3/30/22
Well, the last storm of March was no match for our Crew! It pretty much finished up early afternoon, so
roads were clear and safe, whew!
Youth attending were Isaiah and Quinn. Later Arron and kids Tyler and Abby showed up
to see what was going on. It was good to
see them again. Mentors were Barry, Frank,
Milt, Bill, Brennan, Paul, and me.
The first thing we did was to evaluate the interior panels Chris
and Barry laid out the last couple of Sessions.
Good to go so we moved them down to Brennan's shop to shear and bend them
up as marked. Isaiah and Quinn were up to
the task. With a little coaching they went
about their work to shear them all to size and then move onto the apron brake to
bend up the lower mounting flange that attaches them to the cabin floor. Most of the cutting could be done on the shear
but one edge wasn't straight and had to be hand cut. No problem, Isaiah, and Quinn each had a chance
to try out the hand shears. With the panels
sheared and bent we all moved back to our Hangar to see how they look in the Sedan. All that's left of the job is to trim them around
fuselage tubes and such and they’ll be ready to attach, then we'll be ready to cover
with insulation and fabric.
With that handled, Brennan checked out the new headliner attachment
wire we installed last time and thought it would do the job. Next time we'll be ready to get serious about
installing the headliner. Exciting!
With Just a little time left Brennan looked over our bent-up
brake line and offered a few suggestions.
"Come around the back side of the landing gear to protect the line from
FOD” What he means is to run the brake line behind to gear leg to protect it from
any weeds or gravel the plane might encounter in the future. Good Idea!
The evening raced by and before we knew it, it was time to go. Next week is time for our Chapter Board Meeting
so no Work Session. We'll get together next
on April 13 and make some progress. Sound
good? Good!
3/23/22
It's March, and the weather shows it, snowy and blowy, but we met, nonetheless. Our Youth were represented by Chris, Quinn, and
a newcomer to the group, Isaiah. Isaiah was
brought by his parents to the Session after talks with Bill about when and how. Isaiah is home schooled, in about the tenth year. Welcome Isaiah! Mentors were Bill, Barry, Frank, Mike, and me. Arron and Paul were also there and looked on at
the activities. Welcome Aaron and Paul!
The evening started out with Chris and Barry going as far as
they could with the sheet metal backers for the cabin interior panels. They laid out the last one and cut a couple of
notches for stress relief. Next is a visit
to the shear where they will cut the pieces out, and then to the apron brake where
they will bend up the lower mounting flanges, the ones that are used to attach the
panels to the floor. Meanwhile, Frank took
the wooden spacers (that are installed as blocks to keep the panels away from control
cables) home with him to produce new ones in his wood shop.
Mike and Quinn set to work on the main landing gear, installing
the keeper bolt that holds the axle into the assembly on each landing gear. The original bolts were corroded and needed to
be replaced. There is one for each assembly,
we don't want the axle spinning with brakes applied, or worse, falling out. That would be bad! Next came replacement brake lines. As I previously mentioned, these lines will be
buried by fabric so they must be made and installed beforehand. Besides that, the old ones are showing signs of
wear and are routed a little differently.
We are using new calipers which are configured a little different than the
original ones, thus the change. All good!
Bending tubing to fit a complex route takes practice, recent
practice! Mike and company got started
but were having some doubts about how to proceed. Isaiah and I had finished with
our work on the headliner support (more on that next) so
we threw in to help. I have done some tube
bending on my Sportsman and in a previous life, and recall some of what we could
do. Our big advantage is that we have the
original lines to use as a pattern, with some minor adjustments we moved forward. We also have a tool that makes nice smooth bends
up to 90 degrees. Also, the no fear was extended
as the piece of aluminum tube we were working with was expendable if we really messed
up. As it turned out, we think we have a
good part! Now to go after the other one
which is pretty much a mirror image of the one, we just made. No problem, right? We'll see!
As I said, Isaiah and I installed the new headliner support in
the fuselage with a little help from Quinn early on before he was called to work
with Mike on the landing gear. This wire
support was made up from 1/8" welding filler wire (good stuff) and a couple
of small base plates welded to the ends of the wire. These plates were made to screw into the rear
window frames with 1/4" screws, hang from the wooden stringers and a diagonal
tube which is part of the fuselage structure.
Holes were drilled, screws installed, and we wired the support to the fuselage
tube with safety wire after wrapping it with some HDMW anti-chafe tape. We are now ready to proceed with the headliner
installation next time.
It was good to see everyone last evening after a nasty snowstorm
threatened to keep us away. Not this crew! Good deal, let's do it again next week, K?
3/16/22
Is it Spring already!?! It sure feels
like it but don't get your hopes up, it's only March you know!!
Last evening was warm, still daylight when we all arrived, it
sure felt nice. I'll take more of this!
We had a nice turnout with Youth represented by Chris and Quinn. Mentors included Tom, Mike, Barry, Bill, Frank,
Milt, and me.
With our little hiccup involving the headliner we shifted to
other tasks. Mike has been working on the
Elevator trim tab. He's made a new control
horn to replace the rusted out original, stripped the old paint and now is focused
on the original steel rivets holding the hinge to the leading edge. Brennan doesn't like them, and really, neither
does anyone else here. They are all rusty,
and steel rivets on an aluminum skin and hinge aren't good. They set up a corrosion action with dissimilar
metals which cause rusty problems. So, Mike
took Quinn under his wing, and they proceeded to replace the rivets with solid aluminum
ones. There was very little corrosion on
the aluminum parts, just the rivets, so a little cleaning of the surfaces was required
to make them ready for riveting. Quinn hasn't
done any work with riveting, so this was going to be a new learning experience. Drill out the shop head on the old rivet, drive
out with a punch. clean and install new rivets.
Simple, right? As fate would have
it, we didn't have the correct length rivet, so Quinn had a chance to trim some
to length with a rivet cutter, a handy tool Mike just happened to have along in
his toolbox. Next was work with the rivet
squeezer and voila, hinge fastened! Next
was to fasten the control horn, a small metal shape fastened to the end of the tab
with drilled head screws. What next? Safety
wire the screws so they won't come out. Another first for Quinn!
Meanwhile, Chris and Barry were concentrating on the cabin side
panels. You recall that we found them lacking
and decided to make some new ones. First
on the list was to establish some good patterns. To do that they straightened them and fit the
panels into the fuselage to see where they came up lacking. A little flattening them out along with the flange
that mounts them to the floor and away they went. They took their good patterns to the Classroom where we had some aluminum sheet set on the table for
the new parts. They traced around the patterns
with the adjustments included and by the evening was over they had all but the left
side cabin panel to do. We'll shear these
shapes out with Brennan's foot shear and bend up the mounting flanges with his apron
break. What we can't shear because of the
shape, out comes the hand aviation snips to finish the job.
3/9/22
Last evening was our first gathering since the February break and it was good. There was a little time spent gathering our thoughts,
figuring out where we were in the project and getting down to work, but work we
did!
Youth present for the session were Quinn, Krish, Chris, Dillon
and the newest member of our group, Tover, accompanied by his dad Kyle. Welcome
to the Project Tover! It turns out that Tover,
Krish and Quinn are friends outside of our group, so they enjoyed catching up with
each other while we met.
Mentors present were Tom, Brennan, Mike, Frank, Milt, Barry,
Bill, and me.
First order of business was to figure out where we left off back
in January (ancient history to some of us).
Oh yes, the headliner installation!!
We noted last time we installed the aft baggage upper closeout. This piece of fabric is complete with a zippered
opening provided for inspection of the aft fuselage structure and control cables. So, next was the main Headliner. The first thing we did was to split the attachment
loops sewed into the headliner fabric with scissors so that we could pull them up
on either side of the support wires installed on the fuselage. After staging with clamps, we realized that the
fuselage is missing a support wire for one of the loops. We knew it was missing earlier but didn't think
it would be a factor. We now know it is important
and discussed various ways to provide one.
We came up with one, so I'll make up our idea this week at my home shop and
bring it in next week. Stay tuned!
We shifted gears. Our
Youth took turns installing the floorboard attachment screws provided by Mike for
the job. Next was trial fitting the cabin
side panels. Do we have them all and what
kind of shape are they in? The original baggage
closeout sheet metal is salvageable with a little attention, so those are OK. The upholstered side panels are another story. The upholstery is dirty and torn and the aluminum
sheeting foundation is bent and cracked.
We found some aluminum sheeting in the Chapter attic, originally part of
the BD-5 project.
We commandeered this material for the Sedan side panels. We'll use the original pieces for templates and
come up with new Panels. Is there anyone
out there into upholstery? These are simple
shapes but there is some sewing involved.
We could surely use some help here!
Somewhere along the evening, a few of our youth's attention was
drawn to Tom's Glasair II that lives in our Chapter Hangar. Tom is involved in his annual condition inspection,
so it is partially opened up revealing interesting airplane
parts! The guys couldn't resist a closer
look, so Tom graciously talked to them about it. With rapt attention the guys listened to Tom explaining
what was going on.
The landing gear came into focus. We need to cover the "A" frame portion
of these but before we do that, we need to install the brake lines that live inside
of the closure. We spent some time planning
this out and will gather these materials together for next time too.
All in all, it was great to get together last evening after a
long break. It just feels good to be back
at it, with a great turnout no less! Get
ready, we'll do it again next week!
1/26/22
Eager to join in the work were Frank and Milt who took on the baggage closeout
panels that needed a little gentle messaging to bring them into shape. They basically were in pretty good condition save
the floor mounting flanges that attach them to the floor, so with those straightened
out we can reuse them.
Tom and Bill were looking for something to do so they took the
epoxy primer we had, mixed up a small batch, cleaned and touched up the main landing
gear where there were small weld repairs that damaged the previous primer job along
with a couple areas missed the first time around. Now, the gear is ready for the new brake lines
to be run before we cover the "A" frame portion with fabric that will
bury the brake line from view and service.
The brake lines will be made of aluminum tube that will give dependable service
for the life of the landing gear.
To address the hiccup in the headliner project I took on the
task of fabricating the new support wire.
I'm using 1/8" welding filler rod, a high-quality steel that will more
than do the job. My intention is to make
it up from a few pieces, weld them together outside of the fuselage to avoid damaging
the headliner, then installing with wood screws and safety wire. It seems elaborate but it's really a simple setup,
the only difficulty is in making it correctly.
We'll see how I do!
Thanks to all who came out last evening. Time went fast, a few laughs, and I think we all
had a good time and learned something too. At least I did!
1/19/22
Burrr! Must be January!
Nonetheless, we had a good Work Session last evening, with Quinn
our lone Youth guided by the usual crew of Mentors: Brennan, Tom, Mike, Bill, Frank,
Milt, and me.
Shifting gears was the "Plan of the Day". We are done with the Tail Feathers and Ailerons
for now, they are safely stored away in the attic.
Speaking of the attic, we spent some time cleaning and rearranging
it to make room for more stuff. There seems to be a lot of stuff no longer needed
so in the trash it went. There were also
big cardboard boxes with who knows what inside in the back corner. Upon investigation we found parts for the BD-5
airplane project the Chapter acquired years ago, now long forgotten, that never
got a start. What to do with this project? We decided to look for a potential buyer. Back in the corner it went, for now...
With our little house cleaning project complete, all of our valuable "stuff" and Sedan parts back in
storage we shifted our attention to the Sedan Fuselage.
Floorboards. They were
made and fitted last year so we wanted to check for what fasteners are needed to
install them permanently. Some Tinnerman
nuts and screws are all that's needed along with a pair of straps that hold the
halves together. We'll have them ready for
next time.
Last June we realigned the two lower aft Aileron control pulleys,
which required a new mounting post. These
posts are still bare steel so Quinn and Frank got some
sandpaper and scuffed them up in preparation for some primer paint. We'll get some and apply it next week.
What next? Install the
Headliner of course! This is heady stuff,
finishing work on the interior of the airplane cabin. Our little Sedan is taking shape. Brennan is the
only one of us with experience with this installation, so we again looked to him
to take the lead. We acquired our Headliner
over a year ago, so an examination was in order. Let's see, which way is forward, up? We hung it approximately in place to see how it
fit. OK! We need lots of little clamps, a
staple gun, needle and thread. We got this!
As time ran out on our Work Session we have a plan for next week,
install the floor and continue with the Headliner. Our little Sedan is beginning to look like an
airplane!
Thanks to all who braved the cold last evening, I'm so proud
to be a part of our little Restoration Crew!
1/12/22
Last evening, we were again blessed with mild weather for our trek over to Brennan's
Hangar and paint booth.
We started out the evening with Christopher and Quinn representing
our Youth and Mentors were Tom, Barry, Frank, Milt, Bill, Brennan
and me.
The first order of business was to wipe down our previously sanded
flight control surfaces with tack rags to remove the dust created and carry them
over to Brennan's for the final coats of Eco-Fill. Like I said, the weather cooperated, and we made
our trip without incident, tail feathers under our arms. In the meantime, Brennan was busy getting the
paint booth prepared.
Once there we again hung the pieces from wires attached to the
ceiling. Like a repeat from the first time.
Brennan cut in the edges of all and then demonstrated the proper techniques of cross
coat spraying. Christopher tried his hand
and as it turns out, is a natural! With very
little guidance he sprayed the entire collection. He was like a machine, working consistently and
evenly, first with the horizontal pattern, then with the vertical.
We allowed a few minutes for the Eco-Fill to dry to the touch
before our inspection. We found just a few
dust specks and a few rough spots. Those
sanded out, we were ready for the final cross coat. Time for our Work Session had run out, so Brennan
applied it after our crew had left.
This is likely the end of the road for our flight control surfaces
for now. We'll set them aside next time and
shift our focus on the fuselage, getting ready to cover it with fabric. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Progress!!
Thanks to all who came out last evening, good work by all. We are definitely developing
some skills!
12/28/21
They say the days are getting longer. Ya, I can't tell either!!
Last evening, we held our last Work Session of the year 2021. Youth present were Christopher and Dillon. Dillon is one of our Ray Scholarship recipients working on his Private Pilot's Certificate. This is Dillon's first time working on the Sedan Project, welcome Dillon! Mentors were the usual crew, Tom, Frank, Mike, Bill, Milt, Barry and me.
Earlier in the week a few of us brought the flight control surfaces back from Brennan's shop to the Chapter Classroom to be ready for tonight's work. All set up and after a brief description of the task at hand we went to work. Christopher and Dillon each chose a piece and we Mentors joined in with them, some of us taking our own piece to work on. First with the little irons to flatten any loose edges and wrinkles. With one cross coat of Eco-Fill these spots stood out. We also went around all the edges of the tapes to flatten the pinks along with any rough spots, and around the PK screws too just to make sure all the tapes and fabric were properly shrunk and secure.
Once satisfied everything was smoothed out next came the sandpaper, 320 grit, to further smooth out any rough edges, remove specks of dust and scuff the first coat to give the next coat something to hang on to. The work progressed nicely, many hands etc. We only had enough table space in the classroom for four of the seven pieces so as one got done we exchanged them for ones sitting on a table in the Hangar. One by one the work was completed. We then went back over them to be sure all spots were addressed, and the pieces made ready for the next coat of Eco-Fill. There will be two more cross coats of the filler to bring the level of UV light protection up to the desired level.
As we get to the end of this year, I am drawn to reflect on the time spent on this Project and the Youth we have introduced to Aviation through it. We acquired this aircraft in the summer of 2013, over 8 years ago. Since then, we have had 43 Youth involved in our Aeronca Sedan Restoration Project, getting a taste of what's involved to rebuild a classic airplane. We are all proud of our work on this Project and its influence on our Youth. We are also excited to see what this next year brings, getting even more kids introduced to Aviation and bringing our Sedan closer to leaving the ground under its own power!
Happy New Year to all, may this year see us with joy and new opportunities, and an end to this COVID business!
12/22/21
What an interesting evening we had yesterday, a big move was
at hand!
Youth present were Christopher, Quinn and Krish. Mentors were Brennan, Tom, Mike, Frank, Barry, Bill, and me, with Glenn again observing the whole operation.
Once everyone was gathered at the Chapter Hangar, we all descended upon the "laundry" hanging on the line, seven pieces of flight controls. We took them down to march them over to Brennan's shop,100 Octane Aviation, for the spray application of EcoFill, the Stewart Systems UV protectant and filler first coat. We hand carried the flight controls to avoid potential contamination from dirt if we laid them down to transport. Besides, it's just a short walk to the other end of the field, in the dark I must add (watch your step!), which was made in short order.
Once at Brennan's we hung the parts from wires attached to the ceiling of the paint booth at the proper height and spaced so all could be sprayed without running into the others. The next order of business was to wipe them all down with special tack rags (no bees wax to avoid potential "birds eye" blemishes) to remove any dirt and dust. Brennan loaded up the spray gun and cut in all the edges of the surfaces and let them sit and dry while he explained his painting process and technique to us. After a brief explanation he invited all to join him in the booth to begin the work. Our three Youth were eager to answer the call, donned respirators and followed him in.
Brennan explained and then demonstrated the cross-coat technique for application to provide complete coverage and then offed the spray gun to the Youth. Chris took him up on his offer. Brennan coached him through the work as Quinn and Krish paid close attention. Each of the guys got their turn to try it out, Brennan coaching as they went until they got the idea. "Do you want to keep working?" he asked of the Youth, YES was the reply so on they went, taking turns with the gun and doing a mighty fine job of it too I must add. Brennan left them alone to work, looking in occasionally to answer any questions. Meanwhile, the rest of us "Mentors" were milling around outside the booth, sneaking peeks of the work and checking out all the interesting projects Brennan has going in his shop. He has at least 6 aircraft in there in various stages of work besides the various fuselages and wings and parts all over. A veritable candy store for the likes of us!
By the time our evening was ending, our Youth had both Ailerons and both Horizontal Stabilizers completed leaving the elevators and rudder to go. Brennan said that he'd get those after we left, completing the first coat of the EcoFill on our "laundry".
What an exciting stage in our Project, applying finishes to our flight surfaces. Next we'll bring them back to the Chapter Hangar to lightly sand the first coat and iron out any standing seams and such before we apply the second and final coat of EcoFill.
Thanks to all who braved the dark and ice for the sake of our li'l Aeronca Sedan, the "Spirit of Katrina". We are definitely making progress in both the restoration and in the education of our Youth. These experiences are a once in a lifetime opportunity to broaden their horizons and contribute to their ever-expanding world, maybe even inspiring new careers in Aviation!
Happy Holidays to all of you following these Reviews. Your interest and support mean the world to me and the Crew. It is truly a joy to share our Project with all of you and to receive your feedback.
12/15/21
Neither fog or thunderstorms in the December night can keep our
Crew from advancing the restoration of our Aeronca Sedan, and boy, it was foggy! Youth attending were Thomas, Christopher, and
Quinn. Mentors were Brennan, Tom, Mike, Frank,
Barry, and me. Glenn also came to observe
our project and progress armed with cookies!
Hi Glenn!!
Our work tonight actually started last Saturday when Bill, Tom and Mike met me at the Hangar to set up a laundry line to hang all our covered surfaces for the sealing process. We hung all the tail feathers then to save time for our work tonight.
So, the first order of business was to iron down all loose edges and corners on the Ailerons we finished taping last week. Irons were plugged in, and the smoothing commenced while Brennan inspected the tail feathers hanging on the line. Armed with yet another iron, he addressed a few wrinkles found.
Ready for the next step. Ailerons all smoothed out, we hung them on the line too and began the cleaning process. We used a solution of Stewart’s EkoClean and distilled water sprayed onto the fabric with a spray bottle, then wiped them off with a clean shop towel. Next, we sprayed pure distilled water onto them to rinse off any cleaner left behind and again wiped them dry with shop towels. After a little extra drying time, Brennan mixed up a batch of sealing juice, a mixture of EkoBond cement with more distilled water at a 3:1 ratio. This mixture is quite thin to allow it to penetrate the weave more easily with minimal build up. Then with a little demonstration, Brennan pointed out things to keep in mind like "apply only light amounts of sealer to prevent runs on the inside of the fabric, leave no bubbles, stroke the entire width of the surface, brush off any excess sealer." We went to work. Some of us with brush in hand, some of us just holding the parts to keep them from swinging all around as we went. We applied the sealer on one side of the parts, let them set up a little and then went after the other sides. We went back over them all and brushed out any sags and runs we found to leave a consistent even coat.
What surprised us was how quickly the work progressed (many hands, you know). We finished a little ahead of schedule, so we were able to do some clean up in the classroom. With the tables empty we had an opportunity to cut a length of fabric for the belly of the fuselage. 18 feet should do it. Brennan and I measured the fuselage a few weeks ago in anticipation of this opportunity, so we took advantage, wrapped it up and set it aside. Even then we finished our work for the evening about a half hour early. What to do now? Easy, we hung around talking and ate Glenn's cookies, perfect!
Thanks to all who braved the treacherous weather to work on our little bird. Next week we'll find our way down to Brennan's Hangar with our parts, spraying on EcoFill, a coating to provide ultraviolet light protection and a base for finishing color coats of paint. Progress!!
12/08/21
The Crew was at it again last evening, with Quinn, Thomas and
Christopher making up our Youth contingent.
Mentors were Tom, Frank, Bill, Brennan, Mike, Milt, Barry
and me.
Work continued on the Ailerons, applying finishing tapes on the perimeter of both. With Brennan's coaching we managed to move right along, (in the correct direction I might add) and reached the point of final ironing of the edges once the cement dries (next time). Brennan also noticed that the left side elevator was missing access to bolt holes for the trim tab. The crew mobilized. The holes are hard to see under a few layers of fabric and tape, so Mike rounded up the tab to aid in the search. With the tab set in place, it was easy to locate the holes with a sharp pencil, and melt them through with the iron for this purpose. The holes will be handy eventually for bolting the trim tab in place, a nice thing to have for controlling stick forces in flight!!
We are at a sort of milestone at this point. With all the flight control surfaces covered, the next step is to seal the fabric with a diluted mixture of cement and distilled water. We will rig up a system in the main hangar to hang the surfaces from so that the sealer can be brushed onto both surfaces without fear of damaging the treatment if we did the deed in the flat on a table. It will be kind of a weird laundry line of Elevators, Ailerons, and such. Stay tuned for what happens next week!
Thanks to all who came out last evening, all dark and snowy with winter upon us. That can't stop us!
11/24/21
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
We all have so much to be thankful for, even for those of us which this day
is not a national holiday. Thank you for
all our blessings and health this day and always! Thank You!!
Last evening was a busy one with 4 Youth in attendance: Christopher, Krish, Quinn and Thomas. All were eager to work and work they did! Mentors present were Brennan, Frank, Mike, Bill, Barry, and me.
Ailerons continue to be the focus of our attention. We located a missing washer from last time and completed the PK screw saga on the last rib of one aileron. A 2" tape went on top and onward we went. Shrinking fabric around the screwheads and ironing down and smoothing pinked edges consumed our time for a large part of the evening.
When that task was completed, edge tapes were next. With Brennan's guidance, we decided to continue mitering the intersections of tapes at the corners rather than overlapping them, starting with the ends. Next will be the leading edges and last the trailing edge. With so many hands working at the same time it was a delightful challenge to keep the process flowing, providing direction where necessary and encouragement for the good work done.
The light at the end of the tunnel for this phase of the operation is becoming brighter with every Work Session. Thanks to all for coming out on a holiday eve to spend time on our Project.
Next Wednesday is the time for our monthly Board Meeting, so no Work Session. Our next one will be December 8 at the usual time where we'll pick up where we left off. Not far to go now!
11/17/21
As predicted, at last evening's Session it was dark. Well, outside, not inside! Inside was the light of several pairs of eyes
shining out above a mask. We got to work!
Attending to represent our Youth were Quinn and Krish. Mentors were Tom, Mike. Bill, Milt, Frank and me, with Krish's Dad Mike looking on, encouraging us all and picking up some tips of his own!
We continued our work on the ailerons, attaching the fabric to the ribs with PK screws and covering them with 2" finishing tapes. It is a somewhat repetitive process, but a necessary one. Lose fabric can flutter as air passes over at flight speeds, it's a very destructive force and must be controlled. Screws and the rest of the system are the answer.
Work progressed, cementing, and smoothing the tapes and finally trimming them to the leading and trailing edges in preparation for the final tapes to be applied around the perimeter. One side of one aileron needs to have the tapes trimmed, then both will be ready for the final tapes.
Good work crew, I think we're all getting the hang of this covering business! That's good because we'll need all the skills we're developing now for when the time comes to cover the fuselage!
We look forward to next week for the last opportunity to work before December, it's the day before Thanksgiving, and my wife Cathy's birthday. I'll have to see if she'll let me attend! (I'll be extra nice to her during the day!!)
11/10/21
Last evening was another productive one with Quinn our sole Youth
in attendance. Mentors were Mike, Bill, Frank,
Milt and me. We
had Quinn outnumbered but he held his own.
Ha-ha!
Ailerons continue to be the objects of our attention. Last week if you remember, the PK screws we were installing seemed to be too small for the holes already in the ribs, most of them would not tighten so we removed them last night and installed the next size bigger. That did the trick, all tightened up nicely and the work progressed. As you also recall, the screws hold the fabric closely to the structure of the ailerons to prevent fabric flutter, a very destructive force in aviation, and elsewhere too I imagine. Can't want it! We all joined the effort to change out the screws in the first aileron just to get the rework out of the way.
That completed, Quinn and Mike moved over to the other aileron. Shrinking the fabric was next on the list for this piece. First set the iron to 250 degrees for the first pass. Little by little, moving around to shrink as evenly as possible. This keeps stresses in the structure to a minimum and allows the fabric to settle in evenly. Back and forth, side to side until the entire surface, both sides, have been brought to the 250-degree temperature. Next, set the iron to 350 degrees and repeat the process. Moving around heating every square inch and gradually bringing the fabric to the correct tightness. I still get a kick out of this effect, a wonder of science!
Next is reinforcing tape over the ribs and washers and PK screws to fasten the fabric to the ribs. Now everybody is working on the screws. Frank and Bill took over the first aileron and continued installing them while Quinn, Mike, and later Milt worked on the other one.
Frank and Bill finished with the screws, so they moved to applying the 2" finishing tapes over the top of them.
Suddenly it was time to go. "Time flies when you're having fun" they say, and they're right. Another great session, thanks guys, what a team!
10/28/21
Last evening's Work Session went off without a hitch. Youth present were Christopher and Quinn, Mentors
were Mike, Barry, Frank, Bill and me.
Ailerons were the focus of our attention, with Chris and Quinn each on their own flight surface.
Quinn and company ironed out a few wrinkles in the fabric attached to the forward spar and then it was on to the main fabric shrink. First at 250 degrees, then up to 350 for the final shrink. It still amazes me how that fabric shrinks under heat, pulling out all the wrinkles and tightening the fabric like a drumhead! Next up was to prepare for attaching the fabric to all the internal ribs with PK screws. First locate all the rib screw holes, apply reinforcing tape, then washers and screws. 36 screws per side. The process gets a little tedious, just ask Quinn (so many screws!). ;-) We got on with the work though, and by the end of the evening we had the first side just about covered, leaving more to do next time.
Christopher was not to be left behind. Last time he just got the fabric wrapped around back to the forward spar and some glue spread when it was time to go. Now we have to position it, get all the wrinkles out and ironed down. Next in the process was to wrap the ends and trim excess fabric. Just like wrapping a special Christmas present! Meticulous as ever, Chris and Barry went over every inch of the forward spar and end ribs with the iron and glue, ready to shrink the fabric next time.
Thanks to all who came out to work on our Little Bird, every step seems like a little victory, and there are so many steps!
Next week is time for the Chapter Board Meeting, so no Work Session. We'll meet next on November 10 and continue the journey.
10/20/21
We had a good turnout last evening with Christopher and Quinn making up our Youth team and with Mentors Brennan, Frank, Barry, Mike, Milt, Bill and me.
We got right to work, Christopher and Barry finished up the last details on their Elevator. Two missed finishing tapes were installed and then it was inspected by Brennan. Deemed ready for sealing, this piece, along with the other tail feathers, were wrapped with plastic and set aside while we worked on the Ailerons.
Quinn and company continued work on their Aileron. It was marked and ready to cut where the fabric goes over the hinges and control horn so that was done. Anti-chafe tape was cut and placed over the PK screws on both sides of the trailing edge, or false spar, before the fabric was pulled around. The face of the leading edge, or main spare was coated with glue and the fabric maneuvered into place. Next the ends were wrapped, glued and trimmed, ready for the first fabric shrink next time.
