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"I was going through withdrawals..... no WIX, no "Lil" updates...... but I'm better now..." — Alan Brooks

Fabricating the tunnel gun: Part V Section 1 Originally Posted on Dec. 12, 2006

I know it's been a little while since the last real update from me, so here you go. There has been quite a bit of activity due to the flurry of volunteers that have been showing up more often. The High Sky Wing, here in Midland, has been amazing with their show of support. They have taken the reins and have made excellent forward progress with some of the nastiest work this project needs. There have also been quite a few of the smaller, time consuming projects being worked on by other volunteers that have come in. Some days it actually looks like progress is being made. It truly is amazing what just a few helpers can do for a project like this.

Daniel Collier was able to come back in for a couple of days and help out with some of the more complicated sheet metal projects that I've started. After Don Obreiter fabricated the backing plates for the new pitot tubes, Daniel and I riveted them in place. I then installed the new tubes. They aren't exactly like the original "A" model tubes, but are pretty close to at least one of the styles we've seen pictures of.

Since Daniel was here, I had him take over the door project I was on so that I could focus on some other fabrication projects I had already started. One of which was the gun mount for the tunnel gun position.

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