Worlds only USMC Mitchell PBJ-1J Restoration CAF's Semper Fi

Dan Newcomb · **Posted:** Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:38 pm

Hi guys,

Well where do I start? The last several weeks have been busy if not hectic. The Holiday season makes working on the PBJ difficult. Flying schedules, family commitments, vacations and other distractions slow things down. But I’m not complaining. I had a great Christmas!

Now with a new year upon us it just seemed natural to sit down and re-evaluate the project. Money, or the lack of it, is always number one. With the current economic climate it looks like that commodity will be in even shorter supply! We’re not broke but we have to be more creative than ever money wise.

With all things considered, we decided to rebuild our outer wing panels. Years ago before my time, the SoCal Wing sent the wings to Aero Trader with the intention of Carl’s guys doing the work for us, eventually, when we had the money. The wings have been there for a decade sitting out next to a hangar. Last week some of us trekked out to Chino to look at the wings and talk things over with Carl and of course, lunch at Floe’s. Even with a howling Santa Ana wind blowing sand, mixed with cow poop, in our faces it was a worthwhile trip. We will bring the wings home next week. We will do as much as we can and if we run into something beyond our current expertise we can always send them back to Carl. We can’t afford to pay for work that we can do ourselves.

In the mean time we have spent several days reorganizing the hangar at CMA so that we will have a proper work place and storage area for both wings. What a job! I’ve never seen so much crap in my life! Talk about packrats! I’m just as guilty as anybody but how many broken battery chargers do you need? We found five. Or how many BROKEN welding facemasks? Six! It is truly amazing what you can find in the odd corners of a hangar.

Here are some shots of the Chino visit and our much better organized work area in our hangar.

Dan

noizeedave · **Posted:** Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:42 pm

Congrats guys! Guess that means Ill be opening up our wing access panels more often for you to sneek a peek on the Chinese Blueprints!!

hahah j/k

glad to see the wings are going to worked on finally.

noizeedave · **Posted:** Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:40 am

Congrats on getting your wings back into your hanger today, looks like lots of fun work ahead!

Dan Newcomb · **Posted:** Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:19 pm

I am excited about going down to CMA tomorrow. I saw a repeat of our History Channel show we did a few years ago so I’m all fired up! I can’t wait to start working on the wings. We really don’t know what shape they are in. I’ve learned not to expect much. Whatever we find we will deal with it. I will keep all of you informed as best as I can. Naturally I will take tons of photos. This is the last big structural restoration project on the plane. I wonder how many months this will take. In the mean time we have to find a way to come up with the 40 grand or so for fuel tanks!

Dan

Alan Brooks · **Posted:** Mon Feb 02, 2009 6:19 pm

Keep it going Dan...... I cannot wait to see that big girl in the air again..... also hope that Les and company get that purty "Spitfire" up this summer.. Always can't wait until the next update...... Thanks Dan! .... Alan

Dan Newcomb · **Posted:** Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:08 pm

It was nice to see our wings back in the hangar after so many years. Now we will finally get a chance to thoroughly inspect them.

Instant Chino – Just add water!

We put the left wing next to the fuselage on the left side for the time being and then pulled the right wing out to the ramp for a cleaning. What a mess! After sitting out in the Chino sun uncovered for most of a decade the wings collected tons of dirt, slime, nests and other things that Jeff and I decided we probably were better off leaving unidentified. When we hit the wing with water it turned all of this into nauseatingly fragrant brown-green goo. Jeff did most of the work but don’t feel sorry for him, he loved doing it. Jeff’s a dirt biker and he just aint havin’ fun unless he is filthy!

It is WAY too soon to know how good or bad things are but my gut feeling is that the wings are in much better shape than we thought. HOWEVER, things can go to hell in a heartbeat! Others have patched up both wings in past years and some of that work is pure crap! I will include a picture as an example. Jeff took a bunch of paperwork home to study and next week we will start examining and strategizing.

