Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:21 am
Cool new toy!
927
Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:08 am
Welcome back "Mr Austinizer"! Hope you really got a chance to unwind. Glad to see Daniel, Jim Gentry, Scott and Ellen made a great deal of headway for you.... Just got the new WARBIRD DIGEST in the mail the other day. AWESOME! Take care and see ya soon! Alan
Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:23 pm
Welcome back Gary !
I hope your long overdue R&R period was long enough for you to recharge your batteries. To use a horrible phrase in common use these days ~ its all about work / life balance
My copy of Warbird Digest arrived here in England just yesterday. An excellent article on you and the teams efforts thus far.
As and when you have time ~ further updates are greatly appreciated
Blue Skies to all at Midland
I hope your long overdue R&R period was long enough for you to recharge your batteries. To use a horrible phrase in common use these days ~ its all about work / life balance
My copy of Warbird Digest arrived here in England just yesterday. An excellent article on you and the teams efforts thus far.
As and when you have time ~ further updates are greatly appreciated
Blue Skies to all at Midland
Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:06 pm
Well, a fair amount of progress took place today, but I'm at a point where I'm having "mechanic's block." I just can't seem to think of the best way to get past some of the hurdles that have jumped in front of me. Well, that's not completely accurate...I have the ideas, I just don't have the desire to do any of them. Started feeling kind of yucky and that's been more on my mind than the work that needs to be done, I reckon. Plus, I started back with the early days again, and I'm still trying to get used to the long hours. But nevertheless, here's today's update...
First of all, one of our older members, Sam Stewart, arrived yesterday and has been wonderful help. I like Sam because he's like me and is deaf as a doorknob. It's great entertainment to hear the two of us talking to one another......well, I assume it's entertaining to hear that anyway.
Sam's been installing the seatbelts for me. Neils Agather purchased and donated the three sets that are for the Pilot, Copilot, & Flight Engineer seats, while Hooker Harness, Inc. donated the remaining 9 sets of seatbelts for the airplane. This was a very generous donation by both Neils and Hooker, and we very much appreciate it!
I started first thing this morning on trimming the inner skin for the waistgunner's door. This portion of the job was pretty simple, as .020" skin is fairly easy to work with. I started by just cutting the basic shape out (which I had marked yesterday)......
The next step was to clamp it down to the door and get some holes drilled so that the clecos could hold it in place.....
Once that was done, I went ahead and marked the window location and cut it out. Naturally, I deburred and polished up the edges once the cut was complete......
Next, I needed to duplicate the holes in the inner skin to match the previously installed nutplates. I used a hole finder to do this....
It's a simple little tool that you simply put the line up pin in the existing hole, and follow that step by drilling a new hole in the skin by utilizing the drill guide........
Then it was just a matter of putting the screws in to insure everything lined up right...which it did........
Now, one thing I neglected to do while making all of the angles for the structure of the door, was to make the corners. I can't explain why I left this step out, but I don't reckon it really matters. I did, however, need to go ahead and knock them out now. I just shrunk the angles, as shown in previous posts, and riveted each one into place.......
Once I got that out of the way, I went back to marking and trimming the inner skin to fit a bit better......
Then it was time to place the door in the airplane. Good ol' duct tape was the holder-upper for the time being.........
In order to keep from having to always use duct tape to hold the door on, I decided to make a set of hinges for it to swing on. Every B-24 model after the "A" model had a lower waistgunner's position, in which the door hinged from the top. Ours, however, hinged from the bottom, so that's what I'm going to try to duplicate. I just started with some really hard aluminum angles and started making the shapes needed to get this done........
In order to cut the curve out that I need for this particular hinge, I decided to use the "step drill" process. It's just a quick way to get the bulk of the material out of the way and is followed by refining the curve with a die grinder with a rotary file installed........
Then it was time to make the bottom hinge. Notice how I place the "x" on the piece that needs to be removed. This keeps dummies like me from cutting out the wrong portion.........
That all looked well and good all clecoed in place, but it wasn't until I had opened the door that I realized that I'd left a portion of the hinge material in place that needed to be removed. It kept the door from coming all the way open.......
And here it is with the faulty section removed.......
I had reinstalled that piece and it worked well, so I needed to start duplicating the hinges. The only thing was that the bottom hinge just needed to be a mirror image. No biggie, and this went fairly quickly..........
Now that both hinges were on (albeit temporarily), I could take the duct tape holder-uppers off and see how well the door swung. Well, it swung just fine, but there was a definite problem. The door hits the gun mount when in the down position. This really sucks. Not just because it's more work, but because Don Obreiter did a fantabulous (yes, it's a made up word) job in making the mount, and now I have to modify it. It just barely hits, so it shouldn't end up being a whole redesigning issue, just a modification. But either way, it's just the way things worked out and I'll have to deal with it..........
