Warbird Information Exchange

Hey folks. We recently recovered a vertical stabilizer for a B-24 that was built by Ford in Dearborn, MI. It was being used as a retaining wall at a house in the mountains and was about to get scrapped before we recovered it. We have a part number of GK32T8050, and serial number is 4575R. Does anyone in the group have a database that could tie this to and airframe serial number so we can do some more research prior to display? Thanks in advance for any guidance!

If you know the approx. location of the crashed B-24 that the Vertical came from, then it could be traced to the individual B-24.
The people at wreckchasing message board can help.
or PM me and I'll post and or pass on the info to the individuals who maintain the accident reports.
ALOHADAVE

Hey Gordon,
Dave has you headed in the right direction. Also, the guys at AAIR have a great database that you can search in a few different ways. They're located here:

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/db.asp

Nice to see you here! Looking forward to the FedEx package... Shhhh!

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Always looking for P-51D parts.

Did the previous owner obtain this from a crash site or a plane that was scrapped locally after the war? Do you have photos of the tags that have the numbers?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

There is some great background info and pics on the wreckchasing website, posted there by Dave Trojan (Thanks Dave!):

http://pacaeropress.websitetoolbox.com/ ... do-7531506

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Always looking for P-51D parts.

You are correct on the part identification. Item #39 on the breakdown diagram is the tail fin, assembly drawing number GK32T8050. Ford installed each airframe sub-assembly with an identification tag, and you are lucky to still have one.

Unfortunately, I have bad news. I’m not sure if any serial number, on any tag installed, can be traced to any military service serial number. Each Ford B-24 produced, as a kit or Ford assembled, is numbered by the Ship number. Ship 0 to 800 are E models, 801 to 8800 are H to M models. I have discovered on the Army Air Force record cards, the Construction Number may be completely different, and cannot be confirmed as the Ship number designated by Ford.

I have also discovered on our Ford built section, each item identification tag serial number is different, but similar in range. I do not know if any records exist to match any identification tag serial number to any aircraft.

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Volunteer
Yankee Air Museum

Ford B-24H to M breakdown diagram


Full Size: http://i.imgur.com/ILyMoxD.jpg

Ford B-24M Parts Catalog of the fin


Full Size: http://i.imgur.com/a2fM4uE.jpg

Assembly Drawing - GK32T8050

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Volunteer
Yankee Air Museum

Is there any way (like with UV light or something like that) to try to bring up remains of the painted serial number on the fin? Sometimes faded markings show up under the right lighting.

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Is there a list of FORD built B-24s by model and serial number?
I want to match B-24 accident reports to FORD built B-24s. There are Ford built B-24 crash sites out there.
ALOHADAVE

The only way to tie the fin to a specific airplane at the time of construction is within the factory records. When an aircraft is DD-250's to the customer, a complete serialization record goes with the documentation. That record will provide every serial numbered part installed on the aircraft, down to the tire serial numbers. It's accurate at the time the aircraft leaves the factory, but once it's in the customer's hands, parts get changed and the records are not always kept up to date. It's a huge amount of work to do and we have an entire department at work that is tasked with that. The odds of finding the documentation are rather long against it. Using UV techniques to find a painted on s/n will give you the ship it was installed on at the time of paint only.

Sequence numbers, construction numbers and and serial numbers are not always tied together and in correct relationships. Things can happen in the plant and stuff gets switched around to meet production requirements. Then there are mods and configuration changes that happen prior to the aircraft delivery that can play havoc with the system. For a good example, look at the story behind the 1953 tornado wrecking the B-36 fleet. I had a friend that was heavily involved in getting the fleet back together, and the directive at the time was to not worry about any serial number record keeping, but to minimally document what was done to each aircraft to get it back airworthy and to do so in the least amount of time. Parts were swapped between aircraft, up to and including wings, fuselage sections and anything else that was damaged.