Gary ~ What's The Plan For Diamond Lil ? 2006 and Beyond!

[peter]

Shame about the interior of the tail gunners area but hey thats small beans compared to the mountain of work you have done already!

[retroaviation]

Gary,

Have you given any thought to how the left waist gunner position will be handled? It looks like the bottom of the opening is just about where the waist gunner will be. Just curious, I know it won't be this year.

RICK

The plan is to put the left waist gunner's position in, just like it's supposed to be. The only thing is that the stupid entry door will be below it. I made the door the length that it is just for that reason. The idea we had to display it on tour was to have the right waist gunner's position where folks could play with the gun and the left waist gunner's gun in the stowed position, to show everyone both configurations of the guns (stowed and active).

Naturally, there will be no left waist gunner's position this year, but I will have the gun in a stowed position (of sorts) for this year's tour.

Gary

[mustangdriver]

I like the not finished tail area. It has war bird writen all over it. Great job Gary. That lady sounds like she is a non aviation buff, therefore her opinions do not count in a hangar.

[retroaviation]

Shame about the interior of the tail gunners area but hey thats small beans compared to the mountain of work you have done already!

I agree Peter. You never know...I may get back there and shoot some of that Consolidated green in the tailgunner's area, but I've just got to see if I can squeeze it in. It drives me nuts to see it like that.

I do need to comment on one thing about that tailgunner's position though. When you go back there (slow and methodical, as not to bash your head on all of the head knockers all over the place), and you sit down and take aim, the first thoughts that come to mind are "cool," or "awesome," or "ratta-tatta-tatta-tat" (poor attempt at machine gun sounds). But after just a few moments, when the coolness subsides, you get a feeling of humility when you realize what little protection these tailgunners had against the bad guys that were to be shooting at them. I have such a huge respect for any of the bomber crews that fought during WWII (especially tail and ball turret gunners), from the tailgunners in their lonely pressurized compartments in the B-29's, to the cramped and restricting quarters in the tail or ball of a B-17. But there's not one gunner's position that I've personally been in that gives you the sense of vunerability and exposure than the one in this B-24A. It's no wonder they only made a handful of these designs before making substantial changes.

As with every day that I have the priviledge of working on these fine old pieces of history, my hat is off to those who flew and maintained them in order to keep us free.

Gary

[Old SAR pilot]

.....Swiped Gary's axle, so's he can't get wrapped around it (at least for a while!



Now.....about that "witch with a capital B"....lessee....

Last edited by Old SAR pilot on Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:48 am, edited 2 times in total.

[snjfxr]

DITTO, that last paragraph Gary Glad to see you had so much help lately.
I wanted to take this time to mention to all the WIXERS out there that as of today, $12,800 has been donated since we made the offer of "THE PIECES OF LIL" Thank's to you all!!
I still have more to send out, so please continue to send what you can. $100.00 is all it takes to get a piece of this historic restoration. I also add that they have been signed by Mr. Austin.

I just love sending these things out!!
THANK"S AGAIN!!
DAVE

[APG85]

Gary,
What's the San Diego Air & Space Museum doing with a B-24 Waist Gunner's Door (they don't have a B-24)? They wouldn't consider donating it? Just curious...

[retroaviation]

Gary,
What's the San Diego Air & Space Museum doing with a B-24 Waist Gunner's Door (they don't have a B-24)? They wouldn't consider donating it? Just curious...

They ended up with all of the stuff that Ed Kaletta had for sale. He and I had a verbal deal on it and was just waiting for him to come and check out what we had in person (even though he'd seen all of the pictures of what we were trading). After a couple of months of nothing happening, I asked him if we could get this show on the road since I was running out of time. He simply replied, "I already sold that stuff." He wouldn't tell me to whom he sold it, but it didn't take Dick Tracy to figure out it all went to the SDAM.

