Warbird Information Exchange

Everywhere I read states POF's Judy as being set up as a D4Y3. However, it appears to have an 800kg semi-recessed bomb set up for Kamikaze operations.
So far, all I can find are references to -4's carrying the 800kg bomb. Were some D4Y3's also fitted? The find of this original craft, a D4Y1 in the condition it was in was awesome as is it's static restoration There is a reference to it's inline engine lying nearby....was it recovered by POF? For me, I have no objection to the radial verison of the aircraft as there is no original extant and already one inline engined D4Y in Japan. And it will be able to be run up which is awesome. The D4y is a favorite of mine, I am now starting planning to make the trip to Chino as another favorite the J2M3 is stabled there.

I found this on the POF's facebook page.

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I'm not sure I would take the authenticity of this restoration too seriously. I think the goal is to minimize cost while maximizing displayability, not for it to be used as a future reference source for the marque.

Disclaimer: I do not represent the museum, although I have seen the restoration in question numerous times.

there's a pic of what I assume is the engine for the Judy that I took at the POF Valle AZ location last year in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=44733&hilit=Judy

greg v.

I don't represent the museum either, but I have talked to the people working on it and it was just a matter of what they had lying around. Many parts were borrowed from different planes that happened to be almost, but not quite perfect matches for what was missing. The oil cooler intake for example is from a gnat jet. It matched the radial in contour and almost match what the stock one would have looked like. I have had my eye on this Judy since before it was acquired from Santa Monica. The restoration in Chino's hands no matter the version is better then sitting in pieces.

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Guys, it's going to look great! Most restorations have upgrades and in cases where its an ultra-rare aircraft, You can't finish it without making compromises for safety, or budget concerns.
Seems like the choice was between a "dead" airplane embalmed with non airworthy but authentic parts (never mind the bondo) or bringing it up to a roaring , live aircraft with engine smells, and oil dripping out.
Imagine it taxiing out while being "strafed" by P-40's and the F4U-1 Corsair at the annual airshow.
They're lucky a few guys with considerable talent are willing to tackle such a difficult task.

From the pics I've seen, it also looks like they used a stock BT-13 windscreen. I'm not complaining though..it may not be 100% authentic, but at least they're making an effort to return a nearly extinct type from oblivion. I think it's a really cool project. Looking forward to them getting the D3A1 rebuilt eventually (I wonder if the Judy was kind of a "learning" project in preparation for the Val.)

SN

Re. the Val, I don't think so. The Val has a much longer restoration history. It was restored by a certain Bob in the 1960s, rather in the spirit of the current Judy project (except, purportedly, airworthy). Indeed it sounds as if the folks doing the Judy should be wearing those "What Would Bob Do?" t-shirts. The Val was taken off display around 1988 with the intention of getting it into airworthy shape for the 1991 Pearl Harbor anniversary. Then POF discovered what happens when you decide to do a really proper job of a Bob-type restoration -- basically start from scratch, and 24 years later they're still at it. I don't have any inside info, but I guess they're doing something more like the recent crop of Zeros -- fairly authentic structure, US engine and systems -- on the Val. A Bob/Judy-type restoration would have been much quicker since that's basically where they started.

August

The Val still has a lot of uniquely manufactured parts that don't follow the original blueprints, but it is slowly being "unBob'd" (i.e. the hardware store pop rivets, double and triple drilled holes and paper masking tape shims have been removed or repaired)... I'm not sure there has been much progress in the last couple of years.

I really hope to see more momentum behind this project soon. I mean... how cool will it be to see a real Val fly! Now all they need to find is a real Kate...

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Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

Bob's Val did indeed fly...it was on the Canadian register as CF-TZT around 1968 or so. Vertical fin was discernibly Harvard; engine was a Wright R2600 hauled off a Mitchell (Bob also had a flying A6M-2 Zero with an R2600 about the same time, which later went to Quantico). Somewhere I've got a photo of the D3A in the air at an airshow. It was donated to what was then the National Aeronautical Collection, and exchanged by them with PoF for a Sikorsky R-4.

S.

The best thing that can be said about "Bob" is that he provided a speed bump to some ultra rare aircraft that no doubt, most of which would have been taken to the dump or sold for scrap metal.
Even back in the 1960's and 70's, hauling a junk aircraft to the smelter would have earned enough cash to buy a really nice deer rifle and willy's jeep.
Look at the homebuilt airplanes of that time. Most are very crude compared to todays RV kits that have most of the work done by professionals. If those aircraft (warbirds) had sat outside another 35 -50 years , they would have been in so much worse condition, even to display.
The one I really didn't get was putting the R-2600 and F-86 drop tanks on an A6M Zero. There were plenty of R-1820 and R-1830's available, complete firewall forward, cowling, etc. at govt. surplus prices back then. Drop tanks of all kinds wre plentiful back then, too. Why off a jet? WHy not put in some surplus tanks in the wings out of a Piper or somethng and a fuselage tank behind the cockpit to balance the heavier engine!
It would be cool if someone interviewed him today. I would buy that magazine!

Bob saved a lot of airplanes. Kermit Weeks would not have his P-38 or one of his Ducks if Bob hadn't pulled them out of South America. The P-51, which is flying in the US, and the Firefly, which hopefully will fly in Europe before too long, came from Australia. While those two might have survived anyway, the well documented Japanese airplanes surely would never have made it here. I often wonder what happened to the T-28 I saw at his place in the mid-90's, which he re-engined with a Rolls-Royce Dart. I was told that this was the Defender III, but have no proof that was so. His mechanical skills were pretty creative. Don't forget that his Val had Harvard stabilizers with proprietary "extensions" at the root. I think the P-40 had a Harvard vertical and it had been re-engined with a Lancaster QEC - similar to the Firefly. A larger-than-life guy for sure, and the warbird world is a better place than it would have been without him. Amazing that he lived through all this adventure.

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Rob C

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