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Aircraft Restoration

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AngliaGT said:
I found a Friend of mine,who I've known since Junior High
works restoring WWII aircraft.He told me that most of the places
doing restorations know each other.

- Doug

www.vulturesrowaviation.com
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I don't know the folks at Vulture's Row personally, but I have been following their work on their Douglas Dauntless and Curtiss Helldiver. It's definitely a first class operation. The Warbird community is a very tight knit one. There is seldom more than two or three degrees of separation between everyone. Even if you don't know somebody personally, chances are you know someone who does.

I'm definitely finding similarities in the LBC community and the warbird one. What I have found is that gearheads are gearheads no matter what they work on: airplanes, cars, steam locomotives, boats. I think this commonality among mechanical communities has something to do with being able to work with your hands, to create, to repair, to restore...and having the patience to know that while instant gratification can be more immediate, there simply is no comparison to the gratification from being able to toil on a project day in and day out until that one day you can say "Look at what I did!".
 
Heard big lumbering radials overhead Sunday afternoon. Ran out of the garage to see a B-17 overhead. And a Cessna 172-ish craft flying around. I suspect the Cessna was flying photo-chase.

The B-17 has come to the local executive airport in the past, seems like about every six months. Those big old radials are distinctive.
 
Taxi test last week....first post-restoration flight could be this Friday if all the stars line up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXb38oP-T40#t=67

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zXb38oP-T40?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Those TBMs were quite an aircraft! Built like a tank, lots of power and bigger than most folks think. I hope the flight goes well and she adorns the sky as she did many years ago! I knew of three that were used for fire bombing back in the early 60s. They weren't as classy looking as this old girl. PJ
 
This particular Avenger was one of the later TBMs made...production date was July 1945. It was assigned to a stateside Marine unit before being sent up north for service with the Royal Canadian Navy as an anti-sub plane. After it's retirement in '59 or '60, it saw service as a Fire Bomber for a lot of years as Tanker #18 ultimately ending up at Forest Protection Limited up in New Brunswick. Unlike many of the TBM air tankers, this one never operated in the United States.

And, yes, they are tough. There is a metal patch on the left wing that is still on the plane from the time it hit a telephone pole after a water drop. It sliced through the telephone pole, flew back to its base, was repaired and continued like nothing ever happened. People seem to underestimate how big they are! The Avenger has a 54 foot wingspan...bigger than a twin-engine P-38. Empty weight is in the 12 - 14,000 pound range, IIRC. I know we once had to push the plane by human power back into the hangar. After trying to wrestle the plane, I have a whole new appreciation for Navy deck hands that had to do this on a pitching flight deck, in poor weather conditions, and sometimes even under fire.
 
I've loved radial engines since I was a little kid; my grandfather wrneched on quite a few old war birds in the 40s and 50s when he was a machist mate. He told me all about F6Fs F4Us F7Fs F8Fs SBDs TBFs, all that good stuff. When I was about 10 the Confederate Air Force came to Lawton with a B-17 and a B-24. My grandad brought me to the airport to see them, when both of those planes engines were fired up it was a heck of a racket. I loved the sound of those big radials and anytime I hear one I think of him.
 
Back in the dark ages, I had a couple rides in a 24. How can I describe the flights? Well if you fly in one in the winter, you need 40 pounds of clothes on, insulated boots head gear and ear plugs! Rattle so bad you think it's falling apart! I really respect those guys that had to spend hours in them under all kinds of unfavorable conditions. Went to school for F4Us, Norman Oklahoma! I could go on for hrs, but I won't. Didn't mean to hijack this post, talking airplanes, especially old ones, gets me going. Memories, love them! :jester: PJ
 
Paul, my grandads last active posting was at Norman in 54.
 
waltesefalcon said:
Paul, my grandads last active posting was at Norman in 54.
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Walter, I went there in the Spring of 56! What was your Grandads job there? Wow, that seems forever ago! Remember a gang of us went to see the movie Oklahoma. I still remember what the theater looked like, real fancy for a country kid! :encouragement: PJ
 
Paul, he was a machinists mate 2. He was a crew chief for a few different birds during his time in the service, I'm not sure what he was working on in Norman though.
 
