B-26K Counter-Invader Restoration ("Special K")

[A26 Special K]

Just for grins, the guys hung a 100 lb practice bomb on the rack to see what it looked like. Yeah, they were usually carried in the bomb bay, but we don't have the napalm canisters yet for the wing racks. Anyway, Ray fixed up the stencils and did the research to make the markings look good. We still have to paint a yellow stripe on the front and back, but that will have to be done after the Fling tomorrow. Our DC-3, Southern Cross, was prepped for a wash job and to fly tomorrow for the Fling rides. By the time we got to her, we were starting to drag under the sun and heat, but a round of choklet donuts helped perk everybody up again. You have no idea how big an airplane is until you try to brush it down with soap and power wash it off!! No wonder everybody feels "rode hard and put away wet", to use an ol Texas phrase. Now, if you don't know what that means, I probably couldn't explain it to you either! JR

[A26 Special K]

As part of the show prep, Mark and team installed the two canopies in case of weather and we put a tarp over it. We plan to offer tours of the B-25 and the A-26 on Saturday, tomorrow, and will have T shirts plus other items for sale. We have GGA, Nimrod and On Mark Engineering shirts as well as a few Nimrod Special Ops hats. Gates open at 9 am. Come early while it is cool!! JR

[A26 Special K]

Big Mike and his loyal sidekick Denis got the rusty ol towbar looking good with a fresh coat of paint. Ray did the stencils and applied those today just in time for the big tow over to the display area. Ms K got her very own personalized tow bar. When the Fling is over, we intend to design and fabricate a new, collapsible tow bar to fit into the bomb bay when we take the airplane out to shows and on tour. Old Yeller here could be used to tow a battleship and just won't fit in the bay, not to mention it would take 4 guys to lift it up there even it did fit. JR

[A26 Special K]

It's not often you see a line up like this, but this shot was made from the tail of the DC-3. It shows the K, a T-6 in NZ colors, a Beech 18 in Navy colors, a Stinson Gullwing or V-77 in Royal Navy colors and the CAF A-26 in Korean War colors. Each of these airplanes has a fascinating and real history. Drop on by the VFM hangar or the Fall Fling ramp close to Main Street at Fort Worth Meacham airport on Saturday for even more fun. JR

[cooper9411]

JR thanks for the update and pictures. Sure wish I could get away for a week or so to come see the "K" in person!!

[A26 Special K]

JR thanks for the update and pictures. Sure wish I could get away for a week or so to come see the "K" in person!!

Hey, we would be glad for you to drop by to see her, but we may be in your neighborhood next year on tour. We will be sure to post our plans when we know the airplane is done with proving runs, but our intentions are to start a loop from Texas up thru the Northeast, down the coast to Florida and then hit Alexandria, LA, the former home of England AFB where K spent part of her time. We are definitely planning to be at the Air Commando Association Reunion and Memorial Flyover at Hurlburt AFB in Oct 2013. Should put us back in Texas for one of the AFB shows in San Antonio around the end of October. That's sort of a rough sketch for now, but as it develops, we will be sure to let everybody know. Thanks! JR

[cooper9411]

Keep us posted and hope you will be able to get up this way..

[10tweaker]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys are at Meachum, not DFW right? Might have to non-rev out there to see y'all for a day... If you get to the ATL area, give me a shout, be glad to help you guys out if I can.

[K5DH]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys are at Meachum, not DFW right? Might have to non-rev out there to see y'all for a day... If you get to the ATL area, give me a shout, be glad to help you guys out if I can.

GGA operates out of the Vintage Flying Museum, Hangar 33S, Meacham Airport, Fort Worth.

[A26 Special K]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys are at Meachum, not DFW right? Might have to non-rev out there to see y'all for a day... If you get to the ATL area, give me a shout, be glad to help you guys out if I can.

U betcha... will let you know. Atlanta could be on our tour route very easily. Will need some advice on best airport to operate out of and what might draw people out to see her. Hmmm... wonder if it would help if we brought Ms Texas with us?? Like Dean just said, we are at Meacham and primarily work on the K on Saturdays. The next 2 weekends though we will be working on the hangar dance and then the swap meet in Ft Worth. Let us know when you might drop by so we can be sure to have someone there expecting you for the grand tour. JR

[A26 Special K]

Fall Fling was a success today even though we had all sorts of competition with other events, not the least of which was the TX-OU football game at the Cotton Bowl. This rivalry is intense and is known as the Red River Shootout. Then there was Mother Nature threatening to rain and blow all day. Still we got all of our DC3 flights done before it started. Gave lots of B25 tours. The A26 had many visitors. A fair amount of vintage cars and airplanes made it in. Overall, we had a fun time. Right now, my feet hurt so I am going to go alternate between soaking my feet and my head!! More later!!! A Tired JR in TEXAS

[A26 Special K]

Well, no wonder the skies were turning gray and somber... the Longhorns got whooped 63-21 by the Okies. Wow!! But anyway, if you look closely, you can see our DC-3 making a crossover of the airport for the downwind leg. The Meacham Tower folks were very accommodating today and let the ride folks get a birds eye view of the ramp and all the airplanes and cars there. Not often that you see two A-26's representing 3 wars: WWII, Korea and VN. Why does it seem that airplanes, especially warbirds, were always way ahead of cars and other vehicles, technologically speaking, in many ways. Compare a 1944 car with a 1944 airplane and the airplane is a lot farther ahead. Not only that, but it seems like they sure last a lot longer. Maybe it is just folks like us who seem to want to keep the old stuff running?? But I am certainly glad that is a fact!! JR

[A26 Special K]

Our B-25, Pacific Prowler, always attracts a crowd. We have so many kids who love to crawl thru the tunnel under the cockpit to the bombardier position and parents who love to take their picture up there!! We had a brisk business of tours and T shirt sales today. The Prowler will be the backdrop for the 1940's band next Saturday night at the VFM Hangar Dance. The DC-3 will offer rides also that night. If you want to get an early start on the night lights of Ft Worth and Dallas, this is the next opportunity. Contact Dana on our website number to reserve a seat. You don't have to attend the dance to make the flight, but it sure would be fun to do both. http://www.gga1.org

[A26 Special K]

Ms K had a lot of visitors come by and admire her makeover!! We certainly have to say that our volunteers went way beyond the call of duty this weekend. They washed airplanes and installed many parts to get her ready to tow. They set up the event site and made the ramp ready to receive fly in guests, cars and visitors. After the rain start threatening about 3:40 pm, they had already started towing airplanes to the hangar and taking down the tents and canopies that might blow down if the wind got up. Can't say enough about how hard they all worked. You would be hard pressed to find a better team!! They worked in the rain showers to take up the barriers and barrels plus do a FOD walk across the ramp. On top of this, we have to move all of our parts, tools and benches out of our workspace out in the morning to make room for the hangar dance next weekend. Sure seems odd not to be working on K, but these are fund raisers that we have to stop and try to support to keep our airplanes flying!! A big thank you to all of our team and our guests for coming today. JR

[A26 Special K]

Some of our GGA members volunteered to work the ramp and other things like check in people for their DC-3 flights as shown in this shot. These folks don't work on airplanes, but they support the effort. We had 10 flights that went out full or nearly full each time. That is a lot of people to corral, give a safety briefing, herd out to the airplane while the arriving group is deplaning. Then leading this group back to the safety line before cranking engines. We couldn't have done it without this group's support as well. We certainly must send a big ol "Mighty good job!" out their way and add our thanks, too! JR