The folks at SDAM offered to sell the doors to us, but we simply couldn't afford their asking price, nor could we find a reasonable compromise. However, they were very understanding of my situation with dealing with Ed and my upcoming deadline, so they were gracious enough to loan one door to me so that I could use it as a pattern. I only have a few weeks before I must send it back, but that should be enough time for me to get all of the measurements I need to make a reasonable duplicate.

My hope is to one day acquire some real doors and not have to be stuck with the Austinized doors I'm force to make now. But until then, we'll just have to make due.

Again, I have to emphasize that had the San Diego Air & Space Museum not been kind enough to help us with this, I'd be in a much bigger bind than I currently am.

Gary

[Dan K]

Gary: Simply fantastic what you've done with a volunteer crew in such a short period of time.

Question: Will Ol' 927 have a toilet installed? The reason I ask is that perhaps that would be an appropriate location to mount a plaque honoring Mr. Kaletta's help with this project.

[retroaviation]

Question: Will Ol' 927 have a toilet installed? The reason I ask is that perhaps that would be an appropriate location to mount a plaque honoring Mr. Kaletta's help with this project.

Hmmm, well it does have a relief tube.

Actually, like in any industry, there are some folks in the Warbird world that are just more difficult to deal with than others. All we can do is try the best we can to make a good, honest deal, and hope that the other party is willing to do the same. Although we didn't get the results we wished for with the stash of B-24 parts that we were working with on that deal, we've had other very good results with others out there. Questmasters is a good example of one of the good ones. When we made the deal for the bomb doors and racks, I think that both he and the B-29/B-24 Squadron left feeling quite happy with the transaction that just took place.

There's lots of good folks in this industry. I'm not going to let one bad deal ruin my outlook on dealing with everyone else.

Gary

[Alan Brooks]

WOW!!!!!!!! Gary, since I was just there two weeks ago, once again, the transformation just keeps going, and going......... Ok, not to get ya' wrapped around the axle again, (well, no, that's been taken away ), but does Bill Coombes and the High Sky Wing have the rudders almost done..... I know that from speaking with Randy Wilson the other day in the hanger, that those have been a big (literally) pain in the butt to complete.... with the elevators not to far behind. The right side waist gunner station looks so cool...... I'm really glad that skin came out that clean....never thought that white paint was gonna come off! I don't know what super secret stuff you still have planned, but this ol' 297 project has hit OVERDRIVE! Alan

[retroaviation]

No real super secret stuff planned, other than unveiling the noseart. I'm just trying to get enough of the airplane finished so that people will recognize it as an airplane by the time May 12 hits.

Lance Sommers, Bill Coombes, and (believe it or not ) Eric Van Hoff are working their butts off to get those control surfaces to me this week. It's nice to see some of the important people stress out a little over this project too.

Gary

[Quest Master]

Gary,
Sorry, busy weekend . I believe we are a go for the G-1 and A-4 oxygen mounts. I'll work on them this year so they can be installed this winter. Just let me know how many G-1 bottles will hang in the tail section of the fuselage and how many A-4 Walk Around bottles will be mounted in the entire fuselage. What type of bottles do you currently have - G-1s or A-4s?

On a separate subject, Ed hasn't had a good history in the past few months. I was working with him to purchase his B-24 (PB4Y2) forward center section for my project (from just forward of the wing to behind the cockpit). Months went by.....I repeatedly asked for pictures and info - no joy. It too went to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. He said he was busy selling his house and business. I guess it happens. No worries, as long as it went to a good home. Preservation - that is the main idea. Nobody actually owns this stuff - we are all just chariots, carrying each part from one day to the other. Ok - I’m off my soap box.

And thanks for the positive feedback on the bomb bay doors and bomb racks. I hate that I gave them up….but looking at Diamond Lil (Diamond in the Ruff) in her new state makes it much easier. Again, I look forward to turning a few bolts with you this winter.

[aabryant]

That's about all I have to say.
You've done quite amazing and inspiring work.
Best wishes from Canada.
Andrew

[sabredriver]

do you CAFians have the CAF crew wear period flightgear at all? it would look better i think...