PV-2D Harpoon 84062 (Tanker 101) comes back to life

[VCS1]

Great work!

[steve dickey]

Hi Taigh, maybe I missed reading it but when you install the Navigators fuel tank will it become operational or just for show?
Thanks?

[Travisd80elcam]

It just keeps getting better and better. Love what you guys are doing. It looks a little cramped for the crew, but still looks great. Oh and any up dates on your gun fund?

Travis

[Taigh Ramey]

The intention is for the tank to be operational. It looks like the tank, with some repairs, will be a good airworthy tank. The process actually began yesterday as the nav table came back out for paint and fitting the table top material. While the table is out the tank will be installed and then plumbed back into the fuel system. Speaking of plumbing it is interesting that the original WWII self sealing rubber fuel hoses for the fuselage tank and the bomb bay tanks that run through the front spar are still in place. Here is a shot taken on the third day working on the PV-2 back on 9-10-10 of one hose made by BF Goodrich. It looks like it is dated the 2nd quarter of 1943. You can also see the Lockheed part number stamp in white



Needless to say these hoses will be replaced with fresh MIL-H-6000 hose and the originals go into the collection.

Yesterday was a good work session on the Harpoon. Lisa and her husband Dan came out as did Ken and his two sons.

First Dan and Ken removed the nav table and then Dan built the floorboards that the fuselage fuel tank will sit on.



The rest of the gang attacked the aft glass around the tunnel gunners position. Removing and or drilling out the old dead screws and cleaning and painting the window wells





Cool shades dude!



It was another good day for the Harpoon

[Jerry O'Neill]

I wish I lived closer. I'd love to help out!
Jerry

[Travisd80elcam]

I couldn't agree more with Jerry. And I think it's great that the kids are getting in and helping. The first "warbird" I ever got to see is sitting seemingly unloved at the the Hampton Roads Executive Airport, the Loadstar that was for sale on Courtesy not to long ago. But again you are doing great work and I am a growing Harpoon Fan.

Travis

[Taigh Ramey]

Work keeps progressing on the old gal.

Ricky decided to remove the emergency hydraulic panel for several reasons. First it is in the wrong place. It was relocated higher to make it more accessible to the pilot for tanker operations. Second it needs some work to fix a few leaks. The sight gage in the reservoir and the hand pump need some of Ricky's TLC.



He had to remove the copilots seat to gain access to the nuts that hold the hydraulic panel which are on the inside the closed off seat hat section. Not easy to get to. It was not only hard for Ricky but for the mechanic who did the mod way back when...Ricky found the wrench that he dropped and ended up way down at the bottom of the channel. I think I can still hear the mechanic cussing!







Ricky was victorious. The panel is out and heading to the shop for repair. This hydraulic panel, like most of the rest of the Harpoon is in pretty decent shape for being 66 years old. Check out the INTERCHANGEABLE stamp. It shows up on the main electrical box too.



A name in pencil showed up. Not sure if it was from the factory or a guy named Joe since



The placard for the hydraulic panel is pretty much intact and be documented for future reproduction but for now it will be put back to its original location




A couple of fellow WIX'ers showed up to help out. Two brothers, Dennis and Daniel, came all the way from Colorado to help work on the Harpoon for a week. They took vacation time and came out on their own nickle to help the old gal along and they were great to have around. Not timid they both dove right in got a lot done.

Continuing what Ken and his kids, Mark and Lisa began on the aft fuselage around the tunnel gunners glass the Colorado gang started off cleaning and bead blasting the glass frames





New acrylic panels were cut



The commitment was made to install the turret before air show season starts up again so the V32D2 Andover auxiliary power unit was removed from the aft end of the fuselage. It was used by the tanker folks for DC power on the road but we have left it in for weight and balance purposes until now. Somehow I have misplaced the photos of its removal by Ken and Mark. Dennis and Daniel (since they are twins they are interchangeable like the hydraulic panel) removed the added box for the relay and voltage regulator for the APU and the back of the PV-2 is really opening up.



