After a series of events involving shipping companies, insurance companies and salvage bids, our sister museum on the airport, the DFW wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) received this donated airframe. Since then, they have been diligently working to bring the Mil up to display status. The external sheet metal, seen here, has received a number of repairs and the non-working transmission has been remounted and braced to receive a set of blades.
The CAF crew's patched and painted set of blades will be mounted later this summer.
When the exhibit is ready, its new home will be on a reinforced pad outside the CAF museum. The site will be visible from the main road feeding the airport. For more stories about the "Gate Guardian" project, click on the Bord 122 label. below.
Our friend Miguel recently visited the CAF end of the airport and added some photos of their planes to his Flikr page. We are looking forward to better weather so he can continue to add more pictures of both museum's aircraft.
From an event planning standpoint, this years "Warbirds on Parade" event (September 5th) is fast approaching. One of the target action items left in the event planning is relocating and completing the CAF's Mi-24 static display.
Bruce and Jim discuss logistics over some of the parts left to be moved from the Cold War Air Museum hangar as the CAF volunteers rig the transmission for transport.
In order to finish the work, the CAF crew moved the aircraft inside their hangar to get it out from under the hot Texas sun.
Before moving the transmission inside, the bent blade attach fittings were heated and restored to shape so the rotor blades could be remounted. Charlie, the Wing commander gives his signature smile of approval as he checks the work.
Answer: you take it apart, put in a box and ship it.
This picture shows the relative size of the Mi-24 when loaded into a standard shipping container (hi-top, open-top). It also shows a how "not". This is the container that was Not transported correctly and subsequently damaged Bord 122.
In many cases, we were able to pre-screen aircraft that we wanted to see. But old fashioned "Mark-1" eyeballs were used to make the final decisions.
Seeing the array of hardware that was ready to go to war provokes strong feelings and memories for the generations that grew up in the era. We hope a sense of history and understanding passes to the generations that follow.
Because aircraft of different types (and sometimes aircraft of the same type) were stored at different bases, the group had to go from base to base around the country. Because travel time took away from inspection time, the trips between bases were often made in a hurry. Texans, used to large SUV's on super-highways found themselves crammed into smaller vehicles on smaller roads. While perhaps luxurious by local standards, the travel accommodations had them asking "are we there yet?".
The array of hardware was impressive. On the first visit, a base commander was reluctant to agree to the release of even a single aircraft. By the last visit, positions and responsibilities had changed and any and all were available (at a price).
Bord 122, in a field with sister ships was our first choice. Unfortunately, this was the unit that was damaged upon arrival.
The tallest member of the group, in the foreground, suffered patiently, folding himself back into the car as the group jumped from base to base.
And they drove,
and drove,
sometimes passing sights that were intriguing, wishing there was more time to stop and visit. The countryside was beautiful and the people were polite and curious about the visitors that were interested in their country and their aircraft.
On some bases, aircraft were still in bomb-proof revetments, poised as if they were still on the ready line.
The museum's Mig-21, Bord 38 is shown here as first seen during one of the base visits.
When the seasons change, it is not unusual for the temperature (day to day high, or low) to change by as much as 22C (40F). The day we flew to Gainesville for the MOH parade, we had a 60mph tailwind from the South (at altitude) and by afternoon it was "short sleeve" weather. In this picture, one day later, we had 30+ mph winds at the surface, from the North and it was cold.
The saying "kick the tires and light the fires" Is a reference to the poor habit of cursorily checking an aircraft, then hopping in and starting the engine(s) to go flying. While this may work for cars, where you can pull over to the side of the road if something goes wrong, it is not recommended for a long and successful flying career. The Mi-24, because of its size and complexity, is very much a crew-served aircraft. Before each operation a number of items must be serviced and checked.
When the aircraft was parked the day before, it was facing South, into the wind. Before starting on this day, it had to be moved around to again face into the wind, this time to the North.
One advantage to the Mi-24's size is the availability of the crew compartment. With the wind blocked off by the fuselage and with fresh hot coffee available, the crew takes a break before "lighting the fires"
The "Gate Guardian", Bord 122 can be seen at the North end of the airport behind Bord 118.
These unarmored skins were among the worst damaged non-moving parts on the aircraft. The left engine exhaust cover, also damaged, is shown behind the damaged clam-shell top doors.
In the final stages, the doors were brought together and adjusted to mate as they did in the original assembly. In order to make a fit, Bruce climbed inside to brace the pieces while final adjustments were made.
These pics, snapped with a cell phone show Bruce, a rotary-wing pilot, ready to go. He only needs a few more parts, like a rotor, collective and cyclic to take flight. The volunteers assisted with appropriate helicopter noises and "helpful" advice.
The Mi-24 static display at the CAF museum continues to "come to life". Here a joint group of Commemorative Air Force and Cold War Air Museum volunteers is shown working on the top turtle-deck for the display.
Jim, a CAF volunteer is drilling out rivets in a broken section so that metal patches can be installed. The CWAM guys were glad to learn a few tricks from someone who had obviously done this before. Because this is a non-flying, static display that can never be returned to flight status, repairs need not be done to flight standards. These two clam-shell doors were among the most severely damaged light metal pieces.
Since most of the volunteers are guys, who by nature are clean-up challenged, part of the work was performed directly over the trash can. This high-efficiency method eliminated the intermediate step of chasing metal scraps with broom and dust pan. Genuine mil-spec duct tape is seen here in its standard military roll as a temporary patch.
Looking through the CAF's jeep, CAF-CWAM volunteers are seen working on the CAF static display. For more stories about this restoration, click on the label "Board 122" at the bottom of this post.
High winds made work on the helicopter today a challenge. George, who is ladder-challenged anyway, had to do his supervising from one of the ground support vehicles.
Here we get two thumbs up from some future aviators. Thanks Guys!
But a lot of work is still going on under the skin. Upper compartments are being cleared so the transmission can be reinstalled and blades mounted for static display.
Here, a joint CAF, CWAM volunteer works to clear the compartment and plug holes that let rainwater into the cabin. On his right a piece of the broken transmission case is still attached to the broken mount.
From the ground some of the damage is not as apparent. The "tilt" at left is not due to camera angle. This cooler section was broken and must be straightened before skins and doors can be replaced. A lot of patching is required because most of the panels were bent, broken or torn and deck sealer will be applied to help keep water out of the cabin below.
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