1949 T28 Trojan Airplane becomes a car

I saw this one today as well. I think he is going to beat me to the punch. He looks like the kind of guy that can make something happen in a hurry once he says he is going to do it. I've got a long road ahead of me. Being an aviation artist for a living, money for parts is always an issue on my end.

 

Here is shot of the interior of the tail. I was crouched inside the area under the floor boards where the wings should be when I took this photo looking towards the tail. There is plenty of room in there for an engine. It is about 6ft tall and 3ft wide. I only found one snake skin. The light beam from the hole in the airplane skin is pointing to the location of the Ark of the Covenant.

 

No, not T-28's but have three Taylorcrafts, one J-3 cub, an RV-4 and RV-8 to my restoration, build credit. Currently flying Bonanza A36TC. Maybe someday will get a chance to build a T-28.

 

Subscribed! This is going to be cool. Hope this car/plane is a trendsetter.

 

Dont know what strength you need in a gear set but you could find a used currie hi9 and modify a 9" housing to allow the 3rd member to be flipped. This gives you a centered axle with a low pinion and should not have oiling issues. There are a number of companies offering fabd 9 housings with various tube thicknesses if you need the added strength of the housing. Currie offered the hi9 up to 35spl. Note they use reverse cut 8.8 gears and are not a true 9" gearset. These can be picked up used at a decent price on 4x4 forums.

Pirate4x4 has a number of threads as mentioned on oiling issues/resolutions if flipping a factory housing

 

I'm not as concerned with the strength of the gear set as I am the strength of the ball joints or king pins in the steering part of the 4x4 axle. I'm not certain how much weight this thing will weigh all together. I prefer using 3/4 or one ton front axle.

 

The entire airplane weighed about 6000lbs when new without fuel. The wings were very heavy. I bet they weighed about 800 lbs each. I've removed about 200lbs of radios, hydraulic pumps, relay, and other misc. junk out of the fuselage. I've removed about 700lbs so far off of the radial engine. I'm guessing the fuselage to weigh about 3500lbs right now. There are still a number of things that will be done to lighten the beast, but eventually I'll have to install a heavy steel frame for the running gear and the weight will climb upwards again. The rear wheel will support most of the 454 engine weight due to car being mid engined. The front axle will have to contend with the weight of the fuselage, passengers, and the remains of the radial engine bobbing out front. That radial will still probably weigh in the area of 350lbs.

 

I worked for a guy years ago that teamed up with his little brother to buy a surplus T-6 Texas just after WWII. He was just getting into high school and needed a way to get to school. He and his brother took the outer sections of the wing off and taxied the damn thing all the way to school. I'll bet they scared hell out of their fellow students when they showed up in that contraption. They sold it not long after because they couldn't afford the fuel for it. He got his pilot license in trade for the deal.

 

are you kidding..............

 

Carlisle1926 - you sir are clearly on the best kind of drugs that science can invent - I am jealous - I just hope they are green and you have plenty of them.
Yeeeeehaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just a little motivation, when you're done, take it to power tour and speed week and you'll be all over every magazine on the west coast. The photagraphers will be trampling each other to get to it.

 

Time to time you will see F350 D60's and F450/F550 Super 60 front axles for sale for a fair price. Modern HP60's don't demand the $$$ the older stuff does do to the odd offsets and unique cast brackets (I've seen complete superduty 60's w/35 spl inner/outers go for 350-400). Craigslist and car-part.com are best sources.

After being around competitive Rockcrawling w/Ball joint setups, I wouldn't have a concern in the ability to hold up to the weight.. Another option is custom inner c's/knuckles by Reid Racing, Crane or Spidertrax, but $$$$. Reid/Crane are kingpin, Spidertrax uses uniballs. Currie's offers stuff as well, but theirs is based off of F450/F550 factory parts. Down side of the custom stuff is you are in over a grand for just the the C's/knuckles, w/out any spindles/hubs/rotors etc.

Anyhow, cool build and i'm subscribed!

 

Man this is going to be so cool.I like yours better than the one the guy is building on the previous sight. Talk about turning heads ,wow. When ya get pulled over ,Cop will ask for your pilot's license and insurance card,LOL. Very cool ,don't let the negative guys bug you.You will have crowds of people stepping on there toes trying to get a closer look.

 

I have never seen a T-28 with that canopy...,that is pretty cool! I am really curious how you are going to pull this off

 

.......And yet again I post this.



For a little 'inspiration', though I think yours will eclipse this in the 'cool' factor by a loooooong shot!!

Doc.

 

Hey man, how's it been? just to let you know, I got up close and personal with a Tbm avenger today, though this thing was in pieces in a barn, friend of mine at a local military museum let me in and showed it to me, they're gonna build a building to hang the behemoth and then build it to display. Just thought I'd let you know.

 

That is awesome! It was one huge plane wasn't it?

 

Oh yeah, she was big. Had about a half foot's clearance from touching the roof. The wings spanned the whole back of the barn. It's a neat museum, they also have nixon's plane on display there. Now get to workin on your wings!

 

Do you have the 37 cab in the classified? It will be seen by many there. Good luck finding the needed tools and getting back to good health. Can't wait to see this project develop.

 

how about brainstorming about trying to get wheels in the rear? i know one wheel won't be able to push that thing, but just think about it. it would be a lot easier for the setup. or maybe you could conceal the wheels farther back and you'd have room for an engine up there? this is an out of the box project, so let's start thinking REALLY out of the box here.

 

I remember your last attempt & thread. You, sir, are one crazy motherfucker!

The world needs people like you! Subscribed.

 

I've been pondering using a heavily narrowed 9" Ford with wheels that have a heavy offset and make this thing rear wheel drive instead of front wheel drive. I love the idea of a single rear wheel drive. The only reliable way that I can see to do that is to heavily narrow a 9" on one side so that the brake drum is right up against the pumpkin, and then lob off the other axle and weld up the spider gears. The 9" could be welded to a heavy ladder bar/torque tube and just use one big wide tire for the drive wheel. You would have to baby this thing around to keep from burning the rear tire up.
I've been busy working on my Dodge speedster and haven't devoted any time to the T28. The biggest issue is where to work on this thing. It won't fit under my carport! The hanger I keep it in is 30 miles away and has no electric power. I've got to find somewhere around here(east Houston) to bring the fuselage to so that I can make progress on it. Stagnation isn't good.

 

What is the artist informally known as?

 

No one has ever caught that before! You pass the test.

 

Hmmm...shaft to a divorced transition or perhaps to a transaxle ..

 

Is this ever going to get of the ground? Betting not.

 

man im in bay town and would love to see this in person if you ever need a hand let me know !

 

you could buy a really freakin' big chain, i would scoot the engine back some cause the longer the chain the worse, (i know this from custom bicycle building.) but it could work if you line it all up right. i did a design the other day, i'll get it up on here eventually.

 

yeah, i used to live in east texas, and ive always wanted to wrench on an airplane. too bad i don't live around there anymore.

 

X2

Brian