I hauled home a real WWII Airplane

I have some 175 gallon belly tanks for the fenders. PM me if you are interested.

 

I wonder if you cut a long belly tank in half if it work to 'cap' and streamline the wing mounts.

 

Yeah it would and it would give it a nice finished look. Good thing I have several he could cut up and use for lots of stuff on the project.

 

Just to mess with people, you should make full size *inflatable* wings that emerge from the wing stubs. Park it at your local WalMart, pump up the wings, and watch 'em try to figure out how you got it there.

 

That would be fantastic!!!

 

Now there's an idea! People would shit!

 

I lived in Hereford, TX when I was in Jr. High. There was an old aircraft salvage yard there. I used sneak in and play around in it, had lots of WWII birds. A guy there caught me one time, but told me I could keep coming around because I was one of the few that wasn't vandalizing and stealing stuff. He had been watching.....That must have been early '60's. And yeah, I made airplane noises! I dreamed of getting a fighter fuselage to put in the back yard. You are living one of my childhood dreams, good for you!

 

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/563010.html

That was a beautiful aircraft. It's a shame it was allowed to deteriorate.

Seriously, California Airframe has parts for these.

 

Updates?

 

This is the coolest project I have ever seen.

subscribed.

 

That will be the most awesome motor home ever!!!! I bet you were getting some looks from folks going down the road with it already.

Billy

 

I haven't had the time to do anything to it yet. I've been busy trying to drum up help from people that can help put Humpty Dumpty back together again. I moved it into the remains of a pre-World War Two hanger at a friend of mine's property. The land he lives on was once a World War One training camp. He likes having the old plane in there because he says it gives the ghosts something to play with. His grandparents ran a crop dusting business out of the hanger with Stearman biplanes from WWII until the 1980's.

 

Here is what the plane looks like in the hangar. This old hanger was built BEFORE WWII! It has really gone down hill, but my buddy is happy to have an antique airplane take up home in it again. There isn't much left over from when Stearman biplanes used to be stored in the hangar. Just an old rotted set of Stearman landing gear, a bent prop and a Gilbarco 996 gas pump from the 40's.
I was able to get the hinges replaced on the cargo door today, so tomorrow I plan on mounting the door that I had laying around at home for a Lodestar on the fuselage. Progress at last. I spent a few hours in the nose today removing rotten radio equipment. There are a several shelves in the nose that have to come out so that I can start knocking out some of the nose damage.

 

I'm thinking of bringing the Lodestar to the Lone Star Roundup with me. I plan on going there to sell WWII nose art, and I think this monster would get people fired up. What do y'all think?

 

Back in the 60's I remember seeing a motorhome built from a DC-3 or -7. That was cool.

Yours is going to way more so.

I'm envious.

 

Looks like a good home base. Working out of the direct weather is always good.

Are you leaving it on the trailer during construction? I'd think about making a cradle
to set it on that lets it be at ride height. Maybe use 2 or 3 stands.

For each one, use a couple sheets of 3/4" plywood cut to the profile of the hull.
Then use some short (5-1/2") pieces of 2X4 and fasten them (on the flat) between
the pieces of plywood. You'd end up with a 7" cradle width to spread the load. Similar
to below but no spaces between the 2X4 pieces.

On the uprights I'd use a solid 2X6 to enable fastening the cradles together preventing
a domino effect.








Imagine this arched opening turned upside down and cut off where the arch ends.

Use the full length 8' plywood with 'flats' on the top which could be used for scaffolding
plank holders or attaching a work surface.





OK... now a little design suggestion.

Maybe you could tuck the front wheels in far enough to make some 'fender skirts' that
look like an open bombay door and nearly covers the entire front tire.

Then use a phoney landing gear with a single tire out front that retracts for take-off.

Sorry for the giant pics but it's all I could find.

 

If it goes, it needs nose art.

 

to Lowkat-
I will probably leave it only the trailer until I can get some of the damage repaired. having it on the trailer means that I can bring it to a small airport down the road that I found a mechanic willing to help me cut out and rivet new metal in.
I like your idea of making large arches to cradle the fuselage once I get it on a roll around.
I had plans on working on the beast in my driveway until I came to the conclusion that I would take up the entire driveway and that I wouldn't be able to move around at all. So the decision was made to bring it to the hangar. But, there is a catch. The hangar hasn't had electrical power in many years and it leaks something terrible. I need to patch the hangar up a bit and get some power to it before any serious work can happen. That is one of the other reasons that she is still on the trailer.

 

I just want to see it taxiing through the RV park or Wal-Mart parking lot.lol. So Cool yruhot.....doug

 

If I end up taking the Lodestar to the Roundup, I'll make sure it has some nose art for sure. I'm thinking of painting this image on the plane for now. The Beat Up Bastard (B.U.B.)was a B29 Bomber. I think it is somewhat appropriate in her current condition.
Later on I'm thinking it will be the Hutton Hornet.
I've noticed that there are two possibilities now for former owners of this plane. The one that I knew about was Betty Hutton, but now another possible owner has come to light- Barbara Hutton. I'm not certain which one is correct now. Betty was an entertainer in WWII and Barbara Hutton was a super wealthy woman that was once married to Cary Grant. Her uncle was E.F.Hutton and her grandfather was F.W.Woolworth---both amazingly rich in their day.
This turd of a plane certainly has some neat history. I'm just about 100% positive now that it was used as a navigational trainer in WWII based out of Hondo, Texas. I found spots where two astrodomes had once been in the roof-- a sign of a navigational trainer.

 

Today's update. I installed the entry door that I had laying in my scrap pile in the back yard. It opens and closes just fine, but it needs a little tweaking at the top to get it leak proof. I pop riveted the large panel that was missing on the left side back in place today. This is just a temporary patch until I can get it riveted in properly. I opened up the cargo hatch in the nose as well. It is huge in there. I removed several "modern" radio equipment shelves- about 100lbs. That allowed me to get all the way into the nose and start knocking out the huge dent in it. I cut off some of the jagged aluminum on the nose. In one of these pictures you are looking at the inside of the nose cargo area. It is to dark in there to tell much, but you are actually looking at the back side of the instrument panel and off to the right is a 2.5 gallon hydraulic tank.

I also got rid of the nasty bathroom in the back. I had one big debris pile at the end of the day. I have to remove some more interior stuff in order to start knocking out dents and patching the fuselage.

 

Could you hit the enter button a couple times when posting your pics please? It puts them on top of one another instead of side by side.

Love the project and cant wait to see it rolling down the road!

 

Aw man it's missing the cardio defibulator kill switch!!!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

The pics I just posted are on top of one another. If you are talking about the pictures of the Beat Up Bastard, that is just one photo that I pulled off of Google. The pictures were arranged side by side already.

 

-and you are only seeing a few of the switches. There is a pile of them above your head when you sit in the seats too. I don't see how pilots keep track of all that crap to have to turn on and off.

 

Damn I need to check the HAMB more often. That's awesome.

 

I just spoke to a guy over the phone from Stormville,New York that used to fly this plane back in the 1970's! He would parachute out of it. He confirmed that it was used by the actress Betty Hutton to fly from movie set to movie set. He says he has pictures of her with the plane somewhere.

 

This whole thing is just too cool!

Any chance that '40s gas pump is available?

 

I've already laid claim to the pump. I'm a gas pump junkie too.

 

You HAVE to bring this to The Roundup !!