BillB24 wrote:
...We have taken possession of a set of microfilm rolls of the TBM-3 engineering drawings. However, comma, we do not have the INDEX, either on microfilm or on paper. Tried to get the index from Smithsonian Air & Space archives, but they are not accepting requests until they finish moving to Chantilly. If any of you have an index for that set of microfilm, would it be possible to borrow it, or get a copy if it is on paper ??
Thanks,
Bill
Kosko's Krew
billb24@aol.comBill,
When I started working on G-21 aircraft using copies of microfished USN drawings, the original index was next to useless, basically providing only drawing numbers versus microfiche grid references. It had drawing "titles" too but they were not organized in an alphabetical order and you often had to guess which terms they used for common parts - in 1942 it was not always the same terms we tend to use these days.
I had to create my own index in an Excel spreadsheet to be able to search by actual file names (digital copies), part or assembly names or numbers, page numbers, or whatever. I was able to add notes and anything else of interest to use as search terms in the Excel file. (CTRL + "F" for the FIND command is quite a useful and effective shortcut...) I eventually expanded the spreadsheet to include drawing revision codes and date fields, model applicablities, links to superceding drawings, next higher assembly (NHA) numbers, etc. My version of a G-21 master drawing list has come in very handy over the years.
There were four Adobe pdf files in the USN sets of drawings for the G-21/JRF series "Goose" aircraft that came from the Smithsonian archives as well as almost 2,000 large scale fax-format (.tif) digital scans of each individual page. I have heard that at least for that particular aircraft (the G-21A/JRF series), the legacy records were eventaully transferred from NASM to the National Archives, who promptly misplaced them and couldn't find them again when I last checked with them for someone else.
The four Adobe (pdf) master files included a parts "manual" which was more or less just a list of parts and prices - it was not illustrated and had no exploded assembly views. There was an "index" file as I already mentioned, of just the assembly drawing numbers and their grid locations within the original microfiche. And there were two sets of actual drawings; Set "A" included 686 assembly drawings and set "B" had 881 drawings, some of which were assemblies but most of which were individual parts. Total was 1,567 drawings, but of course with more research it became obvious that those were only the drawings applicable to the USN (JRF) versions of the Grumman G-21 series at the time that the archives were created.
I eventually identified (and added to the spreadsheet) numerous other drawings that were either obsolete, superceded, missing, or applicable only to non-Navy or civilian model G-21A aircraft. Eventually, my list was expanded to include all of the McKinnon and other "aftermarket" engineering drawings and blueprints that we obtained when we bought the type certificate (4A24) for the McKinnon versions of the G-21 series. The current official "Master Drawing Index" for Antilles Seaplanes now includes something like 3,034 drawings.
My much belated point? It might be beneficial to have someone just sit down and create your own index of the drawings you have. Once you get started with a particular format, it rolls right along. And once it is done, it is easy to update, correct, or reprint hard copies as necessary.
Do you have any enthusiastic volunteers on hand for whom sheet metal fabrication or painting is not quite their real forte? Maybe they are more skilled with Microsoft Office....
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