Warbird Information Exchange

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone might be able to supply me with a copy of the drawing/blueprint for NAA part number 66-33509, the "Support - Landing Gear Retainer" or simply the undercarriage uplock casting on the T-6/Harvard?

I'll need to mount a pair of such castings to my Wirraway project before too long, and unfortunately I don't have a pair that are suitable for flying use. Before going down the path of having some new ones machined out of Aluminum (originals are Magnesium) I thought I'd look into whether the T-6/Harvard castings might be suitable. Also, I don't suppose anyone here knows when the design of these was changed in the NA-16 family? The 66- part number seems to correspond (with the limited info available to me at the moment) to these being introduced with the Harvard II design. What was the part number of the similar castings used on earlier aircraft? I'd probably be interested in drawings for these too, as they might be more suitable to what I require. The parts book that I've been able to access, and which includes the 66-33509 part, is for the AT-6C and SNJ-4 aircraft.

Thanks in advance for any assistance offered. I can also be contacted by PM or e-mail, if preferred. E-mail address: grigg_matt(at)yahoo.com Remove the obvious text in the address and replace with the @ symbol.

Cheers,
Matt

Matt,

I sold my wirraway project many years ago but retained my microfilm rolls of T-6 drawings which covered the entire centre-section / wing etc as I was contemplating fitting T-6 castings myself.

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regards

Mark Pilkington

_________________
20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

Hi Mark,

Well you never know who's got what around the place. Had no idea you had acquired the microfilm. I'll try to give you a call tomorrow and we might be able to catch up at Avalon over Fri-Sun. I'm flying the Auster in Friday morning, weather permitting.

Cheers,
Matt

66-33509 was used throughout the entire production run of T-6s/SNJs. I emailed you the drawing in PDF format.

Hey Tim,

Did you go digital with the T-6 series of drawings? I've been working this issue for quite a while.

All the best,
Patrick

Yes, I have most of them in digital format, although some are impossible to read.

About 100 years ago when I was working fro the Skytypers we groundlooped one of our SNJ-2's. The gear casting was broken. We were looking for a new one and the casting used on the SNJ-2 was different from all the later models. We were not able to locate one and eventually had to repair the one we had (that is another story in itself). I don't know about a Wirraway but I think that the first models of the AT-6 with the wet center sections have different casting. I know the AT-6 (no model #) and the SNJ-2 do.

Stu-

You are correct. I didn't think about the SNJ-2. The reference I was looking at was for Harvard II through SNJ-6. The part he is looking for is the uplock casting, and not the gear casting itself, however. Maybe he can modify one of these to work....

Sorry Tim,
I just re-read the origional post. you are correct. I was thinking gear trunion casting not just the uplock casting.
Matt,
If the uplock casting is the same as all the other T-6 fittings, my buddy Will has all you could ever use of them NOS. That is actually a steel part. The trunion casting is a alluminum part. Not sure about Wirraway.

The uplock hook is made from steel plate, the uplock arm torque-tube support trunnion and arm castings are aluminum.

The SNJ-2 has the uplock hook pivot bolt farther foward (maybe 1-1/2") than the traditional T6/SNJ configuration, as well as the odd link from the arm to the uplock hook. The traditional T6/SNJ configuration has a roller in the arm that rolls directly on the uplock hook.

I had to dig into my photo reference archive for this and never noticed the difference before! Now I'm curious which style the Wirriway has- or if it is yet another variation.

SNJ-2:



SNJ-4: