B-26K Counter-Invader Restoration ("Special K")

[Matt Gunsch]

The RH oil cooler arrived from Grangeville, ID after its "flush." If you don't know, IMO the oil cooler installation is one of the most difficult tasks on the A26.

nope, I know nothing about it,





At least you have a hangar, it was 30 degrees when I changed this one out, I had to get creative to get it out by myself.

[therealJR]

Engine installed Saturday, prop hung Sunday. Still need everything connected, exhaust stacks, cowls, etc. Not too bad. Thanks to Ed, the NLG torque link disconnect is finished A-OK. Larry, Bob & Stan are still chasing a wiring issue. Saturday we knock off early for the big VFM hangar dance. FIFI is the backdrop this year. Diamond Lil is in the hangar too. DC3 Southern Cross has a new No 2. The crew is hard at it this week so they can do rides for the dance. Weather should be nice Saturday night. If you've never been to a hangar dance, it should be on your bucket list.

Check it out at Vintage Flying Museum.org

[A26 Special K]

This is how "Lisa" got her groove back.....OK, so it is a prop. Close enough! "Ichabod Crane" lifted the engine and the prop with ease. Anyway, except for one part that didn't get included in the shipment of the engine back to Ft Worth, everything will be completed when it arrives....the cone for the prop shaft. A new retaining nut was found for the prop still in the original 1957 packaging and preservation. It was pristine. Should be ready to test run when the B-29 leaves the hangar to go to New Orleans in a few weeks. We have two major systems to finish before taxi trials: the emergency brakes and the engine fire extinguisher system. We are really starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we are reluctant to set a hard date for the first flight. Every time we do that, Kay finds something else for us to do. Let's just say that we are hoping for a early 2017 date. We want to get it painted and then start marketing to airshows. Oshkosh is back on the drawing board. If there are any airshow directors who are interested in having Kay come visit, please PM with some dates and details. Thanks!
The Other JR

[A26 Special K]

The big Hangar Dance is over for this year, but some of our guys won the best costume contests. Jim S did a fine job as a WWII pilot and in this shot, Larry B got the kudos for the best VN era uniform. He is our Electro Wizard and has done a lot of work in the cockpit and avionics. He is presently working with Bob and Stan on the gear indicator problem and with Ray on the fuel flow transmitters for the engines. We found the original style FF gauges so then hunted for the original transmitters to make them work. Now the fun is installing these and making them work. Shouldn't take too long on the gauges. The gear indicators are still baffling the electro brain trust. They are having to run all of the wires as it appears there were some "modifications" made back in the day after the Macron crash so the system does not conform to the drawings. When a glitch shows up, this makes it very hard to trouble shoot, but we have faith in the team. They will figure it out when Kay gets tired of playing that game. More on the progress later so be sure to check back here and on our public Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/a26specialkay The Other JR

[A26 Special K]

Chuck is part of the Day Shift now. He retired from AA not so long ago. He has contributed a lot of his time to the project since coming on board. He is finishing up the cowl flaps after we installed the engine Saturday weekend before last. The Hangar Dance last Saturday took as away from the usual routine, but it sure was fun to have our friends and families join us under Kay's wings for the party. The Big Band performed as promised. Dinner was good as well. VFM put on a great show. But now, it is back to work. We are waiting on one more part to finish installing the right prop. We are just about ready to haul her outside for a two engine run this time. We just have to coordinate with the B-29's comings and going the next two weekends so we can get Kay out. The avionics and cockpit guys are chasing the gear indicator problem still and finishing up the fuel flow transmitters that Ray made the mounts for a couple of weeks ago. We found the original style gauge and transmitters so elected to change them out. Lots of detail work to do yet, but things are looking good and back on track again after the setback with the engine problem. Be sure to check our Facebook page for even more pictures! http://www.facebook.com/a26specialkay JR

[A26 Special K]

This is some of the dance crowd that wandered over to see Kay. Notice that Orville and Wilbur are among them?? Or is that the Dodge Brothers?? Big Ed is explaining to them how an airplane flies, right? We sure had a good time. Maybe we could do a Spring Fling again and have all the airplanes out on the ramp for display and a fly-in here at Meacham. The B-29, C-47, T-6, T-34 and A-26 could make rides available. We will see what interest develops in the subject. Oh, and Kay should be flying by then. Maybe even painted up and ready for the prom. "Kay's first public appearance in a Kay Fly Day!!",wow, that would be exciting to us. Maybe for you, too! JR

[A26 Special K]

It's getting closer to time to light up the cockpit and make noise. It is a beautiful thing... oil smoke and 2800 cubic inches of noise on each side. There could be an argument made that it is better hearing it from the outside, but seeing all the gauges move plus the noise from inside the cockpit gets my vote.
Soon... for both!! Perhaps this weekend if all goes well. If not, then the following Saturday. JR

[A26 Special K]

Saturday will not be the day for engine runs this w/e. There are too many loose ends to tie up. The team will make every effort to have it ready to try on Sunday baring any glitches. Will announce tomorrow evening what the status is. Keep fingers crossed we can get back on track soon. The B-29 goes to New Orleans next w/e so we need to get this done before we get locked in behind her for winter maintenance. We have lots of small details left to do plus two big ones before taxi trials or first flight. Check back for a status report Sat evening!

[A26 Special K]

Odds are 50-50 on engine start tomorrow. We are shooting for Sunday about 10 am if everything checks out. We will be out on the ramp in front of the Vintage Flying Museum hangar, Meacham Field. Come see us if in the area! JR

[therealJR]

Engine runs completed today. Great effort from the entire Kay Krewe. Early indications are we have a few write up's to correct, nothing too serious. Hope to be ready for runs again next Saturday or Sunday. Go to the Special Kay facebook page for updates and video of today's run. The other JR really did a nice and smooth job on engine starts. Can't say enough about this crew. We hung the engine only two weeks ago, had to shut down for last weeks hangar dance. So great work all around.

[peter]

And the video link will be coming up when?? .....

[A26 Special K]

Good engine runs today. Can see on our public FB page: http://www.Facebook.com/a26specialkay
The team outdid themselves today for sure! JR

[A26 Special K]

Both running smoothly! Thanks Lefty for this great shot. Lefty actually worked on Kay at England AFB in '68-'69 as a newly minted airman. He is now working on her again! Small world. Happy to have him. And a shout out to another airman who worked at England who bought the gas thru an auction of the great walking sticks he makes... Thanks Randy! We can see some light at the end of the tunnel now. JR

[Zac Yates]

What an awesome photo! Great stuff!

[A26 Special K]

Here is "Lisa" our right engine that we just got back from the shop firing up for our test runs. She made some oil smoke for us and that was a beautiful thing. Crew Chief JR is on the headset giving pilot JR and Larry a play by play. We keep the ladder handy in case we need to get up on top with the fire extinguisher or the crew needs an escape path. We can go out of the bomb bay or swing off the wing, but that is a far drop for this old guy. Larry, on the other hand, climbs all over the airplane like a monkey. He used to work on F-16's so is used to it. We wrote up a few squawks on things that were not working quite right. Chuck and Larry have been working those off during the week as the Day Shift. The Weekend Shift will finish up anything left and we plan to run engines again while the B-29 is out of the hangar to New Orleans. Then it will be back to making ready for taxi trials since we still lack the emergency air brake system and engine fire extinguishing system. Stay tuned. JR