Weekly Update - 12July to 17July

Good Morning Everyone!
This has been a very busy week, with a lot of pitfalls, teamwork and roadtrips. Our B-25 Miss Mitchell has been in the hangar with problems since last Friday. We've worked a ton of overtime, every night, to get her back in the air. We had some frustrations along the way. The nose case turned out to be damage because of a propeller problem. This problem can only be fixed by replacing a prop blade and bearing. We contacted Tri-State Aviation, they had a prop. We ran a team (Bob Wright, Dave Schouveller, Steve Wagoner) up to get it, and got it home, unfortunately there was no paperwork with it. This meant we still needed to bring it to a prop shop to get inspected, and that would take about a week and a half (we are bringing it up there today for the inspection). In the mean-time we needed a prop. We all put our heads together and a solution arose. "Show Me" the Missouri Wing's B-25, is not yet flying due to maintenance issues. We called them, and they were very willing to loan us a prop. Two members (Jim Gilmore and Mark Erickson) volunteered to drive down to St. Louis to pick it up. We got it back, installed, and Miss Mitchell will make Minot AFB shortly! A HUGE Thank You to Tri-State, the Missouri Wing, and all the volunteers who helped fix the aircraft. This was a MASSIVE undertaking, and we would be lost without all of your efforts! Other work around the hangar fell somewhat toward a standstill while the B-25 was being worked on. The PT-22 seats are now installed, though they are still awaiting seals for the gear. We had out General Membership meeting... It went very well, and included several new members, and a couple of people interested in becoming members. Our membership is rising steadily. We ask everyone to find one person to become a member as part of the "One and Done" program developed by HQ. Think of how many people we would have if we all got someone to join!!! Everyone, Thank You for your efforts... the hard work and determination of the membership in this Wing is shining through, and we should all be very proud of our accomplishments!