B-25 vandalized

...and if done intentionally and caught, the penalty should be a nice ride in the ol' bird to about 10,000 feet, with a swift kick in the behind right out the door....let gravity and the earth do the rest.

 

Just fix it and move on. If you react then that means they got what they wanted, attention.

Same as if newspapers would just shut the heck up about terrorism it would disappear. They need the news coverage for their acts to work.
Pete

 

In the 50's i walked out to the parking lot after work and watched a guy key a brand new Chevy as he went by. Little did he know that the owner of the Chevy was behind him and without uttering a sound the Chevy owner followed the "key-er" to his vehicle and using a rock and his feet, quietly kicked out every single light , front and rear, hard enough to destroy the rings and reflective part inside. As he left he said," I guess we're pretty even."
I'm wondering if there is anyone left who knows how to burnish the clad back over the scratch. I did it when I was mechanic on the flight line at Boeing, 63 years ago.

 

Totally agree

 

You used to be a "dinger"? There were mechs at Renton when I was there that went around repairing dents and scratches, especially on the American Airlines polished aluminum sections. They were called Dingers.

 

I wasn't a "Dinger" but they did call me a bit dingy at times...So maybe I was some kind of a dinger. No, I was a flight line modification mechanic working on TB-50's and did a little bit of everything, button patches, equipment installation, electrical installation, hydraulics, skin replacement. I didn't know what the hell I was doing but I had a lot of fun, especially in December and January when we were standing in ankle deep ice water. Really, it was a great job and I enjoyed it. Saw a lot of interesting things.

 

While the person that scratched the B-25 at Sun n' Fun is clearly a dipsh*t...

...how funny that we now worry about an airplane designed for combat getting scratched.

 

A deep enough scratch will open the clad and expose the alloy to corrosion but you do make a point.

 

good point

 

Thanks, Bob

My original comment was (poorly) drawing a fine line: on the one hand, we all know that a surviving B-25 is a testament to many things: the dedication of the men who flew them, the men and women who designed and built them, and the labor of those who painstakingly restored them. It is not something to be taken lightly, much less damaged due to someone's carelessness/selfishness

On the other hand, when you compare scratches to what they were designed for....

 

Sun n Fun of all places. Very strange. I was ther a couple of years ago after the tornado. There was lots of bent metal then!

 

I'm in total agreement with you. This airplane has been with us for a long time and certainly does represent our heritage. A deep scratch in the skin of this airplane is testament to the shallow minds of those who roam around now and have no knowledge or appreciation of why they are free enough to do what they care to do. Unattended, this scratch could cause long term damage to a monument of our WW2 victories. Certainly many of these B-25's carried on with far more damage than a gouge in the skin but they are in short supply now and they must be cared for.

 

Great move, Bob!

 

How did you know? Anyway, it was fun to watch but my foot did hurt a little...not. Are we going to see you here this summer? Lots going on.