away, as I'm losing valuable time with the runaround he was giving me. Well, I got an e-mail back from him stating that he had actually sold his collection to someone else. He did, however, offer to tell me who the new owner was so that I could deal with them, but I have yet to hear another peep out of him.

So that's where y'all come in...

Does anyone on this forum know who bought Ed Kaletta's B-24 parts? I desperately need two waist gunner's doors, a tail skid, and more bomb racks (am trying to finish up a deal for four of them from another source right now).

I hate to beg like this, nor do I wish to make Mr. Kaletta seem as if he's an evil monster, but let's face it, I wasted waaaay too much time with him and his empty promises. I'm sure that I would've been stressing over the upcoming deadline without this hurdle, but there is no doubt that this has been a huge setback.

If anyone can help us locate the parts I'm needing and/or the person(s) that bought the Kaletta stash, please, please contact me ASAP,

Thank you in advance,
Gary

Gary, I wish I could help. Sadly i dont know anything about that, though i hope you get the answers and parts you need A.S.A.P.

Gary,

There was a new member on WIX that posted a thread in the parts section asking about parts for a B-24 project he's supposedly working on. His name is "Van" and he has his own website called "Questmasters". Somebody referred him to Kaleta's ad on barnstormers so you never know? Send this guy a PM and see if he's the one theat purchased the stuff from Ed.

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... php?t=9117

The only stuff I bought from Ed was that pallet full of ball turret parts. He short changed me on those rare internal ammo cans claiming "they wouldn't fit on the pallet" and that he would be shipping them out UPS. I'm still waiting for them to arrive and am growing mighty impatient!

John

Thanks John, but he's the fella I'm working with on the other bomb racks. Seems like a pretty straight forward individual. He's actually waiting on me right now (long story).

But thanks again,
Gary

Well, it looks like y'all will probably end up hitting the 100,000th view tonight while I'm attempting to sleep. I really, really appreciate everyone's interest in this project and the input that y'all have given me. Hopefully, with me and my crew, we'll be able to get the airplane back in the air in a timely manner and back on tour for all of you to check out in person.

I'll try to have a real update for you tomorrow. Until then, goodnight.

Gary

Gary:
By the amounts of posts on WIX, I don't think you sleep, and I cannot thank you enough! This thread and the progress on the B-24 keeps me coming back for more.

On a side note when the airplane comes to ATL, hopefully in the future, I would like to take my grandfather through it, he was a bombardier on the 24 during WWII. Gary what do you charge for a ride; I would love to get him back in the airplane.

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Philip Beegle
Dixie Wing CAF

Hello,
To Gary, and everyone here, I just thought I'd write in just to say how emotionally attached to this airplane I am. Since my Grandfather worked on the original conversion crew way back when, It feels almost like he is physically there with me every time I go in to help. I usually get home and give him a call to share what I've done and how things are progressing, and he tries to remember that far back (bless his heart) to share tidbits of the things he did. My grandmother passed away in 1996, but she also worked at Consolidated with him. She worked on the PBY line and in the past, told me she mainly did rib stitching.(control surfaces, maybe?) They lived in an apartment that had a balcony overlooking the factory, and the apartment building still stands and is occupied. My mother went there 2 years ago, just to kind of see first hand their past. Anyway, I've been involved in aircraft maintenance for 15 years, and this is by far the most gratifying thing I've ever undertaken, and I plan on continuing as long as I breathe. I can't wait for my kids to grow old enough to lend their hands as well as learn more about their great Grandfather. James West
Lamesa, TX

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If I were doing any better, I'd have to be twins.

Just a real short update for y'all, as I need to get back after it.......

Although our friend, Daniel, couldn't come to work for us full time, he is still able to at least come in from Tulsa on the weekends to help. He went back home yesterday (took a day off of work), but was able to start building a doubler for the area around the entry door hinges that we found was weak. Man, I sure could use ten more of him.

So, since the High Sky Wing & Desert Squadrons of the CAF had raised enough money for us to hire someone full time (to finish this project), and Daniel couldn't be the guy, we decided to hire Andy Bivens back. In case y'all don't know, Andy worked with Daniel and myself on the latest FIFI project and is one of the hardest workers I know. He doesn't have the sheet metal skills that Daniel has, but will do anything else that is asked of him. So it's great to have him back.

During my departure last week, we did have a couple of volunteers come in to tinker with the airplane a little bit. I had them sanding the airplane down, in preparation for the upcoming paint job. The problem is that nobody would sand the old nose art off of the airplane. I was told by a volunteer just yesterday, "We talked about it and decided that none of us wanted to be the one responsible for taking Diamond Lil off the airplane."

Well, I ain't skeered. After all I'm the one responsible for this entire project, so if anyone is pissed about it, they'll come see me anyway (already heard some of it). So yesterday evening, I started stripping the old nose art off. Andy has helped take over on that project this morning, as I simply have too many other items to complete........










There will be new nose art added to the airplane, but I think I'll just leave that as somewhat of a mystery until the unveiling of the airplane in May.

Oh, one other little comment...

I sincerely appreciate all of the nice comments and fun little threads about me and how I work hard, etc. However, I must point out that I'm not the only one in this Warbird community that works long, hard hours to insure that everyone gets to see these wonderful airplanes flying. I've said it before, but the teams of great folks that work for guys like Nelson Ezell, Gerry Beck, Gary Norville, Garth Hogan, Steve Hinton, and the like, are all just as worthy of praise as I am, if not more. The difference is that since they are not "non-profit" organizations, they don't need to be as public about their daily woes and progress as I feel that we need to be here. There is no question that the WIX forum and this thread in particular has been a huge help to us, not only monetarily, but with technical advise, and sometimes even more importantly...moral support.

Thanks to everyone, but now I have to get back to work.

Gary

Thanks for the update Gary. I was hoping the Lil' artwork would survive with the new paintscheme, but I am sure you have something good in mind to replace it

bawest, thanks for your update and back story as well. I think it is really amazing that your grandfather worked on Lil' years ago. Very cool.

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

Kinda puts a lump in my throat...She has been 'Lil for so long...

(although I never really cared for the tan paint job)

Change is good!

Looking forward to the B-24A!

Z

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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I know there are a lot of people attached to the name Diamond Lil. And for some, it will always be called that. However, it was indeed time for a change. Keep in mind that although I'm probably the one that got the pot stirred up the most about a name (and configuration) change, I did not make the decision to change everything on my own. Along with my Maintenance Officer, we simply put together a proposal and presented it to the elected staff of the B-29/B-24 Squadron, who unanimously approved it. The final paint scheme (whatever that might be ) was approved by CAF HQ. So this has been a combined effort by a lot of people, although I don't mind taking the heat for the decision, should there be folks that aren't happy about it.

The new nose art hasn't been decided upon yet, but a decision WILL be made after this week's Squadron meeting. Of course, that will wait for the unveiling before it becomes public.

Gary