Aviation Day at Paine Field, WA

[52 M-42]

Last Saturday was Aviation Day at a many local airports in the Puget Sound Area. I was invited to take my truck to the local one at Paine Field which is where Boeing launches all their wide bodied commercial jets (my office is on Paine Field). One of the local MVCC chapters brings a number of member vehicles (there are also non-member vehicles, like mine) and joins the other car clubs with displays.

I took a few pictures of the planes and vehicles in our small section of the airport, and thought some people on here might enjoy them.

So here are the vehicles;













































And here are some of the aircraft;

[Monkey Man]

Thanks M42, I LOVED looking at all that

MM

[Jess]

Those are great pictures, Thanks for posting them for us to enjoy. What wasn't mentioned is that the M37 belongs to 52 M42 and is one of the nicest trucks that I had the pleasure of seeing in person a couple of weeks ago. I particularly appreciated Storm taking time out of his day off to give me the tour of all his neat stuff. Thanks!

[Tom P]

Awesome Pic's!
Thanks for Sharing.
TGP

[F18hornetm]

Awesome pictures, thanks for posting. Always love the wings and wheels shows. I do have a question. I have been meaning to ask. On the big truck [CUCV, maybe] on the fuel can, drivers side, is a round, looks like piece of canvas. What is that?? Ive seen it on several vehicles and wondered what it was.
Thanks

[T. Highway]

Hey Storm,

Those are great pictures thanks for sharing. I like seeing how you have the RAK15 mounted, very ingenious. You seem to have the M37 prepared very well with the 24 volt cooler, 24 volt MRE heater (RAK 15), table and radios. Nice job.

F18hornetm,

That is a collapsible water bucket.

Bert

[52 M-42]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. I always enjoy working (playing, really) on the truck, and after 35 years all those "little projects" start to add up, until it is what you see today. My daughter calls it "the Dorian Gray truck" because the older I get, the better the truck gets.

All the stuff in the truck is just in there for the "test fit". I'm taking it all back out this weekend to start all the wiring to make everything work. The cooler and the "combat crockpot" will be nice to have for future events. It should keep me busy all summer between shows and yard work.

Thanks again!

[carolinamv]

Should the bows on all the M37 's be that tall? Mine are a bit shorter, around the cab top height. I never really noticed the height on all of them. Also where did you get the cushions for the rear seats? I like those a lot too.

Amazing pictures, its crazy the work we put into out trucks. They are better now than when they were made by Dodge, Willys, Ford , Studebaker, etc.

[F18hornetm]

thanks Bert on the water bucket. In the early 80's we had canvas water bags in the desert.

[52 M-42]

Actually, carolinamv, my cargo bows should be 2 to 4 inches taller, judging from the length of my cargo cover sides when they are down. Some day I'll probably make longer vertical uprights.

As for the seat cushions, the ones you see in the photos are shortened copies of the full length seat cushions that are part of the Arctic Cargo Bed Enclosure Kit. I have the cushions and backrest pads from that kit, so I just used them as a pattern to make the shorter ones for the Command Truck Kit. When the radios, cooler and table are installed the long seat pads and backrest pads just won't fit.

Not part of the original kit, but once again, "command discretion".

[carolinamv]

Man I sure like those cushions and that's a great idea you did. I have seen things like that on M35A2 trucks before.

Are all the M37 bows suppose to be that tall or is it just the command truck? Im still learning , I have a normal base model type and I want the height to be right.

[Jess]

You should find all the wood dimensions here on Cabell Garbees M37 site... http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/bedwood.htm

Lots of other good information too

Jess

[52 M-42]

All the dimensions are on the data plate on the glove box door and in the manual. I am going to make mine whatever height it takes to get my cargo cover to fit properly. Right now, when it is tied down it is a little long on the sides; that is why eventually I'll make longer vertical uprights.

[DCook]

WOW That is INSPIRATIONAL for those of us who hope to have a truck that actually runs some day! It looks like you have an awful lot of radio? Will the single power harness run the whole unit?
Dana

[52 M-42]

Thanks for compliments on the truck, Dana!

Different perceptions are always interesting. That is only one of many radio sets that I could have put in the truck, and I thought I was keeping it bare-bones simple.

The radio set is a A/N GRC-7 system. I also have the -3 & -5 sets (-7 covers Infantry, -3 covers Armor and -5 covers Artillery). If I put them all in the truck there is barely room to sit.

I am installing a 24VDC Power Distribution System which I hope to have done before the 4th of July. It will allow me to run 6 radios ( I won't; but I could) and 6 accessories (3 radios and 3 accessories on each side of the truck).

I'll try to remember to post some pictures of the system when I'm done fabricating and installing it, if you are interested.