Welcome to the Texas Air Museum!

14 January 2012

 

The Texas Air Museum will hold a general meeting on January 21, 2012 to discuss ways to increase and stabilize the Museum's annual income. Our current methods, which have worked for the past 18 years, have been under strain due to the economy the past 2 years. Hopefully, the meeting will produce some new ideas that will enhance our funding. Please plan to attend!

 

The T-6 has been up on jacks for gear swings and flap testing. We encountered some problems with the plumbing which set us back for a few weeks, but the gear and flaps are now functional. Bill Parker has located a rear sliding canopy for us, which was the last major assembly we were missing. Ailerons are being covered and, weather permitting, should be installed by the first week or two of February.

 

The Stinson 10A fuselage has been the focus of more than a month of work as it has been covered with Ceconite and taped, with the first 2 coats of clear butyrate brushed on. It needs some reinforcing tapes around the doors and it will be ready for the 3 coats of silver to be applied. Thanks go out to Steve Oldham, Chris Whiting, Brian Laing and Malcolm Laing for all their work.

 

The C-45 has had the emergency escape door restored and test fitted by Mike Hauf, who is now working on the main fuselage access door.

 

The AT-19 is undergoing its annual and the cowl is being repainted so that nose art can be applied. Mike Delano is the lead for the nose art, we are looking forward to the final design on "London Nights". The L-2M "Tumbleweed" and Ki-51 are being flown on a fairly regular basis, with museum members building time and developing the skills necessary to move up to the next level for them.

 

 

19 November 2011

 

The Play Day was great fun and everyone who wanted a flight got one in the museum aircraft. We also hosted a flight for the Texas Tech Air Force ROTC cadets, with help from Brian Rose, Curtis Thomas, Tye Lane, Scott Lane and Malcolm Laing. One winning Cadet even got a ride in the T-28.

 

The T-6 hydraulic system is complete and awaiting final testing. The brake system is complete had has been tested. Electrical wiring is progressing nicely and we are beginning to see assemblies being adjusted and finalized.

 

The Stinson 10A has had most of the old paint stripped off and some minor dent repair completed. The head liner is ready to install and the vertical tail has been covered with fabric. The 0 time engine has been installed and covering the fuselage is the next major step.

 

The CAP cadets completed painting the F-101 and it now awaits the markings for final completion. What a difference they have made in the way the "Voodoo" looks!

 

Randy Moore has begun his checkout in the L-2M, Steve Sperry is working on a checkout in the Ki-51 and Mike Delano has been checked out in the NA-64. Congratulations on all your hard work.

 

 

17 September 2011

 

We had a great turnout on Saturday, September 3 when the wings were installed on the T-6. What a difference it makes to see it with wings! I know that it will be a little harder to work around, but I also know that I am a lot more motivated. Thanks to everyone that took the time to come out, it made the job go very smoothly.

 

As a side note, the T-6 replacement wings had Spanish markings on them when we originally got them. You can see the markings on the wings in the photos that will soon be posted on the restoration page. When the T-6 is finished and flying, it will be repainted in Navy colors.

 

Additionally, the oil lines and oil cooler were installed the past few weeks and the Texan now has oil in it. The brake system is also complete; we will finalize it and test the brakes in the next few weeks. We still have a lot work to do and a lot of parts to locate, but at least the light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train.

 

The Stinson 10A was moved out from storage and some stripping of old paint begun on the boot cowl. We have contacted someone about doing the head liner and hope to have that resolved in October.

 

The F-4 received a much needed facelift over the past 2 months with the help of numerous volunteers and looks much better, thanks to all who participated.

 

Congratulations to Randy Moore who has received his private pilot's license! He plans to sponsor the L-2 next month.

 

The next Museum Play Day will be October 1, 2011, 2:00 pm until... Please plan to attend and bring a friend who might be interested in joining the Museum.

 

 

4 August 2011

 

Since the air show, work on the T-6 has progressed remarkably, and we are starting to think about the first engine run in the next 6-8 weeks. All the landing gear mechanisms for gear-up lock and retract are now in place, all control rods installed, oil cooler and vacuum pump sent for rebuild, firewall forward hydraulic lines are being installed along with some of the brake lines. If you are out at the museum, please give a huge thank you and congratulations to Mike Peterson, who has been named the T-6 crew chief for all his work on the T-6 this past year.

 

Hope to have the wings on by mid September, and then a push out to see how the engine systems work. After this complete rebuild, there will of course be a lot of adjusting to do. First flight before the New Year is a distinct possibility!!!

 

I do not want to miss noting that there has also been progress on the C-45, with some of the hoses and fitting being reinstalled in the right wing.

 

After the first T-6 engine run, we are planning to have a play day. The weather should be a little cooler, and the planes will all be up and running.

 

We have had a lot of progress on the flight operations side, with Mike Hauf being checked out in the Ki-51, Brian Laing getting his tailwheel endorsement, and Steve Sperry beginning his tail wheel training. Randy Moore is in the process of completing his last 3 hours of prep before going for his private license, and should have his license by the end of the month, he then plans to sponsor the L-2 and begin work on his tailwheel endorsement. Congratulations to them all!

 

It is good to see the different pilots moving up in aircraft qualifications, it also proves that the system is working.

 

 

9 June 2011

 

A big Thanks! to all the volunteers who helped make the 2011 air show a great success! The crowd attending the show was about the same as last year (7500 or so) and the weather cooperated to let us have a safe and profitable show. The Viper air show team and Spanky Galloway put on an extraordinary double act that really was a standout.

 

The Reno air race demo (Howard Pardue and Nelson Ezell) also appeared to be a big hit with the crowd who had never seen anything like it. Our new parking plan appears to work, we just need to make it go faster. Thanks again to James Clark who made the new ticket booths.

 

Clean up Sunday had Malcolm Laing, Brian Laing, Steve Oldham, Payton Oldham, Mike Delano, Dustin Delano, Mike Friedrich, Randy Moore, and Alex Olachia out cleaning up the tents, roped-off areas, trash, left overs, etc. that normally are left behind after the show. Cars were returned, golf carts loaded up and by the end of the afternoon the airport looked normal again. But speaking for myself, it was really hard to get up and get going Sunday morning, so an additional thanks for the help Sunday morning.

 

Congratulations to Jannelle Diggs, who was unanimously selected as the volunteer of the year for her work developing and promoting the air show this past year.

 

And a note for those who missed the show, the T-28B was made it back from the paint shop the week before the show. While 6 months does seem like a long time to paint an airplane, the paint shop did a great job, and the airplane made a truly striking appearance flying in the show.

 

And last but by no means least, a huge thank you to all of our sponsors that allowed us to put the air show on in the first place!