Warbird Heritage Foundation A-4B inspection to Airworthy

[K5DH]

Awesome!

Congratulations, David! I'm very much looking forward to enjoying some video and audio of your engine runs, and also some video and audio of that sweet machine in flight! I'm a big fan of A-4s. Not sure why, but always have been. I used to really enjoy the Blue Angels' A-4 performances back in the day. Not that the Blues' F-18s aren't super-duper-rock-my-world machines, mind you, but there was just something really appealing about those Scooters!

Now, when you're all done with that li'l Scooter, we have this dirty ol' F-86 sittin' in a hangar in Fort Worth. . .

Cheers!

[RickH]

The J65 version blows a whole lot more oil than the J52 !

Last edited by RickH on Sun May 31, 2009 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Fouga23]

Congrats on the engine run! What's the reason for the new nosecone?

[Sabremech]

Thanks guys. Glad to have a run behind us. At least we know we have a semi good engine. The new nose is off of the parts airplane we have and it was decided that since our airplane was painted as an A4-C that we would put the C model nose cone on. It's a little longer and looks better than the short B model. It also has some good access for the avionics up front.

David
WHF Maint

[CAPFlyer]

Congrats on the engine run and thanks for the pictures David.

The probe is definitely an interesting setup compared to what I'm used to seeing (doing Air Starts on civilian aircraft with a standardized connection).

Can't wait for the video of this run and the pictures and video of your power runs in the weeks to come.

[Sabremech]

It's been a week or two since I updated the Scooter fans out there on our progress. We ran the A4 2 weekends ago and had a samll hydraulic leak that needed attention prior to our next run. We found that in the R/H speed brake area and fixed it last weekend. We were able to tighten a fitting and that took care of the problem. Interesting enough, the manual does not want you to over torque these fittings as they are made out of aluminum and will crack if too much torque is applied. I replaced this fitting quite a while ago and didn't crank down on it too much thus the leak. Not much room for there to be an oops with the fitting.
Today we went to Oshkosh to prep the airplane for full power runs tomorrow. We serviced the oil, hydraulics and changed out the main wheels with our overhauled wheels and new tires. The old tires were not really safe enough to taxi or pull power with. Later in the day we pushed the Scoot outside and set up for another idle run and if all looked good a short taxi with brake checks. Everything went as advertised. I know something will come up and cause us some grief, but I am amazed at how well the systems are responding the more we exercise them. The fuel quantity problem I had on the first engine run has cleared up and it is indicating as it should be. We'll keep our eye on it over the next few engine runs to make sure it doesn't come back.
Here's a few pictures from today and we'll post how the power runs go when I get back from up North tomorrow.





Taxiing this little beast is quite interesting. I now know why the nose strut is bouncing so much during turns as you have to apply a fair amount of power and hold the brake and bounce the nose to get the nose wheel to caster the right direction. Today our A4 moved under it's own power! It's getting pretty exciting.

Thanks for following our progress!

David
WHF Maint
www.warbirdheritagefoundation.org

[retroaviation]

Exciting news, David! Congratulations on all of your hard work.

Gary

[sdennison]

Dave,

What's with the oil puke on to the right wing? You indicated that it was SOP but why?

Coming to UES next week? Gonna take the 86 nose back with you?

[RickH]

The J65 engines are second generation axial flow turbojets, the don't have a scavenging system for oil return,...therefore, use it once and overboard.

[retroaviation]

Well, it IS a round engine, isn't it? Half the engine is upside down, so the oil has to go somewhere.

Gary

[RickH]

I have got to get out to Austin Acres, apparently the still out back is turnin' out some gooood stuff ! Is that what happens when substitute cactus pads for corn ?

[retroaviation]

[aseanaero]

Looks nice

Last edited by aseanaero on Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Sabremech]

It's been a while since I posted an update, so here goes with where we are with our project. We've run the engine a few more times and have taken it to 90% with very good performance numbers. The next time we run we plan on full power and adjust as necessary. We currently have 2 small fuel leaks, a hydraulic leak and one small oil leak besides the 2 big ones out the side of the airplane when running at power. It's a toss up as to which airplane is dirtier, the Skyraider or Skyhawk. They both throw a lot of oil. We still need to do gear swings and some more leak checks of the hydraulic systems then panel the airplane up. The nose has been fitted and is being painted now. We should be able to install it this weekend and finish the flat black paint work. Once the nose is on we can finish putting the cockpit back together and install the newly refurbed canopy. That should take us to Oshkosh where we plan to taxi it over to the Warbird area under her own power. Stop by Oshkosh and check out the A-4 in the Warbird area.

David
WHF Maint
www.warbirdheritagefoundation.org

[Rod Schneider]

Cool, I'm looking forward to seeing it there!!!