Warbird Information Exchange

After learning that the media folks will even "edit" 911 tapes to push their own agenda, what do you expect? How many times have you had personal insight to a story that they have reported incorrectly? Where do they get off calling the home of an accident victim to try and get a statement from a grieving family member maybe even before the family has been notified? I don't think we can trust the US media. They have lost most of their integrity in favor of just selling stories or pushing their own social or political agendas. When the K flies, the mission will be to honor the VN vets. God knows they didn't get a proper homecoming and a big part of that was due to how the media warped the image of our servicemen and women. It is past time to make that right. Who is with me? JR

Those are the control surfaces with new fabric in the rack and covered in green bubble wrap. They are sure getting anxious to get back on the airplane. It is getting closer to that time when we can hang the rudder, horizontal stabs and all the gap seals will be ready which will allow that to happen. Now if Saturday would just hurry up and get here!! JR

Have you got the final paint coat on the control surfaces? Reason I ask some plastic (wraps, tarps, etc.) have a chemical reaction with the dopes and finishs that won't allow a future coat to adhere. Hopefully your bubble wrap won't do this. Maybe you should check a small spot to make sure.

Actually, there is only silver on them at this point. We will get the bottoms painted black and wait to tape off the camo pattern once on the wing for the top. Our paint guy says that the bubble wrap should not cause any problems. Good question though. Would like to get more like this. Can never think of everything on a restoration. Another set of eyes and experiences is pure gold. Thanks, JR

We are pleased to report that our mini reunion plans for the A26 guys and gals from the VN era are coming together. There has been some response already of the Nimrods expressing the interest to come see the K. Many of the pilots trained on the airplane at England and Eglin/Hurlburt AFB's. it was used for training starting in 1961 even before it was later converted to the K model by On Mark Engineering in 1964-65. This will be a great opportunity to see and talk with these folks again since the last reunion in FL last year. It is not just about the airplane.... the stories of these folks are what makes it priceless to get to hear them. Regular guys making extraordinary contributions.... pure Americana at its best! Keep the weekend of May 5th open for the opportunity to meet them. JR

Trivia question for the radio buffs out there. If you sent the letters "CQD" out in Morse Code, this would be a:

A. a request for pizza delivery

B. a request for help

C. a request for a reply and identification

D. it meant STOP since there were no periods in Morse Code.

JR

The answer is B. "CQD" was one of the earliest distress calls used on wireless.

The International Morse character for period is DI-DAH-DI-DAH-DI-DAH (or ._._._ for those who prefer pictures).

If we're having pizza delivered, make mine cheese and pepperoni, please!

_________________
Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Oh, that was purty good on the CQD. It was replaced by SOS later. Here is another trivia question for you, what were the circumstances when a Mr. Phillips sent out a CQD back in the day? You gotta be really good to answer this one, but there is a pizza in it for you!! JR

I'm sure you're referring to Jack Phillips, the wireless operator on the RMS Titanic. The circumstances are well-known.

_________________
Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

Oh, that was purty good on the CQD. It was replaced by SOS later. Here is another trivia question for you, what were the circumstances when a Mr. Phillips sent out a CQD back in the day? You gotta be really good to answer this one, but there is a pizza in it for you!! JR[/quote]
I'm sure you're referring to Jack Phillips, the wireless operator on the RMS Titanic. The circumstances are well-known. [/quote]

Yep, you got it. Mr. Phillips stayed in the Marconi room sending out the distress signal CQD until the ship lost power. He stayed at this duty station until the ship went down and was highly recognized for his bravery and sacrifice. Back then, the wireless was mainly used for regular messages by passengers. The one thing he might have done different was pass up the radio traffic about ice bergs to the bridge, but he was too busy with the commercial traffic. Besides, the Titanic was unsinkable, right!! He was credited with getting the Carpathia to the scene in time to save those in the lifeboats. This use of wireless marked the real beginning of radios in maritime service and later in aviation. The Morse Code key was still used in many WWII aircraft like the B17 and B29. Dean, do you have any idea when they were finally taken out of the airplanes and replaced with voice or data links? JR PS Let me know when you will be coming to VFM and will have pizza that day for the team. You are invited!! Maybe you could help assess our antenna situation??

