PV-2D Harpoon 84062 (Tanker 101) comes back to life

[spookythecat]

$20 for the shirt plus whichever postage you prefer and its on the way.

We also have Harpoon pins and stickers available.

The three different stickers are:

A logo the same as the shirt
Nash Kelvinator/hamilton standard propeller
Martin turret

All proceeds go to the Harpoon upkeep/maintenance and restoration fund.

Kenney will fix you up if you like.

Thanks for the support!

Been lurking on this for a while but am in awe of where this bird has made it to. Really looking forward to seeing it in Oshkosh.

What color are the shirts and do you have images of the pins/stickers?

[Redtracer]

Hey Al, the shirts are white with the harpoon logo on the back and our museum logo on the left chest. The stickers we have are the Harpoon logo, ham standard prop oval, and the WWII Martin logo just like was on the front of the Martin turrets. I'll post some pictures soon.

[Chris]

Hey Ken, Get off the computer and get those radios in and working. By the way, everyone down here in Mesa liked the Poon shirt. Thanks again for the way y'all treated me when I was up there.

[Redtracer]

Hey Chis! No, Thank you! Help like yours is what the Harpoon is all about! The radios are in and a post on them is coming real soon! Don't be a stranger you're always welcome here!

[maxum96]

Taigh, I'd like to order a shirt. Is there a way to order one through your website? Or do I need to call to order a shirt? I went to your website, but couldn't find an online store or page to place an order.

Doug

[spookythecat]

Hey Al, the shirts are white with the harpoon logo on the back and our museum logo on the left chest. The stickers we have are the Harpoon logo, ham standard prop oval, and the WWII Martin logo just like was on the front of the Martin turrets. I'll post some pictures soon.

Thanks. I look forward to sending some $$$ your way once I get paid.

[ALAN.L]

Taigh, I'd like to order a shirt. Is there a way to order one through your website? Or do I need to call to order a shirt? I went to your website, but couldn't find an online store or page to place an order. Doug

Same query from here in the UK !

[rahill]

Taigh,
Saw 84062 at Nut Tree today (10/21) -- so cool to see it in person after following your progress here. Very nice job.

Rich Hill

[Taigh Ramey]

Taigh, I'd like to order a shirt. Is there a way to order one through your website? Or do I need to call to order a shirt? I went to your website, but couldn't find an online store or page to place an order. Doug

Same query from here in the UK !

The best way for now is to click on the link below in my tag line for donations to the museum. It's $20 for a shirt plus the shipping you desire. Let us know the size and add it to the note on the donation paypal link too if possible along with the shipping address.

If you want your T shirt hand delivered to the nearest fighter base for mach 2 delivery today via F-22 then just add the $975,000 USD as appropriate of if you want it by pack mule guaranteed within 6 months or so then just add 57 cents.

For something in between; Regular US Post rate in the US should be $7

International rates to the UK look like $16 USD but Jeana, our Office Manager, is looking in to cheaper alternatives.

Just ask jeana@twinbeech.com for shipping questions and she will fix you right up

Taigh,
Saw 84062 at Nut Tree today (10/21) -- so cool to see it in person after following your progress here. Very nice job.

Rich Hill

Jerry Anderson was kind enough to sponsor our fuel to the Nut Tree for display at the Mustang Days roundup. Thanks Jerry! On the way over to the show Ricky noticed through the open cowl flaps an exhaust stack was moving around on the top of the right engine which it is certainly not supposed to do. After we landed and checked it out we quickly determined it needed to be replaced or repaired before further flight so the Harpoon was going to have to stay there until we could get it fixed.

I bought an inventory of Harpoon parts a while ago which included crates full of new exhaust and sure enough we had 9 of the very parts we needed. Man it is sweet to have good running spares. We also have pumps, brakes, valves and hydraulic components. We should be good for a while and we can also supply the other PV-2 operators with goodies to keep them running too.

The day after the Nut Tree show I was off to Tullahoma, Tennessee for the annual Beech get together so while I was out of town Ricky was kind enough to replace the broken exhaust stack on the right engine. It was all ready to go and the day after I returned (yesterday) so we brought her back home.

Jerry paid for our fuel in the Harpoon and he also flew our Twin Beech over to the show. Roger Cain, Eric Preston and my daughter shot air to air still and video on the way. We were able to get Jerry in the right seat of the Harpoon for the flight home (I'm mad I didn't get a photo of him flying) so I hope he had a good time flying. Jerry is a great guy and an even better pilot. Thanks again Jerry for your kindness and generosity.

