Featured Articles - Vol.36, No. 05- July 2013

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Harpoon
Happiness
Restoring and flying the mighty ’Poon
D
ave Hansen is a man
of many talents. He
freely admits that
he has a knack of
making hard-earned
money disappear
quickly every time he acquires a new
warbird project. His sheet metal work
and attention to detail are second to
by Jim Busha
none as evidenced on the magnificent
“restoration in progress” of his 1945
Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon. When Dave
regales the story of his Harpoon he
likes to break it into chapters. The first
chapter started in 1945 when this particular airplane—Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon Serial Number 15-1438, Bureau
Number 37472—came off the produc-
tion line. The second chapter tells of
the aircraft in various civilian roles,
including spraying mosquitoes. The
third chapter started in 2006 when a
derelict Harpoon was purchased by
Dave and brought back to life.
“Before I get into the restoration
phase let’s look at a little of the development of the PV-2 Harpoon,” Dave
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explains. “Lockheed’s familiar family
of aircraft share many design features
that might confuse the uninformed,
so a little enlightenment might not
go astray. The British needed a replacement for their aging Hudsons,
so Lockheed developed the PV-1 Ventura from the commercial Model 18
Lodestar. This allowed Lockheed to use
most of the existing tooling and production facilities to get the Ventura
into production quickly, and by early
1943 it was soon patrolling across the
Pacific from the Aleutians to Australia,
as well as flying in the service of many
of our allies. The service of the PV-1 is
an entire story on its own.
“These two aircraft are very similar in appearance, so I will give you
some clues on how to tell them apart.
Number one, the PV-2 Harpoon has a
much larger wingspan (PV-1 is 65 feet
6 inches; PV-2 is 75 feet). Very hard to
judge without a tape measure.
“Number two, the horizontal stabilizer on the PV-2 is rectangular, while
the leading edge of the PV-1 is tapered.
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Great if you are looking at the plane as
it is flying overhead.
“Number three, the vertical stabilizer on the PV-1 is egg-shaped, while
the base of the PV-2 is much broader
and rounded on top and overall much
larger. This one feature makes positive
identification much easier if you are
viewing the planes from the ground
and side on.
“And finally, from side on you will
notice that the bomb bay doors are
bulged on the PV-2 while the PV-1 has
straight doors. Other design changes
were also incorporated to allow for
bigger loads and better performance.
“As soon as the PV-1 Ventura was
in production, Lockheed began design work on the PV-2. The U.S. Navy
needed longer range, bigger payload,
and better handling, so with these
(and other) changes the Harpoon was
born. The first Harpoon rolled out of
the Burbank, California, plant on 8
November 1943, so it is obvious that
during the war, little time was wasted
when the aircraft were sorely needed.”
Harpoon History
Lockheed Harpoon PV-2 Bureau
Number 37472, Serial Number 151438 was built at the Lockheed/Vega
factory in Burbank, California. It was
completed and accepted by the U.S.
Navy on April 4, 1945. It was delivered
to the Navy aircraft pool at NAAS Holtville (now Holtville Airport 125 miles
east of San Diego, California, near El
Centro) on November 19, 1945.
As the war had ended, Holtville became home to 111 PV-2s that were no
longer needed for combat patrol missions. It was transferred from the pool to
storage whilst still at Holtville and then
moved to NAS Litchfield Park in Arizona
in January 1947 when Holtville was
transferred from Navy to county use.
During its time at Alameda, 37472
flew a number of training missions
over three months, plus a couple of
flights back and forth to Litchfield
Park before returning to storage at
Litchfield Park in February 1954. In
December 1954, 37472 was transferred to the Naval Reserve Training
U.S. NAVY
PV-1
Cockpit before (above) and after (left)
restoration.
Facility at Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
Willow Grove was used during WWII
for training in anti-submarine warfare, and continued this role during
the Cold War. In January 1956 the aircraft was assigned to NAS Anacostia
in Washington, D.C. (This field became
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in 2005).
It remained there until August 19,
1956, when it returned to Litchfield
Park to be retired from service. It was
officially struck from service on December 17, 1956, with a total of 387
hours flown.
