1926 FB-5 “Hawk”

The Boeing Pursuit Aircraft FB-5 was a fighter in the 1920s. They were operated by both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. This FB-5 is owned by the National Museum of the Marine Corps located in Triangle, VA near the Marine Corps Base Quantico. Our contract included transporting the aircraft to our shop and writing a condition report. We removed the engine and completely disassembled it then we preserved the internal engine parts and painted those exterior parts that would have been painted. We then reassembled it with the exception of the piston rings which were labeled and packaged separately per the museum staff.

Our work included moving the trim system (with a correct trim wheel that we manufactured) to the correct side of the cockpit, installing the throttle-mixture and the louver/detent, and rebuilding the fuel selector and fuel filter at the fire wall. The most challenging part was rebuilding the landing gear. This FB-5 was equipped with carrier-based landing gear and we needed to manufacture and install land-based landing gear per the NMMC Scope of Work.

We reworked the factory original sheet metal cowlings that were provided and fabricated two new ones to replace poor replicas, new fabric, paint and markings were then applied. The FB-5 was reassembled at our shop to insure fit and finish. It was then disassembled and transported to storage at the NMMC Restoration, Quantico, VA.

The Boeing FB-5 will be displayed inside the Museum and suspended from the ceiling in Gallery 9: “The Marines have Landed.”