Warbird Information Exchange

Check the January 2012 news on the B-25 News page of www.aerovintage.com and all details will be clear!

Thanks for the info. I understand now.

_________________
"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

OK, we got it out. We were trying not to damage the drag link any worse than it already was at AeroTrader's request. If they develop a repair in the future, ours would be candidates. So...

Re-creating AeroTrader's tool would not have been economical for us for just one use and shipping the strut to California so they could separate the pieces was not an option. Trust me, liquid nitrogen here would have been a disaster so we went to a local professional with the tools and liquid nitrogen on hand. The entire strut was taken to our friendly machine shop where it was hung from a 10 ton capacity crane. Then the drag link was dipped into liquid nitrogen for about 30 minutes (we tried it earlier for 15 minutes but it only moved it 1/8 inch). then we attached it to a 10,000 pound work table with a chain and clamps. The work table is for prepping 10 foot by 20 foot by 6 inch slabs of steel for the water jet cutter or the plasma cutter - this is a really kick-ass fabrication shop owned by one of our members. The crane was raised to try to pull the link out of the strut. When the table was a couple of inches off the ground (that was pretty amazing), we pulled out the aluminum block and sledge hammer. After a number of solid blows, the drag link gave up and it and the table hit the ground.

There was no galling inside the strut. There was rust and a lot of very old, dry grease. The grease had long ago dried up, hence the rust, and the two materials had clumped up and locked the two pieces tight. After a good cleaning out of the upper end of the strut, and a thorough application of grease, the new drag link was inserted and tapped into place. The strut was then installed in the Yellow Rose. That was the right strut. The left side drag link came out easily and the strut was back in the plane very quickly. The wheel is already back on that strut and the gear doors are almost hooked up. I hope we can complete the landing gear work this week.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

_________________
Ray Clausen
Maintenance Officer
Centex Wing of the CAF

Any thought of a thorough use of anti-seize compound on re-assembly for future service?

_________________
"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."