Project Warbird

05/23/2026

Made a mistake tracking down gauges for Liberator II “Maid of Athens.“ Accidentally purchased the wrong variant of dual oil pressure gauge.

The type we need have numbered needles and notations for every 20 between 0-200.

Does anyone have a proper dual oil pressure they’d be willing to trade? Or some other appropriate piece for Liberator II “Maid of Athens”?

Pics attached showing the gauge we ordered (in my hand) and an example of a properly marked pressure gauge for our project.

05/21/2026

Update from the hangar. I have finished the ailerons, elevators, and horizontal stabs for the 1946 Aeronca Champ.

We have made a lot of progress on the new building. Everything that needed stripped out is gone and the entire inside has been pressure washed. I want to Thank Mike Clary, and Hunter Houston for all your help in getting this done. The next step is building, painting and making it the way we need it.

05/20/2026

05/12/2026

A new update from Hangar Thirteen!

04/21/2026

A new update from Hangar Thirteen!

Lucky Thirteen‘s top turret dome is held in place against the mold for the cockpit canopy. This mold will be used to press the curves here into the aircraft aluminum. Photo taken 7 April 2026. The inside of the cockpit canopy mold. The layout of the forward, side, and upper window can be seen here...

04/11/2026

Update from the hangar and new building. The 1941 Piper J5 is now on it's landing gear. The 1946 Aeronca Champ ailerons, elevators, and horizontals are now finished through silver and ready for color coats.
The new building is now fully cleared out. I want to thank Michael Clary of The Southern FAC museum for helping me tear down the old office and store room. The next step is pressure washing the inside.

04/07/2026

04/01/2026

Are any of our supporters on USMilitariaForum.com ?

I ask because one of our volunteers is researching the control yoke used by early-Liberators and PBYs. There is a member there, TigerFan, who posted this example back in 2016.

We were hoping TigerFan might be willing to take additional photos of his yoke, particularly of the opposite side.

I've applied for membership but have not yet been verified by the mods. Without it, I cannot reach out to TigerFan.

We have the blueprints and an original which has been loaned to us. However, the original has been refinished and the blueprints are lacking in detail.

It would be a great help if TigerFan could be contacted so that we may be able to better see an untouched example.

02/27/2026

A new update from Hangar Thirteen!

The top turret dome for Boeing B-17F Lucky Thirteen is now repaired! Photo taken 16 February 2026. Sperry Gyroscope was charged with designing turrets for the B-17 at the outset of the war. Lacking the ability to produce turrets in-house, these turrets were license-built: Steel Products and Engineer...

02/14/2026

I am happy to announce that after looking for a couple years I have found and purchased a building big enough to house all our projects and shop. It is 8000 sqft with 3 ½ acres of land. Right now all the projects are stored in 5 different locations. It will be so nice to have Liberator II (Maid of Athens) all in one building. It will take a few months to clean, paint and remodel the building so we can move in. It is located just 4 miles from the Anderson Regional Airport.