With the removal of the frames and better access with the APU out of the way, the whole area received a new cleaning





Here are the two camera hatches one came with the aircraft and the other one had been removed and skinned over a long time ago. We have amassed a pretty good stash of parts for the Harpoon and in that hoard are a few new old stock camera hatches. The guys tore them down for cleanin' and fixin' as well as acid etch, alodine and painting along with the tunnel gunners glass frames





Another job the Colorado boys tackled was to remove the last vestiges of Tanker 101 namely the fill port nipples, one from each side of the aft fuselage. This is where the retardant was pumped in to the tank in the bomb bay. Long ago before we stripped the paint a feeble attempt was made to remove the ports but they were locked in place. This job was put on the back burner but Dennis and Daniel took it on.



It was stuck pretty good so he had to use a wrench borrowed from the instrument repair shop



Brains and brawn won over rust and friction. One nipple off and one to go!



How is it that the retardant which is so corrosive to all things aircraft can do this to 1/8th inch steel and yet the .032 aluminum it is sandwiched against is just fine? Answer: an awesome Navy and Lockheed corrosion prevention program and a positive environment for the Harpoon to sit in for decades I suppose.



Ken is pretty happy that both of the ports have been removed. Ken stop playing with your nipples! Its scaring off the Colorado guys and any other prospective volunteers that might be reading this



After the ports are off the panels put on to reinforce them are drilled off



The skin under was in good shape and the guys cleaned them and made new skins to cover over the big hole. Some day we will replace the entire skin but for now a patch job will suffice



More cleaning, scrubbing inside. The reddish color is old retardant that comes off with soap and elbow grease. I also owe thanks to the guy who taped up the lower fuselage and siliconed all of the production breaks and areas that the mud (retardant) could have passed through to the inside of the Harpoon. Even though you can still see some of it I think his efforts may have helped preserve this PV-2 immeasurably. I suspect it may have been John Hirth. Thanks John.







After a bunch of hard work the guys had some other forms of fun.



Their Grandfather was an 8th Air force bombardier so they tried on the same type of gear that he may have worn





They also powered up the Crocker Wheeler turret on the turret truck project



Dennis and Daniel finished up the two camera hatches and installed them.







And of course Ken had to inspect their work and give his approval



They passed with flying colors!

Dennis and Daniel did fantastic work especially for their first time working on a 1 to 1 scale aircraft. You two are always welcome to come back and if you do I promise Cade will not give you any more photos to take home...don't ask...

[peter]

Looking great Taigh! All these little frustrating jobs add up to one complete and very fine looking Harpoon!!

[Junkyard36]

Outstanding work by you and your team, Taigh! Your passion and thoroughness is amazing.

Without a doubt, this is easily my favorite current thread.

Keep up the good work!

Mike

[cco23i]

OUTSTANDING fellas! With Cade WHO KNOWS what photos he sent with them. And when I saw Ken's face in the one window I was reminded of the little kid locked inside whil all his friends got to play outside in the snow. Poor little Kenny. AND the "nipple" photo, well all I can say is "Yup, Ken's like that and THAT'S why we all get along so well together".

Scott

[Redtracer]

All I can say is, if you got it fluant it! And thanks again Dennis and Daniel! You guys ROCK!

[tex-fan]

i don't think i've chimmed in on this thread, but thanks a LOT for the updates!

[Taigh Ramey]

All I can say is, if you got it fluant it!

Yeah, well, that's what Cade says. You guys are sick! And not that new-fangled version of sick that kids use these days, I mean SICK like something is seriously wrong with you!

I guess we are all sick in our own Warbird sort of way

i don't think i've chimmed in on this thread, but thanks a LOT for the updates!

Your welcome.

We all want to thank WIX for the support on this project be it moral, financial and now with elbow grease. You all are a good group of folks and the Harpoon is a lot better off thanks to the support we have received.

[Redtracer]

Yeah, well, that's what Cade says. You guys are sick! And not that new-fangled version of sick that kids use these days, I mean SICK like something is seriously wrong with you!

I guess we are all sick in our own Warbird sort of way

Cade and I can't help it, we were both born and raised on the island of misfit toys!

