Ever heard of the story of the little old man with an airplane in his basement that he is restoring. Well I know such a guy. He is 82 and has a wooden pt 26 WWII trainer is in his basement he has had since 1970. He finally decided to part with it. So I asked him if he would sell me the belts from it so I could put them in my 29 highboy roadster. They aren't rotted up, but the buckles are rusted fast. Anybody know what they might be worth? I don't want to take the gentleman, but I dont' want to over pay either. I think its too cool owning a piece of an often told tale that rarely is true. I hope to get them tommorrow. What do you think? Flashback Bill
I would say a 100 bucks would be fair for a set of ok belts that need a little work. I have seen a set that were new in the box and they were perfect go for 300 before but that was ebay so go figure. I have bought a few sets of belts and paid right around a 100 or so for them.
The belts go for about $80-$100 on Ebay. I would just ask for the whole plane. How much for the seats and engine? Seriously.
You can get them surplus from Univair for $106.59 for either Nylon or Cotton... Nylon: http://univairparts.com/shopping_291765/product_info.php?products_id=29110 Cotton: http://univairparts.com/shopping_291765/product_info.php?products_id=29111 Catalog Page: http://univairparts.com/pdfs/Miscellaneous.pdf
Check this out. I went back to buy the belts from the pt 26. The owner didnt have them off the seats yet, after stopping for past 3 weeks, he told me just to come down stairs and we would take them off right then. They were stil on the seats. He wanted the mounting brackets for the buyer of the whole plane, where as I just wanted the front and rear belts. I took them off rather easily and put the brackets back on the seats. Next, I asked him how much he wanted for the and was floored when he said I could just have them. I was shocked. The owner is 82 and doesn't have a ton of money. He is also my friends grandfather and so I made him take $40 which he was reluctant to do. I then took some digital pictures of the brackets on the seat and a pict with owner beside the seat. I asked if he might have a part of the plane he had copied which was going to be thrown out that I might have. He gave me a rear section of a wooden wing rib that was notched out for the flap. I had him date and sign the part and write what plane it came from. He wrote it was from a 1942 PT 26, though the date on set of belts you can read is dated 12/5/1945. So I don't know if the plane was actually built in 42 with the belts being changed later or if the plane was actually built in 45. He showed me where on the plane the part I was given went and I also go a photo of Dick Miller holding my plane part in place. The section I have is sheeted in mahogany with brass tack heads showing on the surface. What a work of art, and I got a junk trash can part. I snapped a photo of the engine he uncovered for me. He even hand cranked over the Ranger engine. This one is so old that it did not have an electric start. The plane is as complete as can be expected. I know the prop was junk and long gone, and it has no tires, but he has the wheels, gauges, etc. The plane is fairly far along in the restoration process. Dick has owned it since 1970. Because the aviation grade wood is so expensive, he has been making extra parts and selling them off to fund his project. Because he is 82, he knows he wont get it done or ever fly it, so he is ready to part with it. The price I was told in the spring was $10,000. I don't know if that has changed. I was surprised to find that the seat are not aluminum, but rather fiberglass. I think the price sounded cheap for such an old piece. I would have thought the engine would have been worth that since I know that some folks can get upwards of $5,000 in a jr dragster engine which is a glorified lawn mower engine. I will be sad when the plane is sold and the story of the little old man with a WWII airplane in his basement is no longer true. I can relish in the fact that I have the belts for my roadster, a part of the plane and photos to back up the claim that it really was true, even as late as 2007. Anyone serious about trying to contact the owner to buy can email me and I will get his phone number since I dont think he as a computer. His grandson lives next door and could be contacted through the internet. thanks for help with my question PS. Was the $100 price quotes above for one seat, or for two? I'm jus wondering if I have $100 or $200 worth of belts for my roadster.
I think $110/person is right, as that is what I have paid for old WW2 belts in the past for my 40's eara modified.
Flashback Bill, is this a real plane or a copy of a plane? If a real one a museum would probab;ly be interested in it, like Mid-Atlantic Air museum in Reading, Pa.. Might make the old guy happy to know his plane went there too.How close to being finished is it?
The PT 26 was a latter model of the venerable PT 19 built by Fairchild and is a pre-WWII trainer. Having said that they were still used through the war for training and communications. So it could very well be a pre war aircraft, but then again they stopped building them in 1947 so who knows? For safety I wouldn't use those belts though, go buy some NOS ones from the web site. Its your life and your passengers you are fucking with.
I've got some of the old military aircraft seat belts that were purchased for a '31 Model A jalopy project car that may not ever get finished. If anyone's interested, zap me an email. $80 for a set of two (shipping extra). Ernest McIntyre, editor GASSER Magazine www.GASSERmagazine.
Old lap belts are easy......... It's the shoulder belts that are tough to get I only have found a few.
"I would have thought the engine would have been worth that since I know that some folks can get upwards of $5,000 in a jr dragster engine which is a glorified lawn mower engine." Fyi - I sold a fairchild pt 19 motor -same thing for $450 on epay . evidently those trainers were very common , a fair amount did show up in dragsters( see "Airoadster" Oct 51 hopup).
I got a set out of a Iroquois helicopter but there not for sale, same pattern as used back to pre WWII!
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