Before I mess around with the gun mount modifications, I still need to figure out a latching mechanism for the door. I'd love to put a latch on there like the tunnel gun has, but I'm afraid I've robbed that source for parts clean. I spent an hour scrounging around this place to find something that will work and didn't come up with anything......until I stumbled across the remnants of the rotten-*ss entry door that was on Diamond Lil (remember that clunky ol' airplane?). Well, I think I can use some of that mechanism that is in that rotted out structure, so that'll be my project for first thing in the morning..........
So I'm going to go home now and lose sleep all night, trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to get this airplane flying in three weeks (our lovely deadline is approaching). I'll holler at y'all later.
Gary
First of all, one of our older members, Sam Stewart, arrived yesterday and has been wonderful help. I like Sam because he's like me and is deaf as a doorknob. It's great entertainment to hear the two of us talking to one another......well, I assume it's entertaining to hear that anyway.
Sam's been installing the seatbelts for me. Neils Agather purchased and donated the three sets that are for the Pilot, Copilot, & Flight Engineer seats, while Hooker Harness, Inc. donated the remaining 9 sets of seatbelts for the airplane. This was a very generous donation by both Neils and Hooker, and we very much appreciate it!
I started first thing this morning on trimming the inner skin for the waistgunner's door. This portion of the job was pretty simple, as .020" skin is fairly easy to work with. I started by just cutting the basic shape out (which I had marked yesterday)......
The next step was to clamp it down to the door and get some holes drilled so that the clecos could hold it in place.....
Once that was done, I went ahead and marked the window location and cut it out. Naturally, I deburred and polished up the edges once the cut was complete......
Next, I needed to duplicate the holes in the inner skin to match the previously installed nutplates. I used a hole finder to do this....
It's a simple little tool that you simply put the line up pin in the existing hole, and follow that step by drilling a new hole in the skin by utilizing the drill guide........
Then it was just a matter of putting the screws in to insure everything lined up right...which it did........
Now, one thing I neglected to do while making all of the angles for the structure of the door, was to make the corners. I can't explain why I left this step out, but I don't reckon it really matters. I did, however, need to go ahead and knock them out now. I just shrunk the angles, as shown in previous posts, and riveted each one into place.......
Once I got that out of the way, I went back to marking and trimming the inner skin to fit a bit better......
Then it was time to place the door in the airplane. Good ol' duct tape was the holder-upper for the time being.........
In order to keep from having to always use duct tape to hold the door on, I decided to make a set of hinges for it to swing on. Every B-24 model after the "A" model had a lower waistgunner's position, in which the door hinged from the top. Ours, however, hinged from the bottom, so that's what I'm going to try to duplicate. I just started with some really hard aluminum angles and started making the shapes needed to get this done........
In order to cut the curve out that I need for this particular hinge, I decided to use the "step drill" process. It's just a quick way to get the bulk of the material out of the way and is followed by refining the curve with a die grinder with a rotary file installed........
Then it was time to make the bottom hinge. Notice how I place the "x" on the piece that needs to be removed. This keeps dummies like me from cutting out the wrong portion.........
That all looked well and good all clecoed in place, but it wasn't until I had opened the door that I realized that I'd left a portion of the hinge material in place that needed to be removed. It kept the door from coming all the way open.......
And here it is with the faulty section removed.......
I had reinstalled that piece and it worked well, so I needed to start duplicating the hinges. The only thing was that the bottom hinge just needed to be a mirror image. No biggie, and this went fairly quickly..........
Now that both hinges were on (albeit temporarily), I could take the duct tape holder-uppers off and see how well the door swung. Well, it swung just fine, but there was a definite problem. The door hits the gun mount when in the down position. This really sucks. Not just because it's more work, but because Don Obreiter did a fantabulous (yes, it's a made up word) job in making the mount, and now I have to modify it. It just barely hits, so it shouldn't end up being a whole redesigning issue, just a modification. But either way, it's just the way things worked out and I'll have to deal with it..........
Before I mess around with the gun mount modifications, I still need to figure out a latching mechanism for the door. I'd love to put a latch on there like the tunnel gun has, but I'm afraid I've robbed that source for parts clean. I spent an hour scrounging around this place to find something that will work and didn't come up with anything......until I stumbled across the remnants of the rotten-*ss entry door that was on Diamond Lil (remember that clunky ol' airplane?). Well, I think I can use some of that mechanism that is in that rotted out structure, so that'll be my project for first thing in the morning..........
