Bonnie Kratz
Jim says flying the PT makes him feel young again. He finished the restoration in 2004
and says his old flying habits came back quickly even though it had been more than 30
years since his last flight in the PT.
“Most of the lower longerons
had to be replaced,” said Jim.
“Lucky for me, Hal had a lot of
PT- 19 and - 23 parts laying around,
so he brought down an old fuselage and I carefully removed the
rear end and transplanted it to my
PT. I had a jig made and hired a
welder to weld it back on, and it
is absolutely straight. The wood
in the wings was another issue
because of all the years of damage
caused by the various animals that
called the airplane home.” Jim
said the woodworking was probably the most difficult part of the
restoration because he had to soak
the mahogany plywood and then
shape it little by little on the leading edges of the wings. During one
point in the restoration, he found
the original blue-and-white star
and bar along with the original tail
number that had been painted on
the PT in October 1943.
Jim’s “short list” in the four-year
restoration process included completely stripping all metal parts of
paint and corrosion on the fuselage,
landing gear, control surfaces, and
control torque tubes. It also included repairing all wood decay on the
wings and center section trailing
edges. Also on the list: repainting
all steel and aluminum parts with
six coats of epoxy primer and polyurethane finish coat. Jim covered
the fuselage, wings, center section,
and control surfaces with the Superflite covering system and painted
these with a minimum of six coats
of epoxy primer and polyurethane
finish in metallic Aztec silver. Jim
also reassembled the PT using new
hardware, hoses, tires, glass, and
seat belts.
The engine was overhauled and
returned to Jim in what he described
as “better than new condition.”
With all the new and restored pieces
put back in their respective places,
the vintage trainer was ready to fly
once again.
“I finally finished the PT in
November of 2004,” said Jim. “I
performed the test flight, and with
the exception of a little aileron
adjustment, the PT flew absolutely
perfect. I was a little worried about
making the first landing, but I soon
relaxed as old habits quickly came
back to me. My hands instinctively
reached for levers and knobs like
they did 30-plus years ago. The
PT is such a wonderful handling
airplane when it comes to landing
because of its wide gear and use
of flaps. Even though I will never
tow another banner, every time I
fly the PT it makes me feel young
