Warbird Information Exchange

It was originally to cover up the fuel tank panel. They are probably painted because the tape will eventually peel.

AFAIK it was tape, but I don't think tape is very attractive or durable on a million dollar airplane.

Was it fabric tape that was doped on or some kind of adhesive tape?

Brain cells are a little hazy but I seem to remember it had something to do with fumes from leaking flanges and was dope and silver over a cotton tape.
They really didn't have an adhesive tape that was good for exterior use let alone hanging on at 400 MPH in the 42-43 time frame.
There was the red tape as seen covering gun barrels. I only have seen photos of it being used where the airflow will hold it in place. Not along seams in line with the wind.

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Rich Palmer

Remember an Injured Youth
benstear.org
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Don't Be A Dilbert!

Your watermarking skills are exemplary. We just don't want you to forget to watermark your avatar pic.

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

An educated guess might lead one to conclude that it wasn't just the nosewheel that retracted... or so I've heard the FAA report may look.

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

That exact photo is the one used in one of my oldest and most cherished aircraft reference books, Combat Aircraft of the World - from 1909 to the present, (c) 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, edited & compliled by John W. R. Taylor of Jane's.

CAW lists the powerplants as a 1,350 hp Wright R-1820-72W up front and a 1,600 lb. thrust GE I-16/J31 turbojet in the rear fuselage - the combination of which always struck me as making for a very dense/heavy fuselage!

In addition to being credited as the very first completely flush-riveted USN fighter or to have all-metal (no fabric) control surfaces, CAW also credits the Fireball as making the very first "jet' landing on an aircraft carrier ever when on Nov. 6, 1945, an FR-1 Fireball assigned to VF-1E was conducting carrier quals on the USS Wake Island and experienced a failure of the R-1820, forcing it to land using only the turbojet engine for propulsion.

Sounds like a pretty significant historical aircraft - glad to see one has been preserved.

Original contracts for as many as 1,300 Ryan FR-1's were cancelled at the end of the war, but 66 examples were delivered. Initial testing was carried out by Navy Squadron VF-66, but most aircraft were later transferred to VF-41, which was later re-designated VF-1E.

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“To invent the airplane is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything!” - Otto Lilienthal

Natasha: "You got plan, darling?"
Boris: "I always got plan. They don't ever work, but I always got one!"

Remember, any dummy can be a dumb-ass...
In order to be a smart-ass, you first have to be "smart"
and to be a wise-ass, you actually have to be "wise"

FYI - For those who weren't there on Sunday, and because I didn't see it already posted...The N9MB was repaired Saturday night and flew during the show on Sunday.
CND

There's talk here of flying the fireball!
http://warbirdsforum.com/showthread.php?t=2519

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Magister Aviation
It's all in my book

That's all it is apparently. The flying wing is flying first, which he said wouldn't happen, and none of the other stuff he said would happen...has happened!

BDK,

By "Too obscure" you mean rare? To me POF has always specialized in flying ultra rare stuff and is one of the things that makes The Air Museum quite unique. Seems to me this is one they would have a strong desire to get flying at some point. Aside from all that, it's a twin engine airplane so the risk of crash from engine failure is minimized!

John

No, I don't mean it is too rare to fly, I mean it is so unique as to be virtually unheard of. Other than a few anoraks, who would even know what it is? I suspect that most would think it was a modified T-28. Not sure you could get many airshow bookings for it, but I might be wrong. Anyone have an opinion to the contrary?

Nice to see Pacific Princess fitted with the original, low-profile carb intakes. So much better looking than the Hayes mod for the new carbs.

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Cheers,

Craig

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IMHO the Fireball is a quirk. It's cool because it's unique and I'd like to see it fly in the same way I'd like to see the Douglas Skyshark in Idaho fly again. But that is only because I'm a geek and I like those kind of things. Mass-appeal wise, I agree that most people that go to an airshow wouldn't know or care what it was.

I just think it's cool because there is at least a Fireball example left...I remember seeing the one at the San Diego museum as a kid before it was destroyed in the fire and thinking it was a neat idea. I thought it was like a jet-powered Bearcat.

I'd rather see the time, money, and effort go into restoring something like the PoF's Val, or P-39, or BF-109E. A bit more 'mainstream'.

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Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

That's us and that's why we're here! Anoraks of the world unite! (Look it up if you have to. I'll admit I did, but the shoe fits.)

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“To invent the airplane is nothing. To build one is something. But to fly is everything!” - Otto Lilienthal

Natasha: "You got plan, darling?"
Boris: "I always got plan. They don't ever work, but I always got one!"

Remember, any dummy can be a dumb-ass...
In order to be a smart-ass, you first have to be "smart"
and to be a wise-ass, you actually have to be "wise"

I haven't used a (D)SLR camera in over 20 years. That being said... here are my shots from the weekend -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41169794@N00/