Nov 22, 2021     Attaching wings after more than 45 yr. being off.       Category: Wings

Wings were ready to attach so collected some friends and did it. Had some problems lining up the left wing as one spar would go in and then the other wouldn't. We just could not get them to go at the same time. So we set it down on the saw horse and polished the spars and receivers with some fine scotch brite and then tried again. They went together but it was a bit of a struggle. The right wing went much better. Now I was faced with the question of is this thing going to fit through the door. Gathered some dollies and wheeled it out sideways and swung the inside wing around and had about 6" extra. The door is 20' wide. Good shop planning paid off! Can sleep in peace tonight.

  Mar 27, 2021     first coat paint       Category: Wings

Finally received the primer which was back-ordered and got the wings primed. Shot the first coat of finish Sat morning and finished Sunday afternoon. Showed a few more bumps and dents on the wings than I thought were there, but hey - that's called experience! It's 74 years old!

  Jan 25, 2021     final fitting of landing light lenses and covers       Category: Wings

I had to heat one lens with the heat gun to adjust the curve to fit the wing profile. Then fuss with the brackets to get a tight fit while marking the location of the anchor nut plates. It was a stressful time making sure everything fit and took way longer than expected. However, it will look a lot better than some factory ones I've seen.

  Dec 10, 2020     polishing       Category: Wings

Left wing all polished. Need to final fit landing light lens cover and wingtips. And how could I forget - paint the leading edge.

  Oct 23, 2020     landing/taxi light brackets - (20 hours)       Category: Wings

Yard and garden season is over! Time to start on the wings again. Installed light brackets and lens backing for landing/taxi lights. Got the left wing up and scuffed up with red scotchbrite to remove some scratches and corrosion. Now starts the Nuvite process on the biggest surface yet. All control surfaces are done.

  Mar 12, 2020     wings part 2 - (10 hours)       Category: Wings

Opening up the bottom skins to install the wing tanks allowed me to bring in wiring for AeroLeds strobes and wig-wag landing lights. Also brought in lines for Garmin Gap 26 AOA, OAT, and GMU 11 for magnometer. This will be a Garmin G3X panel - don't flame me - the panel is completely butchered and cannot be brought to original condition. I will weld up the huge cutout and have one instrument - a 10.5" - G3X.

  Sep 14, 2006     Stripping paint       Category: Wings

Dirty job stripping paint - 5 layers in places.