B-26K Counter-Invader Restoration ("Special K")

[A26 Special K]

It has been brought to our attention by two of our guys who went to assist the O2 Lady with her engine change yesterday that she apparently has been using a substitute engine until the new one from Continental arrived. The Pretty Little Black Airplane made only half the noise it formerly made in flight. Hmmmm... since she has offered to do the FAC work for us in finding those pesky wild hogs, this might be an advantage to us. Make it easier to sneak up on those rascals. Heck, they could hear the A26 coming for miles and hide. She could find em as good as a bloodhound probably with this rig. Now, you may ask why not just fly the broom without the PBLA and really be in stealth mode. The answer is that the broom does not have a radio. Duh... couldn't you have figured that one out by yourself! JR and the Ace Feral Hog Extermination Co. of Texas. PS, That's her under the left wing supervising.

[ZRX61]

The small parts were run thru the cleaning process and the magnesium housing was reported to be in remarkable shape... considering it is magnesium. It cleaned up nicely as well. JR

What's the stuff they're using to clean the parts there?

[A26 Special K]

Regarding the brake picture, I am told those are a mixture of plastic "seeds" and fluid that tumbles the small detail parts clean. Not sure exactly how it all works as this was done outside of our shop. There are some folks who read our thread who can probably explain it better. Bueller, Bueller, anyone, anyone?? JR

[A26 Special K]

For those desiring a profile view of the substitute engine utilized by the O2 Lady on her PLBA while the normal rear engine is being changed out, we offer this shot. She claims it cuts her fuel flow down by 50% or more. Wouldn't Ford or Chevy like to know about this?? JR

[A26 Special K]

The real JR got the trapeze removed from the right wheel well this past weekend. It had been soaking for several days to loosen up some of the bolts holding the inboard side in. It took some coaxing to get it out, but JR, as usual, pulled the rabbit out of the hat again. The right gear is ready for paint and reassembly. Just waiting on a few more seals to come in to finish the job. Then we have to strip and paint the wheel well. We may have this back in within three weeks or so. It was in much better shape than the left side. Will keep you posted when this new milestone happens. This will give us three good gear, overhauled and ready to come off the jacks again. Ta Dah!! The other JR.

[Obergrafeter]

Best thing to soak that gear in (and a lot cheaper than commercial mix) is a 50/50 mix of tranny fluid (5606 will work) and acetone. Works twice as good as Kroil which is the best commercial fluid (costly too). Hope this loosens those 50 year old nuts! Not talking about the personnel, beer will work for that.

[A26 Special K]

Ober.. thanks for the suggestions, but the mighty K oil and the magic touch of the JR got er loose. So noted re the beer lubricant although I have heard that too much lubricant is just as bad as no lubricant for those appendages. No personal knowledge of that fact though. The other JR

[A26 Special K]

Productive weekend for the team. Filipe and Miguel are collaborating on dollying out some dents on the side of the fuselage. We can't have Ms K appearing with some wrinkles and dimples where they don't belong for her coming out party. Speaking of party, don't forget to make your reservations for our Xmas shindig at Meacham in the VFM Hangar at 6 to 9 pm, Thurs, Dec 6, 2012. Food, fun, friends and airplanes. It doesn't get any better than that!! Come help support these restoration efforts! Contact Dana at http://www.gga1.org for your tickets. The other JR

[A26 Special K]

The DC-3 will be giving rides in conjunction with the party Thurs night. Here is our newest Captain getting checked out in the cockpit. It appears he calling for the gear up, but it will be awhile before he is ready to be signed off so come on out and take the Xmas Lights night rides every Thurs, Friday and Sat evenings from now until New Years Eve. We will have a special in conjunction with the Xmas party on the 6th. Check out our website at http://www.gga1.org for more details. Email or call Dana to make your reservations. JR

[A26 Special K]

More progress!! Bryan B., Big Mike and the real JR loaded up our main wheels and new tires for the trip to the shop. The wheels are going to be inspected and overhauled as needed. When done and painted, the new tires will be put so this should be ready to go back on the airplane when the right gear is finished. Also notice that in the absence of our usual Floor Manager, Inu, a substitute was sent over in his place. No, Inu didn't get a dye job! He was just busy on Saturday. This is Nova and he is friends with Bryan B. Bryan and Denis also put reflective tape on the electric cart so it can be spotted at night so thanks to all of these guys for getting these important projects done. The other JR

[A26 Special K]

Ray mounted the new plastic cover on the end of the tail cone so the real JR and Dave L. mounted the tail cone on the airplane. This is not the final mounting as we still have a lot of elevator, rudder and trim tab cables to hook up, but we wanted to get the cone up out of the way in the meantime. The other JR

[A26 Special K]

This is some of the hidden damage from the previous two incidents of left gear collapse. It had been partly repaired back in the day, but Ray found some other problems. Not that it was a threat structurally, but it wasn't right so we are fixing it. We want things to be as right as we can make them! Since I am one of the lucky ones who will get to fly the airplane, I like that idea! The JR what is a pilot.

[A26 Special K]

Two of newest members of the team join Rand in checking the pitot-static system for leaks. Stan and Larry are avionics types. Larry worked on O-2's back in the day so I have to keep an eye on the O2 Lady as she keeps trying to steal our help! Actually, she was polite enough to ask if she could borrow them and they were more than willing to help. I don't know if it was a spell she put on them or what though??? JR

[A26 Special K]

Speaking of the right main gear, Too Tall Tim is prepping some components for primer which should go on this coming weekend if all goes well. We are having unusually warm weather for December....at least the weather guessors say we will stay that way thru the weekend and then the cold air should be arriving from Canada early next week. That's ok with us. Need some cold air to encourage the fire ants to stay away for awhile!! Also it might slow down the feral hog reproduction so they don't get too far ahead of us! JR and the Ace Feral Hog Extermination Co. of Texas

[A26 Special K]

Check out our new Fridge that was donated. This will be especially great next summer where we can store Eskimo pies and Fudgesicles to cool off with when the heat hits.... and the way it is going, that could be March 1. Thanks Arnold, for rounding this up! JR