Christopher and crew set up with the other Aileron and began the process the same way we did the first one. They were able to progress to the point of wrapping the ends and also ready to shrink the fabric.
This seems like progress, the last of the flight control surfaces getting covered. Next week we'll continue, securing the fabric to the structure and then finishing tapes. Can't wait!
Thank you to all who came out last evening. You all make this Project an enjoyable accomplishment, working and learning together. It makes me proud to be a part of it.
10/13/21
Last evening, we had another productive Work Session, with another new Youth added to our Crew! His name is Krish (with a silent "h"), brought to us by his father Mike Bastin. Thanks Mike, Krish is a very welcome addition to our Project. To round out our Youth corps last night were our old friend Christopher and our newcomer from last time, Quinn. Three hardy young lads, eager to work and learn! Mentors aboard were Mike, Barry, Milt, Frank, Bill and me.
Christopher and Barry went right to work on their left side elevator and invited Krish along to get acquainted with what they were doing. What they were doing was finishing up the perimeter finishing tapes and joining the corners. Krish got a taste of gluing fabric and how the corners were treated. By the end of the evening all that's left of the piece is a final going over and approval before being placed among the other surfaces to be sealed.
Quinn and Mike were busy detailing the right-side elevator with the small iron, getting it ready for it's final approval before sealing.
With that, attention was shifted to one of the two ailerons. One was retrieved from the hangar and a place was made on the worktables. Krish came over to join us in our efforts. The aileron was still dusty from its previous sanding and clean-up, so we got some rags and some alcohol and wiped it down. Previously cut fabric was placed on the table beneath the aileron and placement adjusted and marked so that we had just the right amount of overlap on the leading edge. The fabric was then removed to keep it safe, and glue was applied to the leading edge. Quickly, before the glue had a chance to dry at all, the fabric was put back into position and attached to the aileron. Brushing and smoothing the fabric to remove wrinkles and ensuring full penetration of the cement was the task. Did you follow all that? We are going to cover the aileron with this single piece of fabric, so now we must attach the hinges and control horn because access to the nuts on the inside will be gone once the covering is complete. With the bolt holes located in the aileron, they must be made through the fabric. A special iron is used for this operation, one with a pointed round element just under 3/16" in diameter, so the hole is melted in the fabric, not cut. This eliminates any frayed edges that could come unraveled over time. Now the hinges and control horn can be bolted on and the covering continued. The fabric will be pulled around the aileron and overlapped on the leading edge. It will pass over the hinges and control horn so it must be relieved with a cutout around these parts. The fabric was marked, and cutouts drawn out. (Again, did you follow all that?)
By this point our time had come to an end so cleanup was next. Quinn asked, "What's next after we finish the ailerons?" Good question! We will seal the fabric on all surfaces we have covered so far and finally spray a coating of UV protection on them down in Brennans paint booth, in his shop. The tail feathers will be stored awaiting final painting, then back onto the fuselage! Quinn nodded with approval, sure looks like progress to me!
Thanks to all who came out last evening, especially our new Crew members. Our Project is very alive and well!
9/29/21
Last evening was fun, educational, and productive. The Youth contingent was composed of our old friend Chris and a newcomer to our Project, Quinn. In the Mentor department there was Mike, Barry, Frank, Milk, Bill and me
Quinn got an introduction Project with an overview of the work so far and an idea of what the plane should look like when it's ready to fly. He asked when that would be, a natural question, and we replied, "When we're done". Simply, we don't know but it'll be a "while". "OK", he said. Quinn is an 8th grader from Duluth and a very eager participant. He is using our Project to satisfy an assignment from his school, learn something new. Quinn is new to aviation but has long harbored an interest so here he is! He is so convinced that our Project is just what he has been looking for that he predicts that he'll stay on long after his assignment is satisfied. Welcome Quinn!!
We all went to work, Chris and Barry back on the left side elevator and Quinn and Mike got after the right side one. The rest of us Mentors chimed in wherever we could to further the cause, work proceeded well.
Edge finishing tapes were the name of the game. Chris is an old hand by now, and a natural by all accounts. Attention to detail with a very focused approach. The left side elevator has only a couple of tapes left to apply. Getting closer!
Quinn, with Mike and me, and Milt too, got introduced to fabric covering, finishing up the edge tapes of the right-side elevator. At the corners where the tapes come together, we mitered the joint, butting the two tapes together as close as we could get them without overlaps. Adding a tape to the counterbalance gave him an idea of what's involved in applying these tapes. Quinn took to it right away showing a keen eye and attention to coaching. He will be a very welcome addition to our program indeed!
Suddenly the evening ended, and it was time to pack up. Thanks to all involved, I think we're doing good work!
9/22/21
And the Project keeps rolling along! Thomas was along to represent the Youth corps, with Brennan, Frank, Mike, Milt, Bill and me to carry the load of Mentors (not a huge burden).
Right away Brennan gave us some direction in the covering of the ailerons, enough so that in his unlikely absence we can carry on. We measured and cut some fabric, big enough to cover in one piece. Place some anti-chafe tape over the PK screws, then cover the top sides. Next install the Hinges and Control Horn and finish. This conceals the nuts inside the aileron therefore they should be installed at just the right phase of the work. Just before the covering began, we discovered we lacked new hardware to attach the Hinges, so we decided to wait. Next time we'll have the bolts and nuts!
No worries, we have plenty of other work to do! Thomas and Mike got back on the right-side Elevator, continuing with the edge finishing tapes they were working on last time. On went the tape around the hinge knuckles and then around the corner toward the counterbalance.
Not to be standing around with their faces hanging out, Frank, Milt and Bill got irons heated up and began some cleanup work on the Horizontal Stabilizers and the left side Elevator. Once the finishing tapes are applied over the PK screws, it leaves a little pucker with loose fabric. Ironing around those with the iron at 250 is all that's needed to shrink and tighten them up. It's a little tedious yet a very important step in the process which needs to be done. Done. Now the H.S. are ready for sealing.
Thanks to all who came out this evening after such a lovely fall day. We're starting to think about scheduling the painting of the UV coat on the tail feathers, exciting! Brennan will help us do that in his hangar paint booth, what a guy!!
9/14/21
It wasn't long though before we got down to business. (Chris had a little extra smile on his face tonight!) Mentors present to help were Tom, Brennan, Barry, Mike, Frank, Bill and me.
The left side elevator was begging attention, around the inside trailing edge where the 2" finishing tape made a sharp turn around the corner. Last time we attempted to shrink excess material without cutting it which turned out to be a bit of a challenge. Brennan to the rescue! "Go ahead and cut a little wedge out of it" he said. We didn't know if that option was even legal, Brennan assured us that it was. So that's what we did, and the tape laid down quite nicely and we were able to move on.
Chris and company shifted focus back to the right-side elevator, the one he had been working on these last few weeks. Finishing tapes on this one was also the name of the game. We were able to finish some details and move on to more tapes before the Session ended. Progress!
In the meantime, the rest of the crew, with the coaching of Brennan, continued preparing the ailerons for covering. Replacing oversized PK screws in the trailing edge "False Spar" with the proper sized ones. Bigger screws were installed to fill stripped out holes. The bigger ones turned out just too prominent after covering so we drilled a new hole beside the oversized one to receive the #4 PK screw called for in the manual. Brennan assured us that the extra hole left behind would not be an issue, so away we went! Brushing and scraping to remove loose material and dirt and I think they're ready to cover. Brennan went over his preferred procedure for covering with one piece of fabric. We discussed the attachment of the hinges and control horn in the sequence of steps, so I think we have a handle on the deal. We'll see next week!
All in all we had a productive time. Airplane flying and restoration, what's not to like! See you all next week.
9/8/21
Last evening felt good! We had our regular couple of Youths aboard, Chris and Thomas with a contingent of Mentors; Tom, Mike, Frank, Barry, Milt and me, with Bill in the building getting ready and inventorying supplies for the Fly-in Pancake Breakfast/Young Eagle Event that will happen this Saturday, and occasionally checking in on Sedan progress.
Chris and Barry got to work right away on the left side Elevator, picking up where Tom and Frank left off last time. The reinforcing tapes were trimmed to length and 2" finishing tapes were applied on top of them. Once completed they too were trimmed to create a butt joint on the perimeter tubes in preparation for the edge finishing tapes.
In the meantime, Thomas and Mike got back on the right-side Elevator. The 2" finishing tapes had been installed and trimming started last time so that's where they picked up. Once completed the perimeter finishing tapes were applied, starting with the trailing edge. Centering the tape on the tubes and shrinking the wrinkles around the curved sections is the challenge of this phase. The property of this tape material to shrink with heat is remarkable, as we've mentioned before, and handy to get the tapes to lie flat against the surface. Carefully as we go, one spot at a time!
Tom and Frank couldn't sit still, so they picked up the Ailerons to get them ready for covering. The Hinges and Control Horn were removed previously, and corrosion was found below the Control Horn. It wasn't too serious so a little spot sand blaster and conditioning pads that Frank brought, along with some elbow grease and the rust was gone. The Ailerons were inspected, and it was found some of the PK screws in the trailing edge were loose or missing so Milt went over them, checking security and replacing them were necessary. They were then dusted off before a couple of coats of epoxy primer were applied getting ready for the parts to be reinstalled.
Thanks to all who turned out last evening. Little by little, inch by inch we're making progress, soon the tail feathers will be covered, and it will be back onto the fuselage. That will feel like progress! (Actually, it all feels like progress!)
8/18/21
Well, with another Work Session in the books, our Sedan inches ever closer to the magic day when it "slips the surly bonds of earth" as Magee would say.
Don't hold your breath though. It's still a way off, but not as far as it used to be!
Youth present for the evening was our old friend Thomas, alone giving us permission to work. Mentors were Tom, Frank, Mike, Brennan and me.
Thomas went straight to work on the right-side elevator that he had been working on last time. Mike had brought a supply of nylon washers to go under the PK screws, so Thomas got busy. Mike, Brennan and I assisted at times throughout the evening. By the time we were finished, Thomas had installed all the screws and finishing tapes over the inner ribs. Next was to butt the tapes together at the leading and trailing edges in preparation for the finishing edge tapes. Just a few more tapes to butt up and the edge tapes will be next.
Meanwhile, Tom and Frank continued work on the left side elevator, laying out the rib tapes and screws. By the end of the evening, they had all the screws installed and were ready for the 2" tape to cover them.
With work on the tail feathers proceeding right along, thoughts turned to the ailerons, the last flight surfaces to be covered with fabric. The control horns on both ailerons are pitted with corrosion and must be replaced. We'll work on that. Other than removal of the hinges and some minor cleaning, they are ready to be covered too. Mike removed a control horn to serve as an example between helping Thomas and tending to last details on the horizontal stabilizers.
8/11/21
Last evening's Session went off without a hitch, Youth in attendance were Christopher and Thomas. Mentors were abundant, with Tom, Barry, Mike, Bill, Frank, Milt, Brennan and me on board. Who's having more fun, the Youth or us old folks? I think it's a toss-up!
Thomas and company got busy where they left off on the left side horizontal stabilizer. As you might recall, work had progressed to the edge finishing tapes around the perimeter. A few details to tend to and it was ready for fabric sealer.
With plenty of time remaining, Thomas moved over to the right-side elevator that Brennan and Bill were working on. With both sides brought up to the 350 degrees fabric shrink and ready for the reinforcing tapes that go over the ribs, where the fabric is secured to the ribs with PK screws. PK screws are little sheet metal like screws about a quarter of an inch long that get installed into little holes in the ribs. Some airplanes use little pull rivets for this task, some use a light cord and a process called Rib Stitching. Locating the little rib holes through the fabric is achieved with a bright light shone from the bottom, then marked with a pencil. A 3/8" wide tape is applied over the rib and the screws are to be installed with a plastic washer before being covered with a 2" wide finishing tape. Quite the process, but that's what it takes to make the surface airworthy!
Christopher wasn't just standing around during this whole time either! After some cleaning of the irons used to attach and shrink fabric, he was back on the left side elevator, right where he left off last time. A good once over inspection of and it was time to bring the top side fabric up to a 250 degree shrink. Again, the elevator was inspected then the iron temperature set to 350 and the final shrink was done. Things are shaping up. Next, I had Christopher and company prepare and apply the finishing tapes to the perimeter, mistakenly! The next step should have been to begin the location of rib holes like Thomas and company were doing on the right-side elevator, with PK screw reinforcing tape installation. Brennan was quick to correct our sequence of operations. No worries however, work was not in vain as the finishing tape applied had not crossed any ribs and so can be left in place. Whew! So, rib holes were marked, and then time was up so the Work Session came to a close.
7/21/21
With another Work Session in the books, progress on our Sedan continues. Youths out for the evening were Thomas and Christopher. Mentors were Frank, Tom, Bill, Milt, Barry and me.
Thomas and Milt, along with Tom, got right back into the left side Horizontal Stabilizer, picking up from where they left off last week. On were the finishing tapes over the ribs, trimmed to meet on the leading and trailing edges. Where the tapes covered the PK screws required a little ironing to lay the tape down and then the edge finishing tapes were applied. Work progressed smoothly, and by the end of the evening all the perimeter tapes were applied with the last one on the leading edge fit and tacked in place. We'll finish that one next time!
Meanwhile, Christopher and Crew continued work on the right-side elevator. The job tonight was to work on the top side fabric that was started last week. The fabric was secured around the perimeter and trimmed to the final size. Progress was made but more work needs to be done to make ready for the final tapes.
7/14/21
Last evening was the first real Work Session on our Aeronca Sedan in over 15 months, and we picked up on the project with no hesitation with the guiding hands of Brennan Hawkins of 100 Octane Aviation, our A&P and Mentor's Mentor!
Youth out for the evening were brothers John and Thomas Thro, veterans of our project. It was good to see them back at work. It was also easy to see how they have grown and matured; life happens fast at their age!
Chapter Mentors also along to assist were Mike, Bill, Milt, Frank, and guest, Chapter Member, John Whelan.
After just a short review and orientation we went to work. As you may remember from a previous email, we had set up the classroom as it was before we suspended the Project, so everything was laid out and ready.
Thomas, along with Mike and Milt, chose the left side Horizontal Stabilizer. This piece had been completely covered with fabric, reinforcing tape applied over the ribs and PK screws installed to hold the fabric tight to the surface. Next in line was to apply 2" wide finishing tapes over the reinforcing tape and screws. Thomas had performed this task on the other H.S., so it didn't take long to get back into it. He and Milt teamed up with Mike making sure they had all the stuff they needed. Away they went. By the end of the evening, they were trimming the ends of the tapes as they meet on the leading and trailing edges. Another flight surface making its way toward completion!
Meanwhile, John teamed up with Brennan on the right-side elevator. This piece had been covered on the bottom side previously, so an inspection and cleaning was in order. That completed, the fabric needed to be tightened to the preliminary stage to a temperature of 250 degrees. There is a procedure for this to make sure every inch of the fabric is brought to the correct temperature providing an even tightness. Next, a section of fabric was selected, and the fitting began. Brennan pointed out things to keep in mind about fabric orientation and positioning while John took it all in. Marking and trimming was next, anchoring the fabric and cutting it around the hinge lugs, then fitting it around the perimeter.
Not to be left out of the fun, Frank and Bill got after the left side elevator. This piece had the fabric on the bottom side as well, with the first shrink to 250 degrees already done. An inspection and cleaning being the first thing to do. After that they selected a section of fabric and began the fitting process similar to what John and Brennan were doing on the right-side surface.
The whole time we were working, Brennan went from table to table answering questions and giving direction on details of the processes.
2/26/2020
With February quickly entering the history books, we have yet another Work Session in the books too. Youths Thomas and Chris were on board to make it happen. Mentors to tag along were Tom, Barry, Brennan, Frank, Bill, Al and me.
We are deep into the task of covering our tail feathers with fabric and moving right along.
Thomas and Barry continued with their work on the right-side Horizontal Stabilizer. Two-inch tapes over the inner rib screws on the second side, then match up the joint where the tapes meet each other from one side to the other. Thomas is getting quite good at this stuff; the joints are practically invisible!
Chris got busy with the other HS along with Frank and Bill and Tom and sometimes Brennan when they got stuck on some detail. They were finishing up the application of the bottom side fabric, removing all wrinkles, especially where it curves around by the counterbalance cutout, marking and trimming the edges and ironing them down. Shrinking to 250 degrees came next. Next time we'll do the final shrink to 350 degrees and then on to the PK screws that hold the fabric to the inner ribs.
Meanwhile, Brennan couldn't sit still so he went after the left side elevator, finishing up securing the bottom side fabric to the perimeter.
As you may remember, we had some trouble with the right-side elevator. Once covered, the trailing edge tube (3/8" diameter) bent when the fabric was shrunk to 350 degrees. We removed the fabric, and I was about to replace the tube when I realized that the elevator was just too twisted to continue. Re-evaluation was in order so between Brennan and I, we decided to set the tail feathers back on the fuselage to better judge the condition. So, when we had about a half hour left, we all took our pieces out and put them in place. The right-side elevator is definitely out of shape but we're not sure exactly were. We decided to bring a digital level to the hangar in the next few days and take a good hard look at what's going on and come up with a plan to correct it. Stay tuned!
All in all, it was another productive evening, everyone pitching in, working, and learning. It's fun!
2/19/2020
Last evening was a-buzz with activity, action at every table with 4 pieces of tail feathers in various stages of covering. Youth attending were Chris and Thomas, along with the Keehl Brothers, Brayden, Noah, and Levi. Their Dad Jake was there too getting in on the action. Mentors were the usual crew, Mike, Brennan, Barry, Frank, Glenn, Bill and me. Tom had other obligations to attend to. Missed you, Tom!
One of the first things to do was to evaluate the right-side elevator covered last time. As you may recall from Mike's report last week the trailing edge, made of 3/8 diameter tube, bent under the strain of the fabric shrunk to the final heat of 350 degrees. This was a condition we could not allow. Not only from a cosmetic point of view, but also because it points to the tube weakened by internal corrosion. The tube must be replaced. So, removal of the fabric was necessary, and the Keehl Bros were up to the task. It was an interesting exercise. I was amazed how much work it took to get the fabric loose and off the structure, these guys really worked at it but eventually won the day and the piece is now ready to be repaired. Now, where did I put that extra tubing...?
Meanwhile, Thomas and Mike resumed work on the right-side horizontal stabilizer which was covered and shrunk last time. Now it was ready for the PK screws to attach the fabric to the ribs. Mark the hole locations with a pencil, apply reinforcement tape, washers and screws. Thomas was an old hand at the operation, remembering the task from work on the rudder. Once both sides were screwed down, covering with 2" tape was next. Barry joined the fun and before we knew it tapes were in place on the one side, ready to flip over and treat the other side.
Brennan and the Keehl Bros went to work covering the other side of the left side H.S. Brennan's little crew followed directions like they've been doing this sort of thing all along. By the time the evening ended they had the fabric ready for the final trim.
Not to be left behind, Chris, Barry, Frank, Glenn and Bill set up the left side elevator for the first layer of fabric. Ok now, which side is up? Cover the bottom side first, right? With that preliminary issue figured out the fabric was rough cut, cement applied and dried, fabric located, and anchoring began. It went pretty much like clockwork. It’s fun to see how practice makes the job easier and faster. This team got the bottom side fabric glued on and ready for the first heat shrink next week.
All in all, the evening rolled on like a well-oiled machine with lots of progress made. I predict that by springtime we'll have a very nice set of tail feathers ready for paint. They'll look nice back where they belong, ready for the Spring Show at our first Pancake Breakfast of the Season!
1/29/2020
The end of January is near, days are getting longer, can you feel it? We up here in the frozen north celebrate the end of January with Groundhog's Day next Sunday, February 2nd. This signifies that half of the winter is over, and we may get an early Spring depending on if the Groundhog sees his shadow or not. Some do not put any stock in the ritual with the rodent but nevertheless we're on the back side of Winter, and that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned!
Winter does not deter us though as indicated by our turnout last evening. Youths Chris and Thomas were on board to pitch in as well as our regular crew. Mike, Tom, Aaron, Bill, Frank, Al, Glenn and me. Brennan couldn't make it as he had an engagement at his shop that needed his attention, so we pressed on without him.
First off, Chris was back on his Rudder which is in the finishing stages now. His task was to remove any excess cement and to iron down any rough edges on finishing tapes. There was the question of whether the fabric was brought up to the final shrink temperature of 350 degrees. Last week there was no clear recollection by either Chris or Brennan, but they thought so. Considering that there would be no harm in setting the iron to 350 and going over the Rudder again we did, both sides, twice, to insure we had the proper tightness. Sure enough, the fabric seems tighter now. I don't know if there is a gauge or a method of measuring the tightness of fabric before it is sealed and coated but I intend to find out. Anybody out there know if there is. At any rate, we know now that the final heat was applied, so onward!
Meanwhile, Thomas and Tom were busy preparing the right-side HS for the second layer of fabric. Another team of guys got out the roll and cut a blank for them to use along with another for the right-side Elevator. Thomas and Tom got after it, drawing out the 3" allowance around the HS and cutting the fabric to shape. Next came applying cement to the perimeter. After the cement had dried to the touch, the fabric was centered and rubbed in place, ironed to anchor it and a trim line was drawn on. They then applied glued and wiped up to the line so when the final cut was made the fabric wouldn't unravel. Aaron and Bill joined in from time to time as well.
Not to be standing around with their hands in their pockets, Al, Frank and Glenn prepped and attached the second side of Fabric to the right-side elevator that they started last time, much in the same way as Thomas and Tom were doing with the other one. While their cement was drying, they cut more fabric to fit the left side HS. Then, back on their Elevator.
Chris had brought the Rudder as far as he could, so he joined Bill applying cement to the left side HS on another table. After the glue had dried, they centered the rough trimmed fabric and rubbed it into place.
Talk about activity! Glue was flying, scissors were cutting, hands were rubbing, and tail feathers were taking shape. We have four pieces in various stages of covering.
Suddenly it was time to go. It's true, time flies when you're having fun! Next Wednesday is our meeting night so no Work Session then, our next one will be February 12th, so we'll set our sights for then. Enjoy Groundhog's Day!
1/22/2020
The work goes on, Youths Autumn and Chris came by to help lead the charge. Present to assist were Brennan, Tom, Frank, Mike, Al, Barry, Glenn, Bill and me.
Fabric covering of the tail feathers is still the name of the game. Chris again focused his attention on the Rudder. How do we treat the area around the aft position light socket? Brennan showed the way we do it, iron down the outside while the inside gets relieved with scissors to make the turn around the perimeter. The aft position light housing will further anchor the fabric around this opening while in service. Clean excess cement from tapes, Chris is showing Barry some interesting techniques! More cement on the aft finishing tape and trim the end as it terminates at the counterbalance. All the tapes are on, now iron down all edges and prepare for the first coat of EkoBond. We'll learn more about that in the next Session.
Meanwhile, Autumn and Tom continued work on the right-side Horizontal Stabilizer (HS). The bottom side was covered and cemented in place last time so now the task was to ensure all the edges were ironed down properly, excess cement rubbed off and the interior was clear of debris, such as little glue balls and dust. After the blessing from Brennan the HS was deemed ready for the first heat shrink. 250 degrees with the big iron in a sequence that would insure all the wrinkles were removed and the fabric pulled in straight. Iron across the piece and then go perpendicular, making sure every bit of the fabric was brought to temperature. What to do about the corners where wrinkles still showed? Brennan again to the rescue, showing Autumn, and all of us really, the technique to remove them. It still amazes me how this fabric responds to heat!
Wile all this was going on some of the rest of us were working on the right-side elevator which we covered one side last time. Same thing as the HS, iron down the edges, remove excess cement, clean the interior, flip over, and shrink. With Autumn's recent experience on the HS, she was asked to shrink the fabric on the elevator. Like a pro she wielded the iron and shortly the 250-degree shrink was complete.
Next time we'll cut and fit fabric on the other side of these parts. The work goes on!
Thanks to all who came out last evening. Are there any new faces we could see at the next Session? Come on over and check us out, especially if you know of any young person that might enjoy working on our Sedan, we'd love to show them what we're doing.
1/15/2020
Now this feels like January in northern Wisconsin (Burrrr)! That fact didn't stop Barry and Chris from coming out to work on our bird. Our other Youth were otherwise occupied dealing with the snowfall and other matters, but Chris was here! Mentors aboard were, Barry, Brennan, Tom, Al, Frank, Bill, Glenn and me.
Chris led the way with his work on the Rudder, final ironing and applying edge finishing tapes with occasional guidance from Brennan and help from Barry. Tom and Glenn continued the work on the right-side Horizontal Stabilizer that Thomas started last time. Not to sit idle, Brennan and Al got busy and started the right-side Elevator. While Brennan was occupied helping Chris, I stepped in on the Elevator project along with Glenn and Frank. We were able to get both the Horizontal Stab. and Elevator through the first side of fabric.
As you can see from the pix, Chris really gets into action when it comes to detail and is doing a marvelous job. He stops at nothing short of standing on his head to make the cuts just right!
We are rolling along well with the fabric covering. Time goes by too fast in these Work Sessions, it seems that we no more get started and we're cleaning up and going home. I encourage you all to come over and join us, especially if you knew of a young person who would enjoy working on an actual airplane. Bring them by and show them what's possible, you never know what kind of fire you may spark!
1/8/2020
The first Work Session of 2020 is behind us, we're on our way. Braving the cold were our regular Youths Chris and Thomas. Also, on board was our old friend Autumn, home on break from college. It was fun to see her again and to catch up with her and her studies as well as her catching up on our Sedan work. Welcome back Autumn! Mentors there to help were Brennan, Bill, Barry, Glenn and me.
Chris and Brennan got right back to the Rudder, applying edge tapes this time. Autumn joined the project after a brief recap of our progress since she has been gone. A 3" straight tape to the Rudder hinge post and counterbalance return. This tape took some time as there are hinge knuckles and the rudder control horn to go around. A technique to keep the tape straight was demonstrated. Fold it in half lengthwise and put the crease in the center of the tube, easy-peasy!
Meanwhile, Thomas and I, along with Bill's help, (Brennan was there too, of course) selected the right-side Horizontal Stabilizer (HS) to cover next. Let's see, which is the top and which side is the bottom? Cover the bottom first. We brought out our roll of fabric (yup the one we got from Aircraft Spruce), rolled out 7 feet or so and laid the HS on it, shifted to one side. We traced out the perimeter allowing a 3" or so margin and checked to see that we would have enough to cover the other. The roll is 72" wide, so we flipped the HS around to check. We have more than enough in the remainder so on we went. Thomas cut out our fabric blank, we put the rest of the fabric away and proceeded to glue the blank to our HS.
It took a little bit to get back into the swing of things considering the Holiday break but in no time, we were moving right along. Thomas painted glue (yup, the stuff we got from Stewart Systems) to the perimeter and tacked the fabric in place minding the margin and keeping the wrinkles out. Fasten the leading edge first then pull snug, mark and trim around the hinge lugs before tacking to the hinge tube. Glue all the way around and cut in for the Elevator counterbalance cutout. By the time the Session was done the fabric was securely in place and ready for final gluing.
Again, the evening's time ticked by way too fast and it was time to cleanup and go. It's good to be back at it, we're looking forward to making great progress in the coming weeks. Thanks to all who came out on a cold winter's evening. I can't wait to do it all over again!
12/18/2019
Well, here we are at the end Work Sessions for 2019. Christmas is next Wednesday, nobody wants to work
that day, go figure! :)
Youth Participants Chris and Thomas were on the job along with Mentors
Brennan, Tom, Mike, Frank, Barry, Bill and me.
The focus was again the Rudder.
Brennan led our guys through applying the 2" finishing tapes over the
ribs and screws. It only took a little re-training
for us, mainly me, to get back with the procedure. Chris and Thomas made quick work of the job, and
in a professional manner I might add.
The next step was to cut reinforcements for where the rudder features
penetrated the fabric, specifically the rudder horn and rear navigation light. Brennan demonstrated the procedure for cutting
them from remnant fabric using a coffee can cover as a circle template the appropriate
diameter. Rotary pinking shears are the tool
of choice for a nice neat cut. Fold in half, then in half again to find the center. Cut the circle in half and apply to the Rudder
on each side. Trim the intersection of the
two halves so they meet with a closed intersection that doesn't overlap.
Chris took the first one and applied it to the rudder horn, and Thomas
cut the second one. Smaller this time. We used a quart can as our template to reinforce
the navigation light location. The smaller
diameter is more appropriate to the smaller fixture.
