“Diamond Lil”
Thu Apr 11, 2024 12:16 pm
I just got word that “Diamond Lil” is going to have her control surfaces recovered, will be down for at least 5 months... 
Does anybody have more information ?
Phil
Does anybody have more information ?
Phil
Re: “Diamond Lil”
Thu Apr 11, 2024 1:05 pm
Here is the message the CAF B-24/B-29 squadron posted on their Facebook page.
While I am a little disappointed I wont see Lil this season it is certainly understandable. I wish them success with the work and look forward to seeing Lil again next season. These old birds need their TLC.
During the annual inspection of the B-24 “Diamond Lil” this off-season, we made the determination that “Lil” needs some new feathers. Due to weathering, the cloth-covered rudders, ailerons, and elevators required new paint which also meant replacing the underlying fabric. During this process, we also felt that now would be a good time to replace the flight control cables that connect the control surfaces to the pilot’s yokes and rudder pedals.
Unfortunately, this is an extensive project that will preclude our beautiful B-24 from being able to travel the country with the Air Power History Tour this summer. Our maintenance team takes the utmost care of all our squadron aircraft and we feel the need to take these steps now in order to ensure that the world’s only flying B-24 is in tip-top shape so that it can continue to fly for generations to come. We are currently anticipating this project to take an extensive amount of time to complete - possibly up to 5 months.
We are contacting all supporters who have booked a flight this year, and we will continue to update everyone on “Lil’s” progress throughout this process. As always, we could use additional volunteer assistance in the hangar to help with this large undertaking. If you are unable to support us with your time, any financial help would also be greatly appreciated. The unexpected loss of revenue from “Lil” not being out on tour is going to hit the squadron hard. All of the income made while touring goes directly to the operation, support, and maintenance of our Squadron aircraft so that we can continue to share them with the American public. Please visit us at http://www.diamondlil.org to donate directly to “Lil” or join the Diamond Lil Century Club which provides a variety of fun perks for those able to provide a monthly, sustaining contribution.
Finally, the show must go on! We must continue the Mission! We will continue to tour this summer and you can still see the world’s most famous flying B-29 Superfortress “Fifi”, P-51 Mustang “Gunfighter”, WASP T-6 Texan “Nella”, RC-45J Expeditor “Bob”, the PT-13 Stearman and others during our scheduled stops listed on our website at http://www.airpowersquadron.org.
While I am a little disappointed I wont see Lil this season it is certainly understandable. I wish them success with the work and look forward to seeing Lil again next season. These old birds need their TLC.
Re: “Diamond Lil”
Fri Apr 12, 2024 9:22 am
It isn't really about recovering the control surfaces. In fact, the re-covering and IRAN of the surfaces themselves was complete a week or two ago. But, removal of the surfaces was part of the larger inspection plan over the winter that we just ran out of time for.
The reality is we just found a lot more to repair during winter mx than we had allocated for our staff and their time. Nothing particularly interesting or catastrophic...just more to inspect/repair/replace than expected.
There were two engines on the '29 that needed to be sent to Anderson and subsequently re-installed, and we'd only planned on one. We had to call in expertise from GossHawk to perform the wing spar AD inspection on the '24 and that took much longer than expected. When we got into inspecting and lubricating the cables and pulleys and all that with the flight control surfaces off, we decided it was time to replace a bunch of it while we were in there. And, no surprise, some of the stuff that needs replacement isn't stocked at the local Aircraft Spruce, so acquisition time is longer than our planned time. All of that at a time we're a little short-handed in our maintenance staffing. We've had some great help from Matt Jackson now that he's the Dir of Maint for CAF HQ, but it ultimately is just too much work for the hands available in the allocated time.
When our maintenance staff realized they were over-leveraged as far as time went, they focused on getting Fifi complete in time for the season and the B-24 had to be put on the back burner.
So, once the 29 is out the door here in a couple weeks, they'll turn attention back to the Liberator without the press-for-time of going out on tour.
If anyone wants to head down to KRBD and check out the progress or volunteer you're certainly welcome to. There was talk about doing some live-streams or videos or photos on social media of the mx being performed through the summer, so we shall see how that develops. Again, personnel dependent.
The reality is we just found a lot more to repair during winter mx than we had allocated for our staff and their time. Nothing particularly interesting or catastrophic...just more to inspect/repair/replace than expected.
There were two engines on the '29 that needed to be sent to Anderson and subsequently re-installed, and we'd only planned on one. We had to call in expertise from GossHawk to perform the wing spar AD inspection on the '24 and that took much longer than expected. When we got into inspecting and lubricating the cables and pulleys and all that with the flight control surfaces off, we decided it was time to replace a bunch of it while we were in there. And, no surprise, some of the stuff that needs replacement isn't stocked at the local Aircraft Spruce, so acquisition time is longer than our planned time. All of that at a time we're a little short-handed in our maintenance staffing. We've had some great help from Matt Jackson now that he's the Dir of Maint for CAF HQ, but it ultimately is just too much work for the hands available in the allocated time.
When our maintenance staff realized they were over-leveraged as far as time went, they focused on getting Fifi complete in time for the season and the B-24 had to be put on the back burner.
So, once the 29 is out the door here in a couple weeks, they'll turn attention back to the Liberator without the press-for-time of going out on tour.
If anyone wants to head down to KRBD and check out the progress or volunteer you're certainly welcome to. There was talk about doing some live-streams or videos or photos on social media of the mx being performed through the summer, so we shall see how that develops. Again, personnel dependent.
Re: “Diamond Lil”
Fri Apr 12, 2024 9:30 am
Bravo to the CAF for focusing on quality and safety over short-term revenue.
Re: “Diamond Lil”
Fri Apr 12, 2024 11:09 am
Randy: Are you guys going to make the cables inhouse, or have them made for you?
Re: “Diamond Lil”
Fri Apr 12, 2024 2:07 pm
Thanks for the additional detail Randy. All the best with the repairs.
Re: “Diamond Lil”
Fri Apr 12, 2024 3:59 pm
Cvairwerks wrote:Randy: Are you guys going to make the cables inhouse, or have them made for you?
My understanding is that they’re being partially contracted out, but that is secondhand.
Re: “Diamond Lil”
Sat Apr 13, 2024 7:47 am
Randy Haskin wrote:If anyone wants to head down to KRBD and check out the progress or volunteer you're certainly welcome to. There was talk about doing some live-streams or videos or photos on social media of the mx being performed through the summer, so we shall see how that develops. Again, personnel dependent.
Randy, I'm just down the way at Ambassador if that's something I should come snag some shots. Just need to know when things are happening...
Re: “Diamond Lil”
Sun Apr 14, 2024 8:58 am
RyanShort1 wrote:Randy Haskin wrote:If anyone wants to head down to KRBD and check out the progress or volunteer you're certainly welcome to. There was talk about doing some live-streams or videos or photos on social media of the mx being performed through the summer, so we shall see how that develops. Again, personnel dependent.
Randy, I'm just down the way at Ambassador if that's something I should come snag some shots. Just need to know when things are happening...
Excellent, I'm sure WIXers would appreciate seeing things in progress.
I think essentially until the tour season starts around 20 May, nearly all the hangar work is going to be focused on the B-29.
You're always welcome to drop by and see what's going on -- the work is being performed in the main Agather hangar at CAF HQ, so not behind any closed doors by any stretch. But once they get back to serious work on the '24 I'll keep posting in this thread.