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What airplane is in the background of the second picture?
Anyone else not see the first picture in full? I see only the top 10% or so.Am really not sure. The J2M likely has such a large cockpit because the radial engine is much bigger than a Sakae, but I just don't know the actual reason the cockpit is so large.
Here are a few pics from a few years back. John Maloney had just put on fresh paint in the right colors, but the cockpit had not been cleaned.
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I got 'em all this time but sometimes I have the same issues too. It seems to resolve itself after I return later.Anyone else not see the first picture in full? I see only the top 10% or so.
Incredible to think that planes like this were once so common to the countries' that operated them and now spare parts don't exist nor do plans in some cases. Same with the old Jeeps and Motorcycles. From what I've seen, the stuff leftover on desolate Pacific islands has mostly decayed to the point that it can't even be used to blueprint new parts. Such a shame. There is something about technology being cold and lifeless, where as, you put your hands on one of these old warbirds and you can almost feel the fear and joy of the kids whose life depended on them.Here is the D4Y-3 Judy.
In the pic below, you see the Judy in the foreground. In the background is the complete center section of the A6M5 Model 52 Zero on a trailer just prior to leaving for Japan. The wing and fuselage are one unit and do not come apart. To ship it, they take off the tail, remove the engine and mount the engine mount to another mount on the trailer. Then, they stack all the other parts around on the trailer.
You can see the tailhook sticking out the bottom of the Judy, and this is how we located the second bulkhead from the tail forward ... the tailhook had to retract and we placed the bulkhead so it would just retract. There were NO plans. About half of the skin around the wing root is original. From the firewall forward is all new.
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Below is the first startup of the Judy after it was completed. Fighter Rebuilders used some old matching prop blades they had lying around, and Steve Hinton said it shook like a bucking bronco. So ... they had to balance the prop before the next startup and taxi session. Prior to that, they had all assumed the matching prop blades were all from the same prop. Apparently not! The bomb is fiberglass and the controls and the brakes all work. The gear is fixed down, but could easily be made to retract.
It is capable of taxiing and is operated maybe once a year or so.
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Edit: The wing is mostly original, but the starboard wing from about 5 feet in from the tip had to be rebuilt. The left wing was the model. Yes, there is some new sheet aluminum on and in the wings, but I'd estimate the wings to be about 65 - 75% original. There is now only ONE fuel tank. Originally, there were five in the wings; a center tank and two outboard on each side. The landing gear is original but had to be repaired / restored so the wheels would turn and the brakes would work. Brakes are not original.
The control stick is an Aluminum Louisville Slugger baseball bat!
Here is the D4Y-3 Judy.
His name is Sam Hyoshi (Sam is his US-name he used while working here).
The Zero was being shipped to Japan for display at the site of the first Japanese flight.
Greg,The Zero was being shipped to Japan for display at the site of the first Japanese flight. It is on a hill, sort of like Kittyhawk in the U.S.A.. There is an aviation museum there, but no runway, so they shipped it in, reassembled it, started the aircraft every day for about 3 - 4 weeks for the crowds, and let old Japanese WWII Veterans sit in the cockpit. Many cried.
That was the only trip to Japan so far when it didn't fly, but the people got to get a LOT closer.
Of course, they NOW have a flyable Zero of their own in Japan, and that is just great.
Here is an in-cockpit flight at one of the living history event at the Planes of Fame. The pilot is John Maloney.
I think I hear the sound effect of the operating hydraulic at the end of this video.Here is an in-cockpit flight at one of the living history event at the Planes of Fame. The pilot is John Maloney.