So many steps to take to finish the covering process, and we're not
done yet. Next comes the edge tapes, some
straight, some cut on the bias for the curved trailing edge. These we'll tackle next time. Our time together comes to a
close too soon each time. We just
get on a roll and we have to put it all aside for next
time!
No worries, there will be a next time, next year.
To close out the evening, we were all treated to homemade ice cream! That's right, Thomas and his friend have started
experimenting making ice cream for a possible future business and he brought some
along. We all got to be samplers of their
latest attempt. Delicious is the best way
to describe it. Those of you who didn't come
to the Session really missed out! See, this
is some of the FUN we have restoring an old airplane. Thanks Thomas, keep up the good work!!
As I mentioned earlier, we will not meet next Wednesday. We will all observe Christmas in our own way,
with loved ones and friends. We'll see you
all January 8th. I wonder if there'll be
any ice cream left!?!
12/11/2019
Last evening greeted us with frigid temperatures but that did not dissuade
us. Youths Chris and Thomas were on board
and eager to get to work, as well as our usual Crew. Tom, Mike, Frank, Brennan,
Bill, Barry, Glen and me were there to assist in any way
we could.
First, I was happy to assemble a display of the treasure of donated
materials that arrived through the generosity of Andy Humphrey of Stewart Systems
and Jim Irwin of Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co. Andy got us set up with EkoBond
fabric Cement, EkoClean fabric cleaner and EkoFill that is used for ultraviolet light protection. Andy also sent us a quart of surplus top coat to practice painting techniques. Andy agreed to supply us with the rest of our
fabric coating products when the time comes, thus preserving the shelf life of the
same, given our rate of progress. Jim was
generous to the point of supplying us with all the SuperFlite
tapes and fabric to cover our Sedan, as well as reinforcement and anti-chafe tapes
needed along with inspection hole reinforcement rings and aluminum covers. Our own Mike and Tom donated money for shipping
some of this wonderful stuff, PK screws and special washers required to hold the
fabric to the ribs. We needed a couple of
screw drivers, spray bottles and distilled water. Mike didn't hesitate to run to the store for these
items, never asking to be reimbursed. The
rest of the Crew is constantly giving what they see is required and helpful to the
Project. I was able to download the procedure
manual for Stewart Systems and had a local print shop make 4 copies to be available
so we could all be up to speed with the process. The Sedan Fund paid for these manuals as well
as more of the shipping of the products.
If anyone of you reading this feel a desire to help support us in our work
of educating these young minds, your check or cash will be put to good use. We still have a long way to go!
Speaking of go, we decided to try an experiment. In the manual, they caution us to limit the temperature
of the irons shrinking fabric to 375 degrees F.
Beyond that temperature permanent damage is done and may not be realized
until the aircraft is put into service. Humm,
what does that look like? We decided to take
our trial panel we produced some weeks ago and apply excess heat to it. What will happen? We started with a small iron turned up all the
way to 400 Degrees. Nothing noticeable, no
smoke or discoloration. We next used a big
iron that went up to 425 degrees. After holding
it in place for a few seconds, POP! The fabric
split open in dramatic fashion. Clearly there
may have been damage done to the fabric with the small iron set high, but it seemed
unable to hold the high temperature long enough to cause the dramatic failure observed
with the large iron. A worthwhile experiment,
not held to strict scientific methods for sure, but useful
nevertheless. The conclusion is to keep the
iron temperature within limits as prescribed to insure the best results possible.
Now, down to production. Under the guiding instruction of Brennan,
Chris and Thomas got busy with applying reinforcement tape to the rudder ribs, then
washers and PK screws. Once both sides were
tended to, finish tape went over the top of these. 2" wide straight pinked tape was cemented
in place with lessons on proper procedure and how to keep them straight for the
professional look we're after. The boys caught
on quickly and our rudder is looking great.
Time for the Session wound to a close with some nice progress complete. We'll continue next week with the rudder. When that is done, each of our Youth will have
his/her own control surface to cover, from start to finish. I have a feeling we're going to have some Master
Coverers in our company by Winter's end!
Thank you to all the brave souls who challenged the cold to attend
our Work Session last night! I does my heart good to see the excitement and commitment of everyone
involved!
11/20/2019
Yesterday was yet another in a long line of successful Work Sessions
in the restoration of our Aeronca Sedan.
It was a little quieter evening though with Chris and Thomas making up the
Youth Participant contingent. Aboard were
Mentors Tom, Mike, Frank, Brennan, Bill, Barry and me.
Chris and Thomas continued their work on the rudder under the guiding
eye of Brennan, ironing the edges of fabric and wrinkles out before shrinking the
second side, Before applying the irons, their temperature
was confirmed using bi-metal and a laser thermometer to confirm the 250 degree setting
on the irons. The worst thing could be that
the irons are too hot and we overheat the fabric. After
that shrink they stepped up to the next heat level of 350 degrees and shrunk both
sides, again paying attention to the edges and perimeter making sure all the loose
spots and wrinkles were indeed down and out.
It's still amazing how this fabric behaves under the iron. Once that was accomplished, they painted the fabric
edges with glue, there were a few spots that weren't saturated with glue that prevented
them from laying down properly.
The next step in the process is to locate the holes for the fastening
screws and washers. These screws attach the
fabric to the internal ribs to prevent fabric flutter in flight. Sometimes the fabric is attached by stitching
with waxed cotton thread and sometimes with aluminum pull rivets. It all depends on how the airplane was originally
certified. All seem to be good methods, each
having their own benefits and drawbacks.
Brennan showed the guys a technique where a light is shown from below and
the holes are marked with a sharp pencil.
With a poke and a twist of the pencil the hole is marked.
We'll need some rib tape to continue so Chris and Thomas joined me
and the rest of the crew on the fuselage, fitting the aileron pulley brackets we've
been working on for the last few sessions.
With the brackets reworked from the time before they seem to fit better.
With time running out, we'll weld them on next time. Hopefully this will be the last welding we need
to do on our fuselage, clearing the way for covering and headliner and such.
With steady progress we continue the rebuild. Our next Work Session will be on December 11 due
to the Thanksgiving Holiday next week and our regular meetings on Dec 4th.
There is a very good chance that we will have all the covering materials
for the Sedan in our hands at this next Session. Andy Humphry from Stewarts Systems and Jim Irwin
from Aircraft Spruce and Specialties have teamed up to supply all our materials
to cover the Sedan, all we are responsible for is the shipping (can you believe
this?). We are all over the moon by their
generosity and faith in our program. With
their help there is no stopping us from educating these Youth in the art of recovering
and restoring a vintage aircraft to good as new, some may say better, condition. We have our winter's work ahead of us, we're all
excited!!
Thanks to all who came out last evening to continue our work. I want
to wish you all a Happy and Joyful Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for!!
11/13/2019
What a nice turnout we had last evening. Even though the roads were
as slippery as they can get around here, we had Chris and Thomas, Ethan, and a couple
of new fellows, brothers Brayden and Noah Keehler, and
their Dad Jake, from way up in Cotton Mn.
Welcome to the crew guys! The usual
bunch of Mentors were aboard to round out the Session, Tom, Mike, Brennan, Frank,
Al, Barry and me.
As suggested in my announcement for the Session, we went on a Field
Trip. All the way down to Brennan's hangar
where he had another 1948 Aeronca Sedan, in for a recovering. What an opportunity! Brennan invited us over to look at and start to
remove the old fabric. This fabric had been
on the plane for about 10 years but was failing due to it being painted with automotive
paint. This paint doesn't have the additives
to give it flexibility required with a fabric covered airplane. The paint was cracked all over and through the
cracks weakened the fabric to the point it would tear very easily. Brennan gave us a few instructions and with knives
in hand, our crew of Youth had the fabric laying on the floor in under an hour.
The great thing about the whole process is that nobody cut their fingers or any
other parts of themselves! With the covering
off we could inspect the insides of this airplane and compare it with ours. There are a few differences but many similarities. We could see how the headliner was installed and
how their stringers were attached and protected from the fabric with tape. We also were able to examine the aileron pulley
mounts that we're having trouble with on our fuselage. Their alignment with the cable is just fine so
we'll try to duplicate the setup on our fuselage.
Around about 7:30 we had removed about all the fabric we could, had
a good look at the insides and headed back to our hangar to continue the work on
our Sedan.
Back home Chris and Thomas got back on the rudder, making the final
trim on the second side and gluing and ironing it down
nice and tight. Next time we'll be ready
for the first shrink, then screws and tapes.
What a process. It goes a lot slower
than removing the stuff!
Our new pair of Youth Participants, Brayden and Noah joined Mike and
Tom bolting down the brake torque plate onto the right-side landing gear. If you remember, one of the bolt holes stripped
out. We drilled out the hole for a through
bolt that we secured with an all metal stop nut. It and the other three bolts were tied up with
safety wire strung through holes drilled into the heads of all four bolts. This wire will keep the bolts from turning and
loosening up on their own. So, Noah and Brayden
got a lesson in torqueing and safety wiring a group of
bolts. Both boys seemed quite at home with
the process, a tribute to their Dad Jake for sure. Good job Dad!
Ethan and I focused on fitting our Aileron Pulley mount. Also, as you may recall from last time, I made
up a pair of replacement mounts to better align the pulley with the cable. Ethan and I discovered though that they won't
work as configured. As Barry pointed out
on the Sedan down in Brennan's hangar, the bolt wasn't at 90 degrees to the tube
like I had made them, but more like 105 degrees. Hmmmm. Back at our hangar Ethan and I tried to make ours
fit but could not find an arrangement that held the pulley in the proper alignment
to the cable. Our conclusion was that I'll
remake the mounts like the ones on Brennan's Sedan and try again. With our work at a standstill for the evening
Ethan threw in with Chris and Thomas on the rudder, gluing and ironing the fabric
edge. This was Ethan's first experience with
covering. I suspect he'll get more opportunities
in Work Sessions to come!
Thanks to everyone who came out in the Winter Mix we had yesterday. It's fun to have a big crew to work on our bird
and amazing the things we learn as we go!
10/30/2019
Are you ready for the Ghosts and Goblins that will prowl the streets
tonight looking for treats, or tricks? I
hope so, they can be scary!
There weren't any last night, just our good
buddy Chris, ready and willing to work and learn. Mentors along for guidance were Mike, Tom, Frank,
Bill, Glenn and me.
Brennan was otherwise committed so we shifted our attention to a task
other than fabric covering that has been waiting to be handled. Aileron control pulley mounts. The two attached to the fuselage just below the
rear seat supports on either side of the cabin to be specific. These mounts were positioned in such a way as
to hold the pulleys at an angle that would not allow the cable to run true to the
pulley center. The cable was rubbing on the
inside flange, this was true for both sides, and we want to correct it.
Chris was primarily an observer of the process tonight while I sawed
the mounts from the fuselage. My thinking
was that if the mount was rotated a little the pulley/cable would come into alignment
and the mount could be welded back on. Not
so fast. As it turns out, the mounts, which
consist of a 5/8" tube about 2" long with a 1/4" bolt welded perpendicular
to it at the end, were bent. Short too, as
far as we could determine, so was the bolt.
We experimented with a couple of 1/4" spacers on the old mounts and
that seemed better. The conclusion is that
I will make up a new pair of mounts with the extensions added and try them out for
size next time. Keep your fingers crossed!
With a little time remaining to us for the evening, we shifted our
attention to the right side landing gear. This is the one the
had the threaded bolt hole stripped out, the one that holds the brake caliper torque
plate to the mounting flange. In preparation
for this we ordered a few all metal Stop Nuts, the kind
used for high temperature service but have a smaller hex and built in flange that
will fit our small space. We cleaned up weld
spatter in the area which left just enough room for the nut to turn clearly. We determined the bolt we need is a AN4H-7A, one
with a 7/16 grip and a drilled head to safety wire to the other bolts in the pattern. We'll get this one for next time too!
All in all it was a rather quite Work Session
with just Chris to focus on, but those are kind of nice too. A little one on one, and we got work done too! Thanks to everyone who came out last night. Now to get ready for the Spooks!
Next Wednesday, the 6th, is our meeting night so no Work Session then. Set your sights on the 13th when we'll be back
a it!
10/23/2019
Last evening found us with the heat on, both in the hangar and the
classroom, it felt good! Along for the Work
Session were our two steady workers, Chris and Thomas. Our Mentors were the usual crew; Brennan, Tom,
Mike, Frank, Al, Bill, Barry and me, with a Chapter Member
becoming a regular to our Sessions, Glenn McGill. Welcome Glenn!
Brennan, as you know is the owner/operator of 100 Octane Aviation,
an airplane maintenance shop on the field. He is now engaged in recovering a 1948
Howard DGA-15. This is a fabric covered high
wing utility airplane powered by a 450 hp radial engine. This airplane makes our Sedan look like a toy!
Brennan brought over the rudder for us to look over and uncover, just to see another
way that fabric can be attached to a flight control. Very cool!
So, to put a little perspective to this rudder we all walked down to Bennan's hangar where the Howard is to see what the fuselage
looked like. The first thing that hits you
is that this airplane is BIG! What a monster,
controlled by this little rudder, but it does the job! Back in our hangar Thomas and crew, after a brief
coaching by Brennan, got after removing the skin. It is attached basically the same as ours will
be except that the fabric is stitched to the ribs with a waxed, either cotton or
linen, cord. Our rudder will use little screws
to do the job. How it is attached is all
dictated by how it was attached when the airplane was certified. Anyway, it was interesting to learn how this fabric
was attached, and how it looked on the inside since it was last recovered in the
1970's. Slowly but surely
they worked at cutting the fabric and stitching until the skin was off reveling
a framework in not too bad a condition. Only
a little corrosion on an aluminum fairing piece on the bottom that can be replaced. Interesting!
All this time, Chris could not be stopped, so he and Brennan got back
on our rudder. Final preparation for attaching
the second side of fabric was made. Set the
wire for the aft position light in place, iron down any edges that are lifted from
the tubing and paint a little glue onto the perimeter of the rudder for anchoring
the new fabric. Once the glue was dry set
the fabric onto the rudder. They centered
the fabric and the first cut was made to allow the rudder
horn to penetrate so the fabric could lay flat against the framework. Nothing to it, especially when we have the capable
hands of Brennan on board to lead the process!
Next was to rough trim the fabric to within 3 or 4 inches of the rudder and
then iron it down to secure it in position.
It's fascinating how a little heat will soften the glue enough to penetrate
the fabric and hold it there, no need for clamps. As soon as it cools a little the fabric is stuck
in place, but not so much that it can't be lifted and re-positioned if required,
and anchored again, and again until we're satisfied. Once we were satisfied the new fabric was well
stuck in place, we turned the whole thing over and continued ironing around the
outside, further anchoring the fabric in place.
When Thomas and crew finished with the Howard rudder, they came in and joined
Chris and company on our rudder.
The clock on the wall eventually showed that our Work Session had ended,
so we left our rudder on the table, ready to further trim and glue down the fabric.
Progress, it's fun to see. Chris
and Thomas are going to be experts on the covering business by the time we get the
Sedan all covered! A valuable lesson they'll
carry with them for the rest of their lives, awesome eh?
Thanks to all who turned out to join in the Session. Even Tom, who's Birthday it was yesterday, chose
to celebrate it with us at our Sedan Work Session. Happy Birthday Tom!
10/16/2019
The Work continues! Our Youth,
Chris and Thomas arrived eager to get to it with their eyes on the rudder we started
last time. On board to assist were Mentors
Tom, Mike, Frank, Bill, Brennan, Barry and me.
We continued our work in the Classroom again,
better tables! First order of business was
to apply anti chafe tape on an internal brace tube to prevent damage to the fabric
from any future flutter in the fabric that may beat against the tube. Brennan admitted that we should have applied the
tape before the fabric was applied, but no worries, now is the next best time! A little glue on the tube, let it dry, apply the
tape and iron it down. Nothing to it! Next was a final trim on the fabric to wrap around
the perimeter tubes and anchor with glue. Pull and iron, pull and iron until all
the edges were down and smooth.
Once that was completed, we turned the rudder over and the fun began. First shrink and remove all the wrinkles.
We got out the big iron set at 250 degrees and went at it. It is amazing how this fabric shrinks under the
heat of an iron. The reason an iron is used
instead of a heat gun is control. 250 degrees
is the max temperature we want to apply at this time and
a heat gun is just too hot and hard to control.
"Start in the middle and work your way out" is the way. Kind of like bolting down an engine cylinder head
if you've ever done that before. Nice and
even and gradual. Next comes the small iron
to get in the corners and remove more of the wrinkles. Sometimes the fabric needs to be lifted from an tube and pulled a little tighter to get rid of extra fabric
but again, no worries. Lift the fabric, pull
tight and iron down again until satisfied.
"Stay away from the main ribs to prevent lines showing up in the final
shrink" says Brennan. If the iron comes
up on the rib during the process the fabric can shrink differently and show up as
a line even after paint is applied. So many
things to keep in mind, but once the process us understood it all seems logical.
Next week we'll start on the other side. Kind of fun to see things taking shape!
Thanks to all who came out last evening. Little by little the saying goes, and so it does!
10/10/19
Last evening met us with warm and light breezes. That was
good as earlier the wind was strong out of the south west
and might have prevented us from having the big door open for our Work Session.
Not to worry, big door open, nice!
Add a couple of familiar faces, those of Chris and Thomas,
ready to work and learn! Joining them were our crew of Mentors; Tom, Mike, Frank,
Bill, Brennan and myself.
The task of the evening centered around fabric. As you
may remember, member Mark Marino donated some Poly-Fiber fabric left over from his
dealership recently sold. We rolled it out and discovered we had enough to do the
rudder. The elevators and Horizontal stabilizers were too long, but the rudder fit
just fine. We’ll have enough for both sides. Onward!
We got set up in the classroom where we had lots of free
table space to roll out the fabric and rudder. Step by step, Brennan took us thru
the process, just like the trial elevator counterbalance we covered the last couple
of sessions. With most of us looking on and contributing where we could, Chris and
Thomas glued, trimmed and attached the fabric to the side
of the Rudder with Brennan there to keep the process going smooth and correct.
Before too long the evening came to a
close and we had fabric attached to the Rudder half.
Next time we’ll continue with the glue and irons to completely
anchor the fabric and get it ready for the first shrink. This is real progress,
covering flight surfaces! Squint your eyes and you can almost see this bird in the
air!
9/26/2019
First of all, I want to
apologize for the late post. The reasons
are multiple and include an early morning rise to meet the dark yesterday to take
Cathy to the airport to go to her Mom's for a visit. I
could have come home to write the Review after that, but I had another appointment
at another airport. This one is located in Superior where I am currently keeping my newly
minted Glasair Sportsman. The appointment
involved a CFI Dan, from central Wisconsin flying up to fly with me in my new bird. This thing flew for the first time a week ago
under the capable hands of a good friend of mine, Dennis, also from out of town. Yesterday I was able to log around 2 and a half
hours breaking in the new engine and shooting a few landings. As a rusty pilot flying a faster airplane, I need
instruction, and a little more adding to yesterday in the coming days. Long story short, (too late for that!) I got home
yesterday evening dog tired and unable to gather my thoughts for the Review. Refreshed
from a good night's sleep, here goes!
Wednesday Work Session was greeted by a couple of eager Youth, Thomas and Chris. Mentors,
pretty much the usual Crew of Tom, Mike, Frank, Al, Barry
and I were aboard to assist.
Brennan was unable to attend to guide us in the fabric work, so we
went another direction. Thomas and Mike got
back on the left elevator, drilling the rest of the PK screw holes in the ribs. Finished with that control surface, they got the
rudder and drilled the same holes in the new rib that replaced the old bent and
repaired old one. With these tasks complete
they moved to the forward floor closeout Chris and Mike had been working on for
the last few Sessions. First thing to do
was trim the leather anti-chafe material glued on last time. Ez Pz. Next, they fit it
into place and transferred the holes to the cabin floor for installation of T-nuts. Meanwhile, Chris and Tom got under the fuselage
and checked to see that all the mounting holes were drilled prior to their removal.
The floorboards were then removed, and the T-nuts were installed in the left side
forward floorboard. They'll do the other
side next time as time ran out and the Work Session ended.
While all this was going on, Chris and company, mainly Tom and Frank,
removed the engine cowling and related sheet metal including the firewall and stored
the pieces upstairs in the attic. These pieces
will be refreshed or replaced as required before their return to the fuselage, so
storage for now is the plan. Once the fuselage
was clear again, the wooden stand was reattached to the front so we could remove
the main landing gear also. The gear legs
need a little more work before they can be attached for keeps, and we also want
to be able to roll the fuselage around for a little more work it needs too before
covering and interior parts can be installed.
All in all, it was a busy and productive evening. As far as the fuselage is concerned, it kind of
looks like we're going backwards, but sometimes that's what it looks like. We're
moving forward; the picture can get a little tricky sometimes!
9/18/2019
Yesterday was a crazy stormy, windy and warm
day. However, by the time our Work Session
rolled around the winds had diminished with temps still in the 70's. Beautiful evening. To take advantage of it were Youths Chris and
Thomas, along with Mentors Tom, Mike Frank, Brennan, Barry
and me.
As I mentioned in my invitation yesterday, fabric covering was on the
menu. Chris and Brennan got back into it,
smoothing out the work from last week and then proceeding to cover the top of the
elevator counterbalance. I questioned the
crew, and a few had watched some of the Stewart Systems video so we're beginning
to get a picture of how this covering phase is going to go. Brennan took Chris thru the processes, step by
step, and by about 8 o'clock had the top skin ready to shrink. That will happen next time as the glue has to
dry completely first. The shrinking puts
a lot of pressure on the glue joints, so we want to make sure it's good and dry.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Mike and I removed the left side elevator. For some reason, this controls surface had internal
ribs that weren't drilled for the PK Screws used to hold the fabric down in the
interior of the surface. Thomas and Mike
spent the better part of the evening laying out and drilling the little holes. Nice job fellas.
Not to remain idle, Frank and I removed the rest of the tail feathers
including the rudder in preparation for covering these surfaces too. Mark Marino donated some remnant fabric he had
on hand, some 10 yards or so, enough to get a good start on covering the real thing
next time. Thanks Mark!
With a half hour left in the Session after Thomas had to leave, Chris
and Mike glued the anti-chafe leather strips onto the forward floor closeout they
had been working on for the last few sessions.
Clamped and left to cure, our Session ended.
Thanks to all who came to work last evening. It's truly amazing how
things come together once the word gets around, people are talking, and things happen. It just kind of makes me smile!
9/11/2019
September has blown in like summer's over for the crying out loud!! Burr, we even had the heat on in the Hangar yesterday. Good thing too, that wind off the Lake was chilly!
That didn't stop us though, Chris showed up with his Mentor Barry and
we got to work. Chapter Mentors were the
usual crowd; Tom, Mike, Frank, Al, Bill and me. We even had a guest Mentor/Instructor on board
to introduce us to the Stewart Systems of Aircraft Fabric Covering, Brennan Hawkins,
owner of 100 Octane Aviation which is located on the field at SUW. Brennan began by explaining in general how the
system works. It is a water base system of
cement, sealers and topcoats which makes it environmentally much safer, nonflammable,
nontoxic to breathe (I don't know about ingesting the stuff but that's easy enough
to avoid!), and handle. This is ideal for
use on our Sedan and the participation of our Youth, as safety is our highest priority. We still intend to ask Poly-Fiber thru Mark Marino
to help us with the fabric as it is identical to Stewart Systems so we can share
the load, and Stewart is fine with the use of Poly-Fiber fabric under their products.
We got started with covering the counterbalance portion of a rejected
elevator. This part was replaced because
of excessive corrosion but is perfect for practice and demonstration. Chris got right in there applying the cement and
fabric. The use of the iron comes in right
away to anchor the fabric with lots of steps on our way to completion. The surface is covered one side at a time for
better control which leads to a higher quality job, with steps that cover several
days. This will be a very interesting and
educational journey, covering our airplane.
I can visualize this as our winter project and consider ourselves fortunate
to complete by Spring, we'll see!
With our work on the elevator as far as we could take it for now, Brennan
said "Good Evening, see you next week". We still had a little time left
so Chris and Mike got back to work on their floor closeout they have been producing
for the last few Sessions. Clean up the last
corner cutout and it's ready for primer and paint. Mike will take care of that task away from the
Work Session and have it ready for next time to attach the anti-chafe strips and
drill mounting holes.
Thanks to all who came out yesterday and especially to Brennan for
starting us on the long trail to covering our bird, a very big step!
8/28/19
Summer is winding down right along with August. Last evening, we had our last Work Session of
the month with Chris and Thomas representing our Youth contingent. Mentors along to help were Mike, Tom, Al, Frank,
Bill, Barry and me.
Chris and Mike continued their work on the forward floor closeout that
goes ahead of the rudder pedals. As you may
recall, this piece is being made of aluminum sheet. We made the first one out of plywood, the same
material as the rest of the floor, until we realized that it will be impossible
to remove a wooden piece without first removing the rudder pedal assembly. We didn't want to paint ourselves into that corner,
so we chose to use aluminum sheet which is flexible enough to allow us to remove
it when necessary by only removing a piece of cowling,
a much simpler operation. Chris and Mike had all the areas cut out to go around
the rudder pedals, brake cylinders and frame members and are cleaning up the edges
to remove burrs. This is kind of tricky as
the edges are so thin, they chatter under the file. To combat this, they clamp the metal between two
pieces of wood with just the material to be removed sticking out. File down to the wood and done. Sounds simple doesn't
it? Easier said than done, but they're almost
finished, one more spot in a corner, then it’s on to mounting holes and paint. Sometimes airplane building can get a little tedious
if you want to make it nice!
Thomas, along with the rest of us set out to hang all the sheet metal
on the front of the fuselage. This was done
to check fit and condition of the parts.
Which ones need to be replaced and which ones need only reconditioning? Most of the parts are rough. After 70 some years of engine vibration, flight
hours and service operations, damage and repair, this poor aluminum assembly is
looking kind of sad.
Squint your eyes a little tough and it helps complete the airplane. One can almost imagine a propeller and spinner
out in front, ready for action!
First to go on was the firewall and wrap around assembly (sometimes
called a boot cowl). As part of this group
of parts is the glare shield and instrument panel. We used clecos instead
of screws and bolts to hold these parts in place, as the assembledge
is temporary. Next is the engine cowl assembly. These pieces were really grimy with dirt and engine
oil so Tom and Frank got busy and cleaned them off. Dish soap, scrub brush and the water hose did
the job. Now we can handle the pieces without
dealing with all that mess, thanks guys!
The engine cowl along with the nose bowl went on and viola, it looks like
an airplane!
This trial fit of sheet metal provides good information regarding condition
and fit with the bonus of looking good for our Pancake Breakfast/Young Eagle event
coming up on the 7th of September. We got
to look good for the masses of folks coming by the Hangar to inspect our Project,
right? We're hoping to attract more Youth
participation, after all that's our Primary Mission!
Not to be left out of developments within the Work Session, Mark Marino,
Chapter Member, airplane builder, fabric expert and Friend of the Project, stopped
by to help estimate the material list for covering our bird. Mark used to have a Poly Fiber dealership which
he sold to Joel Timblin of High Road Aviation. Mark and Joel are scheming out a plan to get us
started, possibly as early as next month.
How exciting is that? Fabric covering
on our airplane. Wow, Go Mark and Joel!!
Thanks to all who turned out last evening, Many
hands make the task easier, and more fun!
We couldn't do it without you!!
Next Wednesday is our meeting night so there'll be no Work Session. Come to the Breakfast/YE Event on the 7th though,
enjoy a few pancakes, go for a Young Eagle ride and check
out our Sedan. See you there!
8/21/19
What a turn out we had last evening! A total of six Youth were on board to join in the fun. They were Brothers Mica and Noah, John and Thomas, with Autumn and Chris rounding out the group. We had the usual crew of Mentors in attendance;
Tom, Mike, Frank, Barry, Bill, Al, Mike S., and me.
As John and Thomas came in,
John presented us with a gift. A hand drawn picture in colored pencil, of our Sedan
as it could look all done ready to fly! I've
attached a pic of it, check it out! John
did a wonderful, this kid has some serious talent in so many areas. Now we know he can draw! Thank You John, we'll
hang it up on the classroom wall with pride.
John will be spending his Senior High School year at the Perpich Arts High School in the Cities concentrating on Music,
his real passion. He'll still come join in
on the Sedan Project when he can. All we
can say is "Good Luck" with your new adventure John, we know you'll do
outstanding!
