CAF B-29 FIFI NEEDS $3 MILLION ENGINE JOB

[Paul Krumrei]

CAF B-29 FIFI NEEDS $3 MILLION ENGINE JOB

(http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#192890)

A "national treasure" has been grounded indefinitely and it'll take $3
million to get it back in the air. Fifi, the Commemorative Air Force's
B-29 bomber, has had chronic engine problems for years and the CAF has
decided that they must be resolved for safety's sake. Fifi is the only
airworthy B-29 in the world. As the CAF's Kay Crites told AVweb in our
Aug. 4 audio news
(http://www.avweb.com/podcast/files/2006-08-04_REV.mp3), the original
equipment engines were maintenance hogs when they were new and they
haven't gotten any better in 60 years of service. The CAF has decided to
replace the engines with custom-built variants of the Wright Cyclone
18-cylinder radials and it's launched a fundraising effort
(http://www.commemorativeairforce.org/ca ... /index.php) to do the
work.

[Mike]

Is there an echo in here..........echo in here.........?


http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... php?t=8385

[Paul Krumrei]

Must be...Must be..must be.

Guess I didnt realize it. I guess I think it is so important to get the word out on this great looking girl to get her up in the great blue once again!

[marine air]

$3 mill?? Does that include recurrency training for the flight crews since there's no way they can stay current? I don't believe the CAF has pockets that deep. Any chance she could be sold? Would it be okay to sell it to a Collings Foundation or Jerry Yagen type and put back on the circuit?
It'll be years before she flies again to raise that kind of money. Would it be better to sell the P-82 , a Mustang and a couple of others to raise the money, or sell the B-29 to pay to get, and keep the rest of the fleet in the air?

[RickH]

Marine Air, they've already tried to sell the F-82. You see what kind of trouble they got in to over that. I believe that FiFi is held by the same type of Conditional Deed of Gift and there are restrictions on selling with those kinds of transfers.

[retroaviation]

$3 mill?? Does that include recurrency training for the flight crews since there's no way they can stay current? I don't believe the CAF has pockets that deep. Any chance she could be sold? Would it be okay to sell it to a Collings Foundation or Jerry Yagen type and put back on the circuit?
It'll be years before she flies again to raise that kind of money. Would it be better to sell the P-82 , a Mustang and a couple of others to raise the money, or sell the B-29 to pay to get, and keep the rest of the fleet in the air?

$3 Million is an estimate of what it will take us to get the engines and the remaining structural work completed (we might as well take care of that while it's down for the engines). It may take more money, it may take less. The thing is that we needed a specific plan before we tried to raise the funds.

There is simply no way on God's green earth that FIFI will be sold! We CAN and WILL do everything in our power to put her back in the air. I have too much of my own time invested in this stinkin' project to quit now, not to mention that I'm one hard-headed sumbitch. Like Nelson Ezell used to tell me, "it's just a dumb piece of metal, make it do what YOU want it to do."

I do agree that this is going to be a huge challenge. With so many other warbird operators out there struggling to get money to get their airplanes in the air, our goal is going to be difficult at best. I just urge all of you who wish to see this big, silver, fuel consumer in the air again to please bear with me (and the CAF). It's fourth down and long, but I'm not ready to punt yet!

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

P.S. Just to tease you a bit...wait 'til y'all see what we have in mind for Diamond Lil. Hehehehehe.

Last edited by retroaviation on Tue Aug 08, 2006 5:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

[coldaffyduck]

Gary,
I agree whole heartedly with you about FIFI. She is the queen of our fleet and should NEVER be sold. I know the way you guys are, and if there is any crew that can get her back in the skies, it's ya'll. Good luck, and if there is anything our squadron can do to help promote you, let me know and we will do what we can do.

[Scott Rose]

P.S. Just to tease you a bit...wait 'til y'all see what we have in mind for Diamond Lil. Hehehehehe.

Rolls Royce Dart Turbine conversion... cool


Thats a joke so everyone should stay away from the freak out key!

[Old Shep]

From the perspective of the CAF General Staff, let me say that there is a commitment to see Fifi fly, that we recognize Fifi's unique place in the warbird community, and that it might seem to be a daunting task, to raise that much money, but I'm confident it will be done.

I'm not nearly as hard-headed as my friend Gary, but I share his view that we can get the airplane back in the air. I hope everyone joins in the effort.

Bill Coombes

[Jack Cook]

Just to tease you a bit...wait 'til y'all see what we have in mind for Diamond Lil. Hehehehehe.

Gary, Ya got me intriged here. I've always hoped the CAF would take here back to her roots. Many of the early Libs were used has anti-sub aircraft by the Coastal Command and the top sub killing aircraft was Liberator I (LB-30B/B-24A) AM929 built in May 1941 after modified for anti-sub duties. It served in 120 Squadron has HO*H and was flown by Sdq/Ldr Terrance Bulloch DSO-DFC. She sank U-597, U-661, U-132, U-194 and U-540 while damaging 6 more. She also drove off a FW Condor attacking a convoy. There's your history lesson for the day. Keep up the good work your doing!!!

[phil65]

I think its fourth down and long Gary. 3 Million,You should stop all work on her until you find a sponsor.Good Luck.

[retroaviation]

I think its fourth down and long Gary. 3 Million,You should stop all work on her until you find a sponsor.Good Luck.

Well, actually if you must know, I have been working mostly on that engine run up trailer lately so that we can have something to run our engines up on.

I also just brought back an entire engine nacelle and QEC that Mr. Weeks has loaned to us for our engine prototype, which Jeff Abbott has already built up. Next week, we will be going to Nelson Ezell's place in Breckenridge, TX to start fitting the prototype engine into the borrowed nacelle. These are all things that we already had the money for. I agree that before the serious stuff starts, we need to get the "big money" in place. Until then, I will work on what I can to move this project forward.

Oh, and my comment about Diamond Lil earlier was made in the "heat of the moment," a bit premature, and probably shouldn't have been mentioned yet. I actually lost sleep over that statement since just because I have lots of interesting things planned for the beast, it doesn't mean that I'll get everything done this winter. But you never know.

Gary

[Mark_Pilkington]

Gary,

for those of us who think you CAN do it, and appreciate what the CAF has done and is still doing, how/where do we donate to this cause?

(I think this is a project WIX should be getting behind!)

regards

Mark Pilkington

[APG85]

I wonder how the team working "DOC" feels about these engine problems on "FIFI"? I wonder what impact (if any) this will this have on the engine configuration for that aircraft....

[retroaviation]

I wonder how the team working "DOC" feels about these engine problems on "FIFI"? I wonder what impact (if any) this will this have on the engine configuration for that aircraft....

Well, that's probably a question that Tony Mazzolini could answer best, but I can tell you that we've been talking with them and are trying to help them along with engines. I think they are interested in the idea that we have, but if I understand it correctly, they are somewhat obligated to put the airplane back in it's original form. That's awesome for enthusiasts, but it sucks for the poor mechanics that have to keep it flying.

Oh, and to answer Mark Pilkington's question about where to go to help with funds for FIFI, here's the link... http://commemorativeairforce.org/campai ... /index.php

Gary