Airventure 2015

[C5Engineer 1170]

Beale AFB. McVickers by chance?

[jjbaker 73]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL-JK6HPAuU

 

Must be pretty neat to be on site. Enjoy guys and post tons of pictures.

[dholly 718]

The new Airbus A250 got a lot of attention from the heavy metal fans.

Cool little flying boat at the Seaplane Base.

[dholly 718]

Got a few good pictures Av8r3400 arriving at the UL field in his KF4-1200.

[dholly 718]

Kolb is well represented at the UL field this year.

A friend in his 'FiFi'.

'Just' playing around.

[Av8r3400 1178]

We surprised a good friend, Steve Krueger with a P-51 ride today.

This has been a bucket list deal for him as long as I've known him. We totally surprised him, he had no clue!

[RobS 52]

Wow! Nice gesture - he must have been thrilled!!

[C5Engineer 1170]

Thanks for the pics for the rest of poor suckers who can't go. Keep em coming.

[Av8r3400 1178]

How about a "Pilot's Rainbow" featuring the shadow of a P-51?

Now that's cool!

[Bandit 286]

Found one. Mark IV with a 912.

[Bandit 286]

Yesterday we spent the afternoon back stage with the Lt. Dan Band.

[dholly 718]

A few pics for the rotorheads:

 

The new Safari 400

 

 

 

 

$100k / 100hr composite EAB kit Xenon Turbo Gyrocopter

 

 

 

 

 

Misc. flyby's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dholly 718]

2015 was the 70th Anniversary of the Republic SeaBee. Both AOPA Live and Plane & Pilot magazine wanted to do articles so the Seaplane Base organized and invited owners to do a flyby and photo shoot there. We had a flight of 10 from Whitman Field and 2 on the hook at the sea base (would have been 13 except one ended up in a field 30mi. out due to a Corvette conversion overhaul gone bad) and I was in the #1 plane owned by my friend Bill. He recently bought a beautiful, zero-timed SeaBee (yes, there is an STC where you can take apart every nut, bolt, rivet etc. for inspection then rea$$emble for a new zero-time log). Here's a few pics of the flight and seabase from that day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dholly 718]

This one's for EDMO. Yet another anniversary of the 'mysterious and misunderstood' Ercoupe, rows upon rows at OSH this year. Some fine aircraft examples even if the owners are a little odd... A few pics for those interested:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dholly 718]

Who doesn't like those big radials? I have a lust for an old Howard myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RobS 52]

Doug,

What happen with that J3 on floats? it looked like it was going to end badly . . . . . .

[EDMO 1078]

The Ercoupe sunroof is a must - Never leave home without it!

Thanks Doug,

EdMO

Edited 31 Jul 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[dholly 718]

One of the really cool things I did this year was get invited on a personalized tour of Whitman Field's FBO Basler's DC-3 Turbo Conversion facility. If you thought all they did was slap on a couple new engines and return the plane to it's owner, you would be grossly mistaken. Basler is, for all intent and purpose, a new DC-3 aircraft manufacturer and I was shocked at the amount of work that goes into each and every one of these.

 

Everything is stripped out down to the fuselage former barrel ribs and replaced or rebuilt, including the formers and skins. The inspection process is striving for nothing short of perfection, I saw a newly bucked but -very- slightly crooked rivet that would have passed many production aircraft lines circled for replacement. Unbelievable the work and workmanship involved, ~45 full-time employees finish only 2-3 per year at ~$10.0 mil+ per plane.

 

This particular DC-3 had just arrived and was in the process of being dis-assembled. Note the top-hinged rear windows, I believe this was a gunship owned by the Colombian Army used in their fight against the FARC. Basler's Pres. said it was in better shape than most they receive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This DC-3 has begun the conversion process. First, each individual skin panel is removed, inspected and replaced if necessary. Because they overlap in a particular sequence and need to be match drilled to formers, this must be done in strict order. Note the green section on the fuselage where the ice shields were removed. Ice shields protect the fuselage from ice chunks thrown by the spinning props.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 31 Jul 2015 by dholly

[dholly 718]

Basler Turbo Conversions (con't)

 

Wings are removed and repaired or rebuilt as necessary, some new ribs were being installed on this one. Everything gets sand or soda blasted and a coating of proprietary 2-part epoxy primer.

 

 

 

 

They make almost every replacement part used right on site. Here is the fuel tank (800 gal. ea.) fabrication station and new tanks installed.

 

 

 

 

 

Landing gear is typically rebuilt and returned to service after a few update modifications.

 

 

 

Hundreds of thousands of $$ on the prop rack.

 

 

[akflyer 1427]

Nice pics!  Good thing I was not there or I would have had to seek medical attention for the erection lasting longer than 4 hours! 

 

 

[dholly 718]

Basler Turbo Conversions (con't)

 

Here's a peek into the wiring room. Obviously, old avionics are replaced and not one inch of old wire is retained. Each wiring harness is custom made to match the customer order, as are each of many breaker and control panels. The main bundle in this harness is just shy of 1000 wires, quite a feat to keep organized during the 3-4 week build time. Of course, each is tested on the bench before final install to the aircraft. Unique to the conversion is fabrication of new wiring tunnels throughout the aircraft and modular components to facilitate troubleshooting and field repairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EDMO 1078]

I'm going to order one as soon as I get an extra $10 million!

On second thought, I would rather hear the big radials - Guess I will wait for an original...

Nit-Picking:  That is a C-47(?).  The DC-3 didn't have that huge cargo/jump door in the rear.  (I think?)

EdMO

Edited 31 Jul 2015 by Ed In Missouri

[dholly 718]

Basler Turbo Conversions (con't)

 

The sheet knockers are kept pretty busy as you can imagine. They have templates for every part and some real interesting equipment is used to make the stuff that just isn't available anymore. Making a new ashtray from scratch, for example, can take several hours to accurately and faithfully replicate the old.

 

 

 

 

The only sheet part they contract out is the exhaust pipe, as they don't do cylindrical seam welds. Each slash cut pipe cost $16k, or $64k per conversion. An interesting note is they use proprietary exhaust 'normalizers' to cool the EGT to ambient temp before it leaves the trailing edge of the wing. This to avoid infrared painting of heat seeking missiles. Pipes are huge, shown with hat for scale.

 

[dholly 718]

Ed -

 

The DC-3 aircraft in this pic is well along in the conversion process and has had the Basler DC-3 cargo door STC completed. I don't know if there are any other cargo door modifications done to DC-3's, however, I do know Basler owns the only STC for a full height 2-pc DC-3 cargo door. If you can get it through the door it will fit in the airplane.

 

Also, if you look closely, you might notice extra windows in this aircraft. That is because Basler cuts each fuselage in half behind the old ice shields and adds a 40" stretch with new shields to accommodate the larger, longer turbo engines (otherwise the props would sling ice right into the cockpit!) and for C of G considerations.

 

 

Some interior shots of the same airplane showing the cargo door, partial flooring and new avionics install etc. Pay no attention to the smiling trespasser getting in the way of the workers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another unique feature of their DC-3 conversion: they own the only STC for flying DC-3's into known icing conditions. You can see the de-ice boots on the rear control surfaces in these pics.

 

 

[dholly 718]

Basler Turbo Conversions (con't)

 

Here's the reason for all the other work: 1300hp (each) Pratt & Whitney PT-6 Turbo Prop engines. Ain't they purty?

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the new composite cowlings that are made in house, typically carbon reinforced fiberglass. Here are some of the layup mold forms, their vacuum bagging room (a semi-trailer box) and the finished products awaiting install.