I found a T28 in a pasture

[carlisle1926]

I had an empty trailer behind my truck this weekend after selling a bunch of large items at a swap meet in North Texas. It seems like such a waste of fuel to travel the 300 miles back to Houston with an empty trailer, so I loaded it up with a T28. Don't get to excited, this one needs a good amount of repair. It has a LOT of corrosion and it had been licked by a grass fire that damaged the tail and ruined the outer wings. It will go into the hanger until I can figure out what to do with it. The guy that I got it from prefers to remain unknown.

Last edited by carlisle1926 on Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[K5DH]

Are they T-28A's, formerly of the Fuerza Aerea Mexicana? I think I know where you got 'em, but I won't spill the beans.

[carlisle1926]

I'm having a devil of a time opening the canopy. I can see a foot step on the left side, and a handle that pulls out of the fuselage that can rotate to free up a lock or something as well as a handle on the rear canopy to slide the canopy open. The problem is, something is jammed up internally and it won't open at all. The canopy has a gaping hole on the right side that I could crawl through. How do you open the canopy from the inside? There is a cable the runs in a groove along the back of the fuselage. That cable is loose and wadded up.

[The Inspector]

Rust never sleeps, a heavy duty can of your favorite brand of spray rust buster/lock ease is your friend.

[carlisle1926]

I had some help come in and open the canopy for me today. He had it open in about 2 seconds. I just wasn't doing it correctly. Thanks T28Mike!

[Fouga23]

So what are the plans for it?

And you never find aircraft lying around here in Belgium

[tinbender2]

Ummmmm,


Ya Know,


This is just my observation,

but,


First was the Lodestar,


Now the T-28,



Duuuuuuuuude,


You may have an addiction.



But, don’t despair.


There are plenty of self-help groups around.








And they can help fuel your addiction.




I’ll help get ya started........
.

You got a T-28 to do anything you want.


1. F-86 nose, paint on sharks teeth, that blows out six feet of burning propane, like a Fire-Breathing Dragon., with appropriate “Puff” artwork along the entire fuselage

2. Rear cockpit, mod into a gunner’s pit, Dauntless style.

3. Huge removable vert stab with a canvas rudder, to advertise upcoming airshows, where you sell your art, and the ad money helps pay for your gasoline.




And when the sickness really takes over.................





Mount the fuselage onto a mechanical bull platform. Platform mounts to your trailer, sell rides/pictures at airshows, and have the fuselage respond to inputs from the stick. Kids can have slight pitch/roll, and pilots can get a power-on, severe fuel imbalance, stall/spin experience. Helmets required, sick-sacs optional.



Then..................



Put propane firing machineguns (the Army uses them for training) in the nose, that are fired from the joystick. Charge $50 for 5 minutes of stick time at airshows. You’ll need to flesh out the safety precautions, and see if the idea is even insurable. I pitched a similar, well-developed idea to the CAF many years ago, but they never showed any interest. It was based on a fundraiser we did in the USAF, where we allowed civilians to shoot full-auto weapons loaded with blanks. We made around 10 times more money than other Squadrons, all selling overpriced hotdogs & beer. It was 95 degrees, 85% humidity and we had 100+ people standing in line. You’d be selling an experience, that will be the closest thing your audience will ever get, to actually flying a fighter and hearing the guns roar.


Jus tryin to help

[carlisle1926]

This particular T28 is actually what started my insane idea of turning the Lodestar into a car/truck. I had been kicking the idea of turning an airplane fuselage into a drivable "crashed" plane for at least ten years now. I posted an ad here on WIX a while back looking for a T28 or T-6 Texan fuselage. I was contacted about this T28 in response to my ad. I just never made a move on it until recently. My plan was to cut off the wings leaving only about a foot or so on either side to keep the fuselage under legal limit. But then I ran across the poor beat up Lodestar and my plans were put on hold for this T28. I just couldn't let the Lodestar die in a junkyard.
I really like the idea of putting the T28 fuselage up on a mechanical bull-like device to let people chum the floorboards- for a fee of course. As of right now, I'm not sure what direction I will be taking this Trojan.
Of course I haven't given up on the Lodestar panel truck idea either. I just switched directions with it. I've located several dent free derelict Lodestars that would be perfectly suited for my panel truck idea. I really got a kick out of watching people climb up into the old lodestar cockpit. I can see that letting kids sit in the Lodestar might help to create the next generation of warbird crack addicts. I've noticed that when I let people sit in the plane, they would come out glassy eyed and would end up buying nose art pieces from me. So, I guess that makes me a warbird junkie art prostitute that is also a warbird crack dealer.

[Zac Yates]

What's the latest on this particular warbird crack project from our favourite dealer? I quite like the idea of a "roadable" T-28, but a "mechanical bull"-style sim would be an amazing attraction.

[carlisle1926]

I haven't even had the time to remove it from my trailer yet. Hopefully this week, I will be getting the wings off of the trailer. I've been busy scrapping several antique fire trucks that a friend of mine owns. They were so rusty that they were beyond restoration, but they yielded a lot of neat parts and of course V12 engines. Hopefully within the next week or two, I will be able to weld together two old fire truck frames to make a long skinny trailer just to tow this T28 fuselage with.

[carlisle1926]

I got the wings off of the trailer today. I also reattached the engine and engine cowlings. The T28 looks much better now. The next phase is to finish the custom trailer that I'm building just to move this monster around. I need to get it off my regular trailer.

[_evan]

Neeeed updates!!!

[carlisle1926]

It became this thread----- viewtopic.php?f=3&t=46794