Warbird Information Exchange

Now if the fuselage was out in the sun and the wing came out from that cool, shady hangar( ) the differential might make a slight difference for a few minutes. I seem to recall that in BIG projects like the St Louis Arch and big bridge projects, it does make a difference when they are trying to attach the last joint in place.

Scott and I drilled out the attach angle yesterday and also finished drilling out the last new stringer. Next week we will shoot a skin.

Dan

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And teh Disney Center. THis is why I asked. I wondered if the fuse was in shade and the wing managed to find its way out into the Camarillo sun if it might hurt something...

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

Jeff and I made good progress yesterday. We finished shooting the ends of the lower aft inboard skin that we had sealed last week. We are finished shooting the lower aft attach angle. We installed the aft inboard casting for the bomb rack hard point. We made up and drilled out two new stiffeners in the oil cooler bay. One of these had to be bent to fit around the ducting but Jeff got it on the first try. We are getting close to finishing with the inboard part of the wing. We have Hi-Locks and a few more rivets and bolts to install and to replace. We have to remove the old steel attachments and replace them with new. It is a complicated area with restricted access so going can be slow. We have several more days to go before we move on. The thing that makes us feel good is that as we work outboard things get much simpler and we have for the most part good access.

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Dan,

I recently found a box of 5/16" draw clecos. Can you guys you some, or are you past the point of shooting large rivets? They need cleaning and some surface rust removal, but the ones I have checked are still in working order. If you don't need them, I them to others on WIX.

RICK

Hi Rick,

Sorry it took so long to respond to you. We are good regarding the clecos. Now if anybody out there has a pristine Mitchell left outer wing…

Dan

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Yes, I remember way back in ’09 helping my old man turn wrenches on the good old PBJ. Yep! Those were the days!

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Dan,
I finally watched the Six Years in Six Minutes video.
AWESOME!

Seeing what all you folks have had to do reminds me of my first car restoration... '62 Jag XKE...which isn't quite finished yet. Gulp.
Similarly, it had some corrosion issues.

Let me go recycle some soda cans and see if I can't send you some money for that matching grant.

Don Price- Wing Leader
Commemorative Air Force- Gulf Coast Wing

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The only reasons the airplanes matter is what the veterans did with them... and why.

Hey Don,

Thank you for the kind words! I’m glad to know that somebody actually “reads” my thread. As you know it is all about membership and support. Considering your profession I am humbled by your praise. You made my day!

All the best,

Dan

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Yesterday it was just Marc, Ken and your humble reporter. Jeff and I had removed the inspection panels from the tail and looked it over on Monday and Jeff wanted Marc to double check things, which he did first thing. I heard Marc muttering so naturally I assumed that he had found something we had missed on Monday. When I asked him to repeat what he said he exclaimed, “darn, Iran does good work!” and after anointing the empennage with holy water Marc gave it his blessing.

Next on the list was, after a three-year hiatus, an attempt at completing the work on the right wing lower attach angle, the one just outboard of the nacelle. The Hi-Locks are now installed as well as the top plate over the double hat channels. We also located and shot a bracket on the front spar. Ken made up retainers for the tank liners. We have a good days work to do yet but we are getting close to checking that bay off of our list.

Dan

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Dan, Marc and all who are working on the PBJ,

Keep up the good work. I check in here frequently to look at your progress, which seems to be progressing nicely, and I particularly enjoy the pictures. Thanks for posting and thanks for what you folks are doing, keeping the legacy of our veterans alive!

Greg

Thanks so much Greg!

It is nice to be appreciated! We hope to have one of those “landmark” days this Tuesday. Marc will be back from his London trip (Untidy) and Scott just completed his 15 day freight dog in Africa adventure and the rest of the crew was available sooo…

We will hang our nice newly recovered and painted elevators on the bird! I will take a lot of photos and have them posted by Wednesday.

Dan

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Dan, I have watched and read this thread from beginning to this reply. Cool video too by the way. You guys are doing a fantastic job in rebuilding this former Contential Airlines "shuttle" airplane. It will be Awesome to see her in the air. I would love to see her on a flight line with Miss Hap, a C,D, Barbie, or 10V, a Bombardier version and attach version of the J model, and this PBJ. Too bad the B is on a back burner, and, wasn't there a G model "discovered" back in the 80s rotting in a jungle in the South Pacific somwhere with the canon still installed.
At any rate, super job (understatement). Ya'll be careful.

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

Gosh Gary you guys are makin me blush!!!

Thanks buddy,

Dan

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Matching Grants are good, if you have the cash to go with them. It seems that it also goes so easy when you have it.

We got $25K in Matching Grants for our A-26 project, and it paid half of the cost for 1st engine overhaul. Now to get more cash for second engine and hope for another matching grant.

Visit the A-26 sticky, I am working on updating it when I can.

Kurt, the Crew Chief
Sierra Hotel A-26 Support Group (CAF)

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A-7D, the Short Little Ugly "Flyer" and A-10A Warthog, weren't called an ATTACK plane for nothing. Remember for a little relief on the ground, call your local Air Force to "Go Ugly Early"!