[Dennis7423]

Some might say, what on earth are two guys from Colorado doing taking a luxurious vacation to Stockton, CA for? No, it wasn't the loud hotel neighbors or alarm clocks going off at midnight, or even the homeless folks sleeping on the stoop at the market across the street. It was for a Harpoon, of course!

First of all, on behalf of my twin brother and myself (known now as the Colorado gang apparently!), we first have to thank Taigh and Ken for being so welcoming of two warbird novices coming in to tinker on their aircraft for a week. These two men, in addition to Larry, Vincent, Ricky, and Cade really made this trip one to share with the grandkids down the road. Without them, this trip would not have been nearly as enjoyable as it was. Second, and not far behind, and what really made this trip possible, was WIX and this great forum! Without it, I never would have been able to contact Taigh months ago asking him if we could come turn wrenches on his airplane. Through WIX we were able to get this trip organized, and it turned out to be a great week working on the old gal.

I'm sure you are sick of my rambling, so let's have some pictures!

As Taigh mentioned above, the majority of the work that we did were repairing old window frames in order to fit new windows. When 062 was converted to a firebomber, the aft windows were glazed over as they were not needed. To get her back to her fighting stance, the windows must go back in!







The frames were actually in good enough shape that we were able to get them refinished to accept new glass. This process involved inspecting the old frames, and then bead blasting them to remove old paint, corrosion, and general grime. While blasting, old production and inspection stamps were located, in addition to layers of paint hinting at her past. In the end, the frames were miraculously in great shape and could all be reused! Taigh was right, Lockheed and the Navy really did a bang up job with corrosion control way back when. After they were stripped, they were primed with yellow zinc chromate, and then shot with green zinc chromate. For a guy who builds model airplanes, it was really a special treat to be able to put these two colors on an actual aircraft!

In addition to the window frames, we were able to repair and refinish two camera hatches from the aircraft. PV-2's carried an aerial camera, and 062 had her camera removed a long time ago. The mount still sits in the aircraft, and two hatches were refitted with new glass and fresh paint. It was refreshing to put something back onto the aircraft! The most satisfying part for me was completing the lower camera hatch, and hearing Taigh say, "Wow, that looks great! That's probably the first time that hatch has been fitted since 1956." Here's the lower hatch:







And the side hatch:







And the two hatches in place:





The other task tackled was removing the sludge "nipples" from the side of the aircraft. These last two vestiges of Tanker 101 just gotta go if 062 is going to return to her former Navy glory. They are a bit unsightly, aren't they?







The caps were removed from the outside, and then they were cranked on a bit. Finding that they simply did not want to budge, the grinder came out, and the locking nut was cut from the threaded nipple. Once this was removed, a little more elbow grease and the nipples popped off the aircraft. Once those were removed, the rivets were drilled out, the steel angle irons used to reinforce the nipples were removed, and the reinforcing skins were removed, revealing the old skin beneath:







Once these were removed, the skins were polished, and treated to receive a layer of primer paint. Unfortunately, the original skins had that unsightly hole drilled in them to receive the filler nipples, but she was converted for the job at hand, much like we are doing now. Once primed, new skins can be applied to cover the holes for now until the entire skin can be replaced in the future.







The new skins were treated as well so that we can ensure that they don't corrode in the future:



Well, that's all folks! It may not seem like much, but a good, strong week's work results in a few small steps forward. It's not like building a model airplane, but it takes time, patience, and dedication to slowly move towards 062 returning to her intended attire.

Thanks again to Taigh, Ken and the gang for an amazing week, and if you guys get the chance, go see the gal, see the guys, and make a donation to a restoration that will really make a difference. I wasn't quite sure how much of a difference it makes until I had the opportunity to take two groups of folks on tours through the bird while I was there... an older gentleman who served on an F-105 during Vietnam, and a woman whose husband trained at Stockton Field during WWII. When you see their reactions to such a dedicated and detailed restoration, you remember why we all do what we do, and why we love these old airplanes.

See you guys again soon Taigh and Ken! This trip was worth every penny spent to get there and spend a week in great company. And no, I haven't been propping the chair underneath the door at night

- Dennis and Daniel S.
Westminster, CO