Author Topic: WW II Era Planes Today (Read 560 times)

Eksel · « **Reply #30 on:** June 04, 2001, 04:55:00 PM »

hey Yoj, so what exactly IS in Seattle now?

MarkVZ · « **Reply #31 on:** June 04, 2001, 05:03:00 PM »

I am in the process of restoring a small, 3-seat observation plane, a Stinson 10A. It was built May 1941, months before Pearl Harbor. 20 of them served with the Army Air Corps as observation aircraft. Mine served the C.A.P. in Florida, and it basically went out looking for U-Boats, so it is technically a WWII vet. Some 10A's were armed with 100lb bombs to disable U-Boats until other forces could arrive. It is powered by a 90hp Franklin engine. (L-4 cubs only had 65)
I have stripped the old fabric off of it and have begin cleaning and re-priming the airframe. I have a long way to go, since I need to make new formers and stringers for it. I have set up a resourcs page for the 10A since there was so little on the net about it. You can see it here: http://www.i-star.com/users/markvz/Stin10AR.html

This is what I'm hoping mine will look like in a few years:

That one currently has it's upper cowling removed.

It's a big project for me, but it's slowly getting there.

Mark VanZwoll

Eksel · « **Reply #32 on:** June 04, 2001, 05:10:00 PM »

Uh...whats up with the chicken on the wing...is that a chicken?

MarkVZ · « **Reply #33 on:** June 04, 2001, 05:14:00 PM »

It's a pitot tube cover

The pitot tube is what makes the airspeed indicator work.

As far as I can tell, one of these also circled above Dunquirk (sp) during the evacuation.

Mark VanZwoll

[This message has been edited by MarkVZ (edited 06-04-2001).]

Reschke · « **Reply #34 on:** June 04, 2001, 11:53:00 PM »

When I was at Tom Reilly's Warbird Restoration Museum back in late April he had 2 B-17's (One is under restoration and fuselage and wings were almost done with the engines away being rebuilt.) The second one is Kermit Weeks that was moved around a bit in Hurricane Andrew a few years back. The wings are off and it is the one that they use for templates on the internal ribs and spars for the ones they restore.

They have a flyable B-25, a A-26 Invader (due to undergo restoration late this year/early next year.), several T6 trainers, ONE Fw-190F8 with engine already rebuilt and remaining wing work and fuselage/cockpit work to be done and a F4U-4 or 1D Corsair under long term restoration. If you pay to do the restoration school there you work on that plane and get a ride in the B-25 at the end of the week.

Also they have a P-38 that needs ALLOT of work as it is in a large pile right now. They are asking for a "sponsorship" fee of 1 or 2 million dollars (US) to get it started. Right now no one owns the plane and it will be the only one flying if they get it restored.

Also he has an Voodoo navy recon plane, Harrier, F-100, F-4D Phantom and a few helicopters from the 50's and 60's that they are going to be working on soon. I have some pictures but my scanner is freaking out and I can't get them to scan right.

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ObstLt. Reschke
2/LJK Staffelkapitan
Kommandeur Jagdbomber
LuftJagerKorps

715 · « **Reply #35 on:** June 05, 2001, 01:02:00 AM »

I visited the Kissimee Warbird Museum many years ago and saw a crashed P38 they were going to "restore". It was laid out on the floor in the shape of a P38- but no piece of metal looked bigger than about 6 inches. It just looked like a pile of shredder output. When a warbird is "restored" how much of the end result is actual metal from the original WWII era plane and how much is machined to original specs? I would suspect that no portion of that "P38" could actually be used in a flyable (and safe) aircraft. How do warbird restorers differentiate between a restoration and a replica?