On with the Work Session! Mike
took Chris and later Thomas and Autumn to pay attention to the fwd floor closeout in progress. They cut holes, slots
and reliefs to fit around the rudder pedals, brake cylinders and frame members. Now what's left is to refine the cuts, produce
the attachment holes, and put in primer.
We recently discovered a wooden bulkhead, number 4-15 to be exact,
that was bowed a little, so Tom, Mica and Bill set out to correct the situation. They removed the tie wires holding everything
together and moved the bulkhead around to flatten it out. Some progress was made but not perfect. Our conclusion is that it will do the job it will
be called to do, so good enough!
Frank and Autumn took on the task to inventory items Member Frank Tahtinen donated to the Chapter last week. These are items Frank had in his hanger which
he no longer needs and thought that the Chapter could make use of them. Things like a brake bleeder and fluid, oil filter
cutter for inspecting oil filter elements at oil change time, various lengths and
diameters of SCAT tubing, gauges, a compression leak tester, and many other aircraft
related items too numerous to list here.
Two big plastic tubs full. We'll have
the full list at our next Chapter Meeting for all to view. Thank you so much Frank, we appreciate the valuable
contribution! The tubs were carried up to
our storage attic already full of Sedan and other parts. Frank and Autumn and Mike S. straightened it up
a little so at least we can walk around in there without stepping on stuff. It's amazing what accumulates, am I right?!
Thomas and John threw in with me and we took care of a few miscellaneous
jobs. They torqued the correct nut on the
tail wheel pivot bolt as well as the eyebolts on the rudder steering horn. We bolted the elevator trim tab onto the left
side elevator and connected the control cables to it. We then removed the brake master cylinders to
inspect the seals, trying to understand how to rebuild them. These cylinders don't have any part numbers on
them to tell us what they are so we'll just have to measure
the O-rings for replacement. We discovered
that there is a cup shaped seal for the main plunger which we'll have to try to
identify. If we can't, we may have to replace
the pair of master cylinders to get the brake system working properly.
We had so much going on last evening, I'm
sure I'm leaving out something! It was amazing,
everyone doing stuff, working together, and I think, having fun!
Thanks to all for coming out and giving us your time and talent, it's
a wonderful thing!
8/14/19
Last evening was a full one, complete with airplane rides! On board to join in the fun were our Youth Thomas,
Autumn and Chris.
Mike brought over his beautiful Stinson and spent the evening giving Thomas
and Autumn, one at a time, a nice long ride trying the controls and enjoying the
scenery with smooth clear air. What could be better?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Frank, Bill, Barry, the remaining Youth and I were preparing our Sedan for showing off at this
Saturday's CAF event at their hanger at the Superior Airport. They are going to put on a first annual, all day
classic car and airplane show complete with live music in the afternoon, to a visiting
AT-6 flying in to sell rides. Ever want to
go for a ride in an AT-6? Well, here's your
chance!
We have been invited to display our Project there so we're taking advantage
of it to get the word out and perhaps raise some badly needed funds. So, we thought it would be a good idea to put
the wheels back on, along with the newly primed tail feathers, thanks to Chris Penny
and Custom Powder Coating in Superior, to make a better showing. It's now ready to taxi down to the CAF hangar
Saturday morning, take the Apparel Cabinet out of the airport terminal and set up
a little display. Wanna
come down and help tell the story of our Project? We'll be there till midafternoon at least so don't
be shy, come on over!
Thanks to all who came out last night, our little plane is getting
a little personality now, FUN!
It was such a busy Session that I hardly had a chance to take any pictures
but attached are a couple. Work work work, the place was hummin'!
7/30/19
It's me again,
except I was unable to attend the Work Session yesterday as I was out of town. However, a good share of our Crew was there
and carried on and didn't even miss me!
Mike stepped
up to write a Review of the Session. It is
as follows:
Youth: Chris,
Thomas
Mentors: Tom,
Al, Bill, Barry, Mike
Chris, Mike,
Barry and Bill began by mounting the brake torque plates
to the landing gear with the new, proper hardware. Chris had this well in hand on
his own until it came time to torque the new bolts down. The last bolt kept turning
rather than holding at the proper torque value. We had never noticed it before,
but that hole was slightly stripped and consequently could not be tightened. At
Al’s suggestion, we reamed the threads out of the hole and will fasten that bolt
with a nut on the other side of the plate.
The other gear
leg held the bolts just fine, so Chris was able to take a try at safety wiring.
Mike was able to demonstrate that old aviation saw “you aren’t done with the safety
wire until you are bleeding.” Luckily Chris was able to complete his portion of
that task with no harm to himself.
Thomas and Tom spent the evening locating
the remainder of the floorboard fastening holes. The floorboards seem to be one
of those tasks that don’t ever have an end. A good deal of the time was spent rounding
the corners of the boards so they will lay flat against the air frame welds. Patience
will pay off in the end when everything fits into place just the way it should.
Chris, Barry
and Mike finished the night laying out the forward floor closeout on a new piece
of aluminum. Even got a couple of holes cut before the session ended.
Thanks to everyone who came out last
night, and a reminder that there will be no session next week.
As you can tell, everything moved along
without a hitch. I'm so proud of those guys,
Youth and Crew!
I will be present at our next
Work Session, on August the 14th, just so everyone doesn't get too used to me not
being there!
7/17/19
I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was nice to have a little lake
breeze last evening, cool things off a little.
When the temps hover around mid-80's and 90's, we up here in the north just
can't take it, Haha!!!
Out to enjoy the weather were three brave and eager Youth: Autumn, Chris and Noah. The Mentor crew consisted of Mike, Tom and me
with Barry acting as our Photojournalist and Noah's Dad Mike S. helping as well.
Chris along with Mike and Barry proceeded to clean up the bolt holes
in the main landing gear brake torque plate mounting ring. The threads have always been a little dirty so
running a tap through them did the trick.
The torque plates now bolt up clean and facing forward as intended. Now we just need some bolts the right length with
drilled heads so when in place can be secured with safety wire.
These guys next turned their attention to the aluminum closeout that
goes on the floor in front of the rudder pedals. We received a pattern from Chet Nelson when Mike
and I went to visit him this week. It was
a good thing because his pattern fit much better than the aluminum one. We'll make a new one from some material Mike has
and get the pattern back to Chet. Thanks
Chet! They then went on to fit and form a
pair of leather rub strips for the outboard edges of the closeout, leather courtesy
of Mark Marino. Thanks Mark! The leather
will be attached to the closeout with staples eventually.
Autumn and I worked on the tail wheel assembly. Last time it was temporally hung for the Chapter
Breakfast we left out a few things, like thrust washers between the assembly and
the fuselage. We installed them as well as
the shock cord ring that provides the spring for suspension. We installed the standard ring that we had on
hand. We may move up to the heavy duty one
that Chet recommends at a later date. With this complete for now, Autumn threw in with
Noah and crew to help with screw holes in the floorboards.
Noah, along with Tom and his Dad Mike installed some cable guards and
brackets that were cleaned up and primed last time. Boy, everything is turning up all shiny and new,
cool!! After that little task they got the
floorboards back out and placed them into the fuselage in order
to drill the mounting screw holes for eventual final installation. While set and clamped in place we rotated the
fuselage on its side and drilled and clecoed the boards
in place. We didn't have the right size
washers to hold the 5/32" clecos in place so we made
some out of thin aluminum. Autumn helped
with that. By the time the clock wound to
8:30 they had a good start on this task.
We'll finish up next time.
Next week is time for all aviators to travel to our Mecca, or Airventure at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the greatest aviation
gathering and exhibition in the world! So,
as a result there will be no Mentors available to hold a Work Session. Therefore, we must cancel next Wednesday's Session
and turn our focus on July 31st. We'll all
be back by then, all enlightened and refreshed by our experience, and ready to continue
our Prize Project! Join us then, won't you?
Thanks to all who came out last evening, it continues to be a pleasure
and joy to gather, work and learn!
7/10/19
Have I mentioned
how much I love Summertime? Well, I do and
it's great! Shorts or long pants,
shoes or sandals?
Big decisions all, that's what comes with Summer. What else comes with summer is working on the
Sedan with the big door open and gentle breezes coming thru the hangar. That's what it was last night during the Work
Session. Autumn, Chris, Thomas and Milt were the Crew of Youth Participants, guided by
the usual group of Mentors; Tom, Frank, Mike, Al, Barry and me.
If you remember from last Session, we had an issue with the brake calipers
clocked in the vertical down position. We
want them in the forward position, a much better place, out of harm’s way (most
airplanes have them in this position). This
week Chris and Mike and Barry drilled the torque plate mounting bolt patterns 90
degrees to the original using templates drawn on AutoCAD to locate the holes. They
then fit them to the axles, and they fit!
One axle hole needs to be chased with a tap, but other than that they'll
do the job.
Meanwhile, Autumn and Tom, with Franks help, secured some missing bolts
in the fuselage. One that holds the aft position
of the bottom center stringer (got that?).
another pair that secure the clamps that hold the
fairleads for the rudder control cables.
Next on the list was to remove pulley cable guards and clips that needed
sandblasting and painting. Autumn got a primer
on the use of our sandblast cabinet, a handy tool for cleaning up small parts. The parts were primed and hung to dry on wires.
Not to be left out, Thomas, Milt and I got into a little TIG welding
repair of the right-side forward seat back frame. There was a longitudinal crack about an inch long
that needed to go away. First things first
and a little demonstration of what we’re going to do was in order. I showed the guys what I was going to do on a
piece of scrap tube and then Thomas got an opportunity to try his hand. First simply making a puddle, moving it along
the tube and then adding filler rod to make a weld bead. Thomas has had some experience with MIG, or wire
welding so this was not completely foreign to him. Making the puddle with one hand
while adding filler metal with the other, all the while controlling the heat with
a foot pedal was a new experience though. He did well, all he needs now is a little more
practice, and then after that, a little more practice! Once the seat frame was repaired there were some
weld defects on the right-side landing gear that needed attention, so we took care
of them too.
Again, before we knew it, our time was up
and we had to return the hangar to an airplane storage space and regroup for our
next Work Session. Thanks to all who came
out last evening. Did I mention how much
I like Summer? It was a great evening for
working on an old airplane!
See you all next week!
6/26/19
What a glorious summer day it was yesterday, and the evening was even
better. The wind quit, upper 70's, sunny,
what's not to like!
We had a good turnout too. Youth
Participants included Chris, Thomas and Ethan. Mentors, the usual crew of Tom, Mile, Frank, Barry,
Bill and me.
Chris and Mike went right to work on the main landing gear. We want to change the position of the brake caliper
from below the axle to in front of it. We
feel the caliper is too exposed to FOD (foreign object debris (that is a
technical term)) damage hanging down, and the brakes will be easier to bleed with
the caliper in the front position. So, off
came the wheels and torque plate to measure the bolt pattern holding the torque
plate to the axle. With this information
in hand we'll see if we can simply drill the existing plate
or if we need to replace them with ones drilled correctly. The gear legs were also examined, and a couple
of weld defects previously found were prepared for repair.
Thomas and Frank in the meantime took on the job of varnishing the
floorboards where they were trimmed in the last couple of Work Sessions, and any
suspected areas missed on the fuselage. Thomas
is a good brusher, working deliberately and thoughtfully throughout the process. Good Job!
Ethan and Tom were not to be left out of the fun. They turned to the airplane interior; side panels, headliner and seat frames. They took turns inspecting the frames for cracks
and other defects, each on one and then the other so the seat frames got a two time
once over! One crack was found, originally
discovered by us some time ago during another inspection. It's good to look at these things thoroughly to
be sure nothing is missed. The crack is simple
and can be welded. We'll do that next time
along with some repair of a weld defect on the main landing gear. The side panels were all located and accounted
for, trial fit and identified. We'll be able
to use them as patterns. Now to find someone
who can drive a sewing machine to help us renew them. This task falls outside of our collective skill
set for now, anybody know anyone who can teach us.
As another Work Session ended, a flock of airplanes came in to visit
from Cloquet. A J4, an Avid Flyer, and a
couple of Champs. What a lovely sight on
a beautiful evening. Not a ripple in the
air and totally blue ski. They stayed for
just a little while and then took off for places known only to them. Now, how much work do we have left on our Sedan?!?
Thanks to all who came out yesterday. As June ends, we'll set our sights on July 10,
two weeks from now for our next Work Session as next Wednesday is Meeting time.
6/19/19
Last night was a flurry of activity in the Chapter Hangar. We were blessed with a large group of Youth Participants,
6 in all. They were Chris, Autumn, brothers
Noah and Micah, Thomas and Ethan. Mentors on board were
Tom, Frank, Al, Bill, Barry, Mike Stevens and me. What a crew!
If we had this many every week, we'd have this thing in the air in no time!
We had plenty to do too. Chris,
Barry and Bill finished up fitting the forward floorboards. I found the aluminum sheet closeout to replace
the wooden one we had previously made. This
is located just ahead of the rudder pedals.
It was pointed out by our friend in Little Falls, Chet Nelson, that the aluminum
one is what the original part was made of and would make later maintenance a lot
easier. Thanks Chet! We'll use it as a pattern to make a new one, completing
the floor.
In the meantime, there was work being done in the very back of the
fuselage. We were preparing to remove the
tail feathers. Just about everyone else was
involved in this task. Control cables were
removed and secured, brace wires removed, and hinge pins driven out. With the elevators off, Ethan and Al got busy
straightening out the trailing edge tubes where bent, using shaped blocks of wood,
the worktable and a wooden hand screw clamp. Block and squeeze here and there. Way better!
Miscellaneous items were tightened, like the bolts for the rudder pedal
bearing blocks for example. Chris and Thomas
torqued and marked them with torque seal.
Autumn found the rudder pedal toe brake assemblies along with the brake master
cylinders and fit them in place with help from Bill and Barry. This in order to determine what needs to be renewed and what can be
used as is.
Next came a big moment, remove the main gear. With the fit assured the gear needs to be removed
to make some weld repairs as well as eventual covering with fabric. It was quite the operation, rehang the forward
stand, add temporary legs to raise the wheel off the floor, remove the rope that
served as a shock cord substitute and bolts holding the gear on. First one side, then the other. We used the removed rope to hold the gear from
falling after the bolts were gone, and before we knew it, the gear was off and the fuselage was again on the stand. Boy, it sure looks different sitting so low on
the floor!
Suddenly it was time to clean up and end the Work Session. Time flies when you're having fun, and it did! Thanks to all who came out last evening, I've
got a feeling we're going to have lots of help this summer. Stay tuned because there is going to be some significant
progress coming soon!
6/12/19
What a lovely evening it was yesterday, don't you just love summer? We had a great time yesterday with Chris, Autumn
and Milt coming by to contribute and maybe learn something new. Mike, Al, Barry, Bill
and I were along to help make sure 1. No one got hurt, 2. We had fun and 3. Learned
something!
As far as operations go, we had the forward floorboards to fit better. If you remember from last time, they didn't fit
that well with the rudder pedals in place.
Chris, Barry and various Mentors got to work. Little by little, trim and fit (repeatedly) and
they lay down well. You trim for an interference
one place and another shows up. We want to be cautious, so we don't leave big
gaps in the final fit. Bill got out his saber
saw for some cuts, so Chris got some more experience with that tool. Every time I turned around,
they were fitting the board back in. They
did a nice job, now we have more varnish touch-up to do!
Not to be left out, Autumn and Mike focused on the pair of pulleys
that guide the elevator trim cables back to the tail feathers. There are three sets of these pulleys, this set
is the most forward one. They were missing
when we got the plane, so we had to A. Find some and B. Fit them. Mike had a pair made, they are like the ones used
on his Stinson, then we needed to fit them to a sleeve/bushing that fits over the
attachment stud on the fuselage. After cleaning
up the bore with sandpaper on a mandrel (made from a pencil) and trimming the sleeve
to length, the pulleys run free and easy in their new home. We used the drill press as a makeshift lathe to
trim the sleeve to length with a hack saw and file to square up and fine tune the
end. The cable guard was just a little tight
on the pulleys too, so we bolted them together, chucked up the bolt in the drill
press and filed off a few thousandths from the outer diameter. Like I said, free and easy. Autumn got a little demo in using what tools we
have rather than what tools we want to get the job done. I hardly ever have all the tools I want (who does?)
so it's kind of fun to experiment with expanding the range of the ones we have!
5/29/19
Summertime!! Well, yesterday
it was, warm enough to have the big door open and let all the heat in. Boy, I like this weather!
I was not alone in this thinking either. Our Youth, Chris and Ethan came out to help with
the Project, as well as our mostly usual crew of Tom, Mike, Frank, Barry, Al and me.
On the agenda for the evening was to put the rest of the landing gear
on, to check for fit and to just see how it looks on wheels. Well, to put it in a nutshell, it looks great!
The first order of business was to pick up the fuselage and attach
an extension onto the front stand. This set
everything up high enough to put the right-side landing gear in place. Chris and Ethan were a team all evening, working
together to coax the parts to their intended positions. Once the right gear was in
we Ethan it up with rope instead of the eventual shock cords, the front stand came
off and the fuselage was standing on its own two feet, or wheels if you prefer,
looking very nice!
Next our guys shifted their attention to the tail wheel. With a little lube on the bolt and bushings it
went right into place like it belongs there.
They installed the second stop bumper and checked its range of travel. Just like factory! Now, how do we steer the thing? The Steering Fork was bolted to the bottom of
the rudder post and the connector assembly with the springs and chains adjusted
and attached. I think it'll work! Ethan tied it in the up position just like the
front gear. Out came the bucket it was sitting on and our
Sedan was on rubber! We couldn't hardly stand
it so we rolled it outside to see what it looked like in
sunlight, “Very impressive" was the general consensus. It stands very tall was my impression, even though
there is no weight there to speak of and a pair of landing gear stop pads aren't
installed causing it to ride higher than normal. Nevertheless, "Very Impressive".
A question begged an answer, should we put the floorboards in? Yes, was the answer! We rolled it back in and set the floor in place. Only the right front piece needed a little trimming,
so Ethan and Mike took that on. In and out
a couple of times and we’re closer but not quite right yet. Every trial fit revealed
another spot that needs attention. Time had
passed for the Session tonight with one more little spot that needs trimming. We'll get that this Saturday morning before the
Pancake Breakfast. It'll just look better
that way.
Meanwhile, we discovered that the tail wheel tire was low on air. "Hey Chris, you want to air that tire up?" Chris grabbed the air compressor and fired it
up. Before we knew it
he had got the air in and the tire was standing like it should. What Chris had missed is that there wasn't an
air chuck on the end of the hose. That didn't
stop him! He simply shoved the air-line coupler
onto the tire valve stem and in went the air.
"How'd you do that?" was
the question! But like the bumble bee that
doesn't know it isn't aerodynamically able to fly, it does anyway. Chris didn't
know he needed an air chuck, he did as he was asked and put air in the tire!
Thanks to all who came out last evening, it sure is fun to be part
of the changes happening to our little airplane!
Yawl come to the Chapter Hangar this Saturday, have a little breakfast,
check her out in person, and for all you Youth, go for a Young Eagle airplane ride!
Next Wednesday is our meeting night so no Work Session. Our next chance will be June 12, so we'll see
you then.
5/22/19
Will this rain ever stop? Seems a little soggy these past days, makes it
hard to get the crops in! 'Course I suppose
we'll be looking for some of this moisture come July or August. That doesn't stop us though, we had a good
crew on board for last night’s Work Session.
Ethan and Chris were the main Men, or should I say Youth! Mentors were Mike, Tom, Barry, Al and me.
We were getting ready for the Spring Fashion Show, or as the Chapter
likes to call it, our Spring Pancake Breakfast/Young Eagle Event, coming up June
1st. We are trying to put our best foot forward
as well as making some trial fittings to understand what will be needed for the
final fit-up.
To that end, Ethan and Mike got the main landing gear out and fit the
brake calipers and wheels. With only minor
massaging, the parts found their way home and were ready to mount to the fuselage. The hunt for the old bolts was more of a challenge!
In the meantime, Chris and Barry focused on the rudder pedal shafts
and their bearings. The bearings are phenolic
pillow blocks in the outboard position and made of aluminum in the center. When they were fit previously it was without lubrication
and now, they squeak! No good! Chris and Barry took the bearings apart and applied
some lube. Molybdenum Disulfide with Graphite
(try saying that 3 times real fast!), or its trade name Dri-Slide,
to do the job. As the name implies, once
applied and the lube dries out it stays put, withstands extreme pressure and does not collect dust and dirt like ordinary grease. We'll see how it holds up. With lube in place
the assembly was put back together. No squeaks!
With that task complete, Chris and company moved to the rudder to check
it's range of travel.
We had a protractor and an angle duplicator, so we were able to measure its
deflection relative to the vertical stabilizer.
According to the Service Manual, Chris reported that we need 25 degrees of
deflection +/- 2 degrees. We made our measurement
and left rudder went to 15 degrees. Not even
close! We took a quick measurement of the
Rudder's right deflection and it was closer, about 20 degrees,
but still shy. The rudder stops are adjustable on our ship, so we screwed the left
side stop bolt all the way in and we gained about 5 degrees. We think if we removed the jamb nut and... We'll continue with this task next time, as
it was getting late and we wanted to mount the Main Gear.
So, we all focused on the front of the airplane, tipped the fuselage
to the side to lift the mount area and set the left side gear in place. That sounded easy! There was a little struggle (isn't there always?)
but we got the two outboard bolts in place and instead of the Shock Cords we tied
the gear up with rope. Ta Da! Time ran out for our Session with only one leg
to stand on but we have a plan for next week. We'll have our hardware all together and move
forward. I predict that by the end of the
next Work Session we'll have our Sedan standing proud on three legs, ready to show
herself off!
5/15/19
What a nice day to have a Work Session, it was cool outside, but the
hangar was warmed by the day's sunshine, not by the thermostat! That must be a sign of Spring, right?
We were greeted by two eager lads, Chris and
Ethan. They were guided by our usual crew
of Mentors; Tom, Mike, Barry, Bill and me.
Our task for tonight was to check the Control Cables on a preliminary
basis so if any major correction needs to be made, we can do that before final rigging.
First thing on the list was for Chris and Ethan to study (read) the
section of the Service Manual: Rigging. Specifically,
the sections about the Elevator, Rudder and Trim Tab. There is a certain order of procedure in rigging
the control systems, and if done in the proper sequence the job moves along without
backtracking and confusion. We try to work
this way but are not always successful! Tonight,
we were.
Once our two guys were somewhat familiar with the procedure, we measured
the Elevator travel. The previous setting
seemed to be within tolerance except the "down elevator" was off by a
couple of degrees. We shifted spacers in
the Elevator Stop and travel was brought within tolerance (15 degrees up and 20
degrees down, +/- 1 degree). Next, according to the Manual, was to set the Control
Wheel Neutral Position (8 1/2" between the center of the Yoke and the face
of the Panel). We held the control shaft
in place with a couple of spring clamps.
Then it was time to adjust the length of the Elevator Push-Pull Tube ("The
length of this push-pull tube should be such that, with the control wheel in a neutral
elevator position, the distance from the center of the bolt hole in the right end
of the elevator bell crank to the center line of tube No. 71 is exactly 4.00 inches
measured parallel to the thrust line. Tube
No. 71 is the 1 1/4" tube onto which the bell crank is anchored."). This took a little bit of a procedure called "Trial
and Error" (we do this a lot) to get the bell crank position just right. Barry pointed out that, as it happened, the threads
on our bearing’s ends are 1/4"-32, that is 32 threads to the inch, so each
full turn of the bearing moves it 1/32".
That came in handy, good tip! (Leave it to an Engineer!) Finally, with the Elevator held in the neutral
position, the Control Cables were adjusted to fit the Bell crank. This procedure brought everything together, with
each cable turnbuckle adjusted equally, ready for the Control cable to be tightened
to the correct tension when the time comes.
With time running out we outlined our work for next week where we will
continue with the Rudder and Trim Tab.
Thanks to all who came out last evening. I may sound like a broken record here, but it
is a such joy to see our Youth engaged in the work of our restoration, and the progress,
little by little, that we make every Work Session.
5/8/19
Hey, what the heck is with this snow! Did we already have our summer? It was pretty nice
that one day a week or so ago! Goes to show, you can never tell
about the weather around here! That didn't
stop us though, the Session went on as planned with Chris and Milt on hand to get
'er done! Member Mentors were the usual crew;
Tom, Mike, Frank, Barry, Al, Bill and me.
Chris and Mike went ahead and continued their work on the Elevator
Trim Control Pulleys. Their task was to clean
up the pulley bores to spin freely on their bushings and fit the Cable Guards. Putting them into place, checking the fit are
all parts of the process. It's amazing how
many times things go together, come apart, before the final installation.
Milt, Frank and I worked on the left side
Horizontal Stabilizer (HS), repairing a misfit hole for the retaining bolt. The HS is not original to the fuselage and the
holes for the AN3 mounting bolt did not match up. We first tried reaming to 3/16" but that
left too much movement in the HS. Next we tried drilling and reaming the holes up to fit a AN4
bolt. That did the job. the HS is now held nice and secure up against
the stop collar on the fuselage.
Next on our list was to fit a fairlead onto the Upper Aft Cabin Bow
to lift up the Elevator Trim Cable from rubbing on a fuselage
cross tube. That worked out nicely so that
the cable runs free except for the one spot where the Parts Manual calls out a strip
of anti-chafe tape to be applied to another cross tube.
Speaking of Anti-chafe tape.
Some of which we applied a few sessions ago was lifting off the tubes where
applied, apparently the adhesive isn't strong enough to hold it onto the tubes. So, Chris and Milt used some 1" wide adhesive
tape to secure the ends of the anti-chafe tape.
No worries about the tape coming loose now!
Thanks to all who came out, even though the weather was nasty last
evening, we had a good Work Session, learning and building. You can't beat that! We'll hit 'er another lick next week.
4/24/19
Last evening's Work Session went off without a hitch. We had a pair of eager Youths on hand, Chris and Autumn. We had
a hand full of the usual Mentors as well.
Tom, Mike, Frank, Al, Bill, Barry and I were there
to continue molding these young minds into the Aircraft Restorers they are becoming
(Haha, sounds like we're doing a great job, doesn't it?)!
Chris began the evening working with Tom to prep the wooden Stringers
and Bulkheads for the last application of varnish, places where we missed before
and where rough spots were smoothed over.
When the extent of the work was determined they mixed up a batch of epoxy
varnish. After the induction period Chris
applied the mix to the wooden work. Varnishing
is complete! (we think, you never know) While waiting for
the varnish, Chris joined Mike examining the brake cylinder's condition in prep
for installation. After the varnishing was
complete Chris, Mike and Barry removed the elevator Trim Control Pulleys, the 1"
diameter ones, for examination and cleaning.
Mike has discovered a source for replacement ones, so we'll be able to complete
the entire set. With the components disassembled
and cleaned, Mike took Chris over to the sand blast cabinet to clean up the cable
guards for painting. When asked if he had
learned anything new tonight, Chris said he learned two new things, how to
mix epoxy varnish and how to run the Blast Cabinet. The Lad is expanding his experience!
Autumn worked with me for the evening. We were checking the Rudder Control Pulley Bolts
for size and security. We checked the bolts
installed against the Parts Catalog for length and type, drilled or not. It calls out drilled bolts, so Autumn got a lesson
in tightening AN310 (Castellated) nuts, how many washers to use and how to install
cotter pins so that they don't rip a chunk of your hand off when you get within
striking distance of said cotter pin! (boy those things
hurt) Autumn left a little early to get home to her schoolwork. This girl is dedicated to her education, it's
going to be fun to watch her grow, she's going places!
Thanks to all who came out last evening. We are all getting excited about the prospect
of covering the fuselage, but there is much to be done first. It's coming though, little by little!
Next Wednesday is May and Meeting Night for the Chapter, so no work
session then. Let's set our sights on the
following Wednesday, the 8th, for our next Work Session.
4/17/19
Last evening, the first Work Session of April, was rainy and cool,
but that didn't stop us in our quest of a superbly restored Aeronca Sedan! Ethan and Milt were on board as well as Mike and
me. Tom is out of town, but he left us with
a cork board with packages of fasteners he had ordered for us through Aircraft Spruce,
all organized, mounted with push pins, for us to find for our work.
The first thing we did was to rehang the Rudder. We had temporarily set the Rudder with regular
bolts, but the heads of the bolts are too big to fit the space provided for the
hinge bushings. Special pins with a smaller head are the ticket, and we found a
set on Tom's cork board. Once the bushings
were cleaned and lubricated, the Rudder and pins came together, allowing free movement
throughout its range of motion.
