The Nose-section
HISTORY
This is the history for as far as I have found out. Should anyone know more please let me know.
My nose was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft, Long Beach CA and delivered to the USAAF on 7 Apr 1944 as 43-15550, with construction # 200016
Apr 1944 To Baer AAF IN (Troop Carrier Command)
Aug 1944 To 349th Troop Carrier Group (TCC), Pope AAF NC
Dec 1944 To 4200th AAF Base Unit (Air Technical Service Command), Chicago Municipal AP IL
Jan 1945 To 4100th AAF Base Unit (ATSC), Patterson AAF OH
Mar 1945 To 4149th AAF Base Unit (Electronics Experimental Squadron, ATSC), Fort Dix NJ
Mar 1946 To 4149th AAF Base Unit (Air Materiel Command), Olmstead AAF PA
May 1948 To 3171st Electronic Research Squadron (AMC), Griffiss AFB NY (to EC-47A)
Aug 1949 To General Electric, Pleasantville NY and West Chester NJ
Mar 1959 To 1001st Air Base Wing (Headquarters USAF), Andrews AFB MD (to C-47A)
Oct 1961 To 2704th AF Aircraft Storage and Disposition Group (AMC), Davis-Monthan AFB AZ
Oct 1962 Dropped from inventory by transfer to FAA as N162
1964 60-S-AAB with Somali Airlines
May 1964 reregistered 60-SAB with Somali Airlines
October 1970 N925
4 March 1981 Pyramid Airlines Charter Services
8 June 1984 Global Equipment
23 April 1986 reregistered N512GL
March 1987 Basler & Basler in Oshkosh
3 May 1990 Stricken of register as “parted out”
app 2000 nose sold to Pall Mall Clothing Co. in Holland to be used for display purposes
June 2006 Nose to Bart Nopper for restoration
I have found only one pic of this plane so far:
Malaga, Spain. 1984
This is what she looks like now on the left hand side.
The nose is basically sound. No corrosion, no real bad damage. There are 2 small holes on the left hand side, there are some dents. The worst part is the roof top where some idiot ripped out the skins. The adjacent skins are mangled but it is repairable. I am looking for new skins but they can be made as well. They have a difficult bend in them and must be made using an English Wheel. Not my thing but I know someone who can make them.
Right hand side
This side is better, no holes, hardly any dents. You can see the hole left by the missing skins better. In front lies the Upper Nose Cone, the lower part is missing.
Front
There is a little damage on the underside that has be dealt with. The top of the front rib is missing. That is where the hinges used to be for the nose cone. I have that piece and that can be riveted back in without to much trouble. One of the attractive bits of this nose is that there are many smaller items still inside. I have seen a couple of noses that were completely gutted. This one still has the pipes, tubes, wiring looms, rudders, yokes, windscreen-wipers, etc inside. Even though not everything will connect exactly to the parts I will be putting in, It will at least look like it is the way it should be.
Below some close-ups of the outside.
Nice eyes ! Nice try.
Glass is broken, seals are gone. HMMMMMM ?!?
Emmenthaler cheese Pipes are there. I have the Hydraulic Tank and Accumulator
The Instrument Panel is not correct but I have the correct one. The yokes and steering columns are totally complete and come with the cables and pulleys. All pipe-work for the windscreen-wipers is still in place.
The overhead Electrical Panels have been altered at some time in 43-15550’s life. That is typical for the 1960’s. This is where the modern radio were fitted. There was no longer any need for remotely placed Comms with Control Boxes. The radios were so small now they could be fitted in the cockpit itself. And they were put here.
I have a line on the original Panels and hopefully will get those somewhere this year (2007). Below is a pic of what they should look like.
The Rudder Pedal Assembly is complete and functioning. The Throttle Quadrant Pedestal that sits over the crossed rods is unfortunately missing but I do have a line on that one as well. All the floorboards are gone. These are easily fabricated. They are all flat 2 mm aluminum plates screwed to the floor-frames.
Center floor. Missing the Fire Handle Door. Fire Extinguisher behind copilot. Complete with all the pipes.
Left placard is a repro, right one is original. Ready to be stamped
Hydraulic Fluid Sight Glass
Floor Bearer
Hydraulic Control Panel Upper lever is Landing Gear Control Valve, lower is Hydraulic Hand Pump
Above is a picture of the right hand side of the fuselage. This unfortunately has been cut into 3 parts, but it can be put together again. On the left you see the Hydraulic Control Panel, in the center the Radio Racks and on the right is where the Radio Operator used to sit. That part is now converted to baggage area but is not to difficult to change back to Radio Operator’s Station. below left are the Hydraulic Automatic Pilot Controls.
It all looks worse than it is. The various colors and flaking paint makes it look terrible but basically everything is sound. Of course it is a lot of work to get it right again. I dread putting all the big parts back together but that is probably because I have never done anything like this before. But I think that once all the debris is taken out and the insulation and the paint is stripped from the racks, the whole thing will start to look a lot better.
There were a lot of things missing. I was lucky to find a derelict fuselage in the UK that was used in Steven Spielbergs “A Band of Brothers”. I went there and spent 2 wonderful, incredibly hot and dirty days grinding out parts, stripping away wiring looms, derivetting the astrodome, tearing out the insulation and anything useful I could lay my hands on. I found knobs, a cabinet for the navigator, the first rib with the hinges for the nose-cone, opening panels for the underside, The heater pipe behind the navigator, interior lights, brackets, heater control, etc. It was fun and a genuine treasure trove.
So, when I find the last missing parts I can start putting the pieces together. That will be a next chapter.
Please email me at:
dc3@propellor.tv