Warbird Information Exchange

Yeah, sometimes I put the RUDE in erudite, but by "go to work" I mean my day job... not the labor of love that is TEXAS RAIDERS

And give Chris Rhames a bottle of glue!!! I couldn't finish off the Car 54 Where are you? quote without giving away the whole shebang! For some reason I thought that was the funniest line in the movie.

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Re-editted version of this message. I was tired the first time I posted and forgot to note...
TEXAS RAIDERS passed two landing-gear swing tests with the prescribed amount of weight hanging off the mains. The third and final swing will be performed at sign-off time.
Thanks Ken Hyman, LG Team-Leader and ALL who worked on this system.

Bill Steffel and I made the banzai run down to LSFM last Saturday. Jeff Hagen and Bill Reid took pity on us and let us peruse Thunderbird's Verticle Stabilizer rigging and take pictures.
My word T-bird is just as clean and well appointed inside as out!

We drove straight-away back and Bill installed Texas Raiders cable bracket to the bellcrank.

We had a moderate turnout of volunteers and the usual bitchfests AND BELLY-LAUGHS took place, but some work actually got done somehow. My contribution was to put a cleaned up overflow drainblock to the #4 Firewall and discover that the #2 firewall had its captive nut "left-off" on the replacement panel.
Oh well, time to get out the brass wood screws!

Pics should be developed soon.

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Hey Spanner: Some food for thought about the turret question....How about installing the turret ring with a little mod that would allow you to put a flush cover on for cross country moves, but then let you hang a fixed but empty dome for experience flights? Yeah, it means that someone has to climb up and handle the dome when preping the flight and needing some way to store it internally during ferry, but it would give you a good portion of both worlds...

I just happend to catch something on cable tonight, and saw Aluminum Overcast flying with a fixed dome with a set of dummy barrels installed on the outside of the dome. Plenty of room for viewing out of the dome, but much reduced weight onboard.

Might be worth tossing the idea at the group.

Hey Spanner: Some food for thought about the turret question....How about installing the turret ring with a little mod that would allow you to put a flush cover on for cross country moves, but then let you hang a fixed but empty dome for experience flights? Yeah, it means that someone has to climb up and handle the dome when preping the flight and needing some way to store it internally during ferry, but it would give you a good portion of both worlds...

I just happend to catch something on cable tonight, and saw Aluminum Overcast flying with a fixed dome with a set of dummy barrels installed on the outside of the dome. Plenty of room for viewing out of the dome, but much reduced weight onboard.

Might be worth tossing the idea at the group.

Just fer kicks, here's a photo that I shot last year looking out through Aluminum Overcast's replica turret dome:

"The flak over Arlington was so thick you could walk on it. . ."

Cheers!

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Lake Dallas, Republic of Texas

Nice pic Dean. Looks like the love bugs were in full force that day....

The "enemy fire" was even worse over Grand Rapids, MI this past August...



But the view was a bit clearer looking aft..




SN

Those gunners are awesome...every shell up ahead for you guys to fly into it.

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"Anyway, the throat feels a bit rough...the legs have gone...but I'm still able to chant, so let's get going."

Joe Strummer, 1999

Dean, Thanks for those GREAT shots!
The TR already has a mock-up of the top turret.
I finally got some history from the GCW old-timers. So IT HAS to be correct!!!
The airplane came to the CAF with NO turrets whatsoever from an airfield "up near" Dallas.
It had a cargo door and all the combat gear removed so they could carry more oil field equipment with it. (That got us into that old argument that "it is a shame that a Co. got ahold of it and used it for WHATEVER they used it for," but my feeling is IF the Co. DIDN'T get ahold of it and use it for making money it probably would not have survived.)

The ball turret was replaced and the cargo door removed and a mock-up top turret was installed. Not sure in which order.
Ken Hyman went out to secure/buy the top turret mechanisms for the CAF and they were missing the side supports. Repros of those were made.

After Hearing the GCW workers (the ones actually busting knuckles and bleeding over the airplane) AND reading everybody's comments
AND reflecting on how darned cool Thunderbird's set-up is...
It is my opinion, which is worth LESS than a sackful of some kind of holes, that GCW SHOULD PUT THE WHOLE THING BACK IN!
There. I've said it!

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

All photos by Kevin Hong- Our Official GCW Photographer
Thanks LSFM again for the peek!
The Cockpit Troll did his necromancy on this section. The Drift Meter had been UGLY! Barely visible are the tops of the O2 Bottles he painted yellow.
Bill with his handy Bellcrank Work. He IS smiling!!!
Displaying Elan not seen at the Wing since the Good Ol' Days- The Cockpit Troll models his flight suit

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Here's your latest TEXAS RAIDERS update and a CAF Mission Statement drama for your entertainment. OK it's just me ranting like a loon.

This weekend just past we had a good turn out of volunteers who:
Installed accessories on the #2 Firewall and cleaned it some more.
Worked on drilling and tapping a messed up fastener on a starboard wing fuel tank.
Did more "stuff" related to the landing gear? Didn't get their story.
Cleaned #3 Engine- the philosophy being, if I clean it we can see where the new leaks are coming from.
The Cockpit Troll left before I heard what he had been trolling over.
Played the Rumor game.
Somebody asked me about a worst case scenario and I told them how we could get around it.
By the end of the day when the Maintenance Officer got back from his annual (Well deserved day off of) duck hunting... Someone told him I wanted to slap on the wings, sling the engines on, get a ferry permit and fly it away. I never did hear where they thought I was going to fly it. Davis-Monthan? To the Swamps of PNG to replace Swamp Ghost so the snakes and mosquitos won't feel culturally deprived? <-Sarcasm!!!)

