Warbird Information Exchange

Nice to see it indoors and on its way to being restored. Thanks for the update!

Enjoy the Day! Mark

The Flagship is moving right along... the interior is basically stripped clean, and the structure is visible. Apparently when Trans-Texas did an interior modification (or a subsequent purchaser) that installed a new interior in the aircraft, they used 1"x2" WOOD attached to the formers as a way of providing something for the new interior panels to attach to. As a consequence, every place along the structure where the wood was attached is a nice bit of corrosion. Each of those formers will thus need to be individually repaired or replaced. Decisions are being made about that as we speak. I will try to get some updated photos of the interior so that everyone can see what we're talking about. Right now about 100-150 volunteers have committed to the project, with about half of those actually having worked sometime during the last three weeks. Thanks guys and gals!

Below is a photo that was forwarded to us here at the museum by a volunteer from the Aviation Museum of Kentucky. They recently were given a collection of vintage aircraft photos, and this gem was in the middle of the pile. They very kindly scanned it and sent along the image, which with their permission I'm sharing with you. If you use/publicize the image, please kindly credit the fine folks at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky. Thanks to the AMK!

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

Here's a picture you may enjoy. This was in my Dad's DC-3 flight manual. My Dad, Jim Goebel, flew the DC-3s when he started with Eastern. This picture was taken at DCA June of 1957 as a promo shot when Eastern bought Colonial. As you can see in the background the ship is an ex-AA bird (right hand door).

Unfortunately you can't see an N number. I'll have to check out his logbook to see which N number it was. The flight manual is an Eastern reprint of the Colonial manual and for the -G202A Wright version of the bird.

The flaghip at the CR Smith museum was also an ex-Colonial bird. (Actually ex-AA/ex-USAAF/ex-AA/ex-Colonial/ex-Eastern....)



Cheers,

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Bill Goebel
aka TPFD

Vintage Aircraft Services
Aircraft restoration and rebuilding
Rhome, TX

http://www.vintageaircraftservices.net

Neat! Thanks Bill!

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

The folks from OETA, the local PBS station, came out to take a look at the Flagship. See below, if you're interested...

(that's me in the white striped polo- I hate myself on camera...)

kevin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYlur97oXmQ

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

Wow, cool story Kevin! Great video. That's awesome that you guys are going to restore it to flying condition. DC-3's are not cheap to operate. How do you guys plan on funding the operation of it?

The funding for the operation will probably be a combination of sponsorships and a ride program. The aircraft will be based in Tulsa, and will hopefully travel regionally to offer rides.

There are a lot of smaller cities/airports that get bypassed by most of the tours, and rarely get to see vintage aircraft much less get rides on them. The idea (and it's still in the planning phase) would be to offer rides to those folks in addition to rides in bigger cities. But as I said, we're working on it. I think with the level of support that we're already getting, we'll be able to keep operational costs to a minimum (comparatively).

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

You did good. Good to get the PR out there.

I like the continued media obsession with 'little airplanes'. OK, you pick it up then.

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Fantastic, Kevin! I wish you guys lots of success. It sounds like you all have a well researched business model. The cool thing about the DC-3, is that you don't have to charge huge fees to make a profit like the touring bombers do. It's a huge advantage to have 32 seats as opposed to the 7 to 10 that the touring bombers carry. Too bad I don't live in Tulsa, as I would definitely buy a seat! Heck, I might just go get my DC-3 type rating. I looked into it a few years back and it was more expensive than getting a 737 type rating! It is on my list of things to do, however.

good clip...................cant wait to see the continued progress to flight.

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Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
Badmouthing Stearmans on WIX since 2005

What James said... you did good. You explained it in a way that says... preserve the history... fly the history... yes it costs a lot!

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Blue Skies,
Dan
http://www.flytoanothertime.com

Thanks guys. We're just trying to get the girl put back together. We'll have a website up and running here shortly, and are working for an independent foundation to fundraise and operate the bird. We'll have it in its original 21 seat configuration, which is relatively roomy (compared to a Southwest flight) but still has enough seats that you can fly at a reasonable cost per passenger.

We did just get a conex full of parts the other day that actually included an original 1930's DC-3 stainless toilet/lavatory. Cowling parts galore, and lots of other goodies. Some NOS. I'll see about posting some pics of what we got. What we don't need we'll have available for sale/trade. Got a great new set of control surfaces in the deal as well, which will replace ours that are a little worn.

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

Kevin,

A while back I noticed a parts fuselage south of the museum. It appears it was also an AA machine. Any idea which Flagship it originally was?

Scott

Now there's a vote of confidence! Can I take his seat?

Seriously, though, are you going back to the original cowlings with the flat-topped openings like in the old photo?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

I'm not involved with the project, Chris, but I think they're going to put Pratts on it.....so it won't have the distinctive Wright cowlings it originally came with. It had been converted to a DC-3A after the war by a later owner.

Scott