Lone star progress

Ralph Royce reports that various restoration programs at Lone Star Flight Museum are making excellent progress. Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat BuNo 1217761 N68RW is with Jim Fauz at Milton, Florida. The center section and the fuselage have been mated. The new fuel cell has been installed, loaded with water (to stretch the cell into its hammock support so that the bottom-most tap point can be attached), and removed to have the final hardware installed. The cockpit is ready for accessories. The P&W R-2800-CB16 rebuild at JRS Engines is underway. Gear doors and fairings are finished. Wheels and brakes are installed and tested. The full-up airframe rolled outside and saw the sun for the first time in the last week of January.

Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer BuNo 59819 N3739G in-house restoration continues. The last turret restoration has arrived at the museum. The museum's weekend warriors have installed the rebuilt number three engine and have begun the process of accessorizing the powerplant. Number two is connected as far as they can at this point. The weekend warriors have rerollered and primed the left flap prior to installation.

Plans call for engines to be rotated to the rebuild shop on a four- to six-month basis number four is due back in September. After finishing the bow turret, ace volunteer Jim Williams and his minions went to work on the waist turrets. They designed and fabricated the intricate bulkhead doubler/offset spacer for the waist turrets and once they figured out the system, both turf nets fit perfectly. Engine control cables are restrung. Work is progressing nicely and this joint maintenance shop/volunteer project can use lots of help at just about any skill level.

Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIB CCF-96 N68RW at Fort a Collins, Colorado has most of the primary aircraft structures completed and they now await final assembly and installation. The woodwork for the aft section of the aircraft is finished and installed. Secondary system manufacture, installation and integration continue. Work on the starboard wing is about complete. Numerous pieces are being manufactured from drawings as this multi-year restoration continues.

RICHARD CORMIER

Richard "Zeke" Cormier, fighter ace and war hero who led the Blue Angels and helped guide the San Diego Aerospace Museum, died on 23 February at Rancho Santa Fe, California, at age 81.

During World War Two, he destroyed eight Japanese aircraft while claiming two probables. He flew 75 combat missions in the Atlantic from antisubmarine carriers and 61 missions in the Pacific, earning five Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Silver Star, and eight Air Medals.

In the Navy from 1941 until 1964, Cormier served during the Korean War and ended his military career as executive officer of the Wasp.

Adding to Cormier's stature was his work beginning in 1953 as flight leader of the Blue Angels. He directed the group's transition from the F9F-5 Panther to the swept-wing Cougar. During 1956, Cormier led the Blue Angels in 52 flight demonstrations before 3.5 million spectators.

Hollywood came calling and Cormier served as technical advisor for the 1960 series Blue Angels starring Dennis Cross and Morgan Jones and occasionally featuring Burt Reynolds. Although plotted around fictional off-duty escapades of the flying team, the series strove for realism by using footage of the Blue Angels and scenes at Sun Diego's Miramar Naval Air Station.

After his retirement, he worked for ten years at Douglas Aircraft handling international military sales. Cormier happily turned his hero status to work for the community, first as founding president for the International Aerospace Hall of Fame. When that became a part of the San Diego Aerospace Museum in 1963, he joined the board and worked to develop the museum for the next 28 years.

Copyright Challenge Publications Inc. Jun 2001
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