On A Sunny Day In Florida.......

[CoastieJohn]

......... while home for Christmas, I heard some old gems were at a local repair spot undergoing various phases of maintenance and repair. I had the priviledge of getting some close ups. While there, some WWII DAV's were there doing a tour. They had some great stories. It seems like everytime I go home this repair place always has something of interest being worked on. It's a great place to see history. Note - I didn't see any numbers on the second P-51 in primer.

[JohnTerrell]

A great place that is, American Aero Services! The Mustang under restoration (in primer) is the Collings Foundation's rare A-36 Invader/Apache: http://americanaeroservices.com/cgi-bin ... &type=5088

[svengi]

They have some more information on the a-36 at their website: http://americanaeroservices.com/cgi-bin ... &type=5088


Edit: Oops, looks like i was too late! =)

Last edited by svengi on Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[The Inspector]

An interesting issue with the DC-3 pictured. The FAA shows N 600NA as a DC-3A and a s/n-l/n as 3921. ABCD shows l/n 3921 as being reserved for a DB-7 to be built by Boeing, I'm wondering if the FAA listed s/n-l/n is bogus or mis listed, any chance of getting into the cockpit and reading the data plate on the bulkhead behind the right seat?

[CoastieJohn]

Yes....they do some great work from what I can tell. They're very good about letting folks look at their projects and that's one reason I like checking them out when down in Florida. They always have something cool going on down there.

[CoastieJohn]

An interesting issue with the DC-3 pictured. The FAA shows N 600NA as a DC-3A and a s/n-l/n as 3921. ABCD shows l/n 3921 as being reserved for a DB-7 to be built by Boeing, I'm wondering if the FAA listed s/n-l/n is bogus or mis listed, any chance of getting into the cockpit and reading the data plate on the bulkhead behind the right seat?

I'm in town for a couple more days. If I go that direction I'll see if it's doable. I thought the door was padlocked?? Could that have been a CIA plane? I'm thinking I read something like that a few years back but I could be mistaken.

I'm not a expert on s/n display requirements but the 909 has two different ones showing. The display board will show 44-83575. As you can see in the pic of the nose art, the other is 42-31909. Is that just for the replication of the original 909?? My airplane guy was saying that plane came out of Kingman, AZ. It used to drop life rafts back in the day.

[The Inspector]

44-83575 is the true s/n of B-17G-85-DL, the designation was changed to B-17H and then SB-17G by the A.F. and it did serve in Air-Sea rescue service it then went through a nuclear bomb test, then to the civilian market as N 93012 and was a borate bomber for around 20 years then in 1986 sold to Collings Foundation and repainted as 42-31909.

[Andy Marden]

An interesting issue with the DC-3 pictured. The FAA shows N 600NA as a DC-3A and a s/n-l/n as 3921. ABCD shows l/n 3921 as being reserved for a DB-7 to be built by Boeing, I'm wondering if the FAA listed s/n-l/n is bogus or mis listed, any chance of getting into the cockpit and reading the data plate on the bulkhead behind the right seat?

Inspector,
Slight touch of dyslexia. The FAA shows N600NA as serial number 3291, which is correct.
Andy Marden

[The Inspector]

YEP! the errant digit strikes again-thanx!