Warbird Information Exchange

Understand it's going to be a nude reclining portrait of Gary holding mosquito in a strategic place <rotfwl>

Seriously - if going to paint AM927 as a B-24A the two numbers on her tail should be the last two digits of her B-24A s/n not the last two digits of her RAF s/n (i.e. 27) (yea nit picking here).

Wondering, is the external "Fire Extingusher" door (which should be located under the tarps) going to be painted red with white lettering (this was on all versions of the Liberator/Privateer series).

Dave G
A&E / IA

Zane, that's incredible technology you've come up with! We anxiously await further wizardry from your electronic boxes. In all seriousness, shouldn't she be facing forward?! (Not being nitpicky, just anal.)

S

Still trying to figure out where (and when) AM927 got her nose job - should be some indication where the additional 3-4 feet came from.

The nose gear doors tell us this part is from a late B-24J (but we know that there are PB4Y-2 parts mixed in with the interior parts).

Question for Gary - does the cockpit have a cut-out for the upper turret (from the later B-24's (yes plated over)) or is the structure solid (can we get a picture) - also is the excape hatch still installed in the roof line? This might give us a clue as to how much of the structure fwd of the wing is B-24A vs later B-24 models.

You look at the pictures for the B-24A FE's panel and it looks like there is no room in AM927's flight deck for this station (or extremely tight).

Anyone look at the structure in the nose to try and determine where the splice line might be (wondering if it might be the diagonal <sp> line right behind the cockpit windows) - which is just a weird place to r/r the nose (a lot of work).

Another question then does the bombardier/ Navigators compartment have the cutout in the ceiling for the nav's astrodome (B-24A had the astrodome located in the cockpit)

Dave Gansz
A&E / IA

LOL!

That’s going to be Chris’s screensaver!




What Dan said – I don’t think anyone here would be upset if you decide to take some time away from the computer to focus on the job at hand, Gary.

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Dave;
The nose has RY-3 markings on it, so it could be more like the PB4Y noses. I'd look at all the RY-3 stuff and pics to see what might match.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Guys, don't forget that there were new-build C-87s also and that 927 was a prototype/proving ground airplane. I can't say that I have looked up, but it may not have any astrodome/turret locations due to the fact that this section had no B-24 heritage but is rather a C-87 pattern. The oddities of this airplane could fill a book . All the modifications make it even more fun to be involved in a small way with this project.

Dave G, that angled production splice is common to all B-24s so would make a logical place for Consolidated to lop off the original nose. By the way, your nose art idea with Gary and Skeeter has put a bad image in my mind.

Scott

All I am gonna say about Dave's nose art idea is, Gary may be crazy but he ain't stoopid...claws, ya know? :)

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Regards,

Jase
www.b26marauder.com
"I'm having a BLAST!!" 2007 CAF Wing Staff Conference

RIP Gary Austin..always in our hearts

I remember seeing on one of the other threads that after Christina Aguilera did some filming for a music video with some aircraft, that her "nose art" disappeared....

I wonder if this is where it is at?

I am sure that I have missed this info along the way but, when is the official "unvailing"??

Thanks,

Tom P.

Tom,

May 12th is the official unveiling! :::::::drum roll::::::::

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Bob

Yep, it was me!

Just trying to catch up from my trip down to see Gary and help give 927 a new outlook on life. Pics of the nose art are forbidden of course, but I will try to sort throught the 500+ pics taken through out the weekend.

First I want to say how HONORED I was to be there. I first saw Diamond Lil at my first airshow at age 7, in 1978. I used to read my programs and CAF magazines cover to cover every day. I practiced drawing the planes in the book and eventually started painting my own combat scenes. So there is a bit of history there for me. It still blows me away that I was standing in the CAF hangar slingin' paint.

Second, I want to show my appreciation to Gary. After reading his posts, and talking on the phone a few times, I knew he was a good guy. But after this weekend and hanging out with him, working along side him, etc, I can say that Gary is definitely one heck of a guy. Dedicated and passionate. It was awesome to meet someone who feels the same passion for airplanes that me and most of my friends and family have for hot rods. And as cool as it was to be painting the nose art, it is equally cool to have made a new friend.

There is no way this would have possible without the help of my Dad, my good friend Sean Cowger (also singer in my band) and my good friend Mike Hede (how I found WIX in the first place). I don't know how the original artists found the time to do it during the war, cause it took alot of time to do both sides. It was an experience I'm sure none of us will ever forget. I'm glad my Dad got to come too, cause spending 5 days together working so intensely on a project is something that we don't get to do nearly often enough.

All the volunteers are doing an amazing job. If you can spare the time, I would highly suggest planning a long weekend to help out. There are only 5 weeks left and a lot left to do. The aircraft was a flurry of activity all weekend!

I also highly suggest seeing the Museum and the nose art panels there. Holy cow, to be there painting the plane and then seeing the REAL thing. It was amazing. I could have stayed in that room for hours. I think we spent about an hour in that room, and man, I still felt rushed. Maybe it's not as big a deal as I think to some. As an artist, who is so into all this stuff to see the real thing... it was utterly spectacular.

Skeeter rocks! What a killer cat. He'd hang out on the platform while we painted. Late at night, he and shadow would run full bore across the hanger.

I'll probably start another thread later in the week with the pics that I can post with some more commentary so it doesn't clutter up this thread. The "hill" was awesome. Lake Austin was killer.

I know I said it before, but thanks to Gary and the CAF for the opportunity!

We had some good ideas for the temporary nose art, but we took a few pics, and split for the airport! I am looking forward to catching up on some sleep tonight!

I was hoping for this one.
Now that's a good looking gal

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Don't touch my junk!!

Gary,
Ok WIXers here is a sneak peek of the nose art on Old 927:


Gary, I hope it makes you smile....I know you are working some ridiculous hours. With all of the work you've done, I'm proud to have my bomb racks and (soon to be) bomb bay doors on this aircraft. I look forward to taking some time this winter to help on the restoration - if it is still needed. I wish you had contacted me earlier - I would have made time to come down for some time this winter.....you know how much I love the Lib's.

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Thanks,
Van
Kosovo, Afghanistan (x2) and Iraq Campaign Veteran
B-29 42-24791 "Big Time Operator"
C-47A 43-15137 "7H" Normandy/Holland Vet
SNJ-5B S/N 84947
UC-45F 43-35764 Cockpit
PT-26A 42-71104
LNE-1 S/N 31556
CG-15A Cockpit
CG-4A Cockpit (x2) and fuselage
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My turn to get into the photochop action here...

For those who will miss 'Lil', this is for you...




Fade to Black...

Howdy y'all. Just a quick update here as I'm going to try to get more accomplished on the airplane today. First of all, I'll keep posting the occasional update for you, but I appreciate the patience you're showing me when the updates aren't as frequent as they have been previously. I don't mind doing them, and they can be somewhat of a pressure relief mechanism for me as well. Some folks go on smoke breaks, I go on WIX breaks.

Well, Daniel had to leave yesterday, but not before he was able to get the rest of the structure built for the intermediate floors. I was working on engine stuff (cowlings, etc.) yesterday, but I've moved over to the inside of the airplane this morning to start shooting together some of what Daniel built. The structure of the floors are just clecoed together, but look strong enough to stand on, so before some knucklehead walks on them and busts his/her butt, I thought I better at least get it to where nobody will hurt themselves.........




Although I'm here by myself again, it looks as if I'll have some assistance coming in this weekend. The work I was doing on the cowlings could be left for some of the "less skilled" workers, so that is another reason I've moved to the floors today.

Anyway, that's all I have to report for now. Y'all have a good one.

Gary