Warbird Information Exchange

YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO CHEER ME UP DEAN!

I have been trying to clean the inside of #4 nacelle.
We haven't worked our way to the outboard turbos yet.
The inboards were McNasty. I cleaned the access holes out so we can send a ball turret sized "volunteer" up into the wing to run the new control cables!

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Over 20,100 hits!!! WOOHOO and only about 100 of 'em are mine!

We can feel the love down in Houston... or is that the first Summer heatwave?

A couple of previous poorly done repairs and one dumba$$ move during THE MOVE led to us needing to reskin the trailing edge of the right wing extension.
Here it is filleted for your enjoyment.
(NOTE: the funky grey patina peeking out from under the OD green ALA Princess Pat!)


Oh... and proudly note the Personal Protective Equipment on the wing... a pair of earplugs and a respirator.

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Reading Dean's recollection of a turbo change jogged my memory. A few years ago we were checking out of a motel and I noticed a gentleman with a 15th Air Force cap. We struck up a conversation and I found out he was a turbo specialist on the B-24 in the MTO. He said there was the occasional cuss word uttered during their day-to-day work about how Consolidated designed things, but then told me "I HATED that Go**amned B-29!" He explained that he got sent back to the states as soon as his Group stood down and was sent to a B-29 school for retraining. "How stupid could Boeing be--they hung TWO turbos on each damned engine!!!! I spent the rest of my military career swearing and cutting my hands to ribbons on miles of safety wire."

The joys of aircraft maintenance are the same for all generations!
Scott

Well, I finally got back down to Houston to finish my little project. I managed to shoot this repair on today, now it's time to start some of the other projects that need doing. I'll try to post some updates this week while I'm enjoying my vacation. And I thought it got hot in our hangar up north!




Scott

That panel turned out great! Cant wait to see her back in the air again!

I found another photo of "Princess Pat" along with a NMF sister that I thought I'd share. She is still dirty, even without the shadow visible in the first photo we've discussed:


This picture was shot at around the same time as the first color picture I posted. It confirms the tail turret configuration that was cropped off the first one. If anyone has a photo of the nose art of Princess Pat I'd like to see it.

Scott

We had a surprise visit from Pres. Brown and "Safety Bob" yesterday and it was WOOOONDERFUL for us to have them catch people working on the plane on a Monday morning.
Second Air Force was in attendance and Doug "the new guy" and Air Bud the Supply Officer.

AND what was even nicer was Col. Brooks visited last Tuesday and helped Stan lay out the new Flight control cables in the right wing. Stephanie B. was my secretary and wrote down which carb. and cowl flap actuator came off of which engine.

Other developments...our Wing Extension attachment brackets passed inspection and once we get all the new hardware and the old hardware shrunken in the freezer and then re-installed we might have something worth taking a picture of!

And what 2nd AF didn't tell you was he shot rivets in the left wing to help reduce some of the 65 popped rivets (from all over the airframe) we found on our hairy eye-ball inspection.

WE are expecting a cold front around Thursday so it should only get up to 91 instead of 94, but that's OK... The humidity will still be 100%.

gotta love it!

SPANNER

PS...Remind me to give Scott a raise!!!

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Aww geez...don't encourage him!

Gary

Thanks Don for the perfect intro.... Hey Scott, Don said you would be coming in for a week to work on TR... He said he had LOTS of projects for you to tackle!!!!!!!!!! Steph had a doctors appt changed to Wednesday, that afforded the perfect opportunity to allow us to come in Tuesday night and work on the "big bird". Glenda (my wife) said " I don't remember the B-17 being this big!" So just a few photos from the evening....
Stan and I running new control cables... I'm the one with his head inside the trailing edge..... "Can't quite reach the cables!"

OK, just a little further, or how do you stuff a fat boy inside a wing!

Yep, this fat boy can sweat! It isn't like working in the hospital..

Stephanie, (my oldest daughter) was kept busy writing down those pesky sn's for the hydraulic actuators and carb's

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Just call me Al.

Got to see the top turret assembled and on its platform... it is really quite large and imposing..... I'm one of the guys in the "Put it back in the bird" camp! Something to be done in the future.......

Don had shown a picture of the repair process to the wing, so here are a few more....


Repairs are looking good..... they have also found another wing item that will need to be repaired... Don can give further info on that one.... Don did mention that they have acquired an engine test stand to start getting the engines ready to check/run...... They also have an engines worth of spare jugs.... Hopefully the engines will check out well on the test stand...

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Just call me Al.

OK, just a few more pics... thanks to Glenda as she took all of the pictures for the evening... Alan


Detail view of #1.

A rear shot of one of the engines. Notice above the accessory section is the cowl flap actuator. The hydraulic system is also in for a complete overhaul.

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Just call me Al.

Putting in a B-17 top turret is very easy, only 5 steps

step 1, have a B-17 in need of a top turret, I think you have that covered

step 2, have a B-17 top turret in need of a B-17


step 3 locate a crane,
personally I believe in over kill when it comes to crane selection.


Step 4, add the turret fron step 2, to crane from step 3


step 5, add the crane and turret from step 4, to B-17 from step 1, and mix in some friends for help.

TOO LATE!!!
I've already upped the ante from 40 acres and a mule to 50 acres...
But I'll have to owe him the mule!

Matt,
Can I borrow a mule??? I mean a crane?

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

We borrowed that one from the Az Army National Guard. I doubt they would drive it all the way there to install a turret. I am sure you can find something closer.

BTW, the turret that was being installed was from the Milwakee, OR. B-17, the same turret that raiders tried to buy while the crew from the Az wing was there removing it for use in Sentimental Journey.

Matt,
Did SJ still have the support structure in the upper fuselage for the turret ring when you installed the new turret? If not, I'd like to pick your brain--TR has none of the original structure up there and it's going to have to be scratchbuilt. Another question that's I've always wanted to ask: where did the tinted center pane in SJ's turret come from?

Alan,
You mentioned Spanner having "lots" of projects to do--somehow my projects so far are sheetmetal related (again). It's all got to be done before she flys, so any job is a good job to tackle. Those photos of you and Stan in the aft wing gave me an idea--why don't you come back down and I'll stick you in the left wing for a day or so! The DOM/QA found a corroded stringer way up inside the aft structure that will require several hours of exploration in the deep.

Spanner mentioned a "cold front" being on the way. Yesterday, it rained. A lot. I was working away at my little projects when lightning struck and the lights went out. When I climbed down (without falling off my ladder ) I closed the doors, and the lights slowly came back up. This is what the floor looked like:

Enough rain water blew through the open hangar doors to inundate the area I was working in. Oh, the temperature must have dropped five degrees, maybe down to ninety or so, but the lovely humidity stayed constant. I really appreciate the heat in Midland now more than ever--"it's a dry heat." In fact, I'm converting my schedule to start at oh-dumb-thirty in the morning so I can get out of the hangar by early afternoon. No sense in roasting while on vacation!

Scott