In 1957 it was transferred into civilian hands, and the Harpoon, like many
ex-military aircraft of the day, changed
hands frequently. By 1963 it had been
turned into a bug sprayer, and instead
of attacking enemy islands or ships it
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was instead thrown into combating
grasshoppers and fire ants. It last flew
in the late 1990s before being purchased by Dave in 2006.
Restoring the Beast
Dave has been restoring vintage
aircraft since 1990. He was bitten by
the “bug” when a friend convinced
him to build his first kit airplane, an
RV-4, back in 1987. After getting into
the business with companies such as
Pioneer Aero (later Square One) and
Sanders Aviation, he soon opened
his own shop. He and his crew have
had the opportunity to take on projects ranging from a Yakolev Yak-3U to
a Nanchang CJ-6, and a Cessna L-19
Bird Dog to a Van’s RV-8. The projects
also range in scope—from a full resto-
ration down to the tubular frame, nuts
and bolts, to less involved repairs or
modifications when the unfortunate
happens. But the Harpoon was by far
his most in-depth project.
“I really didn’t wake up looking for a
Harpoon that day; it just kind of found
me,” said Dave. “After a casual conversation, while dropping off some aircraft parts at Chino, I simply asked the
question, ‘What would it take to get
into a warbird…like that one?’ I was
pointing at an old PV-2 that was sitting on the ramp with no engines, a
total restoration project. The gent that
I was talking to replied, ‘Are you serious?’ And told me about two aircraft
that were just like that and were available. One in California and one in Buffalo, Wyoming. Buffalo was closer to
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where I lived in Utah, so off we went
in July 2006. I wanted a project with
all the pieces there—engine, airframe,
wings, and tail group—I didn’t want a
barrel of parts that resembled a barrel
of parts. The initial price was doable,
and the cost to get the aircraft back
home was thought out and figured in.
I could dress this pig up and sell it for a
reasonable profit. Great plan, but this
however was not to be. The disease
took over, and I was going to be in for a
ride of epic proportions.”
It took Dave nine separate weeklong
trips over the course of 15 months to
get the Harpoon in the air, so that it
could be flown back to his home base
of Heber to really begin the restoration. During this time Dave started to
do some research on the history of the
Harpoons, and the missions they flew.
Dave realized he now “owned” a piece
of history, or so he thought.
“I was soon hooked. Instead of just
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a quick dress-up, it was now obvious
that the whole plane needed to be restored (meaning lots of stuff had to be
found or reproduced), including all the
internal components and equipment,
bulkheads, work stations, turrets, and
other guns. Not very easy to go online
and order an operational turret, complete with twin .50-cal machine guns.
“To give you an idea of what was
done prior to its flight home, here is
a condensed list: props were removed,
overhauled and reinstalled; all fuel
transfer/boost pumps were removed,
overhauled, and reinstalled; all engine accessories were overhauled; oil
coolers were rebuilt; all three tires and
tubes were replaced (who knew that
one single main tire could cost more
than $1,000—definitely not WalMart prices); all fuel, oil, and hydraulic
lines were replaced; critical flight instruments were replaced; the rudders
were removed, re-covered, and rein-
stalled and all other control surfaces
were inspected and bearings replaced;
new windshields; swung and serviced
the landing gear; oil and fuel tanks
flushed; and the aircraft generally serviced. After all of this, it still looked a
lot more like an old mosquito sprayer
than a World War II bomber.”
As winter was approaching, the
next step was to paint the plane to
help protect it from the Utah snow.
So before it would have the equipment
that made it a bomber, Dave painted
it to resemble one. The chosen paint
scheme was the tri-color version, with
dark blue on top of the wings, horizontal stabilizer, and fuselage; mid
blue for the vertical surfaces of the fuselage, engine nacelles, and fins; and
white for the bottom of the aircraft.
“The plane was painted to represent a member of VPB-139,” Dave said,
“a squadron that spent time operating out of Attu Island during WWII,
and the name and nose art selected,
Attu Warrior, represents all those aircraft that flew into battle from Attu (a
mostly forgotten part of WWII). Dave
Mueller, a local artist whose constant
encouragement and attitude kept me
going through the following years as
the Harpoon took shape, worked with
me to design the nose art and then
painted it by hand on the bomber. The
Harpoon finally had a name.”