Next was the Horizontal Stabilizer and Elevator. The Elevator was hung
with the same temporary bolts, so they were removed. The right-side Horizontal Stabilizer was also
removed and examined for fit as it wasn't aligning well up until now. Where the H.S. engages the fuselage was discovered
to be slightly misaligned so we cleaned and lubricated the spots and it fit with
only minor persuasion. The Elevator hinges
bushings were cleaned, lubricated and new pins installed. This gave the Elevators free movement throughout
their range and the realignment of the parts relieved the control cable clearance
problems.
The last order of the evening was to reinstall the Elevator Trim Control
Cable with the correct orientation and routing (we had the cable installed backwards,
go figure). Once that was done, the Trim
Tab moved freely in the correct direction, with plenty of travel available. Fine tuning the travel and cable tension will
happen after the Fuselage is covered.
Thanks to all who came out on a drizzly evening yesterday. Neither rain or snow or gloom of night will stay
our efforts to restore this Sweet Sedan!
3/27/19
Boy it felt like spring yesterday, upper 50's, snow melting like mad,
I love it! We had a great turnout last evening
with our good friends Autumn, Chris, John and Milt aboard
to work and maybe even see something new.
Mentors to help facilitate that effort were Mike, Tom, Frank, Bill, Barry and me.
Team Chris, Tom, Frank, and Barry set about to continue installing
new bolts in the control system. First off,
Chris and Frank tightened the Rudder Torque Tube Bearing Blocks to their final torque. After that they all went after changing out the
old pulleys and bolts for the Elevator and Rudder control cables. Chris was the main changer outer while the rest
of the team helped him with what parts go where. Pulley bolts were not tightened finally as we
need new nuts. Next time! After that the team continued to determine what
other hardware is needed so we can put in an order for next time.
Not to be left out, the rest of us, Autumn, John, Milt, Mike, Bill and I got after renewing the Elevator Trim Cable. This one is LONG! As you can see in one of the pictures attached,
we had to extend our fixture to 33 ft. This
cable is a one-piece item that goes from the Trim Tab on the back of the elevator
forward to the Trim Control assembly, around the drum and back to the Elevator Trim
Tab.
What I didn't get a picture of is the Stop Sleeve that goes on in the
near center of the cable run. This little
round piece of copper with a hole in it is crimped onto the cable to anchor it in
place on the trim control drum. From there
it's a precise length of cable out to the turnbuckles, a little shorter on the "up
tab" end. So, the first thing we did
was to set the old cable onto our fixture to locate the overall length and the center
stop sleeve. With these three locations set
we removed the old cable and assembled the parts of the new one, turnbuckles, thimbles and sleeves.
First, we squeezed the stop sleeve on and anchored it in place in the fixture. With that established we squeezed the end sleeves
at the turnbuckles just like we did with the other control cables. Next, we took down our fixture and set our cable
in place in the fuselage. Up was down and
down was up. We switched the ends of the cable up to down thinking maybe they were
labeled wrong and that just made things worse!
Now, remember we discovered that the stop sleeve isn't in the exact center
of the cable, so apparently it makes a difference which way the cable goes around
the Trim Control Drum to get the correct response out of the trim tab. It appears we put it around the drum backwards. About then, close to 8:30, it was time to pick
up and conclude the Session for the evening.
We'll test my backward theory next time we meet. It seems there is no limit to the things a person
can learn while restoring an old airplane!
3/20/19
Yay, it feels like we've got winter on its heels! I get so excited this time of year, I sure hope that summer falls on a weekend this time so
we all can enjoy it!!!
All kidding aside, we had a great Work Session last evening. Our Youth Participants were Chris, John and Milt; and our Mentors were Tom, Frank, Al, Bill, Barry
and me. It was good to see John back on the
job, he's a busy guy with his theater, drivers ed and his music. Keep up the good work John!
We had some new hardware to install so Chris and Barry got after the
task. We got new bolts for the rudder torque
tube bearing blocks. The old ones have lost
their corrosion protection so out they go.
New bolts in all three blocks, we'll tighten them next time when we bring
a torque wrench to the job. Next was to start
an inventory of more bolts to replace in the control system. Chris along with Frank and Tom went through the
parts book and identified what size they are and made up a list of bolts to order. They should arrive before our next Session so
we can install them too.
Meanwhile, John, Milt and I continued with the makeup of new cables.
This time it was safety cables, the ones that hold the main landing gear in place
in the unlikely event the bungee cords part. These cables will (hopefully) hold the aircraft
off the ground after the event to prevent further damage. John got his first taste of crimping Nico press
sleeves, along dealing with thimbles and clevises. Squeezing the sleeves with the crimper is no task
for the weak, as John discovered! We finished
the two cables, complete with heat shrink tube to protect us from the pokey raw
cable ends that protrude from the sleeves.
We also checked the crimps with a gauge to confirm that they are sufficiently
squeezed.
3/13/19
Yesterday’s Work Session was led in my absence by our own Mike Gardonio. I was called away on Town business, so Mike and
crew pitched in and did a great job. In his
words, the following is Mike's report of the evening.
"Students: Chris, Ethan Deters, Milt
Mentors: Frank, Tom, Mike, Barry,
Spent all the night working on the cabin aileron cables. The right side was removed from the airplane at
the last session and was ready to be duplicated. During the first attempt we used the wrong die
on the crimper, thanks to a mentor error (no names need be mentioned, but his initials
are mike). After cleaning that up, all the
rest of the crimping went very well, and the cable finished.
The students removed the left side cable from the airplane and that
cable was duplicated as well. We are doing
very well at making these cables correctly on the first try at this point so that
means we probably don't have any left to make.
We finished with the cables at 8:15, and with the crummy weather and
not much else to do that we could get done in fifteen minutes, we decided to quit
a little early and try to get home without getting too wet."
2/27/19
Well, the snow held off for us last evening long enough for us to get
in a good Work Session. With us were Chris
and Milt, and a new fellow, Joe Hagen. He
and his Dad Alan, who are Frank Kolo's neighbors, came
by to see what we were up to. Welcome guys! Mentors on hand were Mike, Tom, Frank, Bill, Barry and me.
We started the Session with a little re-work. Life is too dull without
a little re-work! The rudder cable made up
last time had the Nico press sleeve squeezed a little too far away from the thimble
leaving the cable a little loose, so we set about to correct it. No worries, a good lesson is what happens when
things don't go as planned. Mike brought
his Dremel tool with an abrasive cutoff disc installed. We scored the sleeve above the dead end of the
cable to almost through and did the other side the same way. We then used a cold chisel to split the sleeve,
releasing the undamaged cable. It was a simple
matter of squeezing on a new sleeve, a little tighter to the thimble this time and
we're good as new, no harm, no foul, just a good lesson!
Next, we installed the cable in the fuselage, all good. We noticed that we were having trouble getting
full up elevator and wondered if the cables were reversed (one is longer than the
other) so we switched them. We realized that
the bell crank won't operate fully that way, so we switched them back. Another lesson learned! I'm not sure what we did, but we now get full
elevator travel. Isn't airplane restoration
interesting?
With the evening rolling along we had just enough time to remove the
left side aileron control cable and put it up on the fixture and set the length
for the new one. It's nice to have seed for
next time.
Thanks to all who came out last evening, and especially Al and Joe
Hagen. I hope to see you fellas again soon!
1/23/19
Last evening was a quiet one.
Our Youth Participant being the one and only Chris S. Mentors were present in good form were Tom, Frank,
Barry, Bill and me.
We were prepared for a productive evening, and we had one. I brought a pair of aluminum I beams to use as
a fixture to replicate the control cables.
Tom, Frank and Bill set them up in the Classroom
right away. The beams, remnants from my welding
shop days, are 12 1/2 ft long, and together 25 ft, plenty for our purposes. I had used them on my own project, making up control
cables for my Glasair Sportsman, so the process is tried and true. We'll use the old cable as a pattern since the
length and identification has been confirmed on our Sedan. This will set the length and configuration for
the new cables.
Meanwhile, Chris helped me weld on the tab of the misaligned pulley
in the aileron control system. We did some
refinement of the weld joint, prepared a heat shield for the upper outboard cabin
bow and cleaned the weld joint area. I explained to Chris my procedure and why I did
what, to control distortion and alignment, and to achieve 100% penetration of the
joint. We welded it up and everything came
out just fine. Alignment good, penetration
100%. Chris applied some self-etching primer
to the location, we called it good.
While inspecting our cable run, Barry noticed another misalignment. This time in the left and right lower aft pulleys. Barry has a protractor app on his phone and measured
the cable and pulley (aren't these phones amazing?). He concluded that the pulley is about 6 degrees
out of alignment with the cable. Hmmm... We'll have to think about this one. The left-hand pulley mount had been repaired at
one time but the right one has not, it looks factory, but they both measure about
the same. This condition cannot exist as
the cable is bearing onto one side of the pulley which will wear prematurely. These pulleys won't be as easy to realign as the
upper one, they are held by a bolt attached to a short piece of tubing. I suspect the mounts will have to be removed any
new ones made to carry the pulleys correctly. I'll do some checking. One can hardly say, even with the log books, what this old bird has gone through. Surprises at every turn!
Once we were satisfied that we could do no more with the Aileron Control
System tonight, we shifted to setting up to make a new control cable. We chose the down elevator cable. We removed it from the fuselage and placed it
on our fixture in the Classroom. We attached it to brackets and stretched it out
tight. Once the length is firmly established,
we'll remove it and set in a new cable paying attention to the arrangement of turnbuckles,
clevises and such and voila, a new Control Cable. Stay tuned for next week when we get serious!
1/16/19
Another Work Session is under our belt! Present in the Youth Participant category were
Autumn, Chris, Ethan and Milt. In the Mentor group were the usual suspects; Tom,
Mike, Frank, Bill, Barry, Al and me.
First order of business, Autumn and Tom ran the left side aileron control
cable from the control column to the bell crank which attaches to the fuselage in
the cabin overhead. If you remember from
a previous report that our aileron bell crank’s bearings were not up to the task and we had replaced them with aftermarket bearings without
success. A call out to our friend in Michigan,
Mike Hoag produced a pair of bearings from his stash of spare parts. I don't know what we would do without our good
friends in the Sedan Community like Mike and our other good friend, Chet Nelson
in Little Falls, MN. Thanks, you guys are life savers! Chris, Mike and Barry pressed the new bearings into our bell crank and
mounted it in the overhead just in time for Autumn and Tom to terminate their cable
run. In the meantime, Chris and Barry jumped on the right-side aileron control cable
to route it the same as the left.
Frank had brought some fasteners to further attach the elevator trim
tab, so he and Milt installed them. While
looking at the trim cable run, it was noticed that there was interference with the
fuselage so a re-route was initiated. Ethan
joined that project and at long last, with reference to the parts book, trial and
error, the cables are in place and the trim tab operates in the correct direction
per the placard for the trim gearbox. The
book calls out some areas of anti-chafe protection that will be applied with the
final installation.
Operating the aileron controls from the Control Column we discovered
considerable drag and resistance in the system.
It was discovered that the left side upper aft pulley, the last one before
the cable gets to the bell crank was way out of alignment causing the cable to bind
on the pulley side. Further examination shows
an earlier repair where one of the support tabs had broken off was rewelded. I was alarmed somewhat when I began to adjust
the mount and the outer tab just came off in my hand. It had been holding on by just a fraction of the
weld! My heart just kind of jumped a little
imagining what would have happened if it came loose in flight. No doubt we will be checking the integrity of
the other pulley mounts!! With one of the
two tabs loose, we were able to adjust the alignment and with the loose tab bolted
in place it can easily be welded back on next Session. All this shows that thorough inspections are critical
to our restoration, let no stone be un-turned!
All the time while the above was happening, Frank got the rest of the
crew sanding off the face of the stringers where the fabric will sit to remove the
lumps and bumps that will show through once the fabric is stretched in place. Once complete, a light coat of varnish will be
applied, and we'll be good to go!
Thanks to all who came out last evening. Our Youth are getting excited seeing the Sedan
take shape, learning what makes what move and how important it is to do things a
certain way, all to make sure our bird can make every flight a safe one!
1/9/19
Last evening was a busy and productive one. We had a great crew all working together, and
sometimes on top of each other, with our focus on running the control system for
the rudder and elevator. Our group of Youth
Participants were Autumn, Chris, Ethan and Milt. Our Mentors were Tom, Mike, Frank, Al, Bill, Barry and me.
Like I mentioned, our focus was on the rudder and elevator control
system. For starters Chris, along with Mike
and Barry, set the rudders in place. A little
evaluating and cleanup of the bearing blocks was in order before the actual bolting
in place. The outer bearing blocks, actually a phenolic composite, appear to be in good condition,
with the center one, an aluminum block, also in serviceable condition. The mounting bolts are somewhat corroded and will
eventually be replaced. Once finished with
that they set the elevator cables in place.
Autumn and Tom went for the rudder cables to set them in place. As
with Chris and company with the elevator cables, it all seemed like a big puzzle,
but fun to figure out. Let's see, the cable goes under this tube, over this bulkhead,
or is it the other way around? Now, where do the pulleys go? After about four attempts
for each team they had the cables run from front to back
the way the factory intended.
Ethan, Milt, Frank and Al concentrated on
the elevator trim control. They installed
the gear box assembly in the top of the fuselage, set the trim tab in place, and
then ran the cable. It too was a puzzle to
route, and which way is nose up or down?
Clockwise on the crank for nose up, or is it the
other way around. Remember, the tab must
angle up for nose down and vice-versa for nose up. Eventually they got it right!
We will run the aileron cables from the Control Column to the Aileron
Bell Crank next. All this exercise is to
determine where the cables go, is there any interference, and are they the right
length. With those questions answered and
problems solved we can then use the old cables as patterns for fabricating new ones
that we can install permanently. We can also
evaluate the hardware holding everything in place and replace as necessary. We'll put in new pulleys too, everything will
be nice and new and shiny!
12/19/18
Here I am after returning from out of town for Christmas to correct
my last Review. As an explanation, my computer
was acting up and I had limited time to work with a plane to catch. Somehow the
message scrolled way down, and I couldn't control it. Well, here it is, with the bonus of pix I failed
to attach last time:
It was kind of a drizzly, dark evening that greeted us at the hangar
today. That didn’t stop a hearty crew of
youth and Mentors from gathering and getting some work done. Youth today were John, Chris, Ethan and Milt. Mentors
ready and willing were Frank, Al, Bill, Barry and me.
Right away Chris and Barry got busy fairing in the upper side cabin
bows to their stringer following behind.
The cabin bows were a little proud of the stringer, and the stringer a little
proud of the bow that would have shown up in the covering with some sharp edges
and possibly tearing of the fabric. Not any more, Chris did a nice job of smoothing them out. After that job was finished, they went up in the
attic and dug out the control cables and pulleys for the elevator and rudder. They got them sorted out and identified by their
tags and reference in the parts book.
Ethan and Frank set about to replace the AN3 bolts holding the upper
forward cabin bow in place with AN507 flat head screws. These won't show through the headliner as it wraps
around the bow. Of course, the bolt holes
needed to be countersunk for the screws, so they got out the micro drill stop with
a 3/16" piloted countersink and went to work. A little glue under the screw heads and job done. Next there was the issue of the nails helping
to hold the top three stringers to the forward bow were too long and presented a
picker (technical term) as you brushed your hand by them. So, the nails were clinched close to the stringer
tang to move the nail points out of the way of wandering fingers. After that they went up in the attic and found
the elevator trim control that Mike had repaired and studied it to determine exactly
how is to be installed. I think they got
it! We'll try it out next time.
John and Milt got busy replacing a pair of brass screws holding the
top of the rear window frames to the fuselage with steel screws the same size. At the time the brass ones were installed we didn't
have steel ones. Now we do and they're in
place now! Once that was complete, they moved
to the tail feathers and replaced some temporary safety wire holding brace wires
to the horizontal stabilizer with AN3 bolts.
12/12/18
Last evening, we were greeted by warmer than normal temperatures, outside
and in, (we are finally figuring out that if one turns up the slab heat in the morning
with our remote-controlled thermostat, the hangar will be warm by the evening!)
as well as two eager Youth Participants.
Autumn and Chris were there to continue the work. Mentors available for guidance were Mike, Tom,
Frank, Al, Barry, Bill and me.
Frank took Chris aside early for assistance mounting our new vice. We barely missed a beat in the Vice Department
with Frank's timely acquisition of the tool after we broke ours last time. Thanks Frank!
Next in the order of business was to turn our fuselage around, end
for end, so that we would have room to test fit the tail feathers. Once that move was accomplished real work commenced
with Autumn and Tom cleaning up glue joints in the rear window frames and then moving
to attach the rest of the stringers to their anchorages with safety wire. Chris and Mike spotted a few bolts attaching stringers
to the fuselage that needed their attention before joining Autumn and Tom with their
wiring project.
As it became apparent that Autumn and Tom were going to finish the
stringer wiring, Chris and Mike (and company) moved to
the aft end of the fuselage and removed the rear fuselage pivot fixture to make
room for the horizontal stabilizers. We set
the fuselage on a bucket cribbed with 2 X 4's for now.
The Horizontal Stabilizers were set in place and brace wires temporarily
affixed to support them. The elevators and
rudder were also set in place. Man does that
make a visual difference! We are now in a
position that we can mount control pulleys and run cables to check their routing
and length before we make up the new cables to replace them.
11/28/18
Well, we're back at it! John
and Milt were on board to get some work done, so off we went. Tom, Mike, Frank, Bill
and I were available to guide and assist their endeavors.
The first task was captured perfectly in the log
book by Mike. The following is a transcript:
(my comments are in parenthesis)
Mike & John & Jim & eventually everybody tried pressing
bearings in the aileron bell crank. The new
bearings were a substitute as the old removed bearings are no longer available. To get enough bearing surface we were replacing
the two old fat bearings with a stack of three thinner ones. All went well until we tightened up the new bearing
stack (pressed in the bell crank) with a bolt and found the new bearings are not
true enough and the bolt & bearings were binding. It was then a race to get the new bearings back
out before the sleeve retainer hardened.
Eventually everything came apart, including the vise, and no harm was done
(except for the vise). We will search for
more new bearings with closer tolerances." It was amazing to us how out of line the bore
in the inner race was, in all three, to the rest of the bearing. It just goes to show that not everything is perfect
(except us of course)!
With that task behind us, John and Mike moved to replace a couple of
broken screws holding the Control Wheel Column bushings in place. Come to find out
the little #8 screws don't require much torque to twist off!
That task didn't take very long so John and Milt joined me in cleaning
up glue joints and nailing the ends of top three stringers into the Upper Forward
Cabin Bow. We had some experience with using
small diameter nails earlier in this area, with difficulty, so we decided to drill
a pilot hole smaller than the nail to aid in the installation. This worked better and still provided a good interference
fit of the nail.
With this time ran out and the Work Session ended. Thanks to all who came out last evening. Sometimes it seems that we don't get much done
during these Sessions, but we always learn something, even us old "experienced"
guys! Isn't that the real reason we're doing
this? By the way, does anybody have a bench
vice they're not using? The Chapter Hangar
could use one!
11/14/18
Last evening got underway with a large contingent of Youth Participants. Autumn, John, Parker, Ethan, Chris and Milt came out and were all eager to work. Mentors were Tom, Mike, Barry, Bill and me.
Chris and Milt went with Mike to press new bearings into the aileron
control bell crank. They were in there pretty
good, in fact they had to be removed from the inside out with a punch. Then the new ones that Mike was able to find are
just a whisker small (another Technical term) on the outside
diameter so they'll use a bearing mounting Loctite to secure the new bearings in
place. Mike will bring the material next time.
After that team Chris and Milt drilled the mounting holes in new oil lite
bushings, that Mike found online, for the control wheel shaft. We had tried to reuse the old ones by rotating
them, but they ended up too sloppy, thus the new ones. Once prepared, the old bearings were replaced
with the new which made a big difference.
Good job team!
Autumn and John joined Tom in installing the rear window frames for
the last time. After they were bolted in
John wired in the attached stringers while Autumn helped Tom glue in the window sills, and spacer the on the right side. Everything fit as it was intended to. By golly, it's fun to see our Sedan take shape!
Ethan and Parker were also on the job securing the top three stringers
to the upper forward cabin bow. Last time
as you may recall, the stringers were wired in place before they were secured to
the bow, no fault of our Youth, they were just doing as they were told (by somebody,
maybe me). So the
wires were loosened, stringers move forward and glued in place. Next time we'll tighten the wires again and move
on.
10/24/18
What
a beautiful day it was here in the Northland, sun shining (setting), mid 50's, light
breezes. Still, we kept the big door closed,
ha-ha! We had a light turnout of Youth Participants,
Parker and Ethan.
It was nice though as without them we couldn't work on the plane, and a eager pair of workers too! Mentors were Tom, Mike, Milt
and me. You notice that Milt was on the "Mentor"
crew last evening. Milt is in a special situation
with us, sometimes Mentor, sometimes Youth Participant (even though he is as old
as any of us). Milt came to us years ago
to learn about TIG welding while we were repairing the fuselage and stayed on learning
about all the other aspects of aircraft restoration that we get into. When the time comes, he is all in passing on his
experience and knowledge to other Youth Participants. Thanks Milt!
So,
Parker and Milt got after wiring the stringers (which Milt is pretty good at). Parker had not to this point done any safety wiring,
so he got some good practice under Milt's guidance. By the time the evening ended they had finished
up all the remaining stringers except for the ones attached to the window frames
(which I'll get to in a just a shake). It
was at the very end of the evening that we discovered that the 3 stringers on the
top came away from the forward upper cabin bow.
This is all on me as they asked if the top stringers were ready to wire and
I gave them the go ahead. I hadn't noticed
they weren't attached to the cabin bow, which should come first. Darn it! No worries though, next time we'll release the
wires and secure the stringers in the bow and continue. When one is learning (and we're all learning)
mistakes happen. That's one way we learn. We'll back up and then move forward!
Meanwhile,
Ethan and Tom got setup to finish the varnishing of the window frames and stringer
assemblies. The stage was set in the meeting
room and parts were removed. Tom mixed up
a batch of epoxy varnish and during the induction period (about 30 minutes) Ethan
and Mike installed the elevator bell crank into the fuselage. That was just about enough time for the varnish
to sit, so Ethan and Tom went to work with the brushes. When that task was finished
there was just enough time for Ethan and Mike to set the elevator push-pull tube
in place on the control column and elevator bell crank. They didn't permanently install it as its length
will need to be adjusted to aid in the elevator's full range of movement. We have moving parts in our airplane, yay!
In
between times, Mike took some measurements of the control wheel shaft bushings,
so we can replace the old ones. They looked
good a first but, they allow too much lateral movement in the control wheels for
our liking. Mike will prepare some materials
for another work session to renew that bearing.
Thanks Mike!
Thanks
to all who turned out last evening. Now notice,
next Work Session in on Halloween. Costumes
are optional! I for one am going to dress up as a "Spirit
of Katrina" Sedan Work Session worker guy! (see if
you can recognize me!) How 'bout you?
10/17/18
Last
evening greeted us with light winds and a cool clear sky. We had the heat on in the hangar and kept the
door closed, cozy! Autumn, Chris and Milt were there to get busy. Tom, Mike, Frank, Bill, Barry
and I were there to help.
Rear
window frames were on the menu again this time, so Autumn and Chris got to it with
Tom's and my guidance. They cleaned up the
glue joints from last time and shaped the stringer coming into the window frame. Mike dug out some pulleys and cable, so we could
stage the aileron cable that goes past the window sills,
giving us a reference to precisely locate the sills. Their task got to be a little crowded, so Chris
and Mike moved to tie wire the stringers, an ongoing process. There are a few spots left, but we're making progress. The stringers attached to the window frames are
left loose so that we can remove the window/stringer assemblies for a final varnish
touch-up on a bench. We flipped the fuselage
right side up to continue our work, my but this thing is starting to look like an
airplane!
Tom
and Autumn continued with the window project and located the rear headliner former
into the window stringer. This former is
an 1/8" wire that is anchored into the stringer, giving the head liner something
to hang from. There are five such stations
where the headliner hangs from, the rear one being the biggest. It also should be nice and straight, I mean all
on the same geometric plane, so the headliner seam has a nice straight line. After considerable attention, I think they got
it!
Thanks
to all who came out to work on the Sedan last evening. With the continued participation of our Youth,
little by little, we continue to make progress.
See you all next week!
10/10/18
Is
Summer over or what?? I hope this weather
is not a harbinger of things to come! Nevertheless,
we had a great turnout last evening. Eager
to get to work were Jacob along with his Dad Brian, Ethan
with his Dad Jordan and Chris with his Mentor Barry. The Chapter crew ready to lead the charge were
Tom, Mike, Al and me.
Jacob
was especially excited to do some more riveting, anxious to see what he remembered
from his lesson last time. Al was happy to
guide him, and together they reviewed the basics and riveted two pieces together. Jacob has big plans about finishing his project,
he wants to add to it for another project he has going at home.
Ethan
was not to be still, so he and Tom got busy with a drill stop and countersink to
fit flat head fasteners in the window frames and upper outboard cabin bows. That task complete, Ethan installed AN3-6 bolts
and nuts in the upper forward cabin bow.
With time to spare he and Tom, along with Al, glued the reinforcing strip
on the left side window stringer splice.
Chris,
in the meantime got busy cleaning up the glue joint on the right-side window frame/stringer
he and Barry clamped up last time we met.
That turned out real nice. After that
the two of them joined Mike to put the final torque on the right-side Control Column
pivot bolt. Last time you may remember we
were unable to finish that job for lack of a thin washer to help clock the slot
in the castellated nut for installation of a cotter pin at the proper torque. (Whew!) With the additional washer, the nut drew up within
the proper torque range and the cotter pin slipped in. Setting the pin went smoothly
and on to the next task they went. Wiring
the stringers to the wooden bulkheads was the job, a continuation from last time
too.
It's
fun, from one Work Session to another, to witness what these kids retain and perfect
with practice. I think we're starting to
help them develop some skills that will serve them well in the future!
9/26/18
I
can't believe September is winding down already, at this rate it will be spring
before we know it! No? Well it was worth a shot!
Last evening's Work Session was over before we knew it, a busy couple of
hours complete with visitors curious about our progress. Mike Busch stopped by as did Tom Setter and Ethan's
Dad Jordan. Youth Participants ready to work
and learn were Ethan, Autumn, John, Chris and Milt. Milt is kind of a floater, sometimes one of our
Y.P. and sometimes Mentor, pitching in when able. Thanks Milt!
Mentors were some of our usual crew, Tom, Al, Barry
and me. Mike and Frank were off fulfilling
other obligations.
The
evening got started with Chris and Barry picking up where they left off on the right-side
window frame/stringer junction. Their glue
joint cured, it needed to be cleaned up which they took care of. Sanding flush the
stringer to the frame. Next, they prepped
the area for the reinforcement strip and glued it into place.
Autumn,
John and Tom prepped the left side window frame for the
same operation, drilling the additional fastener hole through the frame to the fuselage
at the top aft corner and gluing the stringer extension to the bottom of the frame.
Ethan
and I began the process of fastening the stringers to the wooden bulkheads with
.032 diameter safety wire from Tom's supply cabinet. Thanks Tom!
I gave Ethan a demonstration of the procedure with Milt looking on. Ethan did the next one with both Milt and me looking
on, and then Ethan and Milt were off to the races. I left them to their task, checking in occasionally. They were doing great work and completed a good
third of the connections.
With
me on the loose and Autumn and John finished with their window/stringer job, we
went after the control column again, tightening the pivot bolts and installing cotter
pins to safety the nut to bolt. Neither Autumn
or John had had any previous experience with a torque wrench, so we went over some
basics, reviewing the torque table in the 43.13 manual, why we control the tension
on bolt and nut fasteners, and so on. Then
the actual tightening of the nut. With a
range of torque acceptable we started on the low end and checked the position of
the slot in the castellated nuts to the cotter pin hole to see how it matched up. If the hole was clear and the cotter pin would
slip in place, we stopped there. If not,
we set the wrench to mid-range, loosened the nut some and torqued again, and again,
until the cotter pin would go in. Autumn
and John then got a lesson on installing cotter pins to safety the nut and bolt
combination. On the right-hand side, we got
up to the maximum setting and the cotter pin hole was still covered. The next step is to place a thin washer under
the nut and torque again, provided there is room at the base of the slot to receive
the pin. Well, we didn't have a thin washer
on hand, so we'll have to wait until next time.
