FIFI question

[ebramhall]

Frequent lurker-1st time poster

I was uploading some of my pictures from the 2005 Airsho in Midland and have a question. Can anyone tell me what the rectangle object underneath the #1 nacelle is in the photo below? I think it may be a catch can for fluids since it has a cap on it, but I’m not sure.

Here is the links to a my other photos from Airsho 2005
http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b67/s ... ho%202005/

Thanks for looking
Eric Bramhall

[ww2John]

"If it's not leaking oil, its out of oil!"

[groundpounder]

just wanted to complement you on your outstanding photos! question: has the bomb bay area on diamond lil been modified or deleted or is it just a different configuration than the later model b24? cheers sim

[groundpounder]

thanks for the info rer ! since were on b24s here what does anybody out there know about the b24 joe? i saw some great pics on a posting a week ago. is kermit weeks planning on reactivating this plane? i flew on witchcraft last year out of skagit ,washington. what an experience!! they are coming back soon, as well as aluminium overcast, so its gonna be an exciting start to the summer. gonna fly on all 3 this time! anyway any info on this or other existing b24 s would be great! tanky!

[retroaviation]

Can anyone tell me what the rectangle object underneath the #1 nacelle is in the photo below? I think it may be a catch can for fluids since it has a cap on it, but I’m not sure.



Yes, the cans are for collecting oil. In the past, used water bottles were stuffed in the cowlings to collect the oil dripping from the engine intake drains. I simply fabricated some tubing and installed a shut-off valve inside the nacelles to facilitate a more "user friendly" and cleaner set up. When we shut down, we simply screw the cans onto the fitting that protrudes from the nacelle and turn the valve on. It depends on each particular engine, but we'll generally fill one of the cans up in a few days. It's not a perfect solution, but better than letting it drip all of that oil on the ground, and slightly better looking than plastic water bottles poking out of the cowlings.

Gary Austin
Crew Chief, B-29/B-24 Squadron
Commemorative Air Force

[Steve Corbett]

Diamond Lil is a LB-30, which is a modified B24A. The story of "Lil" being damaged on delivery is NOT correct. In fact "Diamond Lil" was never intended to be used overseas. "Diamond Lil" was damaged when landing in New Mexico while training RAF pilots, Using TWA (I think) pilots . The crash in (Canada?) was a sister ship of AM-927 ("Diamond Lil"). After the crash Consolidated installed a new nose section from the B-24's that were currently being built which I believe would have been the D models. Which explains the longer nose on "Lil" They also removed the bomb bays as this A/C would never be used in combat because the armament was outdated and it does not have self sealing fuel tanks. So it was rebuilt as a prototype for the C-87 except it has only 1 side door instead of the double doors a C-87 has. And yes, Consolidated used it as a transport, transporting airplane parts between factories before being used as an executive A/C. And yes we have found copies of the official documents to back this up.[/quote]

[ebramhall]

Thanks for the answers Rohr and Gary.

Eric

[groundpounder]

thanks for the detailed info guys. it never ceases to amaze me just how much knowledge is out there. any links on b24 survivors or restorations??

[groundpounder]

thanks rer!! it seems that there may still be a few complete units around still. too bad there arent more flying examples left. thanks again sim.