Warbird Information Exchange

I thought some of you, (and you know who you are!) would like to see these pics of FAS 217, BuNr 92460. thy're from small, satin finish, photos, so I apologize for the graininess. Please don't publish them with out contacting me. They are for the members individual enjoyment only.
Blue skies,
Jerry

http://members.cox.net/ggpop/FAS2aSM.jpg

http://members.cox.net/ggpop/FAS1aSM2.jpg

The wings came with the aircraft when it arrived in CT. They are just visible to the left of the aircraft in the rightside, 3/4 view photo. If they were from another aircraft, they were switched in San Salavador at the time of purchase. Notice the damage on both sides to the accessory panels. Probalbly crushed by tie downs improperly securing the aircraft during shipping. The panels were replaced later. They photo was taken in the summer of 1971.
Jerry

I forgot, in addition to the panel damage, the right horizontal was missing the short, pointed, section forward of the elevator counter weight, and the very aft portion of the tail cone was crushed in from the right side.
Jerry

Looks to me like the wings are stacked right next to the plane in the 1st photo.

I do know that just about all of the other Corsairs recovered from San Salvador were pieced together to some degree using the best components available from the bunch. I could easily imagine FAS-217 being paired with the most ideal set of wings since, like the others, the wing panels had to be removed anyway for shipment. It's probably safe to assume though that whatever wings eventually ended up on the plane also came from the Salvadoran boneyard.

It's become one of my favorite past times to peek into the folded wing area of Corsairs at museums and airshows to check out what Bureau Numbers are carried on them. I can't remember finding a wing yet who's Bureau Number matched the opposite wing or the parent center fuselage section. The easily detachable components on the Navy planes were apparently very interchangable in the field!

Excellent photos Jerry!

_________________
Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

Any idea which A-26 lurks on the left side of the 2nd photo?

T J

That may be the A-26s that the Whittington Bros (?) ferried to Kelly AFB and was subsequently was put on static with the other aircraft on the parade ground at Lackland AFB.

If the photos are shot in 1971 I don't think it is the Kelly Invader, as that plane was still in Honduras at that time. You don't by any chance have a photo of the 26, do you?

T J

Why is the prop pitched backwards? I guess it is possible for the blades to simply be rotated way beyond normal, but why?

_________________
Ryan Pemberton
www.pembertonandsons.com

Sorry, I've been away all day helping my daughter move to a new house. The Invader IS the 100-plus mission, WWII combat veteran, "Reida Rae" that is currently under restoration at the New Engand Air Museum. Within a year or two of the photo, she was aquired by NEAM. I was waiting for someone to comment on the A-26!
Jerry

By the way, does anyone out there know if his aircraft (FAS 217) was in service during the 1969 conflict with Honduras?
Jerry

Hey Ryan,

About the propeller blades being "backwards": When the Hydromatic propeller is assembled, the blades are set to an index angle, the same angle as the pitch change mechanism in the dome, which contains the stationary and rotating cams and the piston. With a full feathering propeller, this is usually done in the feather position, that way all of the components are aligned properly when the piston travels fore and aft actuating the rotating cam, which is geared to the individual blades via the gear segments attached to the butt ends of the blades. It is easier to assemble the propeller in the full feather position, or the highest angle in a non-feathering propeller. It does not really matter, as long as the propeller and the pitch change mechanism are exactly set the same before you install the pitch change mechanism, in this case the dome. With the propeller in the feather or high angle position, it is easier to install it on the propeller shaft, gaining clearance for the propeller nut, the sockets and all of that.

We have posted technical information on the Hamilton Standard Hydromatic on our website, including color schematics:

http://dwp.bigplanet.com/bootstrapaircr ... ndex.nhtml

Craig

Jerry,

As best I can deduce, FAS-217 went out of service sometime between 1961 and 1965. Its only active use during the war would have been as a decoy, and as a parts source for the remaining flyers. Only five of the original twenty FG-1D's were still airworthy by the time hostilities broke out in 1969.

_________________
Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com