The Commemorative Air Force P-63F is ready for its return to flight!!! The aircraft is based at the San Marcos airport in the Centex Wing hangar. The plane is not assigned to the Centex Wing but is, instead, assigned to the CAF P-63 Sponsor Group.
The aircraft sponsors and I decided to break the old combined thread and let the P-39 and the P-63 have their own threads. We welcome all questions and comments about the plane. I’m always open to learning more about almost anything and anyone who has visited the Cobra Den knows we’ll talk your ears off as we try to answer your questions.
The Chief Sponsor, Mike Collier, will be designating a new Plane Captain (PC) soon, to replace Mike Marando, who went MIA this summer. Mike was a great volunteer and the plane wouldn’t nearly be ready without his efforts. The new PC or I will update WIX on the maintenance and flight status of the aircraft.
I apologize for my slow responses, especially recently. I head the effort to keep a dozen or so 70 year old planes in the air so I get a little busy sometimes, but I
will get you an answer. I currently have 3 aircraft undergoing annual inspections, the P-39 wing repair is in high gear, and the Tora 310 Kate repairs are coming along very quickly. Managing all of that with a volunteer workforce and a seriously shoestring budget is often a handful, but I absolutely love it! I plan to spend some time on WIX at least once a week, typically on Sundays and hopefully more frequently, and the PC and sponsors should get involved, too.
Now, with that out of the way, the burning question is ‘When will she fly?’ and my answer today is – I don’t know yet, but soon. (sorry...)
We finally got the fuel system problems worked out and the new fuel gauge/sender unit system is calibrated. The new tanks hold 72 gallons each as opposed to the 64 gallons the old self-sealing tanks held. The new tanks weren’t fabricated correctly and didn’t fully fit in the tank bay. We might have had another 5 or more gallons per tank if they had been done right. The sponsors hope to have a 75 gallon centerline tank fabricated and we’ve already got the plumbing in place for it for the future.
Once the fuel system gremlins were worked out, we got the plane running again and have taxied it around a bit. She already runs like a dream! Joe Yancey built the Allison engine and he has it tuned for a break in period of about 25 hours. After that, we’ll tune her up for some real performance. Only a couple of parts remain to be attached. I had to fabricate a navigation tail light fixture as the original seems to be long gone. We couldn’t find a single picture so I was completely on my own in creating one. It should be finished in a day or so. The other remaining item is a floor cover to keep stuff out of the spinning drive shaft at the control stick. Volunteer Kelly Klaus fabricated it Saturday and I should have it installed Monday.
With those two items installed, she’ll be ready for final checkout. Mike will be running some on-the-ground engine and taxi tests which will lead to high speed taxi runs and full power aborted takeoff runs. When I became the MO for the Centex Wing, I developed a condition inspection checklist (20 pages) for the P-39, and I’ve adapted it for the P-63. We’ll go over the entire aircraft again from front to rear using that guide.
The FAA has been out to check the plane. They liked what they saw and have left it up to me as to when it is ready. The CAF has checked it out and they left me a list of items to address, and we’ve corrected them. I’ve already been through the paperwork with the FAA and the CAF says that everything on their end is good. We got word this past week that Mike Collier has been given the CAF Headquarters' approval for flying the P-63. That was the final administrative hurdle.
A number of Wing members and WIXers have expressed a desire to be there, so I’m recommending a Saturday. We should have a better picture at the end of this week and will be discussing it in detail before announcing a date for that first flight. It is going to be REALLY great to see some air underneath the P-63 after so many years. The timing is right for a really sweet Christmas present for all of us who have worked so long and hard on this project. As soon as a date is set, I’ll get it posted.
The fuel system had to be calibrated by adding two gallons of fuel at a time. It is a digital, capacitance-type system that should be far more accurate than the original.
Here she sits today in the center of the Cobra Den.
More news soon!
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