Dan

b29flteng · **Posted:** Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:56 pm

Nice bucktails on those rivets.... :roll:

Second Air Force · **Posted:** Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:59 pm

b29flteng wrote:

Nice bucktails on those rivets.... :roll:

Yes, interesting.

Dan, you're doing a service by letting folks see what can be found during a THOROUGH inspection by competent people.

Scott

Dan Newcomb · **Posted:** Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:12 pm

Jeff and I spent most of the day conducting a complete inspection of the right wing. We started at the tip and worked inboard. Visible damage was noted and areas of concern were marked. We will have to take a few rivets out here and there to see how deep some of the corrosion goes but at first glance it appears to be light surface corrosion. We have to look under a couple of skins and check a few stringers but it doesn’t look like a big deal. We did find three stringers that must be replaced and that means at least two lower skins would be removed to gain access. Both of these skins will probably go back on the wing as they look to be in great shape. Jeff has already started the removal process on one of the panels. At this point we think that we should only work in this area and not remove any more structure. Things may change, they usually do, but we want to start out conservatively. We will also have to do a couple of T-channel splices to correct corrosion found at the landing light. We also found the usual rusted out hardware that will be replaced. We pulled out all of the old electrical wire. I tried to find the worst area of surface corrosion on the upper skins to see how deep it went. So far it buffs right out. I am surprised. Pleasantly! I think we can save most of the skins. Next week we will finish removing the panel and then we will know how much stinger material we need and where to make our splice.

Dan

Dan Newcomb · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:29 pm

Hi folks,
It’s always an adventure driving to CMA this time of year. You never know what kind of conditions you will have in the pass. Yesterday it was high winds. My usual .87 mach was reduced to barely 60 mph in the teeth of a head wind. That’s the best my 300 plus pony power UAW Union $75.00 an hour labor built engine could do! Gas mileage? We don’t need no stinkin’ gas mileage!

As I pulled up to the hangar two hours later I noticed a hub of activity between the buildings. We are finally getting the structure between the hangars built. Boy it sure will be nice when it is finished!

Scott and I went to work on the right wing. I concentrated on removing an upper skin and Scott worked on a lower panel. In the afternoon we had to pick the wing up and move it about six inches to gain access to some rivets. With the help of Mike in the afternoon we were able to finish removing the upper panel. Scott didn’t have things so easy due to several rows of huck bolts that needed removal. Removing these requires splitting collars with a chisel and then driving the bolt out of the hole with a hammer. Getting to the collars wasn’t easy. We will have to finish removal next week. I admire Scotties patience and persistence! I was about ready to get a jackhammer but he went about banging away with only an occasional monosyllable word or murmur! Amazing!

Marc, Al, Jerry and engineer extraordinary, Iran continued with the hydraulics. I’m so glad that Iran started taking pictures of their work! I get tunnel vision and tend to take structure pics and I’m afraid I never give these guys enough press coverage.

Good old Marc provided the wing with the days entertainment. Daddy wanted us to help him get the left nacelle down off the shelf. Simple. Not quite. We had to move the propeller stand out of the way after inflating two flat tires on of which would only hold pressure for about 30 seconds. That done we had to get the forklift in position. We used the electric lift and since Scott, Mike nor myself have ever driven it I naturally elected Scott or Mike to give it a try. I’m not going to make a fool out of myself! When they hesitated I used my great powers of logic and persuasion. I told them that if Scott could park a 747 on a ramp somewhere in darkest Africa at an airport with a name that nobody could pronounce, or Mike could fly a Warthog in Bosnia they could drive a simple electric forklift. You see after working with pilots all of these years I have come to realize that most of them will readily accept a challenge even at the risk of looking stupid. Since Mike had been in the military he knew that you never volunteer for anything. That left it up to Scott. Well, Scott didn’t embarrass himself. As other wing members lined up behind him taking bets on how long it would take for Marc to hit the deck, and I heard somebody talking about the Empire State building and King Kong, Scott smoothly and efficiently lowered the nacelle to the ground. No problem!

Also Lloyd and Jim have started building new wing stands so we can return the borrowed ones to Chino.