No worries, I'll bring one from home and we'll try again, all part of the
learning experience!
Meanwhile,
John tried his hand at wiring up stringers, and with Al's help really got into it. You got to love this kind of enthusiasm!
Autumn
had to leave early to catch up on homework (there's a reason she gets so many A's),
and Chris had worked himself out of a job, so he and I installed the lower aileron
cable pulleys onto the control column. Chris
also had no previous experience with a torque wrench, so we went through an intro
and away we went. Tightening, checking, shimming
with another washer, tightening and checking again and
then installing the cotter pin. Chris watched
me do one, then he did one. Good job Chris. It's fun to watch the expression on his face when
he's concentrating, can you say Focused?
Thanks
to all who came out last evening, including our visitors. It's still so great to be in the hustle and bustle
of activity during one of these Sessions, the excitement is contagious!
Next
Wednesday will be October and time for our monthly meeting so no Work Session then. We'll see you back here on the 10th for another
round, can't wait!
9/19/18
With
yet another Work Session in the books, our Sedan is really taking shape. Work continues on the
controls and wooden work. Youth present to
join the fun were John, Autumn, Chris and Milt. Mentors were Mike, Tom, Barry, Bill and me.
John
and Mike got busy right away with their production of the brace wire lugs. One to go and it was completed in short order. It's too bad that there aren't more to do because
they've got it down now. System perfected,
Good job!
Chris
and Milt with Tom and Barry, got back to work on the rear cabin window frames, getting
the right side one ready to glue to its stringer. Once the surface was prepared, they set the frame
in place and drilled the additional mounting hole for a #6 flat head screw to the
vertical fuselage tube. Now with the frame
in place, we turned the fuselage upside down to provide better access to the glue
joint. With everything in position, they
glued, and clamped the joint with teeny tiny (AN specific grade!) nails and allowed
to cure. Next week we can finish the joint
by gluing on the reinforcement piece, and then doing the same thing to the left
side.
Meanwhile,
Autumn and I went to work on the control column some more. Our focus was on the control yoke shaft bushings. These are a brass piece 1/8" thick that fastens
to the fuselage behind the instrument panel.
We are using the old bushings but rotating them to the sides without wear. About half way through
John, who had finished his work on the brace wire lugs, joined us. We studied the bushings, identifying the area
worn from years of flight control. We rotated
the bushings putting the unworn area to the bottom and bolted them on. We then shifted our focus to the lower main pivot
bolts. Last week we discovered and interference
between this bolt and the aileron cable pulley mounted next to it. Reversing the pivot bolt would correct this interference,
but what about future serviceability? We
tested the solution by a trial fitting of the lower boot cowling. We realized that in the future, the bolt can be
accessed from the outside by removing this cowling. Good to go.
We reversed the bolt and checked interference with the pulley. Just fine!
Just as we were going to torque and safety the bolts, John and Autumn had
to leave to do homework. No worries, we'll
complete this task next time and move on.
Thanks
to all who came out last evening. Inch by
inch, bolt by bolt, we are learning, and restoring our Sedan!
9/12/18
Last
evening was as warm as any this summer so we enjoyed the big door wide open, that
was until after dark when the mosquitoes found warm bodies hard to resist! Still, the warm air was welcome.
Youth
here to participate were our old friends Samantha and her brother Brett, Milt, John,
and a couple of new fellows, brothers Parker and Ethan who brought their Dad, Jordan Deters. Welcome
to the team guys! Mentors were the usual
suspects, Tom, Frank, Mike, Al, Bill and me.
Samantha
and Brett got busy with Tom and Frank on the rear window and stringer connection. The outside edges of the stringers were smoothed
and rounded to make a nice line in the fabric.
At our Pancake Breakfast we were informed by Chester Nelson (who flew his
beautifully restored Aeronca Sedan to the event) that there is another attach point
for the window frames we had not considered.
In the upper aft area of the frame as it crosses a vertical tube there is
an #8 screw hole that is used to hold the frame to the fuselage at that point. Our holes were stripped, so we elected to move
the hole up on the tube and make it a through and through, so we can put a flat
headed screw there with a nut on the backside of the tube. So, I welded up the old holes and we will tool
up for the new attachment.
John
and Mike got back on their production of brace wire lugs. They got three of the four done before John had
to go.
Parker
and Ethan joined me in the final installation of the Control Column. We checked the bolt and washer arrangement of
the main pivot and torqued and installed cotter pins. We then tried to install the lower aileron pulley
when we discovered an interference between the pulley and the pivot bolt. The parts book shows the bolt going from the inside
out presumably to allow for servicing the joint after the airplane is finished,
but the nut sticks out too far holding the pulley away. Further research is required. Mike joined the task after John left and he and
the guys test fit the elevator bell crank. Everything went OK except we decided to find a
shorter bolt. This one uses too many washers. I think I have one.
Thanks
to all who came out last evening and a hearty Welcome! to Parker and Ethan. It's always great to see new faces and aspiring
Aeronauts!
8/29/18
Yesterday
presented yet another beautiful evening to work on our Sedan. We did that and more. On board were Youth Participants Autumn, John,
Chris and Milt.
Mentors were Tom, Mike, Frank, Al, Barry and me.
First,
Mike had his beautiful Stinson 108 over and he and Autumn went flying. After they got back, John went up with him for
a little lesson in basic pilotage.
Back
here on the ground we got busy. The crew
of John (before he went flying), Chris, Frank, Milt and
I began to fit the rear window frames to their stringers in earnest. The splice member was cut and fit, now nearly
ready for the glue.
When
Autumn got back, she and Tom got after the control column, greased the pivots and set it in the fuselage along with the control yokes,
ready to torque and safety.
The
evening flew by, literally for a few of us, and suddenly it was time to wrap things
up. August is ending and next week is our
meeting time, so no Work Session next week.
Meanwhile, don't forget our Annual Chapter Pancake Breakfast September 8th. Good food, lots of folks visiting, Young Eagle
rides and (fingers crossed) great weather.
Come if you can, it'll be fun!
8/22/18
What
a pleasant late summer evening it was yesterday. Big door wide open, nice breeze, perfect for varnishing! We had a good crew of Youth Participants on board
to work and learn. Micah and Noah were there
along with our old friend Chris. Along to
help was our regular Mentor bunch, Tom, Mike G., Frank, Al, Barry, Bill, Mike S.,
and me.
The
first order of business was to scuff up the first coat of varnish on the stringers. A week has gone by and
the stringers needed the shine knocked off to accept the second coat. This was a team effort. All three of our youth grabbed a pad of Scotch
Brite, along with Tom, Frank
and Mike S. Our concern was that we'd run
out of time before the job was completed so we jumped all over it! Once the scuffing was done, a wipe with solvent
to get rid of the dust, the varnishing began.
I mixed a batch and they went to town, even Al got
into the act! As they say, many hands make
light work, and the task was completed in plenty of time, in fact, time to take
on other tasks.
Meanwhile,
Bill came around with his trusty C172 and offered Chris a Young Eagle ride. Chris finished scuffing the stringer he was working
on and took Bill up on his offer. Barry went
along, just because he could! They all came
back with smiles on their faces, and Chris got his Log Book
signed. Now he's ready to start his Private
Pilot Ground School thru Sporty's online course!
Micah
and Mike G. got to work on the Control Column.
We wanted to remove it to install drill a grease hole in the main pivot sleeves
to provide some lubrication to the joint.
In the past these have rusted up and transferred the movement to the attaching
bolt and support brackets, not good. At the
same time, we will replace the old bolts, better than new!
Chris
and Noah got busy touching up some places on the fuselage missing varnish, the notches
cut in the bulkheads for the stringer tang.
That complete and with Barry's help, began installing new bolts to hold the
bulkheads into place. Barry would hand each
an AN bolt of the right length, a couple of washers and
a nut to replace the stove bolt we used to temporarily fasten the bulkheads in place. With all the fasteners in place, Chris and Noah
tightened the nuts to the correct torque.
Now, normally the bulkheads are held in place with a special hollow rivet,
but with these not available to us we improvised using 1/4" AN bolts, thin washers and nyloc shear
nuts. With no torque specification, it was
"tighten to just the right how much” With the bolts in a shear load, we wanted
them to hold the parts securely but not to crush the wood. I tightened the first one to what I judged enough,
and the guys took it from there. The bolt
would turn with a wrench, but with resistance that they compared with the rest of
the fasteners. Chris and Noah got serious
about this task and did a very good job.
Thanks guys!
Just
like that the Work Session ended. I'm excited
to get the stringers back on the fuselage, permanently! With the Control Column in place, the next step
will be control cables and pulleys and stuff.
Our Sedan is taking shape, good reward for hard work. Let's see what we can get accomplished next week!
8/15/18
Last
evening was a busy one and another Work Session in the book! We welcomed two new Youth Participants into the
Project, brothers Micah and Noah Stevens along with their Dad Mike. Welcome guys, it's great to have you aboard! Also, in attendance on the Youth Participant side
were our good friends Samantha and Brett LaGraves whom
we haven't seen for a while (summer activities), and our steady team mates Autumn and Chris.
We had our core group of Mentors on the job, Tom, Frank, Mike, Barry, Al and me. We had a full
house, just in time too as varnishing was on the menu.
Autumn
and Tom got updated on her Privet Pilot studies and they were joined by Samantha
as Tom went over the pre-flight checklist on his Glasair II. Meanwhile, Micah and Noah got introduced in the
fine art of mixing Poly Fiber Epoxy Varnish.
I poured out the 2-1 ratio of Varnish to Catalyst and then after mixing we
added another part of reducer for the first coat on the stringers, nice and thin
so it would soak in. Once completed, they
removed the bottom three stringer an set them up on plastic
covered tables in the Classroom. By this
time Autumn and Samantha were finished with Tom's instruction and joined the varnishing
crew. With Frank's help they set up another
station in the Classroom, removed three more stringers
and begun applying varnish. About halfway
through, all four of our Youth Varnishers signed their names to one or two of the
stringers, permanently recording their participation in the restoration. Fun! By the time the evening was done, they had the
first coat on all the stringers. Good job!
Meanwhile,
Brett and Mike took on several tasks. First
was fitting a washer for the control wheel bearing that Mike made to replace one
missing. The shaft hole needed some refinement
to fit so Brett and he got out the file and went to work. They temporarily fit it in place, perfect! Next, they trimmed off the dowels glued into the
misaligned holes in the left side rear window frame and fit it into place aligned
with the related stringer and drilled new holes. Finally, they moved to making more
the brace wire attach lugs. As you may recall,
the top ones are finished and on to the bottom ones. They got the tab bent and drilled as the Work
Session ended.
Chris
and Barry continued their work refining the bolt holes in the wooden stringers. With that job completed, Chris grabbed a brush
and touched up some placed missed on the bulkheads. He next took the little touch up brush we had
and applied varnish to the tie wire holes drilled in the bulk heads. That completed, he finished up the same holes
in the stringer the other team had not finished.
As
you can imagine, there was a lot of activity in the Hangar last night! It was fun, and time flew by. Thanks to all who came out last evening, I still
get a thrill out of seeing all the activity and concentration, everyone trying to
do their best work. See you all next week!
8/8/18
It's
Been a while since we've been at the Hangar to work on our bird, what with AirVenture and the monthly meeting, but we're back in full force! Youth present to participate were Autumn W., Chris
S., Dave G., and Milt. Mentors were the core
group, Frank, Tom, Mike, Barry and me.
Autumn
got together with Tom right away to clear up some questions she had regarding her
Private Pilot studies, including but not limited to, the phonetic alphabet. This bugger can be confusing
to the newcomer, but she's getting it! Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and so on. Next they moved their
attention to the stringers. Varnishing to
be specific. We rolled the fuselage on it's side to present the bottom three
and they checked them over good before cutting the zip ties holding them in place. They wanted to be sure all the fastening holes
had been made in them and the bulkheads, and that the bolt holes will receive the
final fasteners. The safety wire holes are
all in, but the 1/4" holes thru fuselage clips needed to be cleaned up a little
with a file to make a better fit. With that
done, they set up a varnishing station in the Hangar Classroom on the long tables,
covered with protective plastic to do the varnishing. At this stage, they realized time was short. Given that the pot life of mixed epoxy varnish
can be measured in hours at best, that mixing a small batch of the two-part finish
plus reducer for the first coat is not an exact science, and in the interest of
conserving materials they decided to wait until next week to mix and apply the first
coat of the epoxy varnish. We want to maximize
the generous donation of another kit of varnish from member Mark Marino of Hangar
10 Aero, we know this stuff doesn't grow on trees! We should be able to get most of the stringers
coated then.
Dave
and Mike set their focus on the Control Column.
It was discovered that the Control Wheel Shaft Stop was installed on the
right-hand side instead of where it belongs, on the left side. They corrected that. They were going to install new hardware in the
Column pivot when we remembered that we want to drill a grease hole in the Column
pivot sleeves. We didn't have the correct
tools for the job, specifically a countersink to cut a bevel in the hole to match
our needle zirk, so they set that project aside for now. Next was fitting the rear window frames to the
stringer they mate up with. At first it seemed
that neither of them lined up once the stringers were set into place, but closer
examination showed the right-hand side was OK.
The left side however needed to be moved slightly and the frame itself required
trimming to optimize the fit. So, they trimmed
the frame and glued short pieces of 1/4 dowel into the existing holes, so they can
be re-drilled.
Milt
and Frank got busy gluing up the scarf joint in the broken stringer. Remember the
broken stringer? Frank took it and a remnant
section home to his work shop to cut the tapered joint
required to make the repair, brought it back to finish, and demonstrate the correct
way to make the repair. They then directed
their attention to the elevator bell crank we received from Mike Hoag. As you may remember, our bell crank had pitted
bearings which we were unable to find a replacement for. Mike reached out to us with the offer of a surplus
bell crank he had with good bearings, which I received from him while visiting AirVenture. Thanks Mike,
again showing your friendship for our Project!
The part was fit into place, but we need a thin 5/16" washer we'll bring
for next time to complete the installation.
I picked up a rod end ball joint at Oshkosh too, to replace the rusted one
we had in the elevator push pull tube, they installed it. With that stuff out of the way and little time
left in the Session they did a little house cleaning. Putting away the steamer setup for one. General
organizing of tools and table tops is a necessary job in
a busy work shop. With attention primarily
on the job at hand, an occasional "roll up" is required to clear the space
for more efficient activity. Thanks guys!
Not
to be left out, Chris and Barry inventoried/received a shipment of hardware ordered
from Wag Aero for the wooden bulk heads and control column. Chris got a good lesson in identifying and measuring
AN bolts and washers and nuts. A couple of
discrepancies were discovered. We received
washers in pace of nuts and one bolt was undrilled while we ordered a drilled one. No worries, human mistakes. I called the
supplier this morning and they will be sending out the correct items right away
free of charge, with no loss of production in the shop! With the receiving complete they turned their
attention to the 1/4" holes in the wooden bulk heads. We want to be sure the fasteners have a clean
fit that we can varnish before they're finally installed. So
Chris, with file in hand and with Barry's help, went around to each of the holes
and made sure the bolts fit.
7/18/18
What
a nice evening it was at the airport yesterday, upper 70's and just a whisper of
wind. Perfect for Young Eagle rides, and
that's just what happened. Bill I. took Chris
S. and Barry up for a spin. Smooth, barely a ripple I was told. Autumn and Tom were in the air again too, continuing
from where they left off from last week.
Autumn went through the pre-flight inspection of Tom's Little Deuce Coupe
with Tom guiding and observing. Then they
went flying, more checklists, GPS programming and navigating. They spent the whole time in the air and on the
ground. Autumn is very serious about this
flying business!
Meanwhile,
back at the hangar, there was work to be done.
Aaron was there with his two beautiful kids to do some riveting on our practice
materials. Tyler gets right in there, and
so does Abby, until I come over to see how they're doing, then she gets a little
shy. They both do good work though, with
the guiding hands of their Dad!
Milt
and Frank and I went over the stringers and decided that the next order of business
would be to drill tie wire holes in them and the bulkheads. No better time, before we cut them loose for varnish.
Once
Chris got back from his Young Eagle ride and had his feet firmly on the ground,
he and Barry commenced a hardware inventory.
With the lack of Waterbury eyelets, we will use AN4 bolts to hold the bulkheads
in place. We now have a list. We also got a list of new bolts needed for the
Control Column. Chris received a good lesson in measuring bolts and AN specifications.
The workforce was a little
light last evening in both the Youth Participant and Mentor areas, but understandable. Summer is a busy time around here with lots going
on and such a sweet short time to get it all done! No worries, it's all good!
Speaking of stuff going on,
EAA's AirVenture is on for next week in Oshkosh. The annual gathering will deplete our Mentor staff
to the point that we have decided to not hold the Work Session next Wednesday, and
the following Wednesday is our monthly meetings, so our next Work Session will be
held on August 8th. I hope you can hold your
enthusiasm until then, when we will resume with renewed
vigor!
7/11/18
It
was a busy evening at the Chapter Hangar yesterday. Youth Participants Autumn W, John T, and Chris
S were on hand along with Milt H. Mentors
were the usual bunch; Tom, Mike, Frank, Al, Barry and me.
Autumn
and Tom got busy right away, pursuing Autumn's Senior Project which includes Flight
Training, with which Tom is happy to oblige.
They got started with outlining procedures for flight; preflight, engine
start, takeoff check lists, and went flying.
Among other things, Autumn executed a 360-degree shallow turn, maintaining
altitude and speed. Then the landing check list and post flight debriefing. Tom complimented her on her skill and natural
talent handling his speedy little Glasair.
Well done Autumn!
John
and Mike continued their work manufacturing the brace wire lugs. Mike had made a fixture to help maintain accuracy
in the parts which made the process go a little smoother, but not without its challenges
to which John offered solutions that were adopted and included in the process. The
education continues! Upper brace wire lugs
finished, lower ones up next.
The
rest of us got after the remaining stringers and placed them into the steam tube
to soak for an hour and a half. With the
steam pouring out from the tube we decided to spend our time placing the control
column into the fuselage, determine what hardware needs to be replaced and see if
anything else presents itself as needing attention. One thing we discovered is the bearings in the
elevator bell crank should be replaced. Frank
had removed them earlier and cleaned them up in hopes they would be serviceable
but no such luck. We'll search for new ones.
With
time drawing to 8:00, we returned our focus to the stringers. We turned the fuselage right side up and pulled
the stringers from the steam one at a time and zip tied them in place, starting
with the bottom ones on the sides and working our way up. Those sticks bent like cooked spaghetti! Well almost, but they all bent right into place
except for the ones that tie into the bottom of the rear windows. We put a ratchet strap on the forward end that
we thought should bend to the inside about a half of an inch, and the end of the
right-hand side one cracked, just as we thought we had it. Darn! We
examined the situation and determined that the piece can be spliced with minimal
to-do (a technical term), so not the end of the world.
What
a difference those stringers make in defining the shape of our Girl, with all the
curves that show off sleek shape of the Sedan.
We can just picture it with fabric, but only in our mind's eye for now. We have lots of work ahead of us!
Thanks
to all who came out last evening. Many hands
working in the same direction accomplish great things!
I
want to make note here about our upcoming Work Sessions. Our Session next week will go on as scheduled. During upcoming AirVenture
at Oshkosh however, our Session for the 25th will be cancelled, all us Mentors will
be at the Show. We'll meet again afterwards
on Aug 8, the first Work Session of that month. So, see you next week for more fun!
6/27/18
We
had a light turnout in the Youth Participant category last evening, John T was there
along with Milt H. Milt rotates between”
Youth Participant" and Mentor, depending on conditions! (kind of an artistic
license) Milt is always looking for a chance to learn something new, just like our
Youth!
The
usual crew of Mentors were there, Tom, Frank, Mike, Al
and me.
John
and Mike continued their work on the brace wire lugs, trying to perfect the operation. It hasn't been to their satisfaction regarding
hole placement, so Mike decided he's going to make a fixture to hold the lug blank. It seems like a lot of work to produce 4 pieces
of each type, but when they're barely an inch long, it's the only way to make them
identical. Mike will make this fixture at
his own hangar and bring it to our next Work Session. This is yet another way to teach the fabrication
method, also John is getting good on the bench grinder!
I
came up with a modified steam tube. It's
essentially the same as before, a length of gutter downspout, but shorter and insulated
with 2" green foam, with a little bench made of 1/2" hardware cloth an
inch or so high to hold the stringers off the bottom and allow the steam hose to
be under the stack to be treated. Our tube
is now about 5 1/2 ft long, just long enough to treat the forward end of our stringers,
the end which bends the most. I got there
early to get the water heating. Our experience
last week suggested we need more time to steam the pieces. I also put a water pot on the kitchen stove to
boil some back-up water. Like I mentioned
earlier, John and Milt were our Youth for the day, so Milt was our student for the
task. Along with Frank and Al, we got the
steamer set up and loaded with a remnant and the three bottom stringers. This thing was delivering some real heat to the
tube! We tested the remnant after an hour and it seemed flexible.
We put it back in and let it soak some more. We decided to let them all go until 8:15. Frank
brought a pocket full of zip ties to temporally fasten the stringers in place, and
the whole gang of us were on the job. They bent like cooked spaghetti, well almost! It took a total of about 6 minutes to place the
stringers one at a time on the fuselage.
I think we have a winner in the steamer department. We'll get the rest of them bent in place and dry,
then remove and varnish them before installing permanently.
While
monitoring the steamer, Milt and Tom cut the last slot in the forward upper cabin
bow for anchoring the three upper stringers.
We are now ready to set the rest of them in place. Nine more left to bend, can we get them all in
the steam tube at once? We'll see next time!
Thanks
to all who turned out on a beautiful summer evening. To our amusement and entertainment, runway 4/22
Right, our grass runway, was full of powered parachutes, cruising around the pattern. Wind was light from the west, temps in the upper
70's, delightful!
Next
Wednesday is the 4th of July so we're taking the night off. See you all back here the week after to see how
the steaming goes. Stay tuned!
6/20/18
With
another Work Session under our belts, we are making progress. Present to drive the project were several of our
Youth Participants; Autumn W, Chris S, John T, and Dave
G. Present to guide and assist were Tom,
Mike, Frank, Al, Barry, and me.
Stringers
were again on the menu. Dave and Autumn along
with Tom, finished shaping and fitting the two which are just outboard of the top
center one. They then located and cut slots
thru the upper forward cabin bow to anchor the forward end of the top three stringers. Meanwhile Chris and Frank added a spacer to the
very bottom center one. This necessity presented
itself upon a trial fit. Once accomplished,
they set up our steamer apparatus to begin that process. They started with a four-foot piece of stringer
material left over as practice. By the end
of the session the piece was soft enough to bend. We tied it into place to dry. It's going to take longer than we thought. We also need a little refinement to the procedure,
but we have ideas like; insulating the steam tube, making a support to hold the
stringer off the bottom of the tube, and preheating water on the stove. It's all a learning process, but hey, isn't that
what we're up to? It's not just the Youth
that are getting educated here!
Not
to be left out, John and Mike continued their work on the brace wire lugs. Mike acquired some 1/8" strips of 4130 steel
5/8" wide to begin making the real parts.
As you may recall, last week they were experimenting with mild steel, just
to prove their process. After some more experimenting
they have developed a procedure that works and are now in production. They also discovered just how much stronger 4130
is than mild steel, it takes quite a bit more effort to bend! They will likely make good progress on the next go. I also
noticed how John is becoming more comfortable with the tools required for this job,
it's great to see!
Thanks
to all who turned out last evening, I never tire of being in a room full of activity,
all pulling for a common goal!
6/13/18
Yesterday
greeted us with clear sunny sky, light winds and upper 70s. What's not to like? A great evening to have the big door open and
air the hangar out! We were also greeted
by three eager Youth; Autumn, Chris and John. Autumn now has the official "go ahead' to
use our Project among other things for her Senior Project at Superior High School. Yay! Her
Project centers around (let's see if I get this right) learning how to rebuild an
airplane and learning to fly. Best wishes
to you Autumn, we'll do all we can to help you complete your Project!
Mentors
present to assist were Mike, Frank, Al, Barry, me and Milt. As you may recall, Milt has previously been regarded
as a "Youth Participant" as he wanted to learn all he could about welding
4130 tubing. He assisted me quite a bit while
we were repairing the fuselage. That phase
nearly complete in our project (I say nearly because you never know), he
can use his varied experience and skills to help guide the young minds that grace
our Work Sessions every week!
With
all that said, Autumn and Milt continued the work on their stringers, as did Chris,
Frank and Barry.
Much work has been done on this phase, and what's left is the aft end of
two upper stringers that Chris and company are working on. What's next is to start the steaming process to
bend and tie the stringers into place. Once
that is done on all of them and they have dried, we can remove them, apply a couple
of coats of clear epoxy varnish, then fasten them in pertinently.
Meanwhile,
John and Mike began to experiment making some new tail feather brace wire support
tabs, or simply "Lugs" as called out in the parts book. They began with some mild steel 5/8" wide
and bent them in a mini press brake that Mike made up for use in the bench
vice. Quite the little piece of equipment. With just a minor tweek
or two, John and Mike will be in the Support Tab (Lug) Business!
As
the Work Session was ending, a major clean-up got underway. From miscellaneous scraps of wood to trash to
tools lying about, to dust and cottonwood fluff blowing around on the floor, our
crew got to work. The result is a little
cleaner hangar and work space. We get a little lax in the clean-up department,
with our focus on the task at hand, it's hard to break off for housekeeping. It's nice to start off with a clean and organized
work space, which just seems to allow the work to proceed
that much better.
5/30/18
Last
evening, we finished off May's Work Sessions in great style with Chris and Autumn
representing our Youth Participants, and Tom, Mike, Frank, Al, Barry and me rounding out the Mentor side of the deal.
Stringers
again were on the menu with Chris and Frank teaming up and Autumn and Tom doing
the same. We are making steady progress on
this wood work, working our way up from the bottom of the
fuselage to the sides and eventually the top.
Mike
did some independent research in the attic, retrieving the aileron control system
to evaluate its condition. He found a couple
of bearings in the aileron bellcrank less than perfect,
so he's going to see if he can find new ones to replace them. Mike also found the elevator trim control and
brought it down from the attic. Between Mike
and Al and myself, we rediscovered exactly where in the fuselage it is located. As you may recall, Mike and Youth reconditioned
the trim control mechanism in past Work Sessions, so it's ready to be installed. These systems will be focused on as soon as we
complete the stringer phase of the project, so we want to be ready.
Big
"Thanks!" go out to all who came out last evening to work. It's fun to see the progress on our bird, these
stringers provide the fuselage all the graceful curves the Sedan is known for. Exciting!
5/23/18
Another
Sedan Work Session is in the log book, with a good turnout
of Youth and Mentors alike. Youth Participants
included Chris Schlies, John Thro and Milt Huhta. Mentors were Tom,
Mike, Frank, Al, Barry and me. Stringers were the name of the game and we all
got into it.
First,
John and Mike finished up their inventory and evaluation of the Horizontal Stabilizer
brace wires. They determined what parts we
can use, and which will need to be replaced.
All eight of the wires are looking rough but will be useful in staging the
tail feathers and aiding in running control cables.
So,
on to the stringers. For those not familiar,
the stringers are narrow strips of wood the run fore and aft along the fuselage,
and wooden bulkheads in the aft portion of the fuselage, that give the fabric support
for the aerodynamic shape it needs to reduce drag while in flight and make possible
the incredible speed for which the Sedan is known for (100 miles per hour, maybe!).
Chris
teamed up with Frank and Barry, Milt with Tom and John
with Mike. Al and I oversaw the operation,
primarily trying to stay out of the way of progress, answering questions as they
came up and helping coordinate the three teams.
I brought in a hand-held power planer that helped speed up the tapering of
the aft end of some of the stringers, while the rest of the guys shaped the forward
ends and adjusted the fit in the many standoff brackets that hold the stringers
in place. All the bottom ones are fit, and
now we're working our way up the sides of the fuselage.
Next
week will be more of the same except for possibly hanging the horizontals and elevator
to start staging the pulleys and control cables. Of course, we don't want to impede the progress
on the stringers, we'll see how it goes.
Last
evening was the first time we had the big door open during the session, it was nice to have fresh air in the place for a change. Boy, I like summer!
Thanks
to all who turned out, you all work like a well-oiled machine, busy in the airplane
factory!
5/16/18
Last
evening, we had a crew of eager workers; Chris Schlies,
John Thro and Autumn Wolters. Mentors were
about the same bunch as always, Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio,
Frank Kolo, and me.