Dave’s next plan was hatched; remove the spray tank that took up
much of the interior of fuselage. Piece
by piece, the tank was cut up with a
plasma cutter and passed out through
the door. Once this was completed, the
interior was slowly returned to original configuration. Over the next three
years, thousands of hours were spent
fabricating and installing all the many
components of a working aircraft.
“Any spare minute, when I wasn’t
making a living or taking care of my
family, was spent working on Attu
Warrior. Funny thing was, she was
no longer mine. I no longer owned a
‘piece of history.’ I was simply the caretaker. This aircraft really belongs to
those who sacrificed to build it, fly and
fight in it, and now to the families of
the crews of all the aircraft just like it.
These are the real owners. Now, as others continue to get involved with the
Harpoon, we are just given the opportunity and responsibility to make sure
that this incredible aircraft continues
to be taken out to the public ‘that we
might never forget,’” said Dave.
Flying the ’Poon
Auburen “Aubie” Pearman of Mississippi became interested in flying
right after high school and has been
flying professionally since 1992. But
it’s the old airplanes that really get this
southern boy’s juices flowing.
“I got hooked on flying in old airplanes at an early age while flying with
my dad in a J-3 Cub. I fell in love with
a Cessna 195 as a broke kid in college
and have owned one since 1998. A few
years later I acquired a Lockheed Lodestar before I bought two PV-2s from
Wyoming that had been in storage. And
that’s how Dave and I became friends
and I help him out by flying his PV-2.”
Aubie claims there is a lot of similarity between the PV-2 and the Lodestar.
“The PV-2 has an incredibly complex fuel system,” said Aubie. “You
either design an airplane that flies
PV-2
U.S. NAVY
from point A to point B or, in the PV2’s case, one that is going to be shot
at a lot. This airplane allows a lot of
different combinations so that you
can run each engine off any available
tank and get fuel from it. If a tank
had been compromised by taking a hit
from flak or any other battle damage,
you are still able to utilize that fuel in
either engine so it’s just a matter of
designing an airplane for maximum
flexibility. The Harpoon has five fuel
selectors. The four inboard tanks will
hold 500 gallons, and the original PV2s had two 145-gallon tanks on the
outboard, and after they turned them
into a commercial use, one outboard
tank was removed. In the days of its
military service it carried 155 gallon
drop tanks as well under the wings,
and it had bomb bay fuel as well so this
thing was a flying gas station.”
According to Aubie fuel burn at a
moderate setting—around 50 percent—is 140 gallons per hour.
“It will do about 165 knots with VNE
around 306 knots,” Aubie said. “This
airplane is built like an old bridge—
overbuilt and tough. The powerplants
are a little different, but operating a
round engine is straightforward as long
as you follow the proper procedures and
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power settings. Preflight is very similar
to most piston twins, making sure to
check hydraulic levels, and if it’s been
any period of time between flights, we
turn the blades through; thankfully it
has a pre-oiler. I thought I could crank a
gummed up bicycle until I encountered
this airplane!”
Aubie claimed that getting the
beast rolling to taxi speed takes a little finesse. He said, “It’s not terribly
difficult to taxi, but it does require a
bit of a technique once you get it moving using differential power because
it has a free-steering tail wheel that is
lockable, but it’s easier to taxi than a
twin Beech. There is no doubt that the
Harpoon is a large airplane, but surprisingly it is quite nimble. The rudder
is just one example. One of the first
things I experienced with it was landing in a crosswind; the rudder is so
large that the rudder pedal forces can
quickly become excessive. The control
surfaces are so big that it takes a good
deal of physical effort to displace them
into the slipstream.
“Takeoff—this is not like a Lockheed P-38 with contra-rotating props;
it’s more of a conventional twin, but
because it’s currently not operating
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at its gross military weights, it’s really a lightweight at 25,000 pounds
so it’s much safer to operate in the
event you lose an engine on takeoff.
