PV-2 Harpoon

[GARY HILTON]

Rich, once I get 58C back to Missouri, You are more than welcome to come and inspect herany time, I am thinking that maybe in the future, we will be doing restoration BBQ's , and cook-outs and camping during the summer week-ends. My wife makes the best steak and lobster over an open campfire!

[TimAPNY]

I’ve always had a soft spot for the “ugly ducklings” and I remember the first time I saw a Harpoon at an airshow. I can’t say I fell in love but I did take a lot of pictures of it because I liked it. The more I saw the aircraft at airshows the more I liked it. It was not until I watched a couple show on the war in the Aleutian Islands did I truly start to respect and really appreciate the aircraft and the roll it played in the war. I at that point wished there were a few more around that could tell that story of the bravery of the young crews that flew in the worst weather and over a very large and unforgiving ocean.

Thanks for stepping up and saving her.

Tim

[John Lane]

I"ll try in help with your questions or parts! Regards,

[TAdan]

I can still remember seeing "Hot Stuff" @ McGuire AFB in 95...And I thought she was a great looking plane. Ever since then I have thought the PV-2 was a very sharp plane.

I'm glad to hear Gary will be giving one a good home.

[airnutz]

Other two are owned by someone in Louisianna.

Dunno if this is the same fella in Louisiana your thinking of....photos courtesy of C170BDan after one of our little "blows"..
www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpB ... =lakefront

[rwdfresno]

I also believe that "Fat Cat Too," or what is left of her is sitting down in Louisiana. Here are some pictures of better days with that bird.







Here is another beautiful Harpoon, in fact my favorite ever, that was owned by my father's friend the late Doug Lacey. Unfortunately him and the aircraft, and the passengers are no longer with us.



Ryan

[RNDMTRS4EVR]

I can remember when I was at the auction, some guy bid on a bunch of doors, They looked like bomb bay or gear doors. But I remember he was out on the ramp trying to figure out how to load them in his truck, I then saw him jumping up and down on them trying to fold them in half ! I wanted to puke. But oh well it is his stuff. I'm glad to see that another airframe has been saved from the scrapman.
Scott.......

[rwdfresno]

Wow, I hope they weren't bomb doors, they are not easy to come by at all and don;t look like much fun to make. Our two center doors were fixed together at some point as part of the setup for the dry fertilizer hopper. They are going to need some serious sheet metal work to get them back to stock.

[MaydayRanch]

We are trying to remove the wing pins on a Harpoon PV2. Pooner, any chance you still have the tool or pictures/description of the extracting tool you fabricated to remove the pins on yours? We are the new owners of the Harpoon that previously belonged to Lonestar Flight Museum in Texas.

[MaydayRanch]

So lets see some pics posted of everyones Harpoon. I'd love to see them.

Also, if any Harpoon owners want the assembly or parts manual in electronic format I have them both in PDF so PM me.

Ryan

I am definitely interested in those manuals. Unfortunately, I can’t PM you because I’m a newbie...

[MaydayRanch]

[quote="Pooner”]
Fortunately these pins are straight and not tapered (like those on the B-17). They must be pulled out of the wings, and for us this was a MAJOR challenge. We had to make some special tooling in order to do the job as there's no easy way to grab the pin shoulders without the possibility of damaging or distoring the pins. When you get to that point I can send you tooling or drawings for the pullers. We made some undersized "safety pins" for the beast, too, once the "mothers" were :
[/quote]

Pooner, any chance you can help us out with tool fabrication specs to get the pins out? I know it’s been awhile since you posted your adventures with Harpoon wing removal. We have already tried a few extraction methods...

[Pooner]

MaydayRanch,

I'm happy to assist.

Your relative newness to the board won't let me send you information via PM traffic, so feel free to drop me an e-mail. I'll do what I can to provide you with some information that may help with the straight wing pin removal on the Lockheeds. The tooling process is fairly simple and has provided pretty positive results with the limited number of wing pins I've removed.

I can be reached at: nrkropp@msn.com

- Robert in PHX

[GARY HILTON]

Hay Hay! Mayday !
Pooner will do you right....basically what we did on Annie, was to use allthread to screw into the pin, make sure to get a good amount of threads in it, put some large washers over the allthread, so the nut has a large surface to contact. the socket that works best, is an old spark plug socket, that has the six sided end to use a wrench on it. The socket should have a hole large enough to let the allthread go thru it.
I hope you have the appropriate Lockheed curse manual, there is certain language to use on certain parts. I am getting old, so I cannot remember.
Beware, all Harpoons bite, I speak from experience.
Have an adequate supply of 3/8" and 7/16" wrenches and sockets, this is a favorite snack of Harpoons.
If you are removing a part with many bolts, when you think you are removing the last bolt, there will be at least 10 more.....right Pooner?
Also, if you are using a tape measure , getting measurements on a Harpoon, say like to make one fit inside a tight hangar, Pooner can tell you that Harpoons have a mystical effect on the measuring devise, making them give false readings....use a string.
One last piece of advise, get yourself a Werner 6' laddder.....ask Poon Man!

[Taigh Ramey]

Is ferrying the Harpoon out of there a possibility? I would be happy to help. Taking one apart and separating the wing from the fuselage is a massive project. Sometimes it is better to put the same funding in to getting the aircraft flyable instead.

[GARY HILTON]

Taigh, Pooner went down to Texas after the hurricane that hit Galveston to look at the PB4Y. He said that the Harpoon floated around inside the hangar, and thought there might be some corrosion issues in the airframe. I believe that this is probably why not too many folks were interested in her. Hope I am wrong..
G