Well that’s about it for this long-winded epistle! I plan on being back down on Tuesday with Jeffie. Joe has scheduled a crew chief’s meeting for 1000hrs. Also it was good to hear that Ken is home from the hospital and doing well.

See you next week,

Dan

PS: Kenny I used your drill and believe it or not I put it away and locked your toolbox…

SPANNERmkV · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:40 pm

Gulf Coast Wing salutes you!
:drink3:

Our XO Wayne Kennedy would make loud HOOOOAH noises too!

That is some excellent work on the wings.

Best wishes from the Cols. on the South Coast!

Dan Newcomb · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2009 4:02 pm

You know when some body says, “nice work!” it is always good to hear but never as satisfying as hearing it from your peers. Thank you! I’m sorry I haven’t been following your progress recently. Any ETA to get her back on the circuit? Also I just watched the engine run up video and it scared the crap out of me! When I saw that guy walk between the prop and the fuselage! Too many bodies on the ramp! Ear protection? Too many distractions with people running all over the place. I know everybody wants to be part of the action but it isn’t worth dying for! When the ground marshal gives an order you do it! Period! Argue later. We have tours coming through all the time so we really try and keep the ramp restricted when we fire up. We have a red line painted on the ramp that you aren’t supposed to cross unless you are ground crew or flight crew. Not too long ago one of our pilot members had his dog get loose and run out to the Hellcat just as we fired up. We managed to chase it down before he was pureed! I have also seen small children run out onto our ramp from out of nowhere. Make no mistake over the years I’ve seen my share of bone headed things happen at my wing (some of which I was responsible for and after two or more beers I might confess to) but we can’t afford certain mistakes.

You folks are lucky to have such a beautiful bird! I only wish mine was flying! If you get to SoCal look us up.

All the best,

Dan

Bojiboy · **Posted:** Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:57 am

Dan,

Thanks for posting your updates! The pictures are particularly interesting and fun to see. My wife and I were there in January to see your project, unbelievable the dedication and talent you folks have. We only wish we lived closer so we could help. We donated the Bendix turret drive assembly that my dad had for so many years. I understand your turret is a Martin but hopefully the Bendix can be traded or continue to be part of your museum. No matter what we were glad to see it get back where it belongs in the aviation world.

Keep up the good work and keep those updates coming. We'll be back whenever we can and most certainly when she's going to fly again....

Thanks!

Greg

Dan Newcomb · **Posted:** Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:08 pm

Thanks for the kind words Greg! Forgive me for not knowing but are you a member of the CAF? If not you should be. You have the right spirit! Looking forward to seeing you next time out. I wish you lived closer too but you can still help us out from Iowa. The CAF needs guys that show your interest. There are CAF wings a lot closer to Iowa and I’ll bet they would love to have you as a member. We have SoCal Wing members from all over the US not to mention the world. You don’t have to live in California to be a wing member. One member flies B777 for JAL and lives in Japan. Another friend lives in Texas and gets out and works on the bird a couple of times a year and sends us a few bucks every so often. If they are like me it does them good to know that they are part of something bigger then themselves. We appreciate all help; from big bucks to pushing a broom all are welcome at our wing.

Best,

Dan

Bojiboy · **Posted:** Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:28 pm

Hi Dan,

Yes, we did join the CAF prior to coming to CA and then joined your wing when we arrived. We also left you folks with a new projector and a screen, sounds as though you have already been using them. We got a very kind letter from Georgia. By the way, if you need any other AV related "stuff", let me know. I might be able to help.

We're excited to be part of such a neat thing, aviation and the PBJ! As you said, something bigger than we are. My dad served for the duration of WWII in the Navy, that's where he came by the Bendix unit, and that's how my deep respect for veterans began. Not to mention all the other things he did for me.

By the way, Marc and all of the folks were extremely kind while we were there. We had a blast!! Keep up the good work, your updates and those pictures. We'll help however we can.

Thanks again to all.

Regards

Greg and Lou

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