Bill Irving made himself available and of course, Barry was there for Chris.
For
the most part, Stringers were on the menu. Chris and Frank continued their work
on the center bottom one. Besides shaping
the forward end to fit into its socket, they sanded down the tang of the stringer
just a bit to fit the slot of the support brackets. Mission accomplished, all except for tapering
off the aft end of it, which we will tool up for next time. A bench hand plane should
do the job nicely. I have a couple I can
bring in. They then moved to another pair of stringers, moving up the sides of the
fuselage.
Autumn
talked to Tom about using our project, among other aspects of aviation (including flying of course), as
part of her Senior Project at Superior High School. Tom agreed to be her official Mentor for her Project. As I understand it, all Seniors are to complete
an in-depth effort of independent study in an area of their choosing as a requirement
for their graduation. Autumn is the second
Youth we have had use our Sedan for their Project, glad to help! With that discussion complete, they continued
work on the two stringers Dave and Tom started a couple of sessions ago, fitting
them to the support brackets like Chris and Frank were doing.
We're
going to get good at this stringer business, before you know it
they'll all be fit, and we'll be ready to fire up the steamer again!
Meanwhile,
John and Mike finished up the riveting on the Forward Rudder Cable Cover. It is now ready for final fitting and adjustments
that may have to be made once it's fit onto the floor of the cabin. With time left, they gathered up the Horizontal
Stabilizer Brace Wires to assess their airworthiness. They found all the parts that go with them, labeled
them, and initial impressions are that they need replacing. Further inspection may confirm that, we'll see
next time.
It
was discovered that our fuselage had fallen victim to hangar rash! One of the stringer support brackets got bent
to the point where the weld cracked, so I welded it back on. These brackets are delicate without the stringer
in place and have enough sharp corners on them to jump out and grab anyone walking
by. We must be careful with our baby as work
progresses so that we can keep moving forward!
Thanks
to all who turned out on what became a very cool and blustery evening. Crazy, from record high temps during the day to
upper 40's by Work Session end. That is the
magic of Lake Superior. The wind switched
from SW to NE, the temps dropped 20 degrees in 20 minutes! It's amazing we don't all catch pneumonia! Haha!!
5/9/18
Yesterday
was a little dampish, but we had a good turnout just the same. Chris Schlies, Brett
LaGraves, Jacob Koczur and Milt
Huhta were there with open minds and eager to work. Mentors were Frank, Mike, Tom, Bill, Barry, Jacobs
Dad Brian and m.
Stringers
were a point of focus and Chris and Frank dove right in. They finished the scarf joint and reinforcement
glued up last time, sanding off excess glue and shaping sharp corners. This stringer is the one intended for the center
of the belly, sixteen feet long requiring a team effort to even move around the
hangar! With a preliminary fit, they rough
cut it to length and prepared the forward end to fit into the socket that keeps
it in place. It was a matter of shape and
fit, shape and fit for a nice engagement but they got it. Now to taper the end to eliminate any stress risers
and then shape the aft end.
Meanwhile,
Tom and Jim went through the remaining stringer materials to make sure we had them
organized and sufficient to complete the job.
As you recall, we previously thought we discovered a shortage of material. Upon closer examination and including a rectangular
shape (that Ken Peters had provided us) for the lower side stringers (which were
original to the aircraft), we now have all stringers ready for fitting. We will dry fit all of them, get the steamer going
and set them in place to dry. I can just
imagine them filling out the fuselage, giving our Sedan it's beautiful aerodynamic
shape!
Not
to be lost in the shuffle, Brett and Jacob worked with Mike with the intention of
finishing the riveting on the forward rudder cable cover. Some practice was in order, so they got their
strips and angles. Mike guided them on the
finer points of squeezing rivets, both universal and flush head. They started with the smaller diameter 3/32"
size before moving to the larger 1/8" diameter ones. As it happens, time ran out before they got to
the big ones so that will have to wait till next time. The extra bonus of working on their strips and
angles is that they can take their work home with them and show off what they've
been doing. All in all, very nice work!
Milt
got busy and replaced a couple of window frames and formers removed from the fuselage
when the paint was touched up. Last Monday,
Mike, Frank, Tom and I came in and painted the fuselage
satin black in the places that won't be covered when the project is finished. Places like the "V" brace below the
windshield, wing and landing gear fittings, and other tabs and handles that will
be left exposed. We did this job without
any Youth present simply because of the hazardous nature of the oil-based enamel,
keep it safe!
Don't
forget to check out our project on our Sedan page at sedanproject.com that our web guru Bill Irving keeps up to date. It has all kinds of fun info about us!
Thanks
to all who came out last evening, it sure is exciting to see the old bird take shape! See you all next time.
4/25/18
What
a lovely evening it was yesterday, lots of sunshine and light winds. So nice that Bill Irving showed up with his trusty
C-172 and gave rides to all takers. Chris
went for the first time, didn't say much I heard, but came back with a giant grin
on his face and a big thumb up! John, Abby,
Barry and Aaron went along too. Just a nice chance for a ride.
As
you may have gathered, Youth Participants ready for work were Chris, John and Abby. Mentors
were Tom, Frank, Al, Bill, Aaron, Jim and Barry.
John
and Frank glued up a scarf joint that Frank had prepared earlier in the week at
home on his radial arm saw. This was on a
stringer, number 4-38, the long one on the bottom of the fuselage. Later, Chris joined the project while John went
for his airplane ride. They glued on a 4" long piece of 1/16 aircraft
plywood, a reinforcement at a nail hole, mixing up a batch of glue/sawdust
to fill a low spot.
Chris
then joined Tom at the fuselage to install the upper forward cabin bow. They drilled holes to attach the stiffeners and
glued on the block splices.
Al
suggested we choose a paint color to paint the fuselage tubing that doesn't get
covered up. Oops! I guess we had better before it's too late. Now, which part of the fuselage is that.......?
When
John got back from his ride, he and I gathered up the forward rudder cable cover
with the intention of finishing up the riveting on it. Well, first we though a little practice was in
order as John had never driven rivets before.
We started with 1/8" rivets on a piece of scrap which didn't go so well,
so we moved to our practice pieces with 3/32" rivets. Much easier, and better to perfect our technique
before moving up to the larger rivets. We
finished up with our practice just about the time to quit for the night, so we'll
have to wait ‘til next time.
I
can't tell you what a difference nice weather makes ('cause
you already know 😀). It won't
be long, and we can keep the big door open for our work, smell the fresh air and feel the gentle breeze. Can you tell I love summer? Next week is our meeting time, so we'll see you
all in a couple.
4/18/18
Spring
is in the air and I just love it! I heard last week that we've had over 180 days
with snow on the ground. 6 months? Enough
already! This week we'll be saying "So
long snow!" Exciting, isn't it?
We
had a good turnout last night, Chris Schlies, Dave Gramstrup and Milt were our Youth Participants. Tom, Mike, Frank, Bill, Al, Aaron and myself were the Guides, along with Barry, Chris' Mentor.
Milt,
with Frank and Bill got busy gluing tie strips onto the bulkheads installed last
week. Those things are in place for keeps
now! When they were done with that Milt worked
with Aaron to practice squeezing flush and universal head rivets on our practice
materials. New skills to be had all around!
Dave
and Tom continued sorting out the stringers, combining an inventory and quality
inspection at the same time. They discovered
that we could use two more pieces about 8 feet long to round out our requirement. I'll be contacting our friend Ken Peters to see
if he is able to help us out. We then rolled
the fuselage over to make the bottom easier to get at and fit the two that go along
the outside edges of the bottom. Dave got
them cut to length and began to trim the ends just like the old ones. This thing
is really starting to take shape!
Chris
and Mike continued their work on the forward rudder cable cover. Chris, as you recall had some practice squeezing
rivets on our practice pieces last month and helped fit the new piece on the cover
a couple of weeks ago. So, he was all set to move up to the next level, driving
rivets with the pneumatic rivet gun and bucking bar. With some practice on other material Mike was
confident Chris was up to the task, and away they went. Just a few rivets left, and the piece will be
ready for paint.
Thanks
to all who came out last evening. I wouldn't
be surprised to see an airplane ride happening in the next Session or two!
4/11/18
Yesterday
was a momentous occasion. We welcomed the
fuselage back from paint with a brand-new coating of epoxy primer, thanks to Chris
Penny and his Precision Powder Coating team for sandblasting and painting, and to
our own Mark Marino and his Hangar 10 Aero for the primer materials. Thank you both for bringing to close a two year
long repair of the fuselage, the foundation of our Sedan.
To
witness this grand occasion were Youth Milt Huhta, John
Thro, Dave Gramstrup and Chris Schlies. Chapter Members present were Tom, Frank, Al and
me with Barry Beyer, Chris' mentor.
Now
we get to add stuff to it! Things like wooden
bulkheads and formers. That is just what
we did. After John and Frank reattached the
aft pivot block, we all set it on the floor and got busy.
John
with Tom and Frank set about to sort out the stringers, making sure we had them
all, matching them up with the old ones to better understand how the ends will be
shaped, and giving them a close inspection for defects and determining how they'll
be affected. As you all well understand,
Airworthy Standards are quite particular, so we must be careful. Thing are looking pretty good so far.
Chris,
Dave and Milt went about setting the wooden bulkheads and
formers in place on the fuselage. Boy, does
that change the look of our project, starting to get some character!
Thanks
to all who came out last evening, our Sedan sure looks different than it has for
a long time!
3/28/18
Boy,
yesterday felt like spring! Snow melting, water running, blue sky and sunshine. I can feel it!
We
had a good turnout last evening, with Dave Granstrup,
Chris Schlies, Abby Breitkreutz
and a fellow new to our project Jacob Koczur along with
his Dad Brian. Along to help steer the evening
were Mike, Tom, Frank, Bill and me.
Dave,
along with Tom, Frank and Bill got busy with the wooden stringers. They brought them all down from the attic and
began to re-acquaint themselves with what we have and where they go, so they might
find an extra one to experiment with in the steamer. Easier said than done. There was some sorting going on, with deciphering
inventory notes taken two years ago, but I think we have it. They found a likely candidate for the steamer,
treated it and placed it on the fuselage. I think it's going to work!
Chris
and Mike went to work on the rudder cable cover, removing rivets and installing
the new part. Chris seems to be a natural,
picking up on guidance from Mike well. They
got the new part aligned and drilled, ready for new rivets.
Abby
and Jacob joined me at the rivet station where they were introduced to the rivet
squeezing process on materials from KidVenture. Abby is so cute! Young as she is she pays attention and follows
direction happily. Her little fingers are
just the right size for inserting the rivets into their places, and squeezes with
all her might (I help) to set the rivet.
Jacob also is a bright young man, eager to do and learn, welcome to the crew
Jacob. They each got about halfway done with
their pieces and took them home to show off.
They'll bring them back next time and finish them up.
Thanks
to all who came out last evening, all pulling together to show these young people
a little of what it takes to make an airplane!
Next
week is time for our Committee meeting, so no Work Session. See you April 11!
3/21/18
Last
evening went off without a hitch with the help of our Youth Participants Chris Schlies, Dave Gramstrup, Abby Breitkreutz and Milt Huhta. Mentors present were Tom, Mike, Frank, Al, Bill and me.
The
first item of business was to load the fuselage onto a trailer I brought to get
it ready for the move to the paint shop.
Chris Penny's shop is busy right now with customer work and doesn't have
room for us, so we'll wait 'till he has space and time to take care of us. The good thing is, when he says OK, we can respond. We're ready when you are Chris!
Dave
and Mike were working on the forward rudder cable cover, riveting on the new section. Mike doesn't like the result. The rivets were set correctly but the part was
not well aligned. He will now take this opportunity
to deliver a lesson in rivet removal, and reassembly of the cover with a new part
he will make up in his own hangar. Sometimes
things must go a little backwards in order to move forward,
it's just another lesson in life, and after all we're here for the education, right?
Bill
and Frank were busy setting up a steamer to eventually steam the stringers we have
that, as you may recall, were produced by our good friend Ken Peters two springs
ago. This process may take a couple of sessions
to perfect but seems to be progressing nicely.
Bill brought in a wall paper steamer, which when
warmed up, produces a surprising amount of steam. They directed the steam into a section of gutter
down spout holding the experimental wood.
Looks promising!
I
decided to introduce Chris into the world of riveting. We took a couple of pieces Al brought from KidVenture and went to work. After a brief tutorial on the finer
points of setting solid rivets, Chris got hands on experience with the squeezer,
setting AN470AD3-3 rivets like a pro. He
picked up on the requirement that the tool must be perpendicular to the material
throughout the process, among other points.
Good job Chris!
Thanks
to all who came out last evening and pitched in. The work goes quick and easy, before we know it,
it's time to go home!
3/14/18
What a Spring like day it was today, gives
one hope that 'ol man Winter is on the ropes and again
will not survive our Planet's march around the Sun. Yay!
Last evening, we were greeted with a crew
of Youth Participants, John Thro, Autumn Wolters, Chris Schiles,
and Milt Huhta.
Along to help guide these young minds were Tom, Mike, Frank, Barry, Bill and me.
We set about getting the fuselage ready
to be moved to the paint shop. John and Chris
helped me to replace the right-side Fuselage Wrap Around Support, which had mostly
gone missing. In fact, if you recall from
a previous post, we nearly missed it altogether had it not been for the sharp eyes
of our inspection crew. Anyway, Mike had
formed up some .025 4130 sheets into the angle we needed. John cut it to length and prepared it to fit into
place, then Chris and I welded it onto the fuselage. The part requires holes in it to attach the Wrap
Around, so we cleaned up and set the part onto the fuselage, clamped it into place,
and discovered one possible reason our Support was mostly missing. The line of holes in the Wrap Around was not straight,
in fact some nearly ran off the support to the point that they would compromise
the strength of the little part. So, we decided to hold off drilling holes until
we make a new Wrap Around, which after 69 years of service is showing a good bit
a wear. We then gave the fuselage another inspection and called it "good to
go"!
Meanwhile, Autumn and Mike continued work
on the Lower Rudder Control Cover, kind of like a center console between the rudder
cables. Mike had previously reproduced the
aft end of it which was pretty bent up. Autumn
got a very nice lesson in riveting, both with a squeezer and the gun with bucking
bar. Some practice proceeded riveting the
actual part, demonstrating what not to do and what works! Under Mike's guidance Autumn is picking up the
skill nicely.
Everyone else were "floaters"
throughout the evening, helping out where needed, helping
make the whole Session a success.
Next time we will begin the process of
preparing a steamer for bending the stringers, exciting stuff!
2/21/18
Boy I love the longer days this time of
year, I think the winter days are numbered again for this season!
Last evening, we had a nice turnout. Three smiling faces that we haven't seen in a
while, Samantha and Brett LaGraves, and Tyler Breitkreutz were able to join us. It's always good to have them aboard. To round off our Youth Participant crew was Christopher
Schlies, our new member last week. Chapter mentors here to guide our young minds
were Frank, Mike, Aaron, Tom, Bill I, and me.
To start off with Frank and Tyler focused
on the rubber bumpers for the tail wheel upper and lower limit stops, both in the
tail wheel auxiliary assembly and in the fuselage. This involved sanding off the inside corners of
our bumper material made from a hockey puck.
Next was to drill a hole in the bumper as a keeper. Talk about some rubber with a high durometer,
nice and stiff! Rubber is also a difficult
material to drill, kind of gummy, but they did a great job. Some might say "perfect"!
Samantha and Chris joined Tom in a class
of Hand Tool 101. Tom explains the function
and safe use of the hand tools we use in our program, giving the Youth a foundation
of safety and proper use of basic hand tools.
"A screw driver is not necessarily a pry bar!"
;-), and more!
Brett and Mike inspected the tail feathers;
rudder, horizontal stabilizers and elevators, for fit and
general condition prior to re priming them.
Aside from needing a little cleanup in the hinge areas, (we can clean those
areas up easily after priming), they
are deemed good to go.
Chris and Aaron began by giving the fuselage
a thorough going over, looking for incomplete or cracked welds, missing and bent
parts (tabs and such), or anything else we want to complete before we move it to
the paint shop. Well, they found several
places that needed attention. Aaron's sharp
eye picked up on several items, instructing Chris and later Samantha and Brett on
what to look for, marking the places with blue tape along the way. I got busy welding on a few missing nut tabs and
clips, some needing straightening before re-welding, and small cracked welds. One significant part was found completely missing! In the book they call it a Fuselage Wrap Around
Support. It's a small angle shaped piece that's about 16" long with bolt
holes in it, up front in the boot cowl area on the right side. We will be making a new support,
and weld it on before the big move.
Thanks to everyone who made it out last
evening. It's a learning experience for all
of us, and surprising what comes to light in these Work Sessions!
2/14/18
What a beautiful day it was yesterday. Warm and sunny, just makes you want to get out
and do stuff! And we did, a whole bunch of
us, at the Chapter Hangar. Tim Friendsuhu was there to see what we were up to, moved his RV8A
out and it didn't even cool the place off a bit, opening that giant door. Can't wait till spring!
We met a fine young fellow last night.
13 yr old Christopher Schlies
along with his Mentor Barry Beyer. Chris
and Barry met through Mentor Duluth. Chris
is interested in anything aviation. He has
joined the Duluth CAP and wants to get his pilots license
as soon as he can! After the work session
Chris said he definitely wants to come back and get some
more of what we have going on here. Good
deal, welcome Chris!
Along with Chris, we were delighted with
the arrival of Autumn Wolters, John Thro, Dave Gramstrup
and Milt Huhta, eager to work and learn something new. There to help with that were Mike Gardonio, Tom
Betts, Frank Kolo, Bill Irving
and me.
Autumn and Mike finished up the picture
frames for the Sedan Apparel Cabinet, installing a couple of dandy shots of Youth
in Action to be displayed on the cabinet in the Airport Terminal. After that they, along with Dave, got busy with
the new brake calipers, installing brake pads, installing new hardware and transferring
serviceable parts from the old calipers. The brakes are now ready to be installed
on the airplane when we're ready. With that
out of the way, they decided to tackle riveting practice on some aluminum materials,
.025" aluminum, punched with matching 3/32" holes. Some of the pieces were bent 90 degrees to form
an angle , so when riveted together, 3 pieces would make
a channel shape, or a mini spar if you can imagine. Good riveting skills are mandatory for nearly
any airplane construction.
All the while that was going on Chris,
along with his Mentor Barry and Frank set about to clean up the bores of the new
hinges welded to the rudder and fuselage rudder post. The hinge parts shrink due to welding and need
to be resized. This crew expertly took care
of the task and then set the rudder in place to check fit. A little attention was needed to provide clearance
around the new parts, with a file that Chris handled with precision! Another file helped remove any sharp weld edges
on the rudder so that the covering will go on nice and smooth. Tom looked on, offering suggestions about the
work to be done and helping to straighten some interior bows and channels. With his first experience working on an actual
airplane, Chris showed great interest and attention to detail. I think we may have a budding Aircraft Mechanic
on our hands!
John and Milt joined me with the last welding (I think) on the fuselage. Last evening's work was to replace two damaged
stringer clips on the bottom along with replacing a missing tinnerman
nut plate tab. We then set to remove any
welding scabs left over from the major repair work that was done mostly on the aft
portion. Next Wednesday will be "Fuselage
Inspection Wednesday"
where we will go over it with a thorough inspection, looking for anything
missed, in preparation for the move to the paint shop.
As usual, Bill was our roving photographer
and log book recorder. Thanks Bill, and everyone else who
turned out last evening. It's always good
to see activity and progress!
1/31/18
Last evening was a quiet one, with Milt
Huhta our lone Youth Participant. :-) That didn't stop us (Mike G., Tom B., Frank K.,
Bill I., and me) from working with Milt on the tail wheel assembly.
Last week John Thro worked on, among other
things, cutting out a pair of shims to take up the slack between the tail wheel
saddle and tail wheel assembly. At first we thought the material was too thin to bridge the gap,
but I later thought that to wedge the shims out against the saddle and weld them
in place was the correct procedure. That's
just what we did. As the walls of the saddle
are somewhat sloped, the shims fit perfectly and we ended
up with a very snug fit. Good work John!
Since welding was the task last evening,
and the bottle of argon ran out just as we finished the tail wheel, we decided to
call it quits around 8:15. I'll refill it
and get on with finishing up the remaining welding on the fuselage and getting it
to the paint shop. Once repainted, we can
move on to more exciting tasks in the rebuild.
I can't wait!
Just a reminder, next week is our night
for the Committee meeting so the Work Session will not be held. Set your sights on Wednesday, Feb 14 for the first
Work Session in February. I realize that it's Valentines
Day so I understand if you want to be with your Love instead, or, you can
celebrate you're love for each other by working on a classic old airplane! (haha, just a thought!)
With Ground Hogs Day tomorrow and the sun
moving higher in the sky, I can almost see spring on the distant horizon, almost. Enjoy winter while it lasts, it will warm
up eventually!
1/17/18
Last evening was a pleasant one even though
a bit breezy, the hangar was warm enough to work in for a change! Youth Participants attending were John Thro and
Milt Huhta. Mentors
there were Frank, Tom, Bill I and me.
We concentrated on the rudder mostly. We finished fitting and tack welding the lower
hinge group to the rudder, and fit the outer bow to the
bottom of the rudder post. After that we
were able to remove the rudder and tail wheel assembly from the fuselage to the
bench to weld out.
Bill was our roving photographer, recording
the event. Just who is that old man in the
fancy hat!?!
Now, everything on the fuselage is replaced
that needed replacing, fit that needed to be fit, I think, save a couple of stringer
clips that will be replaced next time we have the fuselage up-side down. I can just see it, with all the new work in fresh
primer, ready to receive everything that will make it an airplane again. That will be a big day!
Thanks to all who turned out last evening,
we're making progress, one step at a time.
1/10/18
Last evening felt like a nice October evening,
mid 30's and light winds. Not like today after the cold front got here, snow and
wind and falling temps. Good 'ol January is back!
Autumn Wolters, Dave Gramstrup, and Milt Huhta were in
attendance, ready to work and learn. Mike,
Tom, Frank, Bill I., Al and I were here to help.
Autumn and Mike set to work on making up
some picture frames. These frames will be
used to display pictures of "Youth at Work" on the Sedan,
and placed on the apparel cabinet we have in the main terminal of the airport. Mike has them configured so we can easily change
the picture, to keep up with the progress of our project and to better tell our
story, encouraging sales of our shirts and hats.
Dave, Milt and I continued our work on
the fuselage, tack welding in the parts fabricated last time including the braces
and bumper mount for the tail wheel lower limit stop, and
replacing the lower hinge group on the rudder post. Proper care must be taken to control all the grinding
sparks, we don't want to start any fires or damage any equipment! The fuselage continues taking shape, inching ever
closer to the next phase of restoration.
Stay tuned for further developments!
Thanks to all who came out last evening. It has been a couple of weeks since our last Work
Session, but we all fell into the groove without missing a beat, build on!
12/13/17
Last evening was preceded by a snowy, slippery
day but we carried on. Brave souls who turned
out to enjoy the Christmas Party were John Thro and his Mom Catherine, Bret LaGraves and his Dad Chris, and Milt Huhta. Mentor members also on board were Al White, Frank
Kolo, with three huge pizzas under his arm, Tom Betts,
and me.
The first thing we did was to dig into the pizza
and pop and start telling Christmas stories. The conversation rolled around to a
picture of the Duluth Airport, taken back in 1987, with the Concord airliner on
the runway, and another pic of it taking off.
What an awesome aircraft it was. It
was here for an airshow put on by the Chapter and our own Tom Betts went for a ride. Just a short hop to Green Bay by way of Oshkosh
and back. He'll never forget it! There was more conversation about Christmas, and
then the big drawing for the model airplane, Franks Vought FU4 Corsair. Brett and John were in the hat, and John came
out the lucky one! My great regret is that
in all the excitement, I neglected to get a picture of the lad and his new airplane!
:-( Sorry folks, you'll just have to imagine
John's grin from ear to ear in your mind's eye!
Things were winding down, everybody was full of
pizza, so John, Milt and I decided to work on the Sedan for the rest of the evening. They were able to finish fitting the brace tubes
they were working on last time, so all the parts for the tail wheel lower limit
stop are ready to weld. Good job guys, we
just might finish this thing yet!
I want to wish each and every
one of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We won't meet again until January 10, so I hope
the Holidays are all you hope them to be, full of love and blessings and friends,
and Thanks for the Pizza Frank, it was delicious!!
11/22/17
Last evening started out to be a quiet one as I
met Al White at the Chapter Hangar, just in from deer hunting on the airport. He had just bagged one, but
was waiting to see if I was going to be joined by others before he went back to
skin his quarry. Then Dave Gramstrup and Milt Huhta showed up.
Followed by Mike Gardonio and Aaron Breitkreutz who rounded out our crew and we were in business.
We decided to combine our efforts and focus on
the rudder. Specifically, the lower hinge
knuckle which needs to be welded on. So,
we hung the rudder on the fuselage and discovered a misalignment. We examined the rudder and fuselage and Al suggested
we heat the rudder post to bring it into alignment, so without a torch we turned
our attention to the tail wheel lower limit stop.
By the time our session ended, we had all the parts
roughed in and nearly ready to weld. This
part went well, so we'll have to look at it again next time to see what we might
have done wrong and fix it before it's too late!
Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope your past year has been bountiful and full
of joy, all good things to be thankful for, and a hope that the coming year is even
better!
11/15/17
Last evening, we were greeted by Autumn Wolters,
John Thro, Brett Lagraves and Milt Huhta, ready to dig in.
There to assist were Mike Gardonio, Tom Betts, Frank Kolo,
Bill Irving and me.
Autumn and John, along with Frank and Tom went
after the rudder, fitting the lower channel rib, tack welding it into place, and
making an extension to the outer bow as it attaches to the lower rudder post at
the tail wheel steering fork (can you picture it?). All this is in preparation for hanging the rudder
in place on the fuselage to 1. Locate the lower hinge knuckle and 2. Check for the
tail wheel travel so we know where to put the added tail wheel lower limit stop.
Brett and Mike were busy cleaning brake parts,
getting ready for matching up serviceable old parts with new replacement ones. A little solvent cleaning (with protective apparel
of course!), a little buffing, a little drilling out rivets on old brake lining,
and a little elbow grease is all it takes!
Meanwhile, Milt and I were busy welding up the
lower aft bow assembly, the one that holds the forward end of the belly stringers
in place. Once that was done, we removed
the rotation stand on the aft end of the fuselage and set the fuselage on a temporary
stand, getting ready to hang the rudder in preparation for work mentioned earlier.
All this time, Bill was circulating, documenting
the event with camera and log book.
Thanks, as always, to all who turned out last evening. It's fun to add things to the fuselage (if only
temporary), makes it look like and airplane!
For those wondering about the Work Session next
week, the day before Thanksgiving, we will be there, at least I'll be there,
for whoever is able to come to work.
11/8/17
Man, it was loud in the hangar last evening. We had the air compressor going along with die
grinder, angle grinder, belt sander and bench grinder Whew! But we got some work done!
Present to join the fun were John Thro, Autumn
Wolters, Eva Hobbs, Dave Gramstrup and Milt Huhta. Also present to
drive the activity were Tom, Mike G, Frank, Bill I, and me.
Eva and Mike went right to work sawing some tubing
for the rudder hinge, but then shifted gears over to the main brakes. They concentrated on removing hardware from the
old worn out calipers to be cleaned and made ready for
the new parts. They will continue their efforts
next time.
Frank and John went to work on the rudder, removing
the lower rib (with an odd repair we don't like) to be replaced with a new one that
Mike G made for us some weeks ago. They got
everything all cleaned up and the rib trimmed to fit just right.
Autumn trimmed the lower aft stringer bow that
Eva and Jim formed up last time to fit the fuselage. Meanwhile, Milt went at the old bow with a hack
saw then an angle grinder to remove all traces of it from the fuselage. Once the stringer sockets that the bow holds were
cut free, Autumn cleaned them up by trimming close with a hack saw and then the
bench grinder with the assistance of Tom, so we can put them back in place on the
new bow. Follow that? With the parts all prepared, Milt and I tack welded
the new bow in place. Then the fun began. With an old stringer that Mike found upstairs,
Autumn, Dave G, Mike and I located the stringer sockets
onto the new bow and tack welded them in place.
It was kind of a juggling act, but we got them positioned in line with the
other stringer brackets.
