Aircraft in US Markings is Nakajima Ki 106 not Ki 84

Chris

Good spot!

While my dearly loved and badly missed friend Gary is often given credit for the re engine program for “FIFI”, it should actually go to Dave Miller. Dave did 99% of the work as Gary had moved on from the B-29 squadron by the time the program got rolling and was the CAF’s Director of Maintenance at the time. The idea for the new style engines was the brain child of Mike Looney, Rodney Jackson and Charlie Tilghman, before Gary ever came to the CAF. The last failures with the old engines in 2006 was the justification for Gary (as the crew chief at the time) to ground the airplane until the engine situation was handled. The idea for the engines had been around for a while (prior to Gary coming to work in 2004) and they just never had the money to do it. The grounding of the airplane by Gary put the fund raising into high gear and forced the engine change. A lot of the leg work and getting the engine plan actually underway was the result of Gary doing the pushing. But, in all fairness, the credit for the actual job itself has to go to Dave Miller. Now the very significant airframe overhaul and skin work that happened before the engine change was 100% Gary Austin. And, the conversion work on the B-24 was 100% Gary also.

I appreciate your clarification of my previous post, MB. I certainly want to give everyone his “due” for getting FIFI operational. And for those interested, Dave Miller generated a lengthy thread at WIX on FIFI’s engine/exhaust/mount/etc conversion that this reader found more-than-interesting.

I’ll admit the gist of my previous post concerned the origin of FIFI’s current engines. Gary Austin’s posts suggested they had a military origin (3350-95Ws off C-119s) and were part of a CAF stockpile. Other comments in this thread suggest civilian origin.

Hello,

there are some “new” photos from the N90605 in the web, taken in the summer 1974 Oxford Municipal Apt (USA). Was the owner at this time a George Endhorning?
If this is confirmed, I’ll add this to my website…
http://www.me109.info/web.php?a=e&n=ua&f=99

Thanks!

Regards,
David

[ATTACH=CONFIG]230236[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]230237[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]230238[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]230239[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]230240[/ATTACH]

Last name spelled “Enhorning”…perhaps some helpful info from WIX?

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=41014&start=0

Can’t be. They are not the same shape.

Perhaps I am overdue for a trip to the optometrist, but what I’m seeing is a match.

Start with the last, two attached pics from the original post. If one rotates the panel in those pics 90 degrees counter-clockwise, plexi attachment “tabs” would now be located at top left and bottom left corners.

The plexi panel in the Marauder pics below have attachment tabs in those same locations. The plexi dome slides inside the duralumin skin as the guns rotate left and right.

I must be missing something terribly obvious. Sorry to be such a bother, but I thought we hit paydirt.

From another forum.. possibly B-26 Marauder astrodome and rear gunner panels??

Looks like a winner.