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

[cwmc]

Thanks Charlie.

Taigh, they tried for 350mph @ 25,000 which took 1500hp from my notes of dad's recollections. They took off with water a lot of the time and flew the airplane from Oaktown to Miami a lot.
I was looking at some TWA quick reference cards from the L-1049 Connie and it trued 270kts at 990hp.
The Green Super Ventura was painted the same as the Howard 500, dove gray wings on center section and nacelles and fuse bottom, black and white with a bright, orangey red trim. I have some digitals from color slides of some close ups but are kind of faded. Send me your email in a PM.
Chris...

[Taigh Ramey]

Ozfuryfan,

Right now we don't have a direct use for the DC-6 mount and oil tank. We plan on using the stand to build up a display PV-2 or for our PV-1 project. I imagine that the museum could trade the mount for something.

Chris,

Interesting power settings. Really moving along. I suspect our Super Ventura will be quite the scooter whenever we get her going. Projects...


Well we started working on our Mark 13 aerial torpedo. The first phase is simple evaluation and preservation. So far she looks great considering that it has spent most of its life outside in New Jersey. The real cool thing is it is quite complete and has matching serial numbers on the tail, afterbody and air flask. It is also dated 1943.

This is a very cool addition to the PV-2. The bomb bay was specially designed to carry this torpedo completely enclosed. The PV-1 could carry one but they would either have to remove the lower doors or leave them open until the torpedo was dropped. The wing spar through the bomb bay on the PV-2 is even dished up to give clearance for the Torpedo.











Here is Steve opening up one of the access ports



It looks like everything is not only in place but is in decent shape too.





The diaphragm for the depth mechanism which would keep the torpedo at the selected depth from the surface to 50 feet under. This mechanism controlled the depth rudders or what we would refer to in the aircraft world as the elevators. Next to this device is the gyro which controlled the direction rudders. The torpedo would hold the heading that it had at the moment it left the aircraft and would keep the torpedo on that track until it hit the target



We may have imported a pack rat from New Jersey. Lots of cleaning to do.

[StangStung]

Fantastic pics as always Taigh.

But you've piqued my curiosity...PV-1 project?

I had a great uncle who served on those and I've always wanted to see one on the ground, much less in the air. Always wondered how they made so many yet so few survive.

Can you give us a couple of thoughts on that project?

[Taigh Ramey]

Frankly our PV-1 project is about as far from being a PV-1 as possible. Although it is still licensed as a PV-1 she has about all of the modifications that Dee Howard could have dreamed up save cabin pressurization. She is called a Super Ventura and if you get excited about the big radial piston powered executive birds then this one will get your blood flowing.

As I mentioned she is a project and has been on the back burners for a long time. We hope to get her ferryable and bring her to our shop where she will get some much needed attention. We will someday...

I would love to do a stock PV-1 especially since none are flying today. A dream would be to have a PV-1/PV-2 formation and WWII Navy VP heritage flight. The PV-1 had such a strong WWII history that not many know about. Sadly our PV-1 is so far from its WWII lineage (she flew coastal patrol with the RCAF in WWII) that it would be hard to take her back. I think she is better off representing the epitome of the corporate piston era.

Here is what she looked like when she arrived at Aero Union:



Here is what she looks like today



From what the flight manual says and those I have talked to who flew the Super Ventura she is a real performer. Lots of speed and passenger comfort. Hopefully we will find out one day.

[Taigh Ramey]

After everything looked good on the ground and a short flight we put the "new" left engine to the test and flew to our first air show at Auburn, California. Sydney set it up with the air show and was able to get us in in the 11th hour. Well done Syd!

The engine ran beautifully and we had a great show. Lots of people toured through the Harpoon and she was a hit.





Here is a photo that Jim Dunn took of her during a brief air to air shoot we did on the way out of Auburn


Here is one that Tim O'brien took at the show on one of our passes


When we returned home we pulled the oil filters and opened them up. We were delighted to find some carbon but no metal. So far the engine looks good but we will keep a close eye on it, and the right, as usual.

We hope to bring our metal making engine up to Ray at Anderson Aeromotive so he can tell us what the damages are and what it will take to make it all better. The plan is to raise funds for its repair and then replace the right engine with it. Then get that one fixed up by Ray as well so eventually we will have two solid engines that have been worked over by the master R2800 guru, Ray Anderson, and then the Harpoon will be set for a really long time. The engines are the last major project that is needed to complete the Harpoon besides the ongoing maintenance. The other project we need to complete this winter is to replace the fabric on the rudders which is long overdue.

There is new and exciting progress to report on the guns and that will be the subject of a future post. very cool progress that is deserving of a loud report!

Thanks go to Nick Veronico for finding the lead for the donated engine and thanks to Ed for donating the engine. The Harpoon is flying again thanks to you and the countless hours put in by the museum's volunteers and the crew at Vintage Aircraft.

[Russ Matthews]

The engines are the last major project that is needed to complete the Harpoon besides the ongoing maintenance.

OK WIXers .. if you're reading this, you are probably (like me) an avid follower of the Harpoon 062 thread. You've seen Taigh and his Stockton Field team (and their friends across the country) work veritable miracles with just a little bit of money and a whole lot of dedication. However, these engines are at the heart of everything and now they need more than passion and elbow grease can provide. They need specialized expertise. They need substantial funding. They need a major sponsor.

