Warbird Information Exchange

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go! And if you are old enough to know the tune that goes with these words, you may just hum it the rest of the day!! Sorry about that. Anyway, it has been noticed that we have had over 12,000 views since the end of January. Just wanted to thank everyone for their interest in our project. It certainly is encouraging. Come see us at the hangar or online at http://www.gga1.org. Don't forget our Spring Fling fly-in on March 31 at Meacham. Cars, bikes, planes and food... it doesn't get any better than this!! JR

By the way, my guess on the new mystery part is a main landing gear support plate.
Randy

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

Wow, Randy, you almost got it nailed. This is where that beautiful piece of artwork goes. If somebody can just use the "T" word now, we will have the proper name. Bueller? Denis? Mark? Amy? Miguel? David? Help us out here. Cheers, Jim R.

does the "t word" = trunion?

Whoooo hooo... we have the word... the "t" word is trunnion. If this was on an old fashioned cannon, the pins that stick out of the sides so it can be mounted in the carriage and still rotate for aiming is a trunnion... or a gudgeon, if you are of an older generation!! The gear is supported in similar fashion by the plate that we had to get fabricated. So I suppose this is a trunnion support. Way to go!! JR

The Case of the Missing Instruments... Rand and company have been cleaning up the co-pilot's instrument panel and some of the instruments. In the upper left hand corner of the panel, the question for tonight is... what instrument should be placed there?? We have it, but haven't re-installed it yet. Any guesses?? Of course, you could go to our website and look at the Flight Manual on line. http://www.a26k.org. Find the Information button and it is on that page. Or you can guess. I think you will find this one an interesting challenge. JR

Well, that would be the Airspeed Indicator. Didn't have to look at the manual since the A-26K panel was configured with what is now the standard 6-pack.

The True Airspeed Indicator on the right is a nice one to have though. Many of the planes lost theirs over the years.

Well, you are very close to having all of the marbles here. The Dash One shows the ASI to be in the upper left slot and the TAS indicator to be in the lower right. What had us puzzled for awhile is that the TAS indicator was installed in the upper left. That is actually the regular ASI in the lower right. We may have to correct the panel AFTER some detective work to find out why there was a switcheroo. Keeping in mind that the NAV sat in the right seat and his duty was to hold a small reading light up to the altimeter and airspeed indicator on a bombing run (all other lights in the cockpit were off) and make airspeed/altitude callouts. I am assuming they would have called out Indicated Airspeed. Anybody know for certain? I am thinking the TAS was used in navigation more than anything else. Another issue is that the Dash One shows is that the ASI's were the drum type counters... big hand was on the hundreds or something in between and the drum read the smaller increments. Somewhere along the line, ours were switched to the dual IAS with knots and mph. I haven't seen the drum type in quite awhile. In fact, the last time was when I was flying the Dash 8. Took a little getting used to, but was actually a nice thing to have... for a steam gauge. But that is why we all love old airplanes, right? JR

Well, the movement of the IAS indicator to the lower right would make sense if the nav was calling out speed and alt to the pilot since it'd allow him to see both at the same time since the altimeter is immediately to the left of the ASI. Dunno why they used the dual-scale unit unless it was just what was available. It looks similar to the TAS unit shown in the DASH-1. Have you compared the part number to the one in the Part Manual to see if it's spec'd?

Actually, no, not yet, but that is a good suggestion. We just discovered the question last night after looking at the photo and the Dash One. Went hummmm?? Besides the Illustrated Parts Manual, we want to ask some of the Nimrod Navs we know what they remember. Don't you just love a good mystery? JR

Just checked the Illustrated Parts Catalogue for the K and indeed found that the installation of the copilot's airspeed instruments in 679 is different from the IPC and the Dash One. Have sent out the question to a Nimrod Nav who probably has the scene burned into his memory from having to concentrate on them in the bombing run. Will see if this was a field mod or something done subsequent to military service. My money is on the latter, but need to get back behind the panel to see if there is a problem with the lines that connect to the instruments. Dang, it is just one thang after another. Those pigs are probably snickering at us behind our backs. Just you wait, little piggies, the big bad wolf is coming for you. The Ace Hog Extermination Co. of Texas!!

Nimrod Nav reports the panel is just like the manual so our panel needs to be corrected. The TAS indicator was used only for navigation. He said he primarily called off altitudes in 500 ft increments. I would imagine if I had been in his shoes, my voice would have been going up as the airplane neared the ground in the dark in the mountains over the jungle at night. Talk about pucker factor. The only thing that could have been worse......being on the receiving end of the bomb load. JR

One of the interesting things we have run across in our quest for parts is this old Douglas parts tag. We ordered some bolts that go in the bomb bay area. Wouldn't expect to find bolts like these just anywhere, but JR found them in San Antonio. Sometimes the packaging is about as historic as the item. Needless to say, we will keep this tag safe in our collection. Cheers, Jim

Progress is being made in the left wheel well to get it prepped for the installation of the trunnion support plate and the rest of the hardware. Mark has almost finished blasting off the 3 layers of old paint so we can put a couple more back on it! He is starting to feel about the wheel well like Amy was feeling about the tail section that she practically lived in for several months working on the horizontal stab carrythru structure etc. It sounds like he is about ready to give the Post Office a change of address card. Can't wait to see the newly overhauled gear back in place and we can take the airplane down off the jacks. We expect the plating job to be finished on the outer cylinder and the rest of the gear is ready for assembly when we get that back. JR is still pounding on the rudder to get the rudder trim mechanisms all sorted out. So please come see us next time you are at Meacham and see a great team in action just about any Saturday. Jim R.

New kind of game!! This one is called "Where are you?" It is kinda like those maps at the mall that say,"You are here" ... similar but different. Be careful now. We could be just holding this part up so that the things in the background are not in the right place!! Game on!! JR