JohnB wrote:
Coastiejohn...Your information contradicts what the owner/restorer told me about the airframe...see the third post in this thread. Namely it was never a fire bomber and has its original nose. When the owner showed me the aircraft a few years back, he did not mention redoing the nose and from my close examination of it from a insistence stand, it certainly looked to be original, it's unpainted and the metal matched everything else. Someone is wrong.
JohnB - just to stick my nose in here - whilst it is hard to contradict the aircraft's owner, it is nonetheless a fact that before he restored the bow turret area it was covered with a large clipper bow which covered the original turret fittings. In addition, despite the owner apparently saying it was never converted for water bombing, this is contradicted by the FAA Airworthiness file.
In an earlier thread on this forum which had drifted onto the subject of this aircraft I commented: "Notwithstanding what the current owner says about BuNo 64017/N9825Z (and I guess he ought to know), the FAA Airworthiness file has a document within it dated 26Jun63 stating that, whilst owned by the Florida Board of Forestry, Florida Forest Service, work was carried out by Max E Horn, Tallahassee, FL. This work included, and I quote: "Converted space between bulkheads 4 and 5 into chemical tanks to be used for fire bombing." The document goes on to quote dimensions and there is also a related drawing showing the tank installation and drop door arrangement. This PBY was registered to the Florida Board of Forestry between 18Aug61 and 25Apr73 when it was acquired by SLAFCO. So it may be a reasonable assumption that it was indeed used as a fire fighter during that time (and, although I have no proof) may have carried the tanker code '158' previously mentioned. I am not aware that it flew as a fire fighter after acquisition by SLAFCO however."
Referring back to that document now, I see that it also states: "...modified nose of hull by installing a fibreglass fairing built by Demers Aircraft of Aurora, Oregon."
None of the above is to denigrate the great work that Rick Petersen has carried out on his PBY-6A over the years and I hope he eventually gets it to flying condition.