Perfectly okay to hijack this thread. I have yet to hear a bad Round Engine story.

Radials are very distinctive. I remember getting in late one night from a gig and sleeping in. In my half-twilight of a lightened bedroom, I heard the distinctive sound of multiple radial engines. I went straight for the window and looked out just in time to see the Collings Foundation's B-17 come right over the backyard. They were down at Montgomery Airpark, a few miles down the road doing their rides. Another time, I was in the backyard putting together a swingset for my daughter when I heard that radial sound again. This time, it was their B-24. I involuntarily started jumping up and down like a seven year old.

More than just the machines, the stories of the men who flew them and maintained them are, to me, even more fascinating than the actual planes.
 
I couldn't count the hours I spent in my old Stearman! The sound of the engine, the smell of avgas fumes from the exhaust, a faint smell of oil fumes, the wind blowing in your face, plus the fact that she would take 10 Gs and you could take her up, tear the sky up and have no fear of breaking her! In my mind, I can still smell that airplane today. Most of you have seen her. I had these done in B&L to give the photos the aged look they deserve. She just got new sneakers in the bottom photo. Notice the crank behind the engine! :encouragement: PJ

Flew that 25 a few times, one of the sweetest flying machines you'll ever crawl into! Propeller tips are so close, you need ear plugs on top of your ear plugs under your head set! You can't hear anything during take off! :highly_amused:



 
25s always seem louder with their two engines than 17s do with four. I think their short exhaust stacks have something to do with it as well. I was told that anyone who flew in the cockpit of a B-25 for any length of time has ended up suffering from hearing loss. Where is that particular 25 now?
 
On my bookshelf are my Dad's "Operator's Handbook" marked "Restricted" for the Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp and Twin Wasp along with his War Training Blue Print & Mathematics handbook. Both Mom and Dad worked at "the aircraft" during WWII. Whenever I had a problem with my bugeye, Mom would offer her expert opinion followed by "I used to grind valves on airplane engines during the war, you know." Given her abilities as a diagnostician and as I was a smart-assed teenager I would always reply, "It's a miracle we won the war." Dad, was an engine tester and always told the story that on the day I was born he was locked in the engine test room when someone thought it would be a good idea to fire one up. He said the only way he got out was to use his flashlight to signal the operator. Never knew if it was a true story, but I never knew my Dad to tell a lie. He said the flashlight was powered by Ray-o-vac batteries and that he sent his story to the company to be used in one of the radio commercials they used to run about how their batteries saved lives. He was pretty disappointed it never made it on the radio.
 
SaxMan said:
25s always seem louder with their two engines than 17s do with four. I think their short exhaust stacks have something to do with it as well. I was told that anyone who flew in the cockpit of a B-25 for any length of time has ended up suffering from hearing loss. Where is that particular 25 now?
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I have no idea! Sorry. That particular aircraft belonged to Philco Radio Corp. at the time. PJ
 
Paul - on the Stearman, what did the crank do? Some kind of inertial starter?
 
NutmegCT said:
Paul - on the Stearman, what did the crank do? Some kind of inertial starter?
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Wind-up key. :smile:blush: Sorry, couldn't resist!)
 
Mickey Richaud said:
Wind-up key. :smile:blush: Sorry, couldn't resist!)
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And it turns when you drive!

Wind-up-Beetle.png


Note the rear window. That's an OLD Beetle!
 
NutmegCT said:
Paul - on the Stearman, what did the crank do? Some kind of inertial starter?
Click to expand...

Yes, internal inertia starter Tom. My aircraft had no electrical system installed. It was strictly military in configuration. About 10 turns would get the flywheel up to speed, then pull the crank out and pull the clutch engage knob to spin the engine. I used to hand prop it when it was cold, but had to use the starter when hot. No on board radio, had to use a hand set all the time. Most Stearmans seen today have metal sticks in them, mine was early enough that it had varnished ash wood sticks! (Baseball bats)! PJ
 
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