Warbird Information Exchange

Wow, you're being very kind to MacNamara and his "Whiz Kids". Most guys I know who were there and the book I've read on the subject seem to indicate that they were trying to fight with one hand cut off, the other tied behind their back and both legs chopped off at the knees.

It was amazing we never lost a battle on the ground (which we didn't) considering some of the absolutely pathetic "rules" that MacNamara put on the troops.

Ok kiddies, here is your Mystery Part contest item of the week!!! Some people call it a knurled knob....but I call it the round flying saucer disc looking thingee.....what is it and what does it do?? Game on!!! Enjoy!! JR

............what does it do?

It turns left or right! (sorry, couldn't help myself!!)

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

Aw shucks... Randy, when I saw that you had answered so quickly, I figured you had this thing nailed already... Actually, if Rand hadn't told me today, I would have had to say, "We dunno either" I will give more hints later tonight with more pics. JR

looks the like knob says wiper on it.. maybe a hydraulic valve for operating the windshield wipers?

EEEEhhaw... we have a winner. There is one on each sill of the cockpit to operate left and right wiper blades. Our new blades came this week. We found the original drive arms and blades in San Antonio still in the packages with 1966 dates. Never been used. Ain't we lucky. Thanks Dewayne for figuring it out so quickly. Who woulda thunked of hydraulically actuated wiper blades?? I sure thought they were electrically driven. Wrongo! Here is your ATTABOY, Dewayne!! Thanks for playing. JR

This is where the wiper blades will be mounted. See the drive sticking up in front of the windshield? The blade holder and drive arm attach to that. JR

This is the hardware for the wiper blades. New, never been used since packaged in 1966. Just another small victory is restoring the airplane to the original configuration as possible. We are thankful that some companies have held on to this kind of stuff and made it available to us. Another rabbit from JR's hat. No, the other JR. Not moi. Jim R

Hey Jason... heard you dropped by. Sorry I missed you. Did you get the info you needed from our bomb bay. I shot this pic of the bomb shackle. I tried it out today and it does fit our hooks. BTW, the patch is our new Greatest Generation Aircraft patch that is available online from our website. http://www.gga1.org
If you click on the picture of the B-25, it will take you to the FB page with ordering info. If you click on the picture of the A-26, it will take you to our specific webpage or you can go directly there with: http://www.a26k.org Yall come see us!! JR

Where in the hell did he find not just wiper arms, but YELLOW TAGGED ones? Of all the things for someone to have sitting around yellow tagged, that's the last on the list by a long shot.

I've been gearing up for making the M35 bombs. But, if that isn't what was used, then Houston we have a problem. I'm open to suggestions/ solutions here. I want to make sure that I'm making this stuff as historically accurate as possible.
I did get in the bomb bay yesterday and get all the measurements that I needed from "Special Kay".

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The nose art/aviation artist and general lunatic from Houston, Texas http://www.jasonbarnettartist.com

Jason... the Nimrods used anything they could get their hands on. M31's were the most available, but they did use M32's and M35's. The 500 lb versions were greater in number, but the 750 lb type was simply awesome. Could take out more than a football field sized area in one pass. Very handy when you can't exactly see the target in the dark. Funny bombs should be added to the horseshoes and hand grenades list of "close counts". They were the weapons of choice and more effective than straight nape. Too bad they used up the available WWII inventory so quickly. So press on with your replica!! It will be an outstanding addition to the K. Thanks, JR

Rand has been cleaning up the control heads for the radios to make them look refreshed but not brand new. We want them to look the same as when the A26 guys saw them for the first time in 65-69. Kudos to Rand for this most excellent job. He has completed nearly all of the first stack. Rand came on the team a little later than some, but he has more than made up for the time. Makin a good hand as we like to say around the ranch. Yall come see us some Saturday and meet our team members. Meanwhile, don't forget to keep up with us on our website: http://www.gga1.org. See yall. JR

Spring Fling is on!! Mark Saturday, 31 March on your calendars. Meacham Field in Ft Worth will be the place to be. We are having a fly-in, car show, food, tshirts, hats, rides in many different types of airplanes, but the DC-3 will be the queen of the fleet. It will be on the ramp in front of the former Sandpiper hotel on Main St. This area is just north of the fire station. Easy access from the street. Greatest Generation Aircraft members get in free and will receive a free ride in the DC-3 if you book it with Dana ahead of time. Ck out our website for more information. http://www.gga1.org and click on "Spring Fling" for all the details. Come have some fun and see our projects such as the A26. JR

Here is another shot of Rand working on the radio stack clean up. We hope he can work his magic on the rest of the instrument panel to make it look more like it did.. not new, but cleaner than presently looking. Will be removing more instruments to take to the shop for check out and renewal as well. The whole instrument panel will be restored to good working condition. Still waiting on the decision to install Garmin radios to give us good comm and GPS nav features. How does anyone navigate anymore without GPS? When my daughter graduated from the USAF Academy, her first job was on the Ops team controlling the GPS satellites. Her team brought the last satellite on line to complete the constellation. Wasn't so long ago, but now it seems like ancient history.... kinda like feral hogs out at the ranch. They have reverted back to pre-domesticated days. I wonder if they still taste the same.... sans nape, that is? Anybody got any good intel on that?? The Ace Hog Extermination Co. of Texas