New TBM Restoration - Wings Are Back On. First Flight Soon!

[johnrfuentes]

I agree 100%! That is why I like the pictures with the guys working on the plane.

Shows them in action making things happen.

Thanks Again!

[Chappie]

It's great to see Jack in his chair supervising.

Chappie

[PbyCat-Guy]

Any estimate of when it might be done? If I have a Tuesday or a Friday off, I'll jumpseat up there to say hi to everyone and bring bring the Donuts.

[johnrfuentes]

You Know, Jack is planning his next move while he is in that chair.

The guys are estimating first run for August sometime.

They are getting very close but still need that prop back from the shop.

[BillB24]

[SaxMan]

Nice work on the instrument panel, Bill! Glad to see it go in.

[johnrfuentes]

The back side of that panel is a thing of beauty! Nice work Bill.

[BillB24]

Bill DeHaven sands down rough spots on the left wing, while Jack Kosko offers helpful suggestions.



Karlo Piccinnini cleans the right wing, in preparation for painting, with the help of Genie.



Don Caldwell works out the complex assembly sequence for the folding radio compartment seat. He reverse engineered the parts from the example on loan from Cape May, visible on the box to Don's left.

[SaxMan]

Pics from today's visit. Most of the work involved getting the airplane painted and getting the markings painted. A lot of "detail work" was going on as well.

Back half of the TBM. Before the day was out, I would become intimately familiar with this part of the plane!

DSC_0053 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Masking off the tail wheel well. The tail gear is to be painted white. I think the crew appreciated having someone short enough (and limber enough) to work underneath the tail of the plane

DSC_0059 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Painting of the bottom of the port wing

DSC_0065 by onyxsax, on Flickr

The cowl flaps are now installed:

DSC_0067 by onyxsax, on Flickr

[SaxMan]

Detail of the engine accessory compartment. The meticulousness of the work is pretty apparent!:

DSC_0070 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Right to left: Don, Tiny and one of the other crew members (Sorry! I'm terrible with names):

DSC_0079 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Masking job done! The area left exposed on the vertical stabilizer is to be painted white, in accordance with VMTB-143's markings that this plane is supposed to represent. Between that, the tail wheel well and the starboard wheel well, I went through 1 1/2 rolls of masking tape! It was my busiest day on the restoration so far.

DSC_0086 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Cockpit detail. The control stick is in and most everything is now in place.

DSC_0088 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Last edited by SaxMan on Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[SaxMan]

Detail of the throttle, mixture and landing gear controls, among others:

DSC_0090 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Looking forward, now with the instrumental panel and compass installed:

DSC_0093 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Gauges on the right side of the cockpit:

DSC_0095 by onyxsax, on Flickr

Front view of the Avenger.

DSC_0100 by onyxsax, on Flickr

[Dan Johnson II]

Absolutely beautiful work. I really appreciate being able to follow these restorations here. Work like this is so clearly a labor of love, it's a joy to participate in, even from a distance.

[SaxMan]

Mods: Could we "sticky" this thread, since it is being regularly updated?

[Stony Jim]

Been a while since I have been here Been working my donkey off on the avenger.
Here is a pic of all the cowling, flaps and rear covers installed at last

Rear covers will come off to install vacuum pump and oil separator. Also have a couple minor things to do in there .

Gene and Don are riveting the bombardiers seat bottom together. We had an original on loan to copy.

Don has done a great job on it

[SaxMan]

How did everyone in fare with the heat yesterday? I know the hangar can get pretty warm.