I hauled home a real WWII Airplane

i belong to the commerative air force. we had a t28 . a hugely expense plane to play with. if you plan on flying it. the motor will break the bank getting it running , much less the prop. now getting the local faa to sign off on your little toy is doubtful. not wanting to say a ride in one of these old warbirds instantly hugely fun. you will soon find out why a ride of about 20 mins in one of these birds usually starts at about 4-500 dollars these old girls run on cubic dollars

 

I guess you didn't read any part of this thread. I have no intention of making it fly. I'm a pretty active CAF member too. This thread is about making a plane streetable.

 

maybe trim off some of your length in the aft fuselage and make something like the C-47 camper someone else posted in this thread. Having something very different and also a place to sleep on a long trip would be a cool way to go. I'll be watching for progress pics.

Thanks for the thread, Mike

 

I hauled the T28 home a few days ago and cut off the broken plexyglass canopy. I found some original WWII AT-6 Texan canopy sections and placed them on the T28 just to see how it would look if I mount he AT-6 canopies on. I'm searching for the track that these canopies slide on currently. They make this plane look a lot more like a TBM Avenger. If I fab up a small ball turret to go behind the canopy and move the wings up about a foot higher on the fuselage, it should look pretty close to an Avenger torpedo bomber.

 

I gave her a hug when she left as a consolation prize.

 

I have an idea for the front axle. I need to have a 4wheel drive front axle WIDENED. Imagine taking a 3/4ton truck 4 wheel drive front axle and cutting of the short axle tube and replacing it with a long side axle tube in order to make the axle about 7 or 8ft wide instead of about 6ft wide. Who can I contact that might have the skills to do this kind of work?

 

Just found this thread today.... my father-in-law (RIP) worked on the bombers during WWll.

Good luck with this very unique project.... it should be a challenge.

 

How wide are Hummer H2 axles? (That is the big GM one driven by soccer moms) Those things are wider than most.

 

I'll check into that. I need the pumpkin to be in the center of the axle so that it can be hidden up in the fuselage.

 

Love the story, your living one of my dreams. I was an Airframe mechanic in the Navy on P-3 Orions. You could probebly get away with flush pop rivets on that job since it's not flying but you definitely need a set of Cleco fasteners if you don't have any . You probably do being around aircraft. If not , most race car shops have them also. I got to fly on a DC-3 on my 32nd B Day and it only cost 32.00. Everybody else jumped out. I also flew on this Jewel in the Co-pilots seat, best 65.00 I every spent. As you know, you have a small fortune in parts for decorating pieces alone. And speaking of nose art, I was looking for someone to commission some lower fender art on my Olds. I want a pic of my girlfriend riding a silver rocket with an 88 on it and Wabi Sabi above it.

 

Ok,....YOU WIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4TTRUK

 

found this at a airplane junkyard in mojave

 

Any good welding shop around you should be able to do this for you. We've had to basically do this ourselves on OT Jeeps that we run off roading. Broken the tubes loose or snap an axle that damages the tube and we have had to remove and replace an axle tube. If you have the pieces, you should be able to remove the shorter axle tube and weld a long tube in place. You might have to change out the brackets at end of tube from the shorty over to the longer one so your brakes will mount up correctly. And if you get your measurements correct, you should be able to use another long axle in it also, but of course you can always have a custom length axle made if you needed. It really isn't too terrible difficult, just of course have to make sure you get it all straight and lined up before. Then of course as you weld, you have to take your time so it doesn't heat and pull to one side or the other and remains straight, but that is basic welding technique.

 

That looks like a Howard 500 conversion. I believe they made them out of old Lockheed Harpoons.

 

So I had an old Bronco. And one of the rear u-joints went went bad. Took out the rear drive shaft and figured i'd just put it in 4-hi and drive it on the front rear til I got around to fixing it. What could go wrong? Fixed it the next day.

I think having u-joints at the wheel ends and not a CV joint is gonna be a big issue here.

 

You could be right. I remember when everyone was taking a 4x4 truck, cutting it in half and making the tail end a trailer/car hauler using the front 4x4 drive system. They seemed to go the way of the dinosaurs pretty quickly.
But, I've also noticed that in most 4x4 trucks going down the road you can see that the u joints are turning- but under no load.
How bad of an idea can it be if every auto maker out there sells 4x4 trucks that drive tons of miles everyday? Maybe the problem is in the transfer cases heating up and burning out when you run them in front 4x4 only? I would just put an engine and transmission in backwards behind the cockpit and run a straight drive shaft right to the front axle.

 

I am sure this has come up multiple times, but I wonder what you neighbors think when they see ANOTHER big ass plane on a trailer pull up....Hilarious.

Anyway, I had an idea. You should put a tail hook on it with a toggle switch. Put something on the end so that when you flip the switch it lowers down like you are landing on a carrier and sparks shoot out everywhere!

 

I like the tail hook idea- as long as it doesn't actually hook anything and tear the tail end off.
My neighbors aren't the kind to say anything- they are all in the US illegally.

 

That will be the coolest home on wheels the blacktop has ever supported!

 

The ultimate dream toy. Outstanding

 

That thing is cool as hell! Can't wait to see what you do with it!!

 

Aviation Warehouse, on the edge of El Mirage......

I worked there part time in the late 80's, dismantling stuff, and building and supplying stuff for the motion picture industry.

NEAT place, with acres of neat stuff!

 

I hauled in a super low mileage 454 Chevrolet engine and trans out of a 1981 motor home. This is what I'll use to power the airplane car. Hopefully next week I'll be getting the rectangular tubing to start building the frame inside the T28 Trojan fuselage. I need to come up with a 1970's/80s Chevy 3/4 ton 4x4 front axle to use for the front suspension.
I dismantled the Wright r1300 radial engine and you can see one of the cylinder jugs behind the 454. Those jugs weighs 55lbs each! I plan on cutting the entire engine in half so that only the front half of the engine is intact. Once it is mounted back in the cowling, you can't tell that it is only the front half of a radial engine in there. I've reduced the weight of the engine so far from 1200lbs down down to 650 so far. Once I cut it in half the engine should only be around 300lbs. It hung in my tree as a redneck wind chime for a few days before I took it apart.
Note the size of the cylinder jug that set on top of the 454. it makes the 454 look a little puny. For those who have never seen the inner workings of a radial engine, check out the rotating assembly. Note the 38 Chevy headlight next to the pistons to give you an idea of scale. Those aluminum pistons weigh 5 lbs each. I think it is neat the way all of the rods tie into the master rod.

 

I think I might go ahead and start another thread devoted to the build of this T28 Trojan plane now that the Lockheed Lodestar project has been terminated.

 

Guest house! Thats cool great find

 

the only thing crazier than this thread, is you dorks that thought this guy actually has a wife!

 

Hell, I just love your truck AND the Airplane stuff--Ideas!!!!



I have helped keep this one flying

and got a wild hair.

 

Now that is funny. All the paint had fallen off of my 570,000+ mile Dodge and I had a bunch of olive drab laying around, and I deal with aircraft stuff a lot--so.....

 

I've started a new thread " 1949 T28 Trojan Airplane becomes a car " for the build on the new plane since the death of the Lodestar project. This Lodestar project is dead for those that haven't heard-- unless I get my hands on another one.

 

Mine got done by KRYLON from Westlake Ace.