Dave G got busy with the control column, disassembling
it for temporary storage and evaluating the fasteners again to determine which bolts
need to be replaced and which ones are fit to be used again. Only four fit the latter category, so we'll put
the rest on our Hardware Want List.
Through the din of activity was Bill, taking pictures
and recording the event in the log. Thanks
Bill!
As I mentioned earlier, it was a fun but noisy
couple of hours, but we are moving the project along with great participation from
students and mentors alike. Many thanks to all attending, including the parents
of our youth attending, occasionally stepping in to see just what their kids are
up to. See you next week!
10/25/17
With October winding down, we got in one more work
session before the meeting in November. Eva
Hobbs, Brett LaGraves, and Dave Gramstrup
were our Youth Participants, with Mike Gardonio, Tom Betts, Bill Irving and me acting as Mentors.
We got right to work with Brett and Mike assembling
the last of the Elevator Trim Control, including the handle!
Dave and Tom went after the control column, aligning
and drilling out the last of the bolt holes in the new universal joints, taking
care to keep the control yokes parallel.
The control column should now be about ready to fit back into the fuselage
when the time comes.
Eva and I concentrated on bending some 3/8"
4130 tubing to replace the damaged lower aft fuselage bow assembly. This bow holds fittings for the forward end of
the wooden stringers that give the bottom of the fuselage shape. We had a template to follow that Mike made up
some weeks ago, and a tubing bender that was made available to us by Mark Marino. Thanks Mark, your bender worked just fine. Eva and I were able to follow the contour of the
template quite well and produced a nice replacement bow.
Bill again was our PR guy, photographing key elements
of the operation, as well as recording the activity in our Restoration Log.
Thanks to all participating last evening, we're
gaining on 'er!
Remember, next Wednesday is our meeting time, so
no Work Session. Our next one will be November
8th, see you then.
I encourage all to check out our Sedan Web Page
at sedanproject.com for updates to our page. On it we have a link to "Spirit of Katrina"
apparel which we have on sale to help support our project, and much more. Check
it out! Thanks!!
10/18/17
Last evening we met, we
worked, we learned! John Thro was here with
his brother Thomas, and Milt Huhta. Mentors were Tom Betts, Frank Kolo, Bill Irving and myself. Al White was here for a bit but then had to leave.
The Thro crew along with Tom and Frank attended
to the rudder, checking alignment in preparation for welding. All measurements were taken
and adjusted, all looks good. I then
put the TIG torch to work and welded up the splice and rosette joints. Thomas was very curious about this welding business,
so he watched the process. Success! All seems straight and aligned, so on to the next
bit, replacing the damaged rib and reconnecting the aft perimeter tube to the post.
Meanwhile, Milt and I fit the cabin door top hinge
that we welded up last time. With a little
adjustment it fits just fine, so on to the lower hinge, rebuilding the area around
the worn pivot point.
Bill was our official recorder, taking pictures
of the action and logging the session in the book. A critical function!
Thanks to all who came out on a lovely fall evening,
it's a pleasure to see smiling faces working and learning!
10/11/17
Yesterday was a quiet evening with Eva Hobbs, the
lone Youth attending, along with her parents, of course! Also present for the session were Bill I., Tom,
Mike, Frank, and me.
Eva continues to show interest and enthusiasm for
the work, and began with getting an introduction on the
rudder repair. It soon became apparent that
this was not the task for her, so Mike got her working on the elevator trim control
that they were working on last time. Much better! Cleaning and painting and lubricating, all critical
aspects of aircraft restoration. Eva has
a sharp mind, is attentive with focus, and a very welcome Youth Participant!
Meanwhile, Tom and Frank took to further the fit-up
of the rudder parts, they're nearly ready to weld together.
I took the opportunity to tack weld the upper door
hinge together and get the door to swing open.
Moving parts! I will finish welding
up the hinge, then we can concentrate on the lower one. That one involves drilling and riveting.
Bill, as it turns out is becoming our Work Session
Recorder, recording the evenings events in the Log Book,
a very necessary part of our rebuild. Thanks
Bill! Bill also prepared a cash box for the
sales our "Spirit of Katrina" Sedan apparel over in the Main Terminal. If you get a chance, get over to the terminal
and check out our display, it fits in very nice there.
Thanks again to everyone who turned out last evening,
we're making progress!
9/27/17
The rain finally stopped
and the sky became partly cloudy for our work session last evening. We were greeted by yet another Youth Participant,
Eva Hobbs. No, she isn't an heir to the "Hobbs"
meter legacy, but she is an energetic and eager girl curious about airplanes. Welcome Eva!
Also, present and eager to learn about airplanes
was Dave Kostuch, Dave Grambush,
John Thro, Isabella Easterday and Milt Huhta. Mentors on board
were Tom Betts, Frank Kolo, Mike Gardonio,
Al White, Aaron Breitkreutz, myself
and Mike Philips. Mike is new to our Chapter. He hails from St. Cloud, Mn and EAA Chapter 551. Mike has moved to Superior and has joined our
Chapter. Mike holds an Airframe and Powerplant
Certification, working on his Inspection Authority, and is excited to join our Aeronca
Sedan group. Welcome Mike!
Work continued on the
Control Column assembly, with Dave G., Milt, Al, Frank, Mark, and Aaron combining
their wisdom around installing the new universal joints. Holes need to be drilled in the u joints to match
ones in the assembly. The Control Yokes also
need to be clocked the same using their existing bolt holes, so much discussion
was had around achieving that result. They
decided to use the existing holes as drill guides and move on. So far, so good.
John Thro and Dave K. worked with Tom on the rudder,
continuing to fit up the scarf joint and locate rosette welds required to reinforce
the joint.
Eva and Isabella were on team Mike with their focus
on the new parts we received a couple of weeks ago. They distributed them to the bins of parts they
are going to replace. We are trying to stay
organized as possible, we don't want to lose anything! Next, they turned their attention to the elevator
trim control. They continued to fabricate
a new bracket for the trim indicator.
Dave K. and Milt came over to help me with fitting
the cabin door. With the door clamped in
place, using shims to hold it as central as we could get it, we continued to fit
the modified upper hinge, getting ready to weld it up. We're getting close!
Thanks to everyone who turned out last evening. I can't say it often enough what a great group
we have, all pulling in the same direction. t's a wonderful thing and I am proud
to be a part of it!
Next week is our meeting Wednesday, so the next
Work Session will be in October, the 11th.
9/20/17
We were greeted last evening by beautiful, clear and warm weather (it's all about the weather, isn't it?),
and a hangar full of activity. New to our
group was Dave Gramstrup's Dad, Dave Gramstrup. It took us a while to get over the name confusion
and come to the realization that our Dave is a Jr. We can be so dense sometimes! Also new to the project is Isabella Easterday, an energetic youngster eager to learn about airplanes. She is a little young for our program, but her
Dad Don stayed for the session, and she remained engaged and attentive throughout
the evening, under the guidance of Mike Gardonio. She is a budding aeronautical engineer if I ever
saw one! The remainder of our participants
were Brett LaGraves, Milt Huhta,
and Jared Harger.
Dave Jr. and Jared are in the same class at LSC A&P school. Adult Mentors on the scene were Tom Betts, Mike
Gardonio, Bill Irving, Dave Gramstrup Sr., Don Easterday and me.
Dave and Dave, Jared and myself
focused on the control column. Frank Kolo with a previous commitment couldn’t be here, so after a
brief study of the assembly to understand what need to be done we got to work. The aileron control sprockets seemed to be out
of time with each other, so the chain was adjusted. The remaining pulleys were mounted
and old hardware evaluated. Dave Jr. discovered
that the bolts holding the lower pulleys are bent, so we'll order new ones. Nice catch Dave! We discussed the procedure for installing the
new universal joints which needed the bolt holes drilled. We determined that the new holes should be drilled
90 degrees to the existing ones to maintain perfect alignment of match drilled holes,
and discussed the procedure to accomplish the task, keeping in mind the the holes in the control yoke shaft must be aligned to keep
the yokes in the correct position with the ailerons neutral. Whew, all this thinking
can make your head spin! We'll drill and
ream holes next time.
Tom and Mike, along with Isabella, Brett and Milt
worked on setting up the rudder for welding on the replacement lower section. They built a fixture to hold everything in alignment. Later, Mike took Brett and Isabella aside and
paid some attention to the elevator trim control, cleaning parts and preparing material
to make a new bracket for the assembly.
With yet another successful work session under
our belts, I want to thank everyone who came out, especially our new comers. You make it
all worthwhile!
9/13/17
Last evening ended up unseasonably warm and pleasant,
so we left the big door open. Boy, did the
mosquitoes come out, or in. They sure kept
us hopping!
We had a good turnout. For students we had Tyler Brietkreutz,
Brett and Samantha LaGraves with
Brett's friend Delten. Also, along were John Thro and, new to our group,
Jared and his Dad Jim Harger, and Milt Huhta. Mentors included
Frank Kolo, MIke Gardonio, Tom Betts, Aaron Breitkreutz and me.
Mike and Brett went to work on the elevator control
mechanism along with Deegan Hoffbauer and Tyler looking on. They were able to complete the placard that goes
under the crank. Deegan is an enthusiastic
young fella, much like his pal Brett. It
was also good to see Tyler again, he hasn't been here in a while.
Autumn and Tom along with Milt went after the rudder,
researching the particulars of the scarf joint and rosette welds, and how to best
fixture the assembly to keep everything square, straight and the right length. Some classroom work was done using the AC 43.13-1B
manual of Acceptable Methods and Practices to determine how the joint should be
configured. They could come up with a list
of materials to construct the fixture for next time.
Frank had a big crew to work with around the Control
Column. At one time he had Tom and Milt and
Jared and Jim and Aaron looking on, but mostly Jim and Jared. We finally got our hands on a pair of universal
joints we were waiting for so work on this part can proceed. The first order of business was figuring out where
we left off! Once accomplished, work progressed.
installing the aileron chain assembly and new cable pulleys, and
assessing hardware.
John and I were back on the fuselage, but in the
forward end this time. We straightened the
lower forward fairing bow assembly, then moved to the fitting of the cabin door. The upper hinge needs some rework, so that was
studied and a possible remodel was determined. We'll have materials for next time.
All in all it was a busy,
productive time last night with stuff going on in every corner. Thanks to all who came out yesterday, it's good
to see new faces, and the old familiar ones too, our group just keeps getting bigger
and better!
8/30/17
School is starting soon, as evidenced by the absence
of most of our Youth Participants. Orientation,
kids growing up, moving to new schools. Autumn
was able to come however, along with Milt, so we had work to do. Along to balance out the other side were Frank
and me with Bill I. and Al looking in.
First of all, Autumn and I inventoried a shipment of parts
received from Aircraft Spruce and Specialtiy Co. In the
box were parts for the control column, control cables, brake parts and pulleys. We have work to do now! Everything was shipped as expected, beautiful
parts. Now we can make up control cables
for the rudder, elevator and trim tab, and aileron cables within the fuselage (there
are still a set of cables in the wings to address). We can complete the control column and brakes
too, lots to do!
Once complete Autumn, Milt and I focused on the
rudder. At the last work sesion the scarf joint for the splice was laid out on the rudder
and replacement section. We double checked
both parts to see how they compared. Identical. We also check with the guide
book, AC 3.13-1B Acceptable Methods and Practices, to determine the length
and size of the reinforcement sleeve. We
cut a piece of 7/8" x .035 wall 4130 tube 5" long, Frank cleaned up some
minor surface corrosion, making it ready for welding. Next, we set up to make the cuts with a hand held 5" angle grinder. Once made we de-burred and inspected the joint. The alignment is very nice, just a little refinement,
some plug weld holes to drill and it should be ready to
weld.
It was a quiet evening (mostly, except for the
grinder!) with only one task at hand but progress no less. Thanks to everyone who turned out. Next work session will be in September, where
did the summer go?
8/23/17
Last night we were greeted by Autumn Wolters who
we haven't seen in a while. She has been
busy with other activities this summer, most importantly, having fun! Also, along for the ride were our old friends
Dave Gramstrup and Milt Huhta. Present to lead the Session were Tom Betts, Al
White, Frank Kolo, Bill Irving
and me.
Autumn and Dave jumped right in with Tom on the
rudder. Their task was to mark the scarf
joint on the rudder and the new section to replace the damage. Their set-up was somewhat elaborate in order to repeat the cut line in the same place on both pieces,
but I think they got it right on. Next time
we'll double check the marks and make the cuts.
Milt and I finished up welding of the sleeves at
the aft end of the fuselage (I thought it would never get there!). Next, we welded on a stringer stand-off to replace
a bent up one that was removed previously.
Our man Mike Gardonio had made up the new one some time ago, I'm glad we
didn't lose it in the interim! Next, we'll
focus on the lower aft fuselage fairing bow.
This and the forward one have been subject to rough
handling in a previous life and need some attention.
Al and Bill and Frank did some remodeling on the
tall coffee maker table so that we can park our new welding machine under it, out
of harm’s way. All they had to do was to
notch the front rail a little to provide clearance for the argon cylinder and flow
meter. Short work, nice job. The machine is now parked safely away under the
bench. Thanks guys!
It's always surprising how early the days end this
time of year. We had the big door open for
the session, it was a very nice evening, we really noticed when the sun went down,
Dark! Thanks to everyone who came out last
evening, we're making progress!
8/16/17
We met again last evening, with John Thro back
from his baseball tournament in Indiana where they won one of four, very well by
all accounts! Also attending for enlightenment
was Milt Huhta.
Mentors on board were Tom B., Al, Bill I.,Mike G., and me
We got busy without delay, John and Tom focusing
on the rudder, fitting the control horn to the replacement tube. That involved laying out and cutting the relief
for the lower hinge bushing and locating it aligned with the steering fork. We tacked it in place, ready to cut the splice
joint on the rudder.
Mike and Al made a cardboard template to replicate
a bow assembly on the bottom of the fuselage that got bent up pretty bad at some point along the line. We have some 3/8" x .035 tube to bend for
its replacement. The template will help us
make a form to aid in the bending.
Milt and I continued our work on welding up the
fuselage. The sleeves fit on those two aft
tubs are nearly all welded. Some tight places
there, where the tubes come together on the rudder post, but we got it! Inching ever closer to completion!
Thanks to everyone who turned out last night, what
a great bunch!
8/9/17
Last evening was our first Work Session in 3 weeks,
what with AirVenture and meetings, it seemed like forever! We fell back into the swing of it though like
we never missed a day, Sweeet! Youth attending were Samantha and Brett LaGraves along with Milt Huhta. Mentors present to teach and learn were Mike Gardonio,
Tom Betts, Bill Irving, Frank Kolo
and me.
Brett and Mike went after the elevator trim control
to clean and to measure the turnbuckles so that we can replace them with the correct
ones.
Samantha and Tom were back on the rudder, fitting
a new control horn that Mike made back in his own hangar. Thanks Mike! There was some confusion and discussion regarding
locations and procedures. It seems that time
does funny things with memory, that's why we always try to write dimensions down
and don't dismantle the old part before the new one is ready to replace it. We're all set now though, so next time it's full
steam ahead!
Milt and I continued fitting and welding the reinforcement
sleeves at the aft end of the fuselage with our new Lincoln welding machine we just
brought home from EAA Sport Air Workshops.
Nice machine, it will serve the Chapter well. Thanks to EAA and Charlie Becker for making the
donation possible and our life easier and more enriched!
Frank and Bill finished up the "Spirit of
Katrina" apparel cabinet, applying the signage to the front. Pretty spiffy guys! It's now ready to load with shirts and hats and
move to the Superior Airport Terminal, officially putting our stuff on sale. So, if you can, check it out and buy a hat or
shirt!
Thanks to everyone for coming out last evening,
everyone pulling in the same direction is just a joy!
7/19/17
Last evening was a very pleasant one with just
a breeze off the big lake to cool things off from the day's heat (we're not used
to heat up here). We had a good turnout with
Dave Kostuch and Dave Gramstrup,
and Milt Huhta filling out the group of students. Tom Betts, Bill Irving, Frank Kolo, Todd Gremmels and myself were there to help out.
First, Bill took Dave K. and his mom Krista up
for a ride in his C172 to look around. It
was Krista's first ride ever in a small airplane and she was a little nervous. No worries, she and Dave came back with smiles
on their faces, and Krisa with a new faith and perspective
in the ability of small aircraft.
Dave G. joined Tom and Todd working on a Quickie
which has appeared in our hangar since last time. This aircraft has been a weather
vane perched on a rotating column in front of our hangar for a few years
and was taken down last Saturday for repairs.
The poor old bird has experienced some weathering damage and trauma from
kids climbing on it. Todd, who has fiberglass
experience, has agreed to lead the repair for a speedy return to it's post in good condition (for a weather
vane!). When Dave and Krista returned
from their ride, Dave joined the crew, learning about yet another type of airplane.
Frank was then joined by Bill, lining the display
shelf of the apparel cabinet. One step closer!
Milt and I went over the control cables that Mike
and crew measured last time. We wanted some
confirming information on the size of the turnbuckles and number of other parts
that make up the cables that live in the fuselage. Everything checks out. We then continued fitting the sleeves on the fuselage
aft tubing. Almost ready for welding, one
more section to go.
Thanks everyone for coming out on such a beautiful
(rare) evening to work on our birds. As you
may have heard, our meeting next Wednesday is cancelled due to most every one of
our mentor's attendance at Airventure
next week. With our board meetings the following week, we'll see you all on August
9th.
7/12/17
Last evening was a cool wind right off the big
lake, foggy and damp. That did not deter
us though, we had a full evening of activity, inside!
The LaGraves crew was
here, Brett, Samantha and Emily, and John Thro.
John was recently back from Air Academy where he was immersed in hands on
activities like sheet metal work, composites, chart reading and navigation to mention
a few subjects. John said he thoroughly enjoyed
the experience, but was disappointed when they were unable
to climb the rock wall outside because recent rain making it too slippery! Overall,
he loved it!
Adults here to assist were Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio, Frank Kolo, Bill Irving,
Al White, Milt Huhta and me.
Brett and Mike finished assembling the tail wheel,
fitting the tire, assembling the wheel halves and a final lube. Tail wheel ready to install. Whew, that was a long hard pull!
Tom showed Emily and Samantha all about testing
the Emergency Locator Transmitter on his Glasair. Tom had a recent lightening activating event with
his ELT so he wanted to test it and thought the young Ladies might be interested
in learning all about it, they were. One
more aspect of aviation to add to the list.
Afterward, the LaGraves
crew helped Mike gather control cables, measure their length, and record how the
ends were built. It's time we replaced them,
so we need to know what they are.
John and Milt and I worked on the tubing sleeves
at the aft of the fuselage, tacking them in place to reinforce the corroded areas. Tight spot but we'er
getting it!
Frank and Bill continued work on the apparel cabinet,
touching up the paint job and checking out the signage stencil that Mark Marino
made up for us. Thanks Mark! The Cabinet
will be looking pretty slick by the time we get done with
it.
Thanks to all who came out to participate. This session, as always, we learned a few things
as we inch further along on our Sedan project.
6/28/17
Well, last evening was a little unusual in that
we had no youth attending. My guess is the
gloomy weather, raining cats and dogs all day and cool temps. Also, John Thro and Dave Kostuch
are at Air Academy in Oshkosh so they were predisposed. No worries, we will resume in July on Wednesday
the 12th right in stride.
We did have a contingent of Adults/Mentors though,
with Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio, Al White, Frank Kolo an myself ready for action.
We get a few minor things done in the hangar, and
helped member Tim Friendshuh modify the front seat back
in his RV8A. Riveting is new to Tim so we were able to help him out a little and move his project
along.
Thanks again to all who came out on a gloomy, wet
evening. Even though we had no youth this
evening, it's all good. We'll pick it up
next time.
06/21/17
Last Wednesday evening was witness to yet another
successful session of work on our Sedan.
John Thro and Dave Gramstrup were on board to assist
and learn. There to pitch in were Tom Betts,
Mike Gardonio, Al White, Milt Huhta, Bill Irving and me.
Dave and Tom and Milt went to work fitting the
cabin door into the fuselage opening in order to finish
the lower hinge arm. It was determined that
when the door is properly centered in the opening, upper hinge does not match the
hinge tabs. It was determined that the hinge
must be moved, therefore the three began the surgical removal of the rivets holding
the hinge in place. This is an exacting process
to remove the rivets, preserving the holes, so that the corrected hinge can be reinstalled.
Once the steel hinge is removed, the door can again be fit into place, the lower
hinge arm located and the upper hinge remodeled to fit.
John and I went about to fit the sleeves that were
made to reinforce the two tubes that meet the rudder post. As it turns out, my suggestion to use 5/8 dia x .035 wall tube split down the center was a poor one as
the gap left between the sections is too great.
On to plan "B". Al suggested
we fashion a doubler from flat sheet, forming it to fit
the tubes. Al demonstrated the process by
getting some thin sheet to use as a pattern and began to trim and fit. In the mean
time John and I made final preparations to the horizontal stabilizer
brace wire tabs and tacked them into the lower longerons at the 20 degree angle
that the original ones were set at.
Bill and Mike busied themselves putting a first
coat of green paint on the apparel display case.
Just about the time we were all finishing up for
the evening, the clouds opened, the thunder boomed and
the rain came down. In buckets! Wow, we are going to get soaked on our way to
the cars, I was thinking. Just about the
time we were going to make our move, the rain quit, with nothing more than a nice
clean smell in the air! No worries!
Thanks everyone who came out to help. It never ceases to give me a thrill to see such
activity toward a common goal, engaging youth and adults alike, everybody learning
something new, and making our lives richer for it. Keep up the good work!
06/14/17
Last Wednesday evening was witness to yet another
successful session of work on our Sedan.
John Thro and Dave Gramstrup were on board to assist
and learn. There to pitch in were Tom Betts,
Mike Gardonio, Al White, Milt Huhta, Bill Irving and me.
Dave and Tom and Milt went to work fitting the
cabin door into the fuselage opening in order to finish
the lower hinge arm. It was determined that
when the door is properly centered in the opening, upper hinge does not match the
hinge tabs. It was determined that the hinge
must be moved, therefore the three began the surgical removal of the rivets holding
the hinge in place. This is an exacting process
to remove the rivets, preserving the holes, so that the corrected hinge can be reinstalled.
Once the steel hinge is removed, the door can again be fit into place, the lower
hinge arm located and the upper hinge remodeled to fit.
John and I went about to fit the sleeves that were
made to reinforce the two tubes that meet the rudder post. As it turns out, my suggestion to use 5/8 dia x .035 wall tube split down the center was a poor one as
the gap left between the sections is too great.
On to plan "B". Al suggested
we fashion a doubler from flat sheet, forming it to fit
the tubes. Al demonstrated the process by
getting some thin sheet to use as a pattern and began to trim and fit. In the mean
time John and I made final preparations to the horizontal stabilizer
brace wire tabs and tacked them into the lower longerons at the 20 degree angle
that the original ones were set at.
Bill and Mike busied themselves putting a first
coat of green paint on the apparel display case.
Just about the time we were all finishing up for
the evening, the clouds opened up, the thunder boomed and
the rain came down. In buckets! Wow, we are going to get soaked on our way to
the cars, I was thinking. Just about the
time we were going to make our move, the rain quit, with nothing more than a nice
clean smell in the air! No worries!
Thanks everyone who came out to help. It never ceases to give me a thrill to see such
activity toward a common goal, engaging youth and adults alike, everybody learning
something new, and making our lives richer for it. Keep up the good work!
05/24/17
Students: Dave Granstrup,
Brett and Samantha LaGrave, David Kostuch
Adults: Tom Betts, Frank Kolo, Mike Gardonio, Milt Huhta, Tim Friendshuh
Tom, Dave Granstrup,
Frank and Milt continued the effort to remove the insert
from the Rudder, without much luck though.
The combination of weld, rust and tight fit are making it impossible to move
the insert without destroying the outer tube.
Mike Dave Kostuch,
and Brett LaGrave enlarged the slots in the lower fuselage
tubing to accept the Horizontal Stabilizer flying wire tabs. After the tabs were fit, the tabs were dressed
a little bit and set aside for welding. They
then finished cutting out the lower rear longeron patches that were started last
week.
Mike and Samantha LaGrave
removed the bearing cones from the tail wheel.
They will be replaced with a different type of bearing that will better fit
the tail gear axel. Tim Freindshuh came in to go for a ride in his RV-8 and was gracious
enough to give Dave Kostuch and Brett and Samantha LaGrave all a ride around town too. Thanks Jim!
05/17/17
It was a wet one last evening, but that didn't
dampen our spirits or turn-out for another round of work on the "Spirit of
Katrina". Dave Gramstrup
and John Thro came eager to help and learn.
Mike Gardonio, Tom Betts, Frank Kolo, Al White,
Aaron Breitkreutz and I were
along for the ride!
Tom and Dave went after the rudder, assisted by
Mike, repairing the section below the rudder horn. They ran into a snag however as the reinforcing
tube was also fused to the rudder main tube right at the horn. This was due to another previous repair to the
horn, as the weld penetrated thru the rudder tube into the reinforcing inner tube. We may have to carry the repair higher up and
replace the horn too. We'll see...
John and I continued our work on the fuselage. John worked to further the repair sleeve preparation
for the corroded tube section at the base of the rudder post. John is getting to be quite the metal worker,
showing a good understanding of what needs to be done. In the meantime I made
slots in the longerons to accept the horizontal stabilizer brace wire anchor tabs.
Thanks to all who pitched in last night. Team work is what makes
this project the joy that it is!
05/10/17
Youth Participats in
attendance were Dave Kostuch, Samantha LaGraves, Dave Gramstrup and Milt
Huhta, our most senior Participant (and still eager to
learn!). Mentors aboard were Tom Betts, Mike
Gardonio, Frank Kolo, Bill Irving and me.
Here we are in May with our first work session
of the month in the log book. It was a lovely evening, warm, with scattered
sprinkles now and then, and rainbows! Not
too many sprinkles though for Bill to steal away Dave K and Samantha for a ride
around the harbor in is trusty C172. The kids came back with grins on their faces!
Dave G. and Tom went to work on the rudder, actually removing the damage on the lower hinge post that holds
the tail wheel steering arm. Cutting the
tubing at a 30 degree miter so close to the rudder control
arm with our primitive equipment is proving to be a challenge, but not one they
cannot meet. The cut has to be close to the arm as there
is an old butt joint (from a previous repair) within 2 inches that needs to be removed. Just a little more work and they'll have it. Oh for a vertical metal
cutting band saw!
Samantha and Mike got out the landing gear structure
and inspected it for any potential problems (interrupted briefly by an airplane
ride). They performed a visual inspection
followed by spot sand blasting to better expose suspect areas. They found a few that need attention. They mostly look like weld defects from manufacturing
which shouldn't develop into any problems, but we have the technology to correct
them!
Dave and Milt worked with me on the fuselage. Milt worked to prepare sleeves to reinforce two
tubes at the base of the ruder post that have some corrosion. Dave K. (again, when he got back from his airplane
ride) helped to position the ground handling handles and tack them into place. Next we located and marked
the tabs that hold the wires for the horizontal stabilizer.
Thanks to everyone who turned out to work on our
bird. I just love to work with the big door
open to enjoy the warm breezes!
04/19/17
Chilly!
We had a couple of eager fellows none the less, ready to work and learn. Dave Kostuch and John
Thro, who incidentally, will be attending Air Academy at Oshkosh this summer for
the first time. Congratulations guys! Ready to guide were Mike Gardonio,
Aaron Breitkreutz, Bill Irving
and me. We had a couple of guests, formally
from Oshkosh, Jim Kersting and
his friend Jody. Jim, as you may recall,
was instrumental in our acquiring the Sedan in the beginning! Thanks for coming by Jim!
Dave and Mike began the evening packing grease
in the bearings for the tail wheel before reassembling. I was discovered the job
couldn't be completed due to lack of bearing seals and the axle being too short. It turns out that we have the correct axle but
we need seals so the job was put aside. Dave then moved to work with Aaron on the Cabin
Door, lower hinge. They were repairing the
hinge pivot area to renew and reinforce a worn bolt hole.
John and I were back on the fuselage, John got
to studying the AC43.13-1B manual of Acceptable Methods and Techniques and Practices,
to design a tube sleeve that will reinforce a pair of corroded tubes that join the
rudder post, while I welded up tubing joints.
We conferred, and John went ahead and prepared some parts for the task. Afterward with just a few minutes remaining, John
took a file to clean off weld tacks from the lower longerons left from the truss
we used to stabilize the fuselage during longeron replacement.
Thanks to everyone who came