Mar 20, 2021     The PA-16 Piper Clipper       Category: General

Landing spot for the home picture

  Mar 03, 2021     Fabricated last flexible brake line - (0.5 hour)       Category: Landing Gear

Took a long time to get the last set of Eaton end connections from Aircraft Spruce but they finally came in and I was able to fabricate the last brake line. Went much quicker this time now that I knew what to do. This was the line for the passenger side brake and is 30.25" long. The pilot side brake was 26" long.

  Feb 25, 2021     New fabricated brake hose - (1 hour)       Category: Landing Gear

I didn't like the 303 brake lines I previously purchased. Realized that I would need to replace them after 10 years or so due to inner lining not being teflon. Purchased new Aeroquip 666-4 stainless braided brake hose that is teflon lined for permanent installation. The Eaton end fittings are bloody EXPENSIVE - but super high quality. I assembled the first one tonight, it takes about 15 minutes for each end once you know what you are doing.

  Nov 29, 2020     Fabricated new copper brake lines - (2 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Spent a couple of hours measuring, then fabricating 2 new copper brakes lines that fit on the gear legs. I need to have these completed and tested prior to covering the landing gear and paint.

  Sep 29, 2020     New brake line layout and design - (3 hours) Category: Research

Purchased new Aeroquip 303-4 hose and 491 fittings to fabricate brake lines from master cylinders to the gear legs. Purchased copper line to replace existing copper lines that Piper used on the gear legs. Original copper lines were completely full of old crystalized brake fluid. All these original fittings used Weatherhead hardware with standard brake 45 degree flares - not the current double inverted flare. These are low pressure brakes and the copper lines are covered by painted fabric, so they are fairly permanent.

  Sep 26, 2020     Installed new Grove STC wheels/calipers - (2 hours)       Category: Landing Gear

Purchased and installed new Grove STC'd wheels and brake calipers. Began designing new brake lines since no usable lines came with the project. I've got Airhawk 8.00 x 6.00 tires on these new wheels and it makes this plane back country capable.

  Sep 20, 2020     Installed floor panels - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

Glued 1/4" felt onto the aluminum floor panels and screwed them on the floor. Had to replace some of the tinnerman nuts since not all came with the project.

  Sep 19, 2020     Replaced Rudder and elevator pulleys - (4 hours) Category: Controls

Replaced all rudder and elevator pulleys including bushings.

  Sep 05, 2020     Fabricated new rudder and elevator cables - (4 hours) Category: Controls

Fabricated and replace rudder and elevator cables. Existing ones were fabricated incorrectly.

  Aug 19, 2020     Pressed in new bushings - (5 hours)       Category: Tail Feathers

purchased all new bushings and pivot pins for horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Fabricated a bushing press on my mill so that I could press originals out and install new ones. Worked out really well.

  Jul 26, 2020     Stripped paint on rear lower fuselage tailpost - (6 hours) Category: Fuselage

Spent quite a bit of time stripping the Randolph paint off of the lower area around the spring perch replacement in preparation for patching the fabric in this area. Successfully stripped paint, silver and primer down to the Ceconite using a very dull putty knife and 9703 Butyrate thinner per the Ceconite manual.

  Jul 25, 2020     Epoxy painted lower rear spring perch - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Cleaned, prepped and 2 part epoxy painted the newly welded on rear spring perch at the bottom of the tail post using the Stits process.

  Jul 18, 2020     Epoxy painted landing gear - (5 hours) Category: Landing Gear

Sand blasted all previous latex paint off of landing gear from previous owner. Purchased Stitts green two part epoxy primer and sprayed using our chapter HVLP setup. It worked very well!

  Jul 10, 2020     Repair vertical Stabilizer - (5 hours)       Category: Empennage

Took fuselage to Dakota Cub where they straightened vertical stabilizer rear post, realigned the vertical stabiizer, and cut off/welded on a new rear spring perch.

  Feb 08, 2020     Rudder pedals - (2 hours) Category: Controls

Sand blasted rudder pedals and power coated black.

  Jan 02, 2020     Rebuild Control Stick assembly - (6 hours) Category: Controls

Disassembled control sticks and torsion tube assembly, powder coated gloss black. Replaced all hardware with new. Also sand blasted battery box and power coated black.

  Jan 01, 2020     Rebuilt brake master cylinders - (3 hours) Category: Controls

Disassembled brake master cylinders and replaced all elastomers. Master cylinders were very clean with no corrosion or pitting and showed almost no wear.

  Dec 27, 2019     Rebuild Tailwheel assembly and replace tailspring - (6 hours) Category: Landing Gear

Rebuilt the original Scott 2200 tailwheel assembly with all new bearings, races, and felt. Tailwheel is in good shape. Also replaced the tailspring, and purchased a rear mounting bracket and rubber cushion since the project didn't come with any. The original tailspring that came with the project was missing one of the 4 springs, so I just purchased everything from Univair.

  Nov 23, 2019     Reconditioned fuel tank (header tank) - (3 hours) Category: Fuel System

Cleaned/flushed out the header tank of all dirt and other gunk. It was actually in pretty good condition - previous project owner had it well cleaned and had primed it - but it sat so long that dust and misc stuff filtered into it. Also replace the original Ford Model A fuel tank gauge with a new chrome version. Per short Wing piper group suggestion, replace the cork float with a different one that won't fall apart after a year or two. Also sand blasted down the tank straps, primed them, and glued felt on.

  Aug 05, 2019     Recovered front seats - (4 hours) Category: Interior Finish

Recovered front seats using the Airtex seat covers previous owner purchased. Absolutely beautiful! Used cotton cord to re-string. Glued the new foam in per Airtex requirements.

  Aug 03, 2019     Front seat work - (3 hours) Category: Interior Finish

Stripped all seat covering from front seat frame. Removed springs. Sand blasted down seat frame and power coated the frame gloss black.

  Feb 02, 2019     Cuttout new instrument panel - (5 hours) Category: Instrument Panel

Reviewed Piper drawings and laid out and cut the new panel. I've got all original instruments for this project plane and currently intend on using them. Only break from original is a new radio.

  Nov 01, 2018     Continuing a project - (100 hours) Category: Research

Start log for the Piper PA-16 Clipper that I'm restoring. I acquired this project from a very close friend of mine (Dale Benskin) who aged out of the ability to work on it when he turned the grand young age of 92. Dale and I worked on it sparingly since 2012. He did blast and prime the fuselage, linseed oiled the longerons, and had it covered and painted the original Diana Cr�color. We also made a new dash and painted it as the previous was not recoverable, it had been chopped up badly.

The Clipper has been disassembled since 1968 due to an apparent non-logged ground loop and only has 1000 hours on it. Most of the components are still with it including the original instruments for the dash. I will be updating some of the plane for safety and reliability reasons (Grave brakes, new radio that's about 25# lighter).

The original N-number registration hadn't been kept up to date for a long enough period of time that it was no longer current and was in a state where it was locked down by the FAA. After a period of time in this lockdown state, the FAA will reauthorized it for use again to anybody. I was able to catch up the registration and have it reissued to me along with the Iowa registration. It was a somewhat painful process but I must say, the FAA lady that took care of me was super helpful and told me exactly what I needed to do.