Warbird Information Exchange

I saw a vague reference to this on another thread. Is this the one parked at the outdoor museum there at the YAM? If so, any idea as to the extent of the restoration? If it will be an extensive restoration, hopefully lots of pix will be posted here???

Sorry ahead of time if this question has been asked already...did a brief search and did not find any other references to this restoration.

Thanx in advance...

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Earn my respect and never lose it.
Demand my respect and never gain it. -Me

...just another plane dreamer.

The YAM has one on display there. It was a fire bomber and I think H&P donated it to them. It has all of the turrets reinstalled.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Has the Yanks Privateer left Wyoming yet?

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

The Yankee Air Museum Privateer is indeed an old Hawkins & Powers plane, but came to the museum by a rather tortured route. It overshot a runway in British Columbia back in the early 70s, ending up in the ocean with one main gear ripped out. It sat abandoned and picked over by souvenier hunters for years, before being acquired by a collector, who planned to have it rebuilt as a B-24. He had a crew "disassemble" the aircraft for transport..by cutting it apart with power saws. The owner eventually donated the hacked-up mess to Yankee, and the guys have done a fantastic job putting her back together. Right now she has the two top turrets and one waist blister, but I believe they hope to eventually get all the original turrets back on her.

SN

Has not arrived in Chino as of last Saturday.

Thanx for the info Steve. Are you familiar with the fairly new WIXer YAF340? I saw that he was looking for interior shots of B-24s for a Privateer (?) restoration. Thought maybe he was working on yours there. IF so, any and all pix of the work would be appreciated by us voyeurs

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Earn my respect and never lose it.
Demand my respect and never gain it. -Me

...just another plane dreamer.

I am indeed working with the YAM PB4Y-2. I am working with a bunch of pictures that I will get posted soon. They have history of our plane back to Hawkins & Powers thur current day. We recieved both the front and rear turrets 2 weeks ago. A lot of work to do with them before mounting.We need to find or build the mount for the front Erco turret. We have been doing clean up work along with critter proofing and sealing up from the weather. A big thanks to the guys at Lone Star, been talking with them as they just did the same turrets. Just got a packet of info they sent up.I am looking for any inside pictures of planes this style to help with the restoration.

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Joe Amend - YAM Restoration

Looking forward to the pics...

Are there any plans to house it in the new building once it is built?

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

editted my me

I wonder if these are the same guys that moved the A-25, I wonder how long they have been working for the AF museum.

Power saws were not used nor was the A-25 hacked apart. Would I have done it differently. You bet. But it was not hacked.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

That's great news! Do they still have the plexiglas in them, or will you have to mold new peices?

I understand the aircraft on outdoor display will have to be moved so the east-west runway can be extended. Any idea when that'll happen? Like Mustangdriver, I'd love to see at least some of them (escpecially the Privateer) get out of the weather someday.

SN

I think I read somewhere (maybe the YAF newsletter) that they were planning on redoing the paint in a more accurate post-WWII paint scheme. Has anyone else heard this?

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Matt

Post war? Why, who cares about the post war?

I'd rather see it in a tri-color scheme in WWII

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager