Warbird Digest no. 8

[Chicoartist]

Man, this magazine just keeps getting better and better!

Love the article by Jim Harley on the Collings Foundation "Bomber Tour". I spent many years talking to 8AF veterans at Barksdale, so I can relate to how much fun it is to watch them look at B-17s and B-24s.

And, reading my mind, the WD people knew I needed some good shots of the Malcolm Hood installation (on Jack Roush's new kite) - Great shots, guys! Perfect! There aren't many good canopy-closed shots from WWII. I wonder if Jack's rebuild team reinforced the forward/aft edges of the "hood" in metal for longevity - the few close-ups I have show it's a one piece UNreinforced (no metal/all plex) unit.

Great issue, guys - so glad I subscribed.

Wade

[Paul Draper]

If you look closely, the forward and aft edges are re-enforced with aluminum. I also checked the pics I took of it awhile back and the edges are re-enforced in my pics too.

[Chicoartist]

If you look closely, the forward and aft edges are re-enforced with aluminum.

Yeah, that's what I was talking about in my first post ... I have several really good close-ups of wartime Malcolm installations, and there's no alumimum edge reinforcements along the forward and aft edges (that I can tell). It's just 'bare' plexiglas, or lexan, or "whatever" they used, with a "lip" molded in that, when closed, fit underneath a small, separately installed "slipstream deflector" lip on the forward windscreen unit. Of course, the side (parallel to the longerons) "roller covers" were metal/aluminum and appear to match wartime photos in the WD pics.

One thing that surprised me when I started really looking into the Malcolm Hood's shape was how much it "bulged" out, especially noticeable on top because almost all the wartime pics were taken from the side. The Rousch Hood almost appears to bulb out "not enough", but I'm not taking any bets that they can't find a wartime picture matching their Hood.

Kidd Hofer's Mustang would have been my choice. Anderson is 'famous' for his painted/NMF D-model. Hofer's Salem Representative was one of the most famous Bs ever ... save Gentile's Shangri-La, but I digress - it's Jack's money and he can paint that kite any way he wants to - I hope one day to see it taxi by in person. That hood will really be a unique thing in warbird circles.

Wade

[vanguard]

Any chance you could post those pictures of the hood?

[Chicoartist]

Here's two that I have "better" photos of the same pictures shown below. These particular images I quickly went over and pulled from http://littlefriends.co.uk/ -- luckily these were there as I they are the primary close-ups I'm using from my collection of details of the hood.

Two things are 100% obvious, at least in the "clearer" versions of the pix I have: no metal "strap" on the fore and aft edges, and secondly, the hood "bulges" up pretty good and high in the center - more than you'd think, actually. Compare the side view of Hofer's hood with the lines of the Rousch hood on page 51 in WD#8. I have some other pics where it looks even more bulged out ... almost comical depending on the angle ... not "flatter" a-la the Roush version.

In the second picture it almost looks like there's aluminum strip bracing on the aft edge, but a closer look shows you can "see through" the aluminum (it's thick, but clear plex).

I also have a good picture of Don Beerbower in his cockpit (got it from Jack Cook - too lazy to set up the scanner - Jack, you got it?) that shows obviously that both the front and aft edges were sans aluminum bracing/straps.

But again, there must have been variations on the theme, even to include the aluminum straps/bracing. Never say never, I say, unless you're staring at definitive, all-encompassing evidence. My point here is based on the 8th AF pics I've seen while researching Hofer's plane for my painting, "The Debden Kidd".

Wade

[vanguard]

Thanks alot. If you have any others I would love to see them.

[Paul Draper]

If you look closely, the forward and aft edges are re-enforced with aluminum.

Yeah, that's what I was talking about in my first post ... I have several really good close-ups of wartime Malcolm installations, and there's no alumimum edge reinforcements along the forward and aft edges (that I can tell). It's just 'bare' plexiglas, or lexan, or "whatever" they used, with a "lip" molded in that, when closed, fit underneath a small, separately installed "slipstream deflector" lip on the forward windscreen unit. Of course, the side (parallel to the longerons) "roller covers" were metal/aluminum and appear to match wartime photos in the WD pics.

One thing that surprised me when I started really looking into the Malcolm Hood's shape was how much it "bulged" out, especially noticeable on top because almost all the wartime pics were taken from the side. The Rousch Hood almost appears to bulb out "not enough", but I'm not taking any bets that they can't find a wartime picture matching their Hood.

Wade

Sorry, I mis-understood what you were saying. As I review some of the pictures of what is probably the first Malcolm hood installation on a P-51B/C I can see that the forward & aft edges are clear. The aluminum is a c-shaped channel the wraps around the plexi to protect the edges on Jack Roush's Malcolm Hood.

I know Art told me that they had at least five different Hoods made with various degrees of "bulge", for lack of a better term, and they have been trying each one out on the aircraft. I have seen the Jack's "B" with a hood on it that more closely matches the WWII pictures. The one that is pictured in WD may or may not be the hood it actually ends up with.

Jack Roush and Bud Anderson are close friends, and now with the "Old Crow" D-model leaving the stable, Jack has decided to do his "B" as "Old Crow" for Bud.