Bald Eagle Aviation

[airnutz]

Similar to Ferrari's "cavllino rampante", the "rearing mustang" of the 343rd first appeared on a few of their aircraft in late 1944 and was later adopted on all their a/c by Marc 1945 according to this history from "Miss Velma"...down toward the bottom of the Paint Scheme paragraph....
http://www.crazyhorseap.be/Mustangs/Mus ... N251RJ.htm

Congratulations Andrew! I really enjoyed reading your narrative of the rigorous hoops you had to jump through in order to win your ticket. Thanks!

[Brian Snow]

Thanks for the replies, guys.....lots of information here.....Brian

[51fixer]

Its been pretty busy summer and I haven't posted as much as I would have liked but here are a few updates-
Andrew flew the T-6 and Jim the Spit at New Garden Airshow a few weeks back.
The CAF had the Rednose P-51 there but on Sat they had a Gear Door issue and brought it over to our hangar.
A video of their performance- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wl3QkydTBY
During that flight a spring broke and the broken end settled in the inboard gap of the inner gear door. It acted as a shoehorn and forced the edge of the skin outboard where it was forced into the bottom edge of the center rib creating a good deal of damage to the skin.
This was the result-

The scratch in the middle of the bent section is where the spring fragment settled.

I sent it off to Bill and Scooter Yoak and they replaced the skin on it.

After being fitted and painted




Jim Buckly picked it up yesterday-

[51fixer]

After about 8 hrs of flying the Spit with the overhauled fingers I looked under the rocker covers-

Things looked good.

[51fixer]

One of the projects on the SNJ-3 was to remove a cover riveted over the gun port on the top accessory cowling-

We need one of the blast deflectors that rivet to the front edge of this panel-

[51fixer]

I noticed a small bubble on the top rib of the Vertical Stab-

After I removed the rib I noticed a few things-

The rib showed that it was anodized. I presumed before it was installed but when I looked it over I noticed that areas where it was riveted together was still bare and not anodized.

I figure that when the A/C went through O/H at Corpus Christi they put the entire Vertical in an Anodize tank.
Looking into the interior of the Vertical-

[Lynn Allen]

Rich, are you now going to have to drill out the whole vertical and redo everything?

[pbeegle1]

Rich:
Thank you again for taking us under your wing!!

Philip
Dixie Wing

[bdk]

Are you sure it was anodized and not alodined? I've never heard of assemblies being anodized.

[51fixer]

Are you sure it was anodized and not alodined? I've never heard of assemblies being anodized.

Did they have Alodine in 44?
I've done my share of Alodining parts. The resulting finish is fairly uniform in appearance with drips, dots and runs that will show depending on how it is applied and the size of the part treated.
I also have blasted parts in the Plastic Media and it will remove and affect the Alodine coating.
This rib I blasted with PM and the surface coating was un-affected. It has the streaks in the finish similar to Anodized Propeller blades. but only what is visible. As stated areas that contact another lacked coverage and the interior of the nose of the rib that sits between the fwd spar and the leading edge skin lacked coverage compared to the remainder or the part. The exterior skins show anodizing effects.
The interior was well covered with the thick Zinc Chromate Paint, whether they fogged the interior or dipped in a bath as well I don't know.
It is the 1st time I have seen this (anodizing or complete structures) but also the 1st time I've dealt with an A/C that went through a depot O/H at Corpus Christi or any Depot O/H that I have documents to prove it.
If someone hadn't drilled large holes (actually ovals) in the leading edge and installed a VOR antenna the corrosion issues may not have appeared. The holes let in water, dirt and natural pollens ect. The moisture is trapped and the heat treat of parts can make them susceptible to this damage.

[bdk]

Could it have been clear anodized and then stained by a supplemental coating? Or maybe it was phosphoric acid etched at the depot and the acid didn't get inside the joints so you are actually seeing a negative image?

BTW, an anodized surface is pretty porous and can be readily stained with some chemicals.

[Iclo]

Rich,

Thanks for the updates. Be sure that they are very appreciated

[Brian Snow]

Its been pretty busy summer and I haven't posted as much as I would have liked but here are a few updates-
Andrew flew the T-6 and Jim the Spit at New Garden Airshow a few weeks back.
The CAF had the Rednose P-51 there but on Sat they had a Gear Door issue and brought it over to our hangar.
A video of their performance- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wl3QkydTBY
During that flight a spring broke and the broken end settled in the inboard gap of the inner gear door. It acted as a shoehorn and forced the edge of the skin outboard where it was forced into the bottom edge of the center rib creating a good deal of damage to the skin.
This was the result-

The scratch in the middle of the bent section is where the spring fragment settled.

I sent it off to Bill and Scooter Yoak and they replaced the skin on it.

After being fitted and painted




Jim Buckly picked it up yesterday-

Wow Rich, BEA sure seems to see it's share of the worn, the weary, and the broken.....LOL.......Repair looks nice on the Red Nose, and fortunate for them that you are so close by......Did they have any indication / incidence of flutter related to the deformation.......especially at display speeds..????
Brian

[51fixer]

Its been pretty busy summer and I haven't posted as much as I would have liked but here are a few updates-
Andrew flew the T-6 and Jim the Spit at New Garden Airshow a few weeks back.
The CAF had the Rednose P-51 there but on Sat they had a Gear Door issue and brought it over to our hangar.
A video of their performance- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wl3QkydTBY
During that flight a spring broke and the broken end settled in the inboard gap of the inner gear door. It acted as a shoehorn and forced the edge of the skin outboard where it was forced into the bottom edge of the center rib creating a good deal of damage to the skin.
This was the result-

The scratch in the middle of the bent section is where the spring fragment settled.

I sent it off to Bill and Scooter Yoak and they replaced the skin on it.

After being fitted and painted




Jim Buckly picked it up yesterday-

Wow Rich, BEA sure seems to see it's share of the worn, the weary, and the broken.....LOL.......Repair looks nice on the Red Nose, and fortunate for them that you are so close by......Did they have any indication / incidence of flutter related to the deformation.......especially at display speeds..????
Brian

It would have happened when gear was extended just prior to landing.

In all fairness the CAF has invested a good bit of effort prior to the repaint this aircraft received a couple years ago.
The same skin had been replaced then prior to paint so its not like they have ignored maint.
This was an unfortunate event caused by a small part which failed. The fact it caused another problem was unforeseen.
The rubber met the runway and all is well.

[RobC]

Rich, I can answer part of your question regarding the appearance of anodized metal. That part, is that I don't think it has to do with overhaul, but was a practice done at the factory. Reason being that my Yale is full of pieces with that same treatment/appearance. The bad news is that those parts tend to be corroded. I have pondered whether the appearance is caused by some type of defective anodizing, or is the appearance caused by some type of breakdown of the metal. Notice that it has a grain to it - the uneven color is in line with the grain of the metal. The Yale was built in 1940. When was the -3 built?

On a separate topic, is the spring that broke on Rednose the same type that broke on Precious Metal at Reno?