Gary ~ What's The Plan For Diamond Lil ? 2006 and Beyond!

[Dan Johnson II]

Going to see if i can say this right.

Ol 927 never looked the part in her old scheme as Diamond Lil without turrets etc. She wasn't a B24D no matter how you looked at her.

BUT! She looks absolutely right as she is now. She's all B24A.

Heckuva job Gary and helpers. You really did the old girl proud.

[Lynn Allen]

Dang, now you have me lookin' under the desk for Rattler's.

Well done Gary,


Lynn

[retroaviation]

Wow, lots of nice comments and good questions. I'll see if I can answer some of them here....

Shay...You're right about not seeing the tunnel gun sticking out. I essentially just didn't think about installing it on the first flight, as I got caught up playing with the waist and tail guns and had to get back up to perform my flight engineer duties. The first flight was the only one I was on, and I didn't want the others trying the tunnel gun out for the first time. Not because I'm being selfish, but because I am curious to see how the framework for the gun door holds up with the gun in place in flight. We are planning to fly it again on Thursday, and I will try to put that on the agenda.

Nathan...the colors used were black, Dark Earth, and Dark Olive Drab. I don't have the book in front of me that I used for reference, but the paint numbers were taken directly from the Technical Orders of that time frame, and I just happened to have in my personal collection, a couple of books of original USAAF/USN paint chips. I had those paint chips scanned and the colors on the airplane are as close as we could possibly get them. It may take some searching, but I've posted pictures of the book I used for this reference some time ago, if you'd like to use it for your reference.

Steve Nelson...I'm not sure what the plan for us at Indy will be. If I were guessing though, I'd say that we're likely going to fly during the show.


I have a very large quantity of work to accomplish yet before going out on the road on Friday. It is highly unlikely that I won't get all of it done, but I'll hit the more important items.......all of which have nothing to do with airworthiness, only PX, tour related stuff, storage, etc...not to mention craploads of my least favorite item.......paperwork.

I'll try to update y'all before we leave and then all the way through Oshkosh. After that, it's looking like this thread will start winding down. Sounds kind of weird to say that.

Gary

[Steve Nelson]

it's looking like this thread will start winding down.

Well, at least it'll end on a "high" note!

Once again, thanks for answering all the annoying questions we've been pestering you with, Gary. You (and all those who voluteered) have done a spectacular job "liberating" AM927 from her civies!

SN

[Second Air Force]

Dug these out for comparison:

AM258, November 1940.


AL571, spring 1943.


AM927, sometime in 1945.

Scott

[Robbie Stuart]

The airplane looks real nice. My hat's off to Gary & crew. Sure is great to see that can do attitude. Gary, I know it was a lot of hard work & determination, but man look what you have accomplished.
Robbie

[Warbird Kid]

I'll say it now, now that the surge has gone down.

Well done Gary.

[Alan Brooks]

Uh Gary, um, like you could start a new thread, "How to rebuild a P-40 in sixty days", or "Fifi, round #3". That way, you and all of the rest of us will not get so lonely here on the boards! Plus it gives me another reason to come out and work on the birds......... he he he......

[retroaviation]

Uh Gary, um, like you could start a new thread, "How to rebuild a P-40 in sixty days", or "Fifi, round #3". That way, you and all of the rest of us will not get so lonely here on the boards! Plus it gives me another reason to come out and work on the birds......... he he he......

Well, I'm not going to be work on the P-40 like we'd originally planned. It's going to someone else, so that's out. However, I may do something with the work on the B-29 whenever that starts back up. We'll see.

Gary

[Ztex]

Hey guys, don't forget Ol' 927 still needs a bomb bay!

[snjfxr]

Gary has already said," bombbay doors are a future project and most likely can't be done in Midland without proper shoring and tooling" This is major folks! Anyone out there that has the facilities, manpower and finances to help us with that, please feel free to contact Gary and discuss your interest with this project.

Dave

[N3Njeff]

Way to go Gary!!! I hope the thread stays up so we can see her on tour and see all the reactions of the new looks!!!


Congrats!!!

[Lynn Allen]

Let's shift gears and start working the posts for FIFI.
Scott, sticky one under the B-24 line. Maybe we can get/keep the fire going for her...

Lynn

[nobaddays]

gary. you done good.

[b17engineer]

Lynn,

Is there a particular thread for FIFI hat you are speaking of? If so, I can't find it.

RICK