Northwest Aerospace News October | November Issue No. 5 | Page 59
S
yd had made a model of the exhaust
manifold based on photos and drawings
of an example manifold. The next steps
for us were to create a non-contact laser
scan from his prototype and then model
it inside Geomagic software with a 3-D
Creaform scanner. After spending many
hours to fully model the exhaust man-
ifold, the geometry was inputted into
Mastercam software for milling a two-
part mold lay-up tool. General Plastics
in Tacoma generously donated materials
(tooling material FR4540 was used for
the project.) Using our Haas CNC Mill,
we started to sculpt the tooling using a
long reach one-inch ball end mill. After
a day spent machining the tool, the fit
was perfect and ready for delivery back
to Syd to start the molding process.
The original exhaust manifold would
have been formed from steel, hydro-
formed over expensive tools. Composite
tools allowed for the fabrication of a
museum-quality plane to be reborn, as
the original components are no longer
available. Boeing’s elite paint crew, up
in Paine Field, Washington, provided
expert finishing and chose a color that
closely matched the color of steel as it
would have looked in 1942. This bird
now proudly sits on exhibit in the open
hangar space at the Museum of Flight in
Seattle, Washington — sporting accurate
detailing construction techniques known
only by the restoration team.
The “T-Square 54” B-29 was manufac-
tured at the Boeing factory in Wichita,
Kansas. After acceptance by the Air
Force, she went into action flying
from the islands in the Pacific. She
was flown on 36 missions over Japan,
an exceptionally high number for an
aircraft to have survived.
After her wartime service she contin-
ued to be used, modified by the U.S.
Air Force for flight refueling experi-
ments and spent some time in Korea.
On being declared surplus, she was sent to the Naval Air Weapons Station at China
Lake, Mojave Desert, California. She joined several other famous B-29 aircraft,
including “FIFI”, currently the only flying B-29 in the world, and “DOC”, a B-29
undergoing restoration in Wichita, Kansas.
Our “T-Square-54” was rescued from the desert and went for a time to Lowry Air
Force Base to be displayed in their new museum in Denver, Colorado. The museum
staff undertook some initial restoration and preservation but when museum plans
fell through, she was dismantled and sent by several trucks to Seattle. She currently
can be seen at the Museum of Flight, 9404 E. Marginal Way, Seattle, Washington,
on loan form the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Northwest Readers
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Photo: Author Steve Kidd previous CEO of Cimtech and current founder of Aerospace
Vendors with over 40 years in the industry.
OCTOBER | NOVEMBER 2018 ISSUE NO. 5
59