July 20 update.

More of the gun kit has arrived. Some parts are being painted.

Mounted on the helicopter for flying tomorrow and new photos.

July 16 Update

Out flying Seawolf today, just to put some hours on the engine and make sure everything is working OK. Getting ready to leave next Friday for AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI.

Photos by Scott Curtis.

More of the gun kit arrives on Monday (rockets, mini gun, etc.). Will be taking some high res. air-to-air photos next week with all the armament installed.

July 14 Update

Only 11 days until we arrive in Oshkosh for AirVenture 2010. Show starts on Monday, July 26 with the Seawolf being one of the featured aircraft in the Warbirds in Review segment.

Photos below of the replacement (only 800 hours since new) T53-L-13B engine now installed in Seawolf. First ground runs completed to set the idle, adjust the bleed band, IGV, droop cam, RPM beep range etc.

Left side of engine.

Right side of engine.

Puddles of oil under the helicopter. More leaks to fix!

July 7 more photos of the rebuild.

More photos of 324 during rebuild and painting. The FAA registration is N370AS.


Some of the inert ammo that we have to load the chutes with.

Interior compartments that look like the day it left the factory. Primer paint, clean, new wires, etc.

Here is a video of Seawolf 324 sitting in the rain. Just like rain in Vietnam, 38 years later.

Enjoy

July 7, more gun photos

I know many of you Seawolves will say, "it's too clean"! But we have tried to made it look like the day it left the Bell factory. You guys probably never saw it that way, because the Army had already trashed it and beat it up before they "loaned" it to HA(L)-3.


New canvas on the seat frames.

Help me out here Seawolves. What is wrong with this dual M-60 mount? I'm sure you guys did not fly a configuration like this with ammo belts feeding up over your gun. Must have had many jams and problems. Is this backwards?

Email me from your Seawolf forum. Larry Clark

July 7, a few more photos

Seawolf 324 Gunship has GUNS !

Door guns were put on the mounts today for a test fit.


Twin M-60 door guns. We made this mount exactly like a photo we found on the Seawolf web site, but it sure looks odd. We plan to alter the mounting so that both grips are down when the guns are pointed outward.

Any Seawolf gunners out there who can tell us what the dual M-60 mouting is suppose to look like? Ammo cans mount where? Ammo belts feed how?


Another angle on the .50 cal door gun with ammo box and a short belt of dummy rounds.

This is the "sim fire" .50 that uses propane and oxygen with a spark plug to make a flash and sound like a real gun. Go to this web site to see a video of the gun in operation.
www.iracinc.us/sim_fire_action.htm

July 6 update, engine problems

After 38 years, Seawolf 324 flies again. We did hover a little two years ago, but here is the helicopter in full flight, at altitude and up to 90 knots doing blade track and balance.

As we counted down the remaining days to departure for French Valley, CA (Wings & Rotors) the weather did not cooperate. Here is a photo of the TWO bladed Seawolf 324 sitting in the rain waiting on the crew to return from lunch.

We worked late to make adjustments and made numerous short test flights and ground runs to check everything out. This photo was taken about 7:00 pm with 12 people still working to make the trip to the USS Midway happen.

Everything was looking good for departure the next day, Thursday, July 1st. We made one more trim tab adjustment, and needed one more short test flight to check the RPM warning system. During that flight we had a problem! The engine compressor stalled, so we landed in a big open field about three miles from the shop. Several mechanics and our engine expert came out to check everything and make some adjustments.

We did several ground runs at full power, and it looked good for flying the helicopter back to the shop. But as I hovered it did the compressor stall again. This short video will show what happened. Watch the tail pipe very close during the last few seconds of the video.

So we left the helicopter sitting right there until the crew came back with a lift truck and flat bed trailer to haul it back to the shop.

The bad engine has been removed and a different T53-L-13B is being installed for the trip to Oshkosh on July 23rd.

Sorry Seawolves, we didn't make it over to the USS Midway. But we are very glad this was a minor problem that occured close to home and not half way across the desert. Nobody was hurt, no damage and the flight testing of Seawolf 324 will continue in a few days.

The following was added on the Seawolf Forum by Bill Rutledge on 7/7/10:

Brother Larry Looks like a Malfuntion on the A/B .I forgot to tell you About not Needing An AFTERBURNER installed for a CatShot off the Midway. You set Her Back Down OH so Gently again, Great Job.