Warbird Information Exchange

Thanks for those leads, guys. I'll definitely see if they are able to help.

Scott

The VFM hangar got a bit of an aircraft shuffle done yesterday. Here is what it looks like in the light of day, David:



Oh, I did work on the Fort, too. I managed to have one of the least productive days I've ever had working on an airplane, only changing this little pulley and re-tensioning the associated cables. (My excuse is that it was very, VERY hot in the hangar yesterday.........)


Scott

I'll try to resist mentioning the Sabre Scott, but it is really hard to do. We understand the pulley frustration, Sean's going through that on our T6 right now. Not as easy as one might think at times.
David

I love these colors

_________________
Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

Here is a video I shot a few years ago when I was working on Chuckie. I've posted it here before, but its been a while.

http://www.wotelectronics.com/B17.wmv

And some pictures I took of Chuckie around the same time:
http://www.wotelectronics.com/flying/B-17/

Bill, thanks for everything you are doing! I am really glad to see some life being breathed into Chuckie! I hope I can make it down there sometime soon to lend a hand for a day or two.

The pulley was quite easy to change, David. It was the changer that had a hard time getting in gear. I just tinkered around and never got going all day long. It was a good thing Bill and the rest were moving airplanes--I was able to stumble over and watch what they were doing for entertainment since I wasn't doing anything constructive anyway.

Scott

Pullies are a fun thing to change, easiest when cables aren't under tension. I have been inspecting our pullies for the A-26 and we are going to be replacing a lot where the pully body is still good, but bearings are rusted. My luck one with a good bearing has bad spot in pully grove. I just hope we don't end up with more than about a dozen or so to change! I looked in the IPB and there are 409 AN210-xxx pullies in the old bird.

Kurt

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A-7D, the Short Little Ugly "Flyer" and A-10A Warthog, weren't called an ATTACK plane for nothing. Remember for a little relief on the ground, call your local Air Force to "Go Ugly Early"!

Ok Cozmo, I finally made good on my promise to post the pictures of Cavanaugh's Spifire going together back in 1994. Go check out the Photo Gallery forum. Sorry that it took me so long.

_________________
Bill Gorin
Vintage Flying Museum
http://www.vintageflyingmuseum.org
https://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=57513906106

Sorry to get off topic, but please allow me a moment......

I thought y'all were restoring that A-26. Doesn't that mean replacing all of the pulleys, and not trying to decipher which ones are good and which ones are "okay?" Maybe I'm wrong, but when I went there to inspect the airplane around a year ago, I am sure I was told it was a restoration. I am also pretty sure I even specifically mentioned replacing all of the pulleys in my squawk list at the time (heck, I did it for most of the other inspections I performed, so why not yours too...right Yellow Rose & Texas Raiders guys? ).

Yeah...I'm probably wrong. Besides, I'm out of the way now, so there's no reason to do it right anymore.

Gary

Kurt, this is NOT a direct jab at you! I'm just making a point to "certain folks" out there in your organization that have made promises about that particular "restoration" and I figure they're probably still lurking on WIX. So IF those "certain folks" are reading this.....yeah, I'm directing that towards YOU!

Well Gary, I have only found a few that don't need replaced, but as you said, we are doing it right, but I am only working one area at a time, and submit parts requests as needed. The TO says there are 400 plus pullies, but most in the cockpit center console are still usuable, most in flight control sysytem are being replace, as we get to them. Same with all the pullies for engine controls in wing and nacelles.

We do plan on doing it right, as I plan to fly in the plane. You may have changed jobs, but we still plan on doing it correct, it may just slow down the work pace as parts are needed.

I have been slowly reworking the flight controls and we have replace cables with questions about there condition just to be safe.

I don't deal with politics, just maintenance, and believe there is only one way to repair, and that is the correct way. Drop me a PM if you want to chat more. Or visit the A-26 link as I have started to update the sticky with new photos of what I have been doing.

_________________
A-7D, the Short Little Ugly "Flyer" and A-10A Warthog, weren't called an ATTACK plane for nothing. Remember for a little relief on the ground, call your local Air Force to "Go Ugly Early"!

That's cool. I said what I thought needed to be said. Keep up the good work.

Gary

First off, we did work on Chuckie a little today. Elly ran all the engine controls for me while I tagged each cable down in the belly of the beast. Now checking the rig and tensions on each cable will be easier. I suspect I'll try to get that process moving forward next weekend. I've already done a cursory inspection of the many cable runs and, like the other areas I've been poking around in, there are very few squawks so far.

