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

[over/out]

I REALLY want to see a pic. of the "Hanger Cat" ( the gry. torti) "Playing" with the T.P! Fingers Cross! Great Job!

[wingman1]

I REALLY want to see a pic. of the "Hanger Cat" ( the gry. torti) "Playing" with the T.P! Fingers Cross! Great Job!

yea we need a "Hanger Cat" update!

[peter]

New windows or are those empty screw holes AC???

[Redtracer]

Oh, there's AC alright!!!!!!!!

[Taigh Ramey]

New windows or are those empty screw holes AC???

Very observant! We now have an open cockpit Harpoon! AN-6530 goggles anyone?



We have been working hard on building the other crew stations in the Harpoon when the front office has been in desperate need of attention.

Just like what we have found throughout the rest of the aircraft the structure supporting the windshield glass was in great shape. This area on many vintage tail dragger aircraft can have corrosion problems as moisture/humidity seem to collect here, typically at the highest point, and combined with the greenhouse heat which seems to accelerate corrosion in the aluminum structure. Not the case here, amazingly enough, as I only had to drill out four screws that were stuck in the original WWII nut plates. Four out of two hundred plus is really really good.

Out with the "new" panel and avionics and in with the old. Can you spot the "new" wiring?



Hey I think there is an open circuit in here...somewhere...



Out with the new...



Already several pounds lighter. All this weight removed is still less than half of the weight of the ART-13 liaison transmitter dynamotor alone!



Lots more work to go...

[peter]

I was right what do I win?
Great job on the panel replacement and improvements in the cockpit. Man that wiring is a mass of cables.. Once it is all back together though I bet it sure will make mtce in this area much easier..

[Taigh Ramey]

...but we don't want to be a sticky...

Personally I would prefer for our PV-2 thread to be in the general population so it can be irregular and drift along as it has been. Stickys should be for the more regular folks. I can't stand the pressure!!

Please, please, please?

[cco23i]

Heck for "pressure relief" have Ken think about a certain "Major" and the TATOO!!! LOL

[wingman1]

...but we don't want to be a sticky...

Personally I would prefer for our PV-2 thread to be in the general population so it can be irregular and drift along as it has been. Stickys should be for the more regular folks. I can't stand the pressure!!

Please, please, please?

i resepctfuly disagree, i from time to time i like to reread the thread.

[Redtracer]

Hah! Ground control to Major Thong!!!!!!!!!!!

[cco23i]

Sorry Ken I had to!

[Taigh Ramey]

I REALLY want to see a pic. of the "Hanger Cat" ( the gry. torti) "Playing" with the T.P! Fingers Cross! Great Job!

Since we installed the lower camera hatch and tunnel gun glass the Momma cat hasn't been visiting as much since that was the easy way for her to get in the Harpoon. She did come over to check out the latest parts haul from the storage hangar this morning.

I went in search of the A-3A autopilot gear we need to put back in the middle of the instrument panel. Here she is wondering why she got put on top of the autopilot gyros and as you can see is planning her escape.



As for playing with the newly installed toilet paper this cat just does not play. We have tried but she is all business. She does drag in the occasional Jack rabbit which is usually larger than she is but refuses to react to any of the usual things that make cats go nuts.

I'll try to get some shots of her Kitten who is a real sweetheart especially when compared to her mom with her case of 'dis-temper'. The Kitten does like to play but only in her safe zone inside the office. Anywhere else she is very skittish which is good for her survival around here. The Kitten rarely makes it out to the Harpoon and has only been inside a few times.

[K5DH]

Momma kitty has the Bandit and Emily seal of approval!

Bandit:


Emily:


BTW... if you use the ARN-8 receiver aboard the Harpoon, shoot me a picture of it installed!

[Taigh Ramey]

...BTW... if you use the ARN-8 receiver aboard the Harpoon, shoot me a picture of it installed!

The ARN-8 is beautiful and is here sitting on my desk. I had found one and bolted it in but yours is much better. I am looking for the original mount plate for your receiver and once I do I will replace the other one with yours. They mount differently so I hope to find the correct base so I can get your radio in. Thanks for that. What do I owe you?

[Taigh Ramey]

Got some things done in the last few days mostly in the cockpit on the instrument panel. The panel that came in the Harpoon was a custom panel that was a long ways from being original so it needed to be removed.

In the center of the panel is the Sperry A-3A autopilot. This center piece needs to be fitted and mounted before the panel goes in. Here are the two gyros of the A-3A.



The gyros sense deviation in all three axes; pitch, yaw and roll. This information is fed through vacuum and mechanical means to the hydraulic component which has three cylinders for actuating the controls.

I went to our storage hangar and pulled the crate of A-3A autopilot components and came up with a good set. The gyros are all Navy marked, Army parts.

First the rack is set in place to figure out how it was mounted and what it is going to take to fabricate the missing parts. I am fortunate to have an original PV-2D model panel on hand that after an overhaul will be used in our Harpoon. This panel is two serial numbers older than our 84062.



Fortunately some of the original autopilot mounting structure was still in place so I had to make three brackets to get the gyro mount rack back in. Here is the forward upper bracket being laid out



This is the rack with the three green brackets and shock mounts installed



It gets secured in place



Now the panel goes in for fitting around the autopilot. The panel mounts with four sets of shock mounts across the bottom. The old ones were shot to say the least so they will be replaces with new ones and the bracket will be cleaned up



Just a little blown don't you think?



Here are the finished brackets ready to get paired up and bolted to the panel



After the panel was reworked back to stock it is ready to be filled up with instruments. Fortunately we have a bunch of the correct instruments in stock with the correct Munsell green faces appropriate to the Harpoon. I hope to find the rest over time





One cool find was this manifold pressure gage



Check out the tag that was attached to the back. I have not seen something like this before but sure is cool. The Bureau number is from a PV-2! You can just make out the yellow Vega stamp too





Fabricating and fitting new hoses for the instruments. Its best to get as much done as possible on the bench since its a lot easier that doing the contortionist routine in the aircraft





Helpful information from the technical pubs and docs



With the panel ready to install I enlisted the help of my daughter Sydney to do the two person task. I was waiting to install the panel while the glass was out for this very reason. Ease of access. The panel is wrapped in felt to protect it and the instruments during the install



Now the fun begins getting the panel aligned and secured. The shock mounts are not easy to get to



Syd helped by vacuuming out the cockpit and belly area. She also helped with adjusting and securing the panel. She was a life saver today as I would have only got half as much done without her. Thanks Syd! She is a little camera shy though especially when she is in strange positions like here under the cockpit



After a good days of work the poor gal was pretty beat as it was a hot day in the cockpit. Tired but happy about what we worked on together



Here is what the panel looked like when we first crawled in and took a look up front



Then a few days ago



And a few hours ago



LH panel before and after





Not bad for a few days work



I still have a few hours left for finishing up the plumbing and wiring clean up and Cade is going to work his magic on the throttle console, control columns and yokes. Then the new glass goes in.

I am looking forward to spending the time on the computer making all of the decals and placards for the panel and cockpit. It is a blast to make them accurately and they really make a difference in the overall look.

Slow but steady...