Warbird Information Exchange

Some actual P-39 news will follow this quick blurb about the shirts...Thanks to everyone who is adding a few extra bucks to their shirt order. You might not think it's much, but given how many are chipping in $5 or more into the kitty, it's really starting to add up! Like the saying goes, "Small strokes fell great oaks".

Now for the news. Unless something changes, the P-39 could be back home at the Cobra Den by the end of the weekend! Stay tuned!

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Mike

Tell us again how to order shirts.

Just got an E-mail, the T-shirts are ready to be picked up! I'll go get them after work today. After we get back from the P-39 recovery on Saturday, I'll start filling the orders that I have checks for. So hurry and get your check in the mail! I did order a few extra, and we are going to place another order this week so we can carry them in our PX.

Send the check ($20 per shirt, plus $5 for postage for up to two shirts) to:

CenTex Wing, CAF
Cobra Den T-shirts
1841 Airport Dr
San Marcos TX 78666

Be sure to put a piece of paper in, along with the check, with your WIX name, shirt size and how many, and your mailing address.

I hear that they turned out awesome! As soon as I can, I'll get pictures to post.

Hopefully, after the weekend, there will be a report on the flight back to San Marcos of the Airacobra! Work is progressing well on the King Cobra, and we are thinking they will both be ready for Airsho and WOH (crossing fingers, and orders to shoot Murphy on site!).

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Mike

Oh, there's a rumor floating around the Cobra Den hangar that there might soon be patches and stickers as well! Stay tuned!!!

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Mike

Shirts are IN HAND!!! They are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! Two color modified Cobra Den logo on the front left chest, SEVEN color full-size logo on the back. Very sharply done!

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Mike

I bet the patches and decals will look better What is the drill for Saturday??

Check for 1 Large shirt (and a little extra) in the mail to you tomorrow morning.

We'll find out today if the mission is on for sure, but the plan is to load up in the U-11 before sun up and make a "Dawn Patrol" trip to Tyler. That will give us the most time to work in the hangar while it's still somewhat cool, and humid I'm sure, to effect a field repair to the leading edge. If all goes according to plan the U-11 will fly back with the P-39, either as lead, or on the wing.

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Mike

Mike,

Are you folks able to take a plastic payment?

Rick

Rick,

We can do that. Not sure the best way to get the info to us though. Your thoughts?

Mike

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Mike

Check, extra $ for "the kitty", my info, etc. in mail today for one adult large t-shirt.

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Steve Turner, USAF aircraft refueler 54+ years ago.

The latest on the P-39 is....it's still in Tyler.....but hopefully not for long, and not due to any problems with the plane. Ray, Jim, Grant, and I showed up at the San Marcos airport before sunrise with the plan to launch in the U-11 as the sun came up so as to maximize the cooler (high 70's) time for working in the HAMM hangar. San Marcos was 900' overcast, wouldn't you know it. Weather brief said an Airmet for IFR conditions was out until 9am local. Dang it! But then the clouds just went away! We launched about 7:20ish for Tyler and spent about half the trip VFR on top. The undercast wasn't solid, but looked so pretty from above with the rising sun (right in my face!).

We are very pleased with the work we accomplished, and most likely would have been able to get the P-39 home yesterday, if it weren't for an equipment malfunction. The pneumatic rivet puller we took decided it didn't want to work. The fine folks at HAMM were happy to loan us one. It didn't work either. Neither did their other two. What are the odds that zero out of four would work? So it was time to break out the manual rivet pullers. That was slow, and took it's toll on hands. We decided that we'd stop work and clean up the area at 4:30pm, as it was evident that we wouldn't be able to finish that day. It was a cool 97 degrees in the hangar by this time.

Tools and people loaded back up in the U-11 to head home, with a slight deviation to Rusk County Airport for fuel. Two weeks ago it was $3.10 per gallon. The cheapest at Tyler was $4.60/gal, so the 35 mile deviation would be worth the $150 savings as I needed at least 100 gallons. As we rolled out we saw two other planes at the pumps. We got out and learned the price had gone up to $3.29/gal, which was still a good deal, but the line of planes was due to the pump not working! We finally found a number for the airport manager and a cell phone that would work (AT&T phones didn't have service!). The guy came out but wasn't able to get the automated fuel pump to reset. By this time there were four planes waiting for fuel. Everyone left for other airports along their routes that had decent fuel prices. We went to Athens, about 57 miles away, but pretty much on the flight path.

When we got to Athens, we rolled up to the self-serve AvFuel pumps and started to top off. Three tries and the pump kept shutting off!!! What's up with these self-serve pumps? Thankfully we saw a Phillips 66 FBO just down the field. I walked over there only to find the pump wasn't self-serve, and it was closed. I'm thinking what are we going to do now as I was pretty much on Bingo fuel getting there. Thankfully the owner had every number possible to contact him on the door, AND my AT&T cell phone had service! He was a very nice guy and said he'd be there in about ten minutes. I got the U-11 and moved it to his pump and we all enjoyed the breeze, sitting in the rocking chairs under his porch as we waited for him. He showed up and I topped off with 111 gallons, we paid and four exhausted guys headed home finally.

The sun was just disappearing behind the San Marcos hills as we touched down on runway 26, turned off on Charlie and went to the CenTex Wing hangar to unload the tools and get a much deserved cold one! So she's close to coming home, but it's going to take another trip. Hopefully that will be soon!

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Mike

Well, since Mike has already given you the maintenance update, I'll just shut up and post the pictures...

First, an excerpt from my damage report:

“Damage to the aircraft from the landing incident of 03 July 2010 was found to be largely concentrated on the leading edge of the left wing. Minor dents were found on the bottom of the left wing on the oxygen bottle storage bay door, both flaps, and the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer. Additionally, the left landing gear door leading edge was bent. None of the control surfaces was damaged in the incident and all appeared to function freely and normally when operated by Centex P-39 pilot Grant Lannon. The control cables, pulleys, and their attachment casting are undamaged. The flaps operated normally, also. Except for paint chipped by debris, the landing gear show no signs of any damage and are fully extended and locked. The fuselage shows no sign of damage. A centerline fuel tank was attached to the underside of the aircraft at the time of the incident. The tank was dented on the lower right front surface, but is believed to be repairable. The propeller shows no sign of damage whatsoever and was apparently not involved. There was no debris observed in the cooling ductwork and no unusual coolant or oil leakage was observed under the aircraft.”

Now, the pics. We put tape marks every two feet down the wing for reference. Each photo details a two foot "frame" and there was no damage after the hole at the ten foot mark.







The photo above shows the ugliest damage. Still, the control cables visible are free and clear, the pitot tubes and wiring are undamaged. Another photo will show this spot again.





So we got there and got things cleaned up and pretty much back into shape. After another checkout, we fitted the three temporary leading edge patches and were ready to rivet when we found all four pneumatic riveters failed.





Above is the worst hole after removing much of the damaged metal...



Above, Jim Liles drills the "anchor" rivet holes, where I knew there was solid metal underneath for riveting.



Here is the wing as we had to leave it, partially riveted. We will return next Saturday to finish the job, test the flight characteristics of the temporary repair, and bring her back to the Cobra Den.

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Ray Clausen
Maintenance Officer
Centex Wing of the CAF

We are all going to try to remember to take our Cobra Den T-shirts along so we can change into a clean shirt for the flight testing...just for luck!

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Mike

Just a quick reminder, if you placed an order for Cobra Den T-shirts, PLEASE be sure to get your check and info in the mail as soon as you can.

Thanks!

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Mike