Warbird Information Exchange

".................We have dubbed the airplane Special Kay and applied a temporary vinyl sticker on the nose for now just to see how we like it............."
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IMHO, sounds like a great idea, whether or not they had nose art in Thailand, I still think it sticks to the original idea of "Special K".
Glad to hear the progress is continuing.
Randy

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

Did the horizontal issue get resolved?

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

While it would be nice to have a replacement horizonatal stabilizer on the shelf, we have found a repair in the manual for the spar corrosion problem. It is about ready for final assembly and then new leading edge skin. The electrical system was powered up with our new hangar power supply and probed a little deeper. The inverters were removed, cleaned and re-installed. Assessements are being made as to how much of the original radio equipment to leave and how the space might be utilized better to add a seat in the cockpit. Since the equipment is not actually capable of being used, the question has to be asked even if it works because it is not visible anyway buried in the tail compartment. The left main gear assembly has been re-worked and awaiting one plating job to be finished before it will be ready to go again. We are trying to obtain a walnut shell blaster to clean out the wheel well(s), make some repairs and then paint before we reinstall the gear. Many of the team members are starting to tackle the sheet metal repairs that are needed. Others are getting the rudder ready to pull for inspection and to repair some sheet metal damage that was found beneath it. Just when we thought we had gotten all of the bird nests, two more were found in the tail. There must be a tremendous bird housing shortage now in Montana!! Besides the restoration work, many of our volunteers assisted with the DC-3 Xmas lights night flights that Greatest Generation Aircraft has been running since Thanksgiving. They have been tremendously successful thanks to all of our crews, volunteers and participants. Happy New Year, Jim R

Do what you have to do, but it sure would be nice to leave anything and everything as original as you can from a strictly historical perspective. I guess the next best thing would be to document how she is as much as possible for future custodians if a change is necessary. 20+ years from now, people will see holes from former radio mounts and argue whether or not "so and so" was installed there ...

You guys have such a great opportunity with Special K - I'm envious.

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

We have taken great care to document everything on the airplane thru photographs, videography and sketches. Even the faint outlines of the Stars and Bars from WWII that are etched in the skin after the paint was stripped were shot. We have tried to preserve as many of the placards inside as possible, but one thing we do need is a source for the placards and labels that were stenciled on the outer fuselage and wings. We have the capability to make them, but since they had all been covered over by old paint jobs prior to our acquisition, nothing is left of them. Noticed that very few of the museum aircraft seem to have placards either. One of the comments frequently heard about the new paint job on 666 in the Eglin Memorial Airpark is that the A26 guys noticed there were no placards on the outside. Would appreciate it if somebody could point us in the direction of the TO that would show these. Need the manual number so that we can go to the Smithsonian or AF Museum to see if they have it. Thanks!! Jim R

The good news is that JR pulled another rabbit out of his hat and found the placard illustrations we were looking for. Case solved. Now we just need to make about a cajillion stencils and vinyl stickers. We have a team member with the talent to do just that. The question is does he want to spend the winter doing it?? To those of you who have the A26 secret decoder ring, the response was @#$#$**&&^! Cheers, Jim R..

Thats putting it mildly!

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A&P/I.A., A.A.S./Aviation Maintenance technology
Warbird salvage/recovery
One day I'll get that P-40!

Take a special look at the rudder hinge brackets. There are 3 sizes, smallest on top. On first glance they appear to be solid. They are not, they're actually a sort of A frame design, with an attach bolt on each leg. They have a sheet metal cover on each side. Be sure to remove the covers and inspect inside, on almost every one I've seen, the middle one will have exfoliation going on. You most likely won't find one, but you can make a solid one from billet aluminum, and never worry again !

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Rudder hinges have already been targeted for inspection. Will let you know how they come out. Saturday, 7th, hope to hang the right prop and do a compression check on the engine as well as pull the rudder. Sheetmetal work continues in several fuselage areas. Visitors are welcome any time, but Saturdays are best to see the full team in action. We are located at the former home of B-17 Chuckie on the southeast corner of Meacham Field in Ft Worth. Jim R

Jan 7 had some good news and bad news. Good news is that one of the two retractable landing lights was repaired and now works good as new. The bad news is that the right prop was not hung on the engine today due to an issue with the deice ring and a retaining clip that will have to be replaced. Probably get it done some time this week though. Steve, Mark, Mike and Amy will finish it so the we can begin doing compression checks, valve settings, and ignition system checks next Saturday. Mapped out the sheet metal work for next week so we can close up one of the horizontal stabilizers and start on the left wheel well. Lots of good things going on at Meacham. Come see us. Jim R

Some Special Kay photos from Jan. 7th:

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Question,
You guys making your stencils for a vinyl paint mask or the old fashion oil board method????

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

I guess the short answer is "yes". Depending on the size and placement of the placard, we will see what the Tech Order calls for and make the decision as to how best to accomplish it. We have a professsional stencil maker on the team so we will see what he comes up with to make it the right way.. meaning as close to original as possible. Jim R

HA, that yes to paint mask or oil board??? Reason I ask is that for my Military Vehicle hobby, I own 3 MARSH stencil machines in 1", 3/4" and 1/2". This uses the oil board paper.
I play with mine all the time.

I might be able to help.

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

Wow, I appreciate the offer. Let me see what our stencil guy says. We are several months from needing to use them, but be nice to have them done when we do. There are 100 actual placards beside the national markings that we have found externally so far. Let me get back to you and maybe we can split some of the effort over to you if willing. The CAF A-26 which is also sharing our hangar may need the same stencils if you would be ok with doing a double set?? Thanks, Jim