Anyway, that got smoothed over, but I expect to hear more about it over the next few weeks.

On The Edge of a Cloud- Dec. 7, 2007

Angel Joe: Hey Smitty, Hey Garcia, come here. You gotta see this!

Angel 1st Class (A1C) Smith: What is it? I don’t see anything.

A1C Garcia: Yeah me neither. Hey, didn’t you used to be an Angel 1st Class? What’s up?

Angel Joe: Oh, yeah. Too much cursing. The OLD MAN didn’t like it and busted me down to Angel. Anyway look down there. Look Closer at Houston, Texas.

A1C Smith: What about it? It’s just a bunch of people fighting. What on Earth is new about that?

A1C Garcia: Yeah, they’re not even going after it hard enough to get themselves a ticket to up here.

Angel Joe: That’s not the point. The deal is they are the Commemorative Air Force. You know. The people who are supposed to be honoring us.

A1C Smith: So what? Ain’t it the way of the world?

Angel Joe: Yeah Maybe. But tell me, where did you buy the farm?

A1c Smith: Riding in the backseat of a Devastator at Midway. Man I get the willies just thinking about those Zeros. We cartwheeled in before we could even make our drop.

Angle Joe: How about you Garcia?

A1C Garcia: I drowned in the Mediterranean coming back from Ploesti.
My B24 ran out of gas after we got shot up by flak. We had to ditch.
I couldn’t make it out so I took a little swim with the fishies.
How about you Joe? You were one of those Glory Boys in B17s out of England weren’t you?

Angel Joe: Yeah, I was flying out of Ridgewell with the 381st, the best Group in the whole Mighty Eighth.

A1C Garcia: Hold on, Hold on. You 8th guys are insufferable. I asked you how? Not with who.

Angel Joe: Sorry. It was over Mercy-Less-Berg!!! We were bombing Merseberg for the umpteenth God-Damned time when my luck ran out.

Kaboom- Lightning lights up the cloud under Angel Joe’s butt and the other two angels back away.

Angel Joe: Sorry LORD!
It’s just those guys down there are squabbling to beat the band over an airplane that is supposed to do us honor. Look at ‘em. Listen to ‘em. Some of ‘em say they aren’t paying their dues if an election doesn’t turn out how they like it. Some of them say they aren’t coming back!!!

A1C Smith: Well I sure wish I could have stayed in my rack on “The Big E” instead of splashing in on the way to meet the Japanese Fleet.

Angel Joe: That is my point exactly. You didn’t! You put on your gear, strapped on your chute and YOU WENT! The both of you!

A1C Garcia: Yeah we went. Wilson over there died in his bunk at Pearl on Dec. 7th. His war was over before it started. No DFCs, No Navy Cross, just a Purple Heart in a box sent to his Momma.

Angel Joe (Voice getting louder and LOUDER): Hell’s Bells! It doesn’t matter where any of us served. We served! I DON’T CARE IF WE DIED OF THE CLAP IN POGO POGO…

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Burnt looking airman with an overseas bag on his shoulder standing in front of the Gates of Hell.

Gate Keeper: Halt! Who Goes There?

Angel Joe: Former Airman First Class Joe reporting for duty as ordered!

Dedicated with more respect than is immediately apparent to Everitt Haughey, USMC – Pearl Harbor to Chosin Reservoir. And his son, David Haughey USMC (ret.) Semper Fi
And My Dad, Wm. M. Price III of the Mighty 8th, 384th Bomb Group (H)

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Un-Official announcement,
But already being gossipped about ALL over the Wing and beyond.

I got myself elected as Wing Leader of...

Commemorative Air Force (CAF ALWAYS COMES FIRST!!!)
Gulf Coast Wing

Prayers for safety and success accepted and Help asked for!!!

Gentlemen (and Ladies)
Let's get a Bomber FLYING!

Merry Christmas,
Don Price

PS
Congratulations to:
Walt Thompson - Operations Officer
Mark Allen- Finance
Craig Freeland - Adjutant

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Support Your Local Warbirds! KBO!
The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Congratulations (or condolences). I wish you and the entire wing success in the new year, and look forward to seeing Raider back where she belongs

THE AIR

Chris

Hearty congratulations Don

Keep the TR restoration updates coming please ~ but do take time out to celebrate a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

Godspeed to all those working towards getting the Gulf Coast Wing B-17 back into the air in 2008.

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Blue Skies .....

Peter

Consolidated by US state ~ see if there's a heavy bomber tour stop coming to an airport near you ...... http://www.bomberflight.info

Warbirdapps on facebook ~ every day a new image from my personal journey thru the world of warbirds ..... https://www.facebook.com/Warbirdapps

Don,
Congrats, I suppose. At least it sounds like its a positive event. lol.
Hmmm...different colored puffs....Dallas and Grand Rapids must use diffferent caliber flaks.
Get her flying first. Go without the turret for a bit. You wanted the 100 mission look after all.
I'll be in touch about Saturdays after the first of the year. I'm starting to get a perverse attraction to Wright Cyclones.
And as for eating off the shiny outside of a certain bomber... YUM! Dead 120W! Breakfast of champions!

Canso42