And to my mind there is one logical, natural,and mutually beneficial name that fits that bill.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY

So I'm putting the thought out there, along with a challenge .. can anyone here connect Taigh with the right people at Ford with the desire to listen to a pitch and the authority to potentially offer support?

It doesn't have to be the CEO (though that would be nice!)

Someone in corporate communications/marketing would do very well.

Or maybe you're buddies with a guy who owns some Ford dealerships (especially in the Stockton area) and loves Warbirds as much we do.

Ideally, we could connect them with the person who coordinates Ford's presence at Oshkosh every year. I was lucky enough to fly with the Harpoon to AirVenture in 2013 and Ford was everywhere. From the gorgeous Trimotor giving rides ...


To Model T's on the flight line ...


And a massive tent front and center in the middle of all the action.


Clearly Ford is interested in reaching people with a love for airplanes (and cars) and willing to invest serious resources in making that happen. The company wants to remind people of its past and current contributions to national security, show respect to our veterans, instill justifiable pride in its professional workforce, and provide consumers with powerful examples of its high quality product.

Harpoon 062 can do all of that.

The engines in question were manufactured by the Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan USA


Seven decades later, they are still going strong .. a perfect embodiment of the famous slogan, "Built Ford Tough!"

With the proper care now, the Harpoon could go on for decades more .. spreading the message to teeming airshow crowds around the country on her Ford-built (and Ford sponsored?) engines.



What do you say?

Can you make the connection?

Do you know someone (or someone who knows someone) that can help Taigh and his team reach a receptive audience at Ford?

HARPOON 062 NEEDS YOU! (to help convince Ford to sponsor the engine overhaul)

[StangStung]

Thanks for the PV-1 update Taigh. It was very informative and insightful as always. Can't wait to see it at OSH with the Howards one day!

[Left Seat]

2 Nice shots of "062" in the "Indianapolis" Trailer at 2:35 & 3:05.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSTC6nnbaRo

I hope the CG doesn't look like Pearl Harbor... especially after the loss of the Catalina .

[Taigh Ramey]

The Movie, USS Indianapolis, Men of Courage, is out on demand and is supposed to have a limited release in theatres on November 11th. You can also find it online and watch it for free in low resolution.

I will leave the judgement of the quality of the movie to you all. Don't get your hopes up. There are, however, some awesome scenes of 062 in flight and in some cool close ups. finally all those years of hand modelling paid off for me. Sadly the air to air shots of us opening our bomb bay doors in flight for the first time didn't make the cut. They used the ground shots.

As far as we were concerned the Harpoon was the hit of the movie but we are biased. At least we looked great next to the other aircraft that were mostly CG. I especially like how the USS Indianapolis berthed right next to the Enola Gay to drop off the bomb...

We all had a good time during the filming and were honored to have helped to portray the story of Lt. Gwinn and his crew and PV-1. I just wish this story could have had a serious budget and had been a better tribute to the crew and family of the USS Indianapolis.

[Taigh Ramey]

More progress on the 1943 Mk 13 aerial torpedo. We were able to free up the turbine shafts and get the buckets to turn as well as the oil pump. Then we tapped into the air system and applied some nitrogen with pretty cool results:

https://youtu.be/7XHqHq5VtCQ

Helps to have a manual for sure.



Considering that it was sitting outside in New Jersey for decades I am amazed at how nice this torpedo is inside. She has some rust and cancer in some of the steel skins but the mechanism is in beautiful shape and is coming back to life nicely. This torpedo is certainly worthy of a complete restoration. For now we will clean and preserve what we have as we continue to learn about it.

I am also amazed at just how beautifully built this is. It really is like a fine watch with intricate machining and craftsmanship. A fine watch that was dropped at speeds up to 300 knots at all kinds of altitudes and would smash into the water and yet drive straight and true to its target.

This is a whole new type of aircraft armament that is certainly fun to learn about. What happened inside of this device once it was dropped is very fascinating.

[Rod Schneider]

Now, that is totally cool! First time I've seen how a torpedo functions. Thanks!!!!

[Taigh Ramey]

Now, that is totally cool! First time I've seen how a torpedo functions. Thanks!!!!

Funny, me too!

It is very cool. I love the little oil pump pistons working away to lube the turbine shafts. The whole afterbody was pressurized with air presumably to keep water out that would interfere with operations. Our torpedo had panels cut out to allow access for training so it is a long way from being air tight but thankfully it appears to be very complete.

We will clean it up. strip the paint and refinish it and hang it in the Harpoon. We will fly with it but not on a regular basis as it weighs a bit over 1600 pounds.

Now we have to get out high pack air compressor up so we have high pressure air. We went through that full nitrogen bottle pretty quickly! The Cletrac also has a high pressure compressor and we have a small portable one too so we should be good on 2000+ psi air.

This thing is awesome!

[phil65]

Sounds like it deserves to be in a museum...

Phil

[pontiac58]

So cool!!!! you guys do so amazing jobs. keep it up

[KC10Boom]

I absolutely love that one of your goals is to get all of the original radios and radar working. Excellent job!