In this configuration it’s much lighter
and accelerates better—with 2,000
hp per side it has lots of power with
two R-2800-B series engines. I think
the Hamilton Standard props are a
little short so it will bleed energy.”
Aubie likes to climb out at between
125-130 knots indicated, giving the
Harpoon a 1,000-foot-per-minute
rate of climb.
“We could climb faster; all depends
on how much gas you want to burn and
how big a carbon footprint you want to
leave,” he said. “Remember as you go
forward on those levers the farther you
go with them, the more gas you leave
behind. The Harpoon will fly amazingly
slow, and we stalled it, but the airspeed
indications below 80 knots are not very
accurate—just because of the airflow
around the pitot tubes.
“To me some of the defensive design
features of the Harpoon are amazing.
As an example the turret can be operated in both auto and manual mode; it
would limit the travel of the turret guns
so you wouldn’t be able to shoot your
own tail off, but it does have a manual
mode to get closer to your tail if you felt
comfortable enough or an enemy was
barring in on your tail section.
“As far as the forward firing guns, it
would have been very interesting to fire
those nose guns as they were located
right behind the instrument panel. Listening to the stories from vets like Jim
Daly are the closest I will ever come
to it. The vets said you could only fire
those nose guns in short bursts because
the amount of cordite smoke would inundate the cockpit and cause IFR conditions inside the airplane!
“For me I love flying the Harpoon,
especially since no one is shooting at
me. But the physical abuse that was
endured by the crew is actually quite
amazing. This airplane is really a littleknown warbird, and its story is one of
the least known of any of the warbirds
on the field. During WWII the Aleutian Islands was probably the birthplace of every low-pressure system in
the Northern Hemisphere—just atrocious conditions—taking off and flying two hours in incredible weather
fighting for a half an hour and then
turning around and slogging right
back through that same weather. I
can’t express my admiration enough
for all these vets that flew the PV-2
and feel very honored and privileged
to rest my boots on the same rudder
pedals they did.”
Honoring the Veterans
Dave formed the Warbird Warriors
Foundation to share the Harpoon with
those families who feel a kinship to it.
The Warbird Warriors Foundation was
formed by a group of warbird owners
who realize that these vintage aircraft
should not just be our own personal
possessions, but because of what they
represent, these warbirds are pieces of
history that belong to all of us.
“Early on I thought this airplane was
mine but was quickly humbled when I realized
I am just the caretaker; it belongs to the vets,”
Dave explained. “I am reminded each time a
vet climbs inside and I see the emotion as their
hands reach for controls that they last touched
some 60-plus years ago when they were 19
or 20 years old, and they act like it was yesterday. In our effort to continue taking these
vintage aircraft out to the people to educate
and remind them of their aviation history, we
often run across veterans who flew or worked
on these warbirds. For them, the memories
usually come flooding back. Some good, some
bad, but all are a real part of who that person
is. When a veteran stands there with a spouse,
child, or grandchild and tells them all about
their experiences, it suddenly becomes real for
the family members, and makes our hard work
all worthwhile.
“So check out what we have to offer, read
the stories of the warbirds that have been
placed in our care, follow our exploits as we
travel the country from air show to air show,
and we would be happy to have you join and
be a part of our organization.”
Look for more info on Dave and his projects at www.WarbirdWarriors.org.
PV-2 Harpoon Specs
General Characteristics
Crew
5 to 7
Length
51 feet 1 inch
Wingspan
75 feet
Height
13 feet 3 inches
Wing area
686 square feet
Empty weight
22,000 pounds (approximate)
Loaded weight
32,000 pounds (approximate)
Max takeoff weight
36,000 pounds
Powerplant
2 Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engines,
2,000 hp (1,500 kW) each
Performance
Max speed
282 mph at 13,700 feet
Cruise speed
170 mph
Combat range
1,790 miles
Service ceiling
23,900 feet
Armament
Bombs
4,000 pounds internally, 2,000 pounds externally
Rockets
8 5-inch HVAR rockets (underwing),
2 Tiny Tim rockets (bomb bay)
by Jean Barbaud
http://jeanbarbaud.blogspot.com
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