In news from New Zealand, aircraft restoration company Pioneer Aero gave PE4E S#41-13570 back its wings! In a recent blog post, they shared these photos, writing, “Yesterday was a significant day in the restoration of P40E S#41-13570 with the wings and fuselage being mated. A great way to mark the end of our Covid 19 lock down.
Thanks must go to the whole team for getting to this milestone, thanks also to Mark from On Call Cranes for his expertise with the lifting. Below are a few photos from yesterday more and lots of catch up photos will be posted to the project page over the next few days.”
This P-40 was recovered from a Russian lake in 1997, after spending 55 years under water. When extracted it looked like this:
And here, the refinished wing and fuselage are rejoined in four careful steps:
Wing up with gear extended.
A jack helps to keep the wings level while they await the fuselage.
Fuselage lifted with tailwheel extended.
The fuselage is slowly and carefully lowered over the wing.
Back together, the aircraft goes back to the hangar for further restoration work.
