Who Broke My Helicopter?

At the Cold War Air Museum, some of our associates like to fly aircraft, some of our associates like to fix them, some of our associates like to talk about them and some do all three.

Summer in Texas brings daytime temperatures around 40C (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit). A recent mild "cold" front passed through and the temperature "only" reached about 34C (around 93F). Although our aircraft are in hangars and out of the direct sun, working on them in the heat is still uncomfortable. With the realization that there will probably not be any cooler days left this summer, we jumped in to do some avionics work in the Mi-2.

We are fortunate to have translated factory manuals, but even so, it can be challenging to read schematics and technical documents originated in a different language with different drawing conventions. Previous experience and perseverance helps. While the main DC buses are below the instrument panel, the breaker panels they feed are in the overhead with power running from there to the soviet style avionics boxes located in a compartment at the rear. Our more modern equipment will be up front, so some wiring has to be changed. The wires dangling in this picture will assist in adding modern radios to the panel while maintaining as much of the original look and feel of the aircraft as possible.

Of course the day would not be complete if someone didn't want to fly the aircraft when the radio guy left some panel open. Fortunately crew chief Phil knows the drill and helps to co-ordinate the program, buttoning things up and checking things as necessary. The normal shop schedule is to work around flying events and to leave each aircraft in flying status as much as possible. At the end of this day, Bord 211 was back in flight status with power going to a new radio box.

MigMan

We have fun whenever we can at the Cold War Air Museum and fortunately most of us maintain a sense of humor, most of the time.

Phil completed a project this weekend to attach the Mig21 wing so that Charles can finish fabricating the replacement short spar in the right wing leading edge.

Jon arrived just in time to help with setting the wing attach pins in place and to demonstrate a Victory Dance on top of the wing (we like airplanes we can walk on - or dance on, none of this wimpy Cessna stuff, thank you).

We had a delay from our earlier work bringing the Mig-21 together when we discovered some damage on one of the pieces of the wing. Our airframe consultant recommended replacing the piece and fortunately one of our volunteers was capable of fabricating a replacement.

The replacement piece is shown with the damaged piece above. The person fabricating this piece has made many "one of a kind" pieces for special U.S. aircraft and he was surprised at the techniques and technology embodied in the part (bearing in mind our belief about what we thought their capabilities were at the time).

The temporary attachment allows the replacement piece to be positioned so that rivet holes joining it to the wing skin and leading edge spar can be drilled in place, ensuring that the new piece perfectly replaces the old. After these holes are drilled, the replacement piece will be removed and a surface treatment applied before final attachment.

The wing will be removed and re-attached at least once more before final attachment. The lessons learned in each experience are incorporated as we go along.

Here, the wing dance floor and the wing attach bolts are shown prepped and ready for Jon's arrival.

4th of July - Independence Day

Fireworks have been used for celebrations ever since the invention
of gunpowder.

It is the tradition in the United States to celebrate the independence of our country every July 4th. It is a Federal and local Holiday and many families attend parades, picnics, fireworks shows and patriotic events.

One of the most enduring myths about America's Independence Day is that the U. S. Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June. At the time, John Adams wrote that July 2nd would be the day celebrated thereafter as the day of independence.

After voting for independence, Congress drafted the Declaration of Independence as a statement to explain their action. After debate and revision, the resulting declaration was passed on July 4, however most scholars agree that the 56 signers were never together as a group and the version generally referred to as THE Declaration of Independence, the one on display at the National Archives, was effectively signed on August 2nd, of that year.

In a remarkable series of coincidences, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two of the founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States' 50th anniversary. President James Monroe died five years later, on July 4, 1831, but he was not a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.

More Emblomology

Red Stars have been used on more than just Sino-Soviet Aircraft.

The emblem on the left belonged to the XII corp of the Union Army (U.S. Civil War, 1862). Reconstituted as the XX corps in 1863, the unit's emblem was simplified (shown on the right).


The Chinese Air Force (The Peoples Liberation Army Air Force) has used a star alone and a star with bars extending to the sides. The symbols in the star refer to the date of the Long March.


In a somewhat similar manner, the U.S. has used a star in a roundel and a roundel with a star and bars extending to the side.


The graphic above, steps through a series of the emblems used over the years by U. S. Forces.