We're expecting a visit from Sabremech next weekend so he can look the Sabre project over for us. With that in mind, Bill and I managed to get the canopy opened up for a look. We were both a little reticent to stick our heads in there until we know for certain if the seat is hot or not. Our lack of proper manuals (a problem that is being rectified by an act of generosity) kept us from poking around on the seat today. The whiskey compass still has liquid in it--a good omen?


We also opened a selection of inspection plates in what I think would be areas that could hold "gotchas" that need to be found before spending a lot of time and money.

Other than an assortment of missing parts, panels, gear doors, and some wire harnesses that are missing cannon plugs (remember, this was the parts airplane of the "Bolivian Trio") I didn't really see any deal-breakers but I will feel better when David gives it a look since he knows the areas of concern on a Sabrejet.

I promise to quit putting posts on the Chuckie thread about the F-86. I just wanted to share a little update tonight, and I'll mention what David thinks of the airplane after he sees it. Once that is past, the little jet is going on the back burner until the Fortress is back in the air. By then we'll have a better plan for the jet and I'll start a separate thread once we begin the process of restoring it either to flight (hopefully, sponsorship and airframe condition will determine that) or to a nice static display if that is all we can do.

Scott

Looks great!

_________________
Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

Thanks! One of the neat little details on this airframe is the placarding. The cockpit has a combination of English and Spanish placards. For instance, all the circuit breakers have been labeled in Spanish while most of the rest is in English. There are also a few servicing placards and labels that were remarked in Spanish.

Scott

Since this is the greatest concentration of Warbird owners, operators, maintainers, researchers and enthusiasts that I know of, I thought that this would be one of the best places to make a pitch for some help.

The Vintage Flying Museum is ACTIVELY seeking sponsors for any one and hopefully all of our projects that we have at the museum. Projects range from building another hangar, to restoring/maintaining as many of our airplanes back to flyable condition as support allows, to smaller projects like finding a microfilm reader/printer, or an electric GPU.

Here is a fairly detailed list of projects as I can think of them off of the top of my head:

B-17 Restoration and Maintenance
- Fire Extinguisher System restoration
- Reconfiguration back to Pathfinder (Radome and Radio Compartment Equipment)
- Radio upgrade
- Repainting of the interior
- Overhaul of our spare engine
- Bomb bay buttress plate corrosion repair
- Radio compartment belly skin repair

F-86 Restoration
- Cockpit
- Engine(s)
- Paint and/or polish
- Systems
- Radios
- Parts
- Aft fuselage cradle

TC-45J Restoration
- Cockpit and cabin
- Engines
- Props
- Paint
- Spar Straps
- Parts
- Systems

Piaggio P.136 Royal Gull Restoration
- Same as above - total restoration

General Museum Projects
- Building of another hangar (we are super cramped for space!)
- Remodeling of current hangars
- Painting floors
- Hanging additional lights in hangar
- Repaving of ramp/parking lot area
- Acquisition of a microfilm reader/printer
- Acquisition of a DC Ground Power Unit that runs off of 220 VAC
- Expansion/addition of museum display space
- Storage building for support equipment when not being used
- Computer equipment
- Parts shelving
- Repairing/repainting GSE
- Engines in the Engine Display restored and the room remodeled.

Like I said, this is just what I can think of off of the top of my head. I'm sure if you ask Dean, Scott, Pat, Steve or Brad that they can think of a list at least as long as mine if not longer, and not repeat anything!

I've never seen a museum with so much untapped potential. We have the land, we have runway access, we have two decent hangars, we have a fair collection of aircraft, we have an awesome group of people, we just need the support and backing!

If you, your company or someone you know are able to sponsor a project either whole or in part, please contact me either by PM, or my email address below. If you have any suggestions on who we can approach to ask for donations, please let me know also. I know that times are tough, but companies are still donating money and/or services. I've been impressed and encouraged by the success that many other museums have had at getting money and/or services donated. I know that there are generous people out there that want to see our aviation history preserved for future generations, I just need your help in finding those people.

Thank you

bill.gorin@gmail.com

_________________
Bill Gorin
Vintage Flying Museum
http://www.vintageflyingmuseum.org
https://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=57513906106