Out with the old broken down part...



And in with the new



Cool parts tag

[ALAN.L]

Many thanks for the reply Taigh, I will drop Jeana a line.

Best regards, Alan

[Taigh Ramey]

These next few posts are out of order as I was unable to get them up at the time. Excuses like I was at an air show, folding laundry or working in the vegetable garden come to mind...

After we got back from Reno Bernie made the big mistake of asking "What do you want me to do now old pal?" I replied how about making the tail wheel go up and down? Bernie had that look on his face that said 'Dude! I am leaving in a few days and you want me to start that?!' Why not as we get our best work done when we are under a deadline.

First Ricky and Bernie jacked up the tail



Then Bernie opened up the tail gear doors



Then Bernie cussed at the tail gear doors. Poor Bernie



Did I mention that Bernie was a proctologist before he started working on Warbirds?



While Bernie was getting some tail, Ricky was making the missing hydraulic lines to plumb the tail back into the main gear system. He even painted them to match the old interior. Ricky also rebuilt the tail gear actuator for Bernie



Hey old buddy how many tools does it take to fix the tail gear? ALL OF THEM!!



Not an easy place to work in as you only have a couple of small inspection openings that let you near the tail gear



With the tail gear actuator, up and down lock removed, crusty roller bearings replaced, system/mechanism cleaned lubed and reinstalled it was time to see if we could make it work. We plumbed in a hydraulic pack or mule to the tail gear so we could test it independently from the main gear. Here is a video of the first test

http://www.twinbeech.com/images/Aircraft/manufacturers/lockheed/PV-2/PV-2D84062/mx/tailgear/firsttailgearretract.wmv

After adjusting and rigging it was time to connect it to the rest of the aircraft and cycle it with the main gear.

We needed to jack the rest of the aircraft but ran into a small problem...

What do you do when your 20 ton aircraft jack decides it doesn't want to support anything but its own weight and you still need to do a landing gear swing and weigh the aircraft? Fire up the WWII wrecker truck of course.

The wrecker truck is a 1945 Federal C2 Army Air Forces wrecker that was used to retrieve crashed aircraft at the airfield. These were at every airfield both in the states and in theatre. There are many cool shots of these trucks in action. Here is a link for those who are interested in more wrecker info: http://www.twinbeech.com/federalc2wrecker.htm

We used the factory lift fittings on the Harpoon main beam to pick up the one side of the aircraft so the jack could be positioned under the jack pad on the spar. The jack has locking collars so we could use it as a fixed support and raised the rest of the aircraft by conventional jacking methods under the right wing and the tail.

Cool to use a WWII truck to lift a WWII aircraft just like it was meant to do. Gotta be an inter-service conflict in there somewhere though having an Army vehicle lifting a Navy aircraft but neither seemed to mind too much.

The Wrecker's engine didn't even slow down when picking up the weight of the Harpoon estimated to be around 11,000 pounds. The old gal did great!



Here is Bernie working the controls on the crane









While the mule was hooked up we also cycled the flaps. Here is a video of the flaps in motion. Some of Robert Fowlers best work!

http://www.twinbeech.com/images/Aircraft/manufacturers/lockheed/PV-2/PV-2D84062/mx/flaps/flapcycle.wmv

More to come...

[Zac Yates]

What a project, so inspiring! She is one good looking machine. Thankyou for the updates, every one is awesome!

[Rob Mears]

What's the type designation on that crane truck? It's pretty cool having a classic WWII vehicle around that also earns its way around the hangar.

[Taigh Ramey]

What's the type designation on that crane truck? It's pretty cool having a classic WWII vehicle around that also earns its way around the hangar.

The wrecker truck is a 1945 Federal C2 Army Air Forces wrecker that was used to retrieve crashed aircraft at the airfield. These were at every airfield both in the states and in theatre. There are many cool shots of these trucks in action. Here is a link for those who are interested in more wrecker info:

http://www.twinbeech.com/federalc2wrecker.htm

[CAPFlyer]

Love your comment on the tail wheel video after the wheel locks down. Was that the airframe rattling or the doors?

Reminds me of when the mechanics did gear swings at Air Tahoma of the Convair gear. The nose gear especially had a habit of just flopping out of the bay right into the down lock. They did an emergency extension test one C-check that caused the whole plane to slide aft on the jacks by almost a foot when all 3 gear slammed into the locks. Needless to say they had a little work to fix that issue since there was supposed to be a little bit of trapped hydraulic fluid to keep them from going all the way down undampened especially since they all extend aft and the airstream would be helping them extend.