by Chuck Cravens The Red Tail mounted in its fixture at the AirCorps Aviation restoration shop with another rare C model, Lope’s Hope 3rd in the background. We are very privileged to have two P-51Cs in the shop at once, truly an unusual sight! Update In last month’s Red Tail update we left off with...Continue Reading
Texas Flying Legends by Chuck Cravens An angled view takes in the tail cone, covered in protective plastic. It eventually ends up attached to the forward fuselage at this end. Update The main focus for the P-47 project this month was preparation for beginning the fuselage assembly. In order to do that, a precise fixture...Continue Reading
Texas Flying Legends’ by Chuck Cravens The guys guide the trailer into the shop to unload the wing. Update The big news for the Lope’s Hope 3rd project this month is that the wings have been completed by Odegaard Wings. They have been transported to Bemidji and work will begin on installing landing gear and...Continue Reading
Texas Flying Legend’s Museum by Chuck Cravens Update They say if it doesn’t have guns, it isn’t a fighter. We all know that the nebulous “they” are never wrong, so Texas Flying Legends decided that guns were a definitely desirable addition to the fuselage in this repair and renovation of their Zero. The Model 21...Continue Reading
Texas Flying Legends By Chuck Cravens This is a dimensionally stable, machined, cast aluminum toolingplate commonly called MIC-6 (MIC-6 ® is a registered trademark of Alcoa). Update This month didn’t happen to have a great many visible changes to the P-47, so we will be brief this time. Last month we saw the wing attach...Continue Reading
by Chuck Cravens This is a front view of fuselage in the fixture inside the restoration shop working area. CAF Red Tail Squadron’s Tuskegee Airmen P-51C Update Robert Heinlein once said “A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.” This wisdom appears as part of the Commemorative Air Forces’ mission statement. Heinlein’s...Continue Reading
Texas Flying Legends by Chuck Cravens An angle from below gives us a different perspective on the electrical work. Update Last month’s cover showed Aaron making up wiring harnesses and inside were other photos of him wiring up the pilot’s main switch box. This month those harnesses were put to use as Aaron began the...Continue Reading
by Chuck Cravens Beautiful paint job by Flying Colors Aviation reflected from a wet ramp. (Photo Credit: Adam Glowaski) Summary The famous Red Tail P-51C, one of the most important educational tools of the Commemorative Air Force, sustained damage during a wheels-up landing in Dallas on February 3rd, 2016. It is very satisfying for those of...Continue Reading
Texas Flying Legends Museum by Chuck Cravens Update… In our first installment of the Zero repair updates last month we told a little of the Last Samurai’s history and showed the repair getting underway. The shop has made this repair a high priority job, so visible progress is being made daily. The work on fuselage...Continue Reading