So I'm going to go home now and lose sleep all night, trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to get this airplane flying in three weeks (our lovely deadline is approaching). I'll holler at y'all later.
Gary
Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:22 pm
I can see why the later models had the door swing up! Great work Gary as usual.
Tom P.
Tom P.
Great job Gary!
Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:30 pm
Looks like an original piece of kit for sure and welcome back! Great to have the updates again. 
Last edited by peter on Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:08 pm
Gee Gary, you really need to get going and clean up that dust. 
You are the master of masters Gary. You hold my deepest respect. 
BTW, great work, I'm in awe!
Tally ho,
Nathan(your friendly little guy)
You are the master of masters Gary. You hold my deepest respect.
BTW, great work, I'm in awe!
Tally ho,
Nathan(your friendly little guy)
Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:16 pm
Well, I reckon today's update is to tell you that there is no update. I had to empty out a hangar with a bunch of our "stuff" in it all day, and got zero done on the B-24. It looks like I'm not going to be working on it tomorrow either, as I have to go out of town to do some tinkering with a P-40. More on that later.
I should be back to work on Saturday, but there's no telling really. Suuure would've been nice to have had more help during the winter months so that we wouldn't be in such a bind right now, as other things have stepped in to take up my time. But I've done about the best I can with what I've got, so we'll just have to see how things go.
The upside is that even though I'm not getting anything done at the present, we do have two volunteers here for the next day or so that are doing some of the little jobs that remain. And I'm expecting Scott & Ellen to show back up this weekend, so that'll be good for progress. Anyway, that's all I have to share for now. I'll holler at y'all later.
Gary
I should be back to work on Saturday, but there's no telling really. Suuure would've been nice to have had more help during the winter months so that we wouldn't be in such a bind right now, as other things have stepped in to take up my time. But I've done about the best I can with what I've got, so we'll just have to see how things go.
The upside is that even though I'm not getting anything done at the present, we do have two volunteers here for the next day or so that are doing some of the little jobs that remain. And I'm expecting Scott & Ellen to show back up this weekend, so that'll be good for progress. Anyway, that's all I have to share for now. I'll holler at y'all later.
Gary
Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:34 pm
Gary -
Again, thanks for posting the process pics - they continually give me new ideas for getting through some problems with various home projects. It's always a great thing when someone who is already working outside of the box provides inspiration for the rest of us!
Keep up the great work!
Again, thanks for posting the process pics - they continually give me new ideas for getting through some problems with various home projects. It's always a great thing when someone who is already working outside of the box provides inspiration for the rest of us!
Keep up the great work!
Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:03 am
I was so PROUD when he decided to make some hinges for the door instead of using duct tape forever!
*wipes tear from eye*
hey, how expensive is that .020 sheeting? Would a 3x3 sheet or so be in a normal persons price range?
*wipes tear from eye*
hey, how expensive is that .020 sheeting? Would a 3x3 sheet or so be in a normal persons price range?
Sat Jun 23, 2007 7:04 am
muddyboots wrote:hey, how expensive is that .020 sheeting? Would a 3x3 sheet or so be in a normal persons price range?
I dunno. Do you know anyone on this forum that's "normal?"
A 4'x12' sheet of 2024T3, .020" sheet is $11.25 from Airparts Inc. (plus shipping).
Gary
Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:47 pm
awesome! I can make a few of my nose art repros and sell the extras on ebay!
I'm really wondering what your fix to the .50 mount is going to be. At first I would have thought simply moving it to the left of that rib. But then you lose some structural support, looks like...
I'm really wondering what your fix to the .50 mount is going to be. At first I would have thought simply moving it to the left of that rib. But then you lose some structural support, looks like...
Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:17 pm
muddyboots wrote:I'm really wondering what your fix to the .50 mount is going to be. At first I would have thought simply moving it to the left of that rib. But then you lose some structural support, looks like...
Well, Scott is working on that as I type this and should have the gun mount situation solved within a couple of hours. He, Ellen, and James West are here working on the airplane feverishly. An unfortunate event happened with a friend of mine a couple of days ago, which has taken up my time and attention. I will back working on all of my little airplane projects tomorrow.
Gary
Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:06 pm
Price check aisle 6!retroaviation wrote:muddyboots wrote:hey, how expensive is that .020 sheeting? Would a 3x3 sheet or so be in a normal persons price range?
I dunno. Do you know anyone on this forum that's "normal?"
A 4'x12' sheet of 2024T3, .020" sheet is $11.25 from Airparts Inc. (plus shipping).
Gary
That's $11.25 per foot for 4' wide material.
http://www.airpartsinc.com/catalog_gif/page3.htm
Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:54 pm
Thanks for correcting my misread LoL!