Well, as promised, here is a photo update from yesterday afternoon/evening. I've been painting for about three and a half hours now (got here early...couldn't sleep
). I have all of the black done on the cowlings and may even have enough time to get some of the brown on there before folks start showing up for the day. We'll see.
Anyway, here goes..........
Paul Stojkov is an excellent example for the rest of our pilots and Squadron members out there. He's one of only four of our Squadron's pilots to come out and help (none of our pilots with A&P's have pitched in. Don't you know
that's frustrating?) He's had significant personal issues that have kept him from coming out as frequently as he'd liked, but he still cares enough about the airplane(s) that he is fortunate enough to fly that he
makes time to come out and help anyway. He is also quick to point out that he has very little mechanical ability or knowledge whatsoever (but is an awesome pilot), yet he still wants to do whatever it takes to help. Paul is definitely NOT what some folks call a "Kodak Colonel," that just flies from point to point and leaves as soon as we land somewhere.
Here he is during the process of painting the numbers on the side of the R/H vertical stabilizer.........
Another thing to note about Paul's willingness to "do whatever it takes to help", is the fact that he's deathly afraid of heights (something I learned
after I had him up on the stand)..........
And here's the finished result.......
Now, I realize that there are going to be quite a few of you out there who will question the reasoning behind the "27" on the tail. Trust me, there's been a fair amount of discussion about which number should go there. The way it typically worked (for the B-24A, that is) is that the number of the airplane was the last two digits of the aircraft's serial number. However, since our airplane was a B-24A "conversion" (as Consolidated officially called it), and eventually became an LB-30, the serial number is, of course, AM927. So with that and the fact that the airplane is now called "Ol' 927" (as it became nicknamed back in the War), it was more "marketable" (yeah...I know
) and made more sense to put the "27" on the tail, vs. some other number.
My bullet proof vest is on, so the nay-sayers may start shooting at anytime now.
Anyway, here's a picture of the cowlings after primer. It was after this picture was taken that I left for the day yesterday........
Well, I think I'm going to try to get as much of the brown shot on the cowlings as I can, so I'm sure I'll update y'all later.
Gary
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Sitting back there today, all alone, I got "the willies" just thinking about how vulnerable that gunner was, with only some thin aluminum surrounding him. I can't begin to imagine what it would have been like to be that B-24A tail gunner, sitting completely in the open like that, with the enemy shooting at him! Yikes! 
Now get him back to work. Afraid of heights? The guy work's at 39,000 feet??