The lights are on and somebody is home!! Tested the various lights that are located throughout the airplane such as this one in the bomb bay. There is another one in the avionics bay for inspections or work at night. Work progresses on getting all the lights doing their thing. Will be handy when we need to load or unload our BX materials at a show or something from the bomb bay at O Dark Thirty. Just keeping fingers crossed that it is not a toolbox we have to dig out, but the reality is ... sooner probably than later!! JR PS... thanks again... we just went over 49,000 views!! Appreciate the interest!!

This coming Saturday, the DC3 will be making the short trek over to Stephenville for a BBQ lunch and return. Leaves at 10 am for GGA members only. Returns at 2 pm. There is a ride scheduled at 2:30 pm that is open to the public. On the following Saturday, the 21st, the DC3 goes to Wichita Falls at 7 am for members only. On the Memorial Day weekend, the DC3 will go to Fredericksburg on the 25th of May and return on the 27th. The Hangar Hotel will be having its annual Hangar Dance and the DC3 will be giving rides all weekend. See our website for details and how to contact us for scheduling. http://www.gga1.org and click on the Facebook link. These activities will help fund our aircraft and restoration activities. Many thanks for the support. Come see us this weekend as the team will be working on the K. JR

Next target, the right main gear. The left is finally seeing some daylight. We need to paint the inside of the wheel well, reassemble the gear, get the brake assembly back from overhaul and then do the install. Our goal is to have her on her own feet by the time of the mini-reunion of the A26 guys on 5 May. Can't promise this, but we will sure give it a try. Would like to roll her out in the open for a bath as well. A lady always likes to be fresh when making an appearance!! After the excitement, we will tackle the right side. Will put up some close up shots later to show the before and then the after when we are done. BTW, JR and I are going over to Dynamold Inc. tomorrow afternoon to talk with them about moldable shims. We want to use some in the repair on the horizontal spar. We are excited about the added strength it would give it. Anybody have any experience with it?? The other JR.

For those who were asking, Greatest Generation's B25, Pacific Prowler, will not be attending the Doolittle Reunion this week due to mechanical issues. We very much regret having to miss out as we had been planning to join the group just as we did the previous time in Dayton. We wish the rest of our B25 brethren a hardy good luck and good tailwinds! Meanwhile, we will be working on the K this Saturday as well as flying the DC3 if the weather cooperates. We could use some more sheet metal hands if you would like to help out. Thanks, JR

We had a special guest this afternoon in the hangar. Richard S. Drury, author of "My Secret War" and Skyraider pilot at NKP dropped by to see K. He was there at NKP and hopped rides on the A26's when he wasn't busy doing his own thing in the Skyraiders over the HCM Trail in Laos. They basically had similar missions of night interdictions for the trucks and downed aircrew rescue when operating as Sandy's. The book is available from Amazon I think in paperbook. It was a great read!! Will keep you in suspense and on the edge for much of the time if you want to know what combat flying was like in the beast. He is in town until Wednesday so we invited him back to meet the restoration team tomorrow. He also signed the K in our special place under the armor plate on the fuselage on the right side. Most interesting thing he told us about was that he was there when the 26's left NKP to come home in 69. He said they looked and sounded so awesome. He was sorry to see them go. But alas, you can't fight the 4 stars and other staff weenies who think there should be no prop airplanes in a jet Air Force. I bet it was sure embarrasing to the General when the 26's only flew 2 per cent of the sorties and yet destroyed over 64% of the truck traffic. They actually got more, but the rules of engagement back then only allowed a truck to be counted as destroyed if it burned. If it was only blown to smithereens, that didn't count. Wonder if that is why the General tried to take away their napes and use GP hard bombs only? What a cluster that was. Doh! JR