Turret Parts Update

[noizeedave]

What type / Cal. guns were in the back? I know I hae some barrels that we have lying around, but would have to match something up for you, or can fabricate some dummies, thats how we got ours. We have a master gun fabricator amongst us.

[astixjr]

The T-6/SNJ use .30 Brownings for the most part. I've been told the very early a/c (SNJ-3 and maybe early T-6A) may have used the .30 Colt a/c machine gun but I'm not certain of that. I had two .303 British parts kits but the cooling jackets and flash hiders were completely wrong so I sold them. Bad idea. I should have kept them for trading material, they are very hard to come my now.

[noizeedave]

Well I will be keeping an eye out for some, and if I have some spare time, Ill see if I can borrow a friends and fabricate some from that.

Let me know if you come accross anything you can specifiy, as usable on a -25.

-Dave

[astixjr]

Pooner,
I've got some of these Klixon types plus others. I'll have a look today and see what P/Ns and model numbers I have.

[Pooner]

Oooohhh - pretty parts! They are the ones, Albert! Now what should I be looking for in the dark corners of the hangar for you? Today's a good day to look - rainy and overcast out here.

Do set them aside - I have a turret electrical panel that could certainly use them!

- Rob

[astixjr]

I think I have between 50 and 100 of these but I don't have a good feel for how many different types of Klixon breakers like this I've got or how many of each type. I don't even know if they work but I suspect they will. The ones in this image are loose but I have many others in an assortment of complete and partial electrical control boxes. The photo below is a drum I still have not tipped. I'm headed back down there on Sunday so I'll try to find this drum again and get a better idea of which models that I have. That's one of the nice things about this pile of salvage, I have components and hardware that will work on other types of turrets, even ones that Emerson did not build. Since the stuff visible on the top of these drums does not always indicate what's in the rest of the drum, I never know what I'll find when I tip one.

[Pooner]

Good Lord! That bin of Klixons is absolutely marvelous. Truly, a most awe-inspiring sight to behold. I say, keep tipping - keep tipping!

[astixjr]

OK Pooner I was able to spend some time in the turret hangar today and found that drum again. I picked the visible Klixon fuses out but when I got to a level of anodized blue fittings, I stopped. I'll try and tip the drum this week and see what else is in there. These all appear to be model number PDLM-60 so I don't think it will work for you but I'm sure I've got others so I'll keep looking.

And yes, I've been accused of running a "cheesy" operation so the containers are probably appropriate!

[Pooner]

Ah-hah! Was wondering what those neat buckets originally contained. Now I know!

My favorite bin of late has been those 5 gallon plastic paint pails with lids. They're great until they bake for a summer or two in the hangar, and the 115 degree days take their toll on the plastic. Depending upon what I have stored in them, I am either treated to a split pail or a complete blow-out with parts everywhere. Hmmm. Maybe time to switch to cheese drums...

[Cvairwerks]

Hey Pooner: Best parts buckets that I ever found were pickle buckets from the local fast food places. When I worked for McD's back a coon's age ago, we got our pickles in 5 gal. liquid tight buckets. Very similar to the paint ones, but better grade plastics. They seemed to hold up better and they were free. A quick dab of soap and a rinse and they were ready for use.

[seabee1526]

You wouldn't happen to have any leads on a Privateer PB4Y-2 Erco blister waist turret would you? Starboard side specifically.

[astixjr]

seabee1526,
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any but over the last four years I've certainly talked to some people who were working on them. You might want to PM Pooner who has posted on this thread. A good source for turret manuals including the Erco series is James Moorer's eBay page. Search for jamminpower on eBay or his website jamminpower. Mr. Moorer's CD has 41 turret manuals on it and the pdf scans are well done.

[noizeedave]

Hey there!, So how is the Turret parts sorting going? Come up on any nifty things recently?

[astixjr]

I was trying to get www.turretparts.com up and running by October 1st but as usual, I'm behind schedule. I'm also working on an eBay store that should be open soon. I'm still on the lookout for a set of manuals for the Aero-9 Neptune/Mercator nose turret. For whatever reason, there are plenty of Aero-11 Neptune/Mercator tail turret manuals avaible but not for the nose turret. I'm also on the hunt for early B-47 tail turret manuals including the A-2 fire control system. Taigh should be passing through next week and Nick Veronico will be here at the end of the month so I hope to hammer out the details of a trade for both an Aero-9 and an Aero-11. With any luck, when it's all said and done, I'd like to wind up with the Aero-9, Aero-11, Aero-14, and A-15 on display in our museum.

I did get the opportunity to have lunch with Stuart "Tim" Symington Jr. last Wednesday. A former B-47 bomber/navigator and retired banker here in St. Louis set up the meeting and came along just to make sure I did not talk Mr. Symington's ear off. Tim's father, Stuart Symington Sr ran Emerson during the war and then went on to become the head of Surplus Property and then first Secretary of the Air Force in 1947. He also represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate. In short, he is one of those guys who did more in one year than I will accomplish in my entire life. Of course Tim Symington seems to be cut from the same mold. He worked at the turret plant as a teenager, served in WWII, graduated from Harvard with a law degree, and at 84, still puts in a full day at the office. He wants to see the turret parts some time in the next week or so. I'm almost embarrassed to show him. It looks like a big junk pile.

[noizeedave]

That sounds awesome!

Glad to hear you have a website coming up. So are you setting up the site to sell the turret parts via the web, or will you be able to purcahse them right then and there online?

Dave