Warbird Information Exchange

Hello Folks:

Let's see some updated photos of your projects. I've posted a few titled"News 28 Jan 2005.":

http://community.webshots.com/user/harvardiv

We're finishing up our third Beaver right now, and our Willys Jeep is being rebuilt.

She'll be in RCAF markings!

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

Hi Ollie:

Great, let's see some pictures!

BDK:

I was looking at your webshots page, and noticed your project has the old locking tailwheel mechanism on it. Are you going with the locking or steerable? Interestingly my Harvard had the locking type on it too, but I've replaced it with the steerable. Yours was a Harvard also, so I'm wondering why the locking t/w on both of our aircraft? Was yours in the group the came out of Falcon Field, AZ in the early to mid 70's?

Chris

Both our Harvards came out of there!

One's flying, the other's in storage.

I'll post pics of the Jeep when it starts to look like one!

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

Hi Ollie:

Mine came out of there too!

Then it's all good.

I hope that one day we'll put the other one together...

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

Tell me more about the Falcon Field Harvard IV's! It is the first I've heard of it. Were they without engines? How did they come to be there?

I don't have any of the old history, nor do I know the RCAF number. If anyone can figure out how to determine this without the Harvard dataplate, I sure would like to hear from them. When I got the plane it had a damaged wing, so I suspect it was washed out of the RCAF after a groundloop and surplused shortly thereafter.

My understanding about the tailwheel:

When the previous owner (a good friend of mine) negotiated for and purchased the airplane (on consignment from Dennis Beuhn at Warbirds West in Compton, CA at the time) it had the steerable tailwheel. When he came out to pick the plane up, the steerable tailwheel parts were mysteriously missing, but some parts were recovered from Warbird West's bench(!). The steerable tailwheel function has now been restored. Apparently they went to the trouble to climb into the tailcone and drill off some pulley brackets for the steering cables in addition to removing parts from the tailwheel assembly itself. They also put in the kinked shock strut and swapped out the vertical stabilizer forward attach (different between the non-steerable and the steerable). Conveniently, they put the 4 bolts in the attach angles they swapped out but didn't bother to install any of the rivets. Luckily I was afforded the opportunity to purchase all the missing parts myself at great expense and install them.

Oh, and somewhere along the line the Harvard rear canopy disappeared and had a T-6 one butchered into place. Basically everything screwed up on the plane came from disreputable civilian mechanics and/or brokers stealing parts to put on various T-6 racers around Compton in the 1980's.

My father and I are building this little RV-4. This is the progress as of about three or four months ago. The wings are now basically done, and the fuselage kit should be arriving this week. Should be a fun little scooter when we're done.

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Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

Hi Brandon:



Supposedly, after being offered on the market by "Royal Assets" in Manitoba abound '68 or '69, several were purchased by someoine at Falcon Field. So they went there until they were bought up, probably cheap. I think they were bought up by the late 70's. A fellow at the airport told me that the Harvards were all in Trade-A-Plane for pretty cheap direct from Canada.



Probably, if you trace the previous owners back far enough, and ity goes to Arizona, you can probably find out if it was at Falcon Field, and narrow down the s/n from the Falcon Field list.

Mine came from Falcon Field too, and probably was cannabilized in the 60's in Manitoba. The reason why I know is that a T-6 collector in Alaska told me hehad a picture of the Falcon Field T-6's, and he said mine still looked the same now as it did in the early 70's at Falcon.

Rob:

The RV looks good, I know a guy at the airport who built up a RV-7, and test flies it now. He says it cruises at 190 mph.

Well, what about Ollies 2nd one?

Chris

20342.




Do a search on Transport Canada for C-FBQB.

C-GBQB is 20352.

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

Since the paperwork was purchased for this aircraft there is no real ownership trail for the airframe or any information in my posession before about 1980.

ROB, 20380 should be CCF # 171 (not 169) based on the correlation to the other numbers.

Anyone have info on the current whereabouts of the following?

20302 93
20390 181
20405 196
20409 200
20437 228

Does Transport Canada have a website to look up serial numbers and registration numbers?

I doubt it. He just brokered my airplane (twice in fact). I have no information that he owned any of the Falcon Field aircraft.

Wow, I think we could start the "ex-Mesa-now-WIX-Harvard IV-Squadron", and Ollie has a spare! I have 20345 in storage. Brandon, I could just cut and paste your description - same missing hood (try and find one - where the heck could they all have gone???); same missing tailwheel assembly, right down to the drilled out brackets for the pulleys. I remember dissassembling my tailwheel shock strut and finding some missing packing glands. Guess I better check more thoroughly to see if it is straight, but my project is in deep storage now, waiting until they make 28 hour days, I guess. I did get RCAF paperwork with my airplane, but also the fuselage and wings were still painted and 20345 was on them. As I recall, one of my wings came from Les Crowder's project and he got one of mine. Both our airplanes came out of Frank Taylor's shop at Chino in 1984. No idea who all owned them between RCAF and Taylor.

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Rob C

Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. “

– Michael Crichton

What I'd like to know is wether our two Harvards had anything to do with the Goldilocks.

Not that we would paint them in a scheme with what is now Ontario's flag on the tail. RAF finflash all the way!

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB