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Sun Sep 06, 2009 9:32 pm
Here's the man hinself.
1Lt Bill Fiedler on P-39N at Ftr Two on Guadalcanal May 1943.
1Lt Bill Fiedler on P-39N at Ftr Two on Guadalcanal May 1943.
Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:44 am
I might add that the safe place the P-63F is locked up in, waiting to move to the Cobra Den is NOT Ober's secret bunker! (But he wishes it was!)
Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:53 am
What?! Didn't know the secret Pass Phrase to get in? This week I think it was "I have the case of iced Shiner Bock" 
Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:46 pm
SSSSSH Holedigger! Now I'll have to change the codeword, thank goodness you didn't give away the secret hand shake. Lady O-2 pilot will be pissed if a bunch of nesters get into the bunker and mess with her airplane. They will probably stick a tramp stamp on it, or better yet paint it on permanent!
Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:47 pm
No, we were afraid that if we put it in there, we might not get it back! Cuz likes to collect all sorts of things!
Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:20 pm
I've heard a rumor that if you are on I-35 between San Marcos and the north side of San Antonio around 4pm today, you might see a silver and zinc chromate P-63F fuselage heading northbound! It should arrive in the Cobra Den just in time to get unloaded and be on display for the wing meeting tonight.
Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:04 am
The P-63F made the trip to the "Cobra Den" (CenTex Wing hangar) just fine! I saw her with my own eyes at last night's meeting. Well, at least the main part of the fuselage is there. The remaining pieces will join the rest toward the end of the month. The maintenance crew is chomping at the bit to get started on her!
Sorry I didn't get to take pictures, but some should be showing up shortly.
Sorry I didn't get to take pictures, but some should be showing up shortly.
P-63
Sat Oct 03, 2009 3:42 pm
Ray, now that the "Rose" is back in the air, go back to page 2 of this thread...... I left ya' a couple of questions....... I'll look for you guys next week on the ramp at MAF! Alan
Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:58 am
Sorry for the delay on an answer to your question, Alan. I did get an answer but I've been so focused on the Yellow Rose that it completely slipped my mind.
There was indeed a completely new set of pylons and there were plans to use them, but one day they simply vanished. Not long after that, another P-63 appeared sporting tanks on pylons. The P-63F guys don't in any way think that the owner or restoration company of the other P-63 were involved intentionally. Most likely a third party absconded with them and scored some major brownie points by turning up a very scarce pair of parts. At any rate, with no proof of anything, it was decided that the best course was to shrug it off and go on...
Mike has no plans at this time to get the front end armament installed. I would love to get the cannon reproduced for display in the Cobra Den. We get lots of questions about it and a display model would be cool. We have a large water tank in the nose of the P-39 to assist in cooling it during airshows, so we couldn't install one in there. Unfortunately, reproducing the gun would be expensive and the shoestring budget we operate on won't allow it. Anyone know of one laying around that would like a good home in a CAF living museum?
We hope to make a trip up to Ezell's after Midland to retrieve the rest of the parts for the P-63F. Now that the Rose is flying we can shift the attention of the Cobra Crew to getting this bird back in the air. Here are a couple of images of the arrival at the Cobra Den.
There was indeed a completely new set of pylons and there were plans to use them, but one day they simply vanished. Not long after that, another P-63 appeared sporting tanks on pylons. The P-63F guys don't in any way think that the owner or restoration company of the other P-63 were involved intentionally. Most likely a third party absconded with them and scored some major brownie points by turning up a very scarce pair of parts. At any rate, with no proof of anything, it was decided that the best course was to shrug it off and go on...
Mike has no plans at this time to get the front end armament installed. I would love to get the cannon reproduced for display in the Cobra Den. We get lots of questions about it and a display model would be cool. We have a large water tank in the nose of the P-39 to assist in cooling it during airshows, so we couldn't install one in there. Unfortunately, reproducing the gun would be expensive and the shoestring budget we operate on won't allow it. Anyone know of one laying around that would like a good home in a CAF living museum?
We hope to make a trip up to Ezell's after Midland to retrieve the rest of the parts for the P-63F. Now that the Rose is flying we can shift the attention of the Cobra Crew to getting this bird back in the air. Here are a couple of images of the arrival at the Cobra Den.
Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:58 pm
OK so stupid question from a seeker of knowledge. It appears from the photos that the gearbox is located in the front. Does that mean that a "prop" shaft at crank speed ran through the cockpit, between the pilots legs?
I ran sprint cars with the same situation I guess so as long as the shaft did not come dislodged, juevos in good shape.
Any data on prop shaft failures? What was prop speed versus engine RPM?
I ran sprint cars with the same situation I guess so as long as the shaft did not come dislodged, juevos in good shape.
Any data on prop shaft failures? What was prop speed versus engine RPM?
Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:19 pm
sdennison wrote:OK so stupid question from a seeker of knowledge. It appears from the photos that the gearbox is located in the front. Does that mean that a "prop" shaft at crank speed ran through the cockpit, between the pilots legs?
I ran sprint cars with the same situation I guess so as long as the shaft did not come dislodged, juevos in good shape.
Any data on prop shaft failures? What was prop speed versus engine RPM?
Crank is connected to a shaft that connects to nose case in the nose.
Engine RPM runs between your legs, or between and under.
I believe even the mechanism that the stick attaches to has a cutout that the shaft runs thru.
Rich
Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:21 pm
Does the P-63 not require the spraybar system the P-39 does to remain cool on the ground? Is this a function of radiator size and scoops?
Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:42 pm
Hi Ray,congrats on refining the Rose!!!Can you tell me what the plans are for the '63,will it be a full restoration,IRAN,or an ol' 927 makeover.Either way it looks remarkably complete and should be a fantastic addition once you guys work your magic on it,best regards,Pete
Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:28 pm
To answer the stick and driveshaft question, the posted answer is correct. Here is a photo to help...
One of the P-39's deficiencies was engine cooling. The P-63 corrected that with a larger radiator and better ducting with larger, squared intake scoops.
I will be meeting with the sponsors when everything is here and evaluated to determine how we want to do this project. I expect it will be short of a full restoration but more than just an IRAN. I'll make it look as close to new as possible...
One of the P-39's deficiencies was engine cooling. The P-63 corrected that with a larger radiator and better ducting with larger, squared intake scoops.
I will be meeting with the sponsors when everything is here and evaluated to determine how we want to do this project. I expect it will be short of a full restoration but more than just an IRAN. I'll make it look as close to new as possible...
Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:40 pm
bdk wrote:Does the P-63 not require the spraybar system the P-39 does to remain cool on the ground? Is this a function of radiator size and scoops?
Spray bars were a post WWII mod done on civilianized birds. As the radiators leak the repair is to plug the one "honeycomb" tube and continue on. After so many repairs the cooling ability of the radiator dropped into the margional range. A cheap fix was to spray water on the radiator while on the ground to keep it cool. (tHIS is really hard to type With a kiTTEN walking on your keyboard) Having a new radiator built was cost prohibitive in the 60's and 70's. Todays warbird owners have a bit more money to put into their warbird and can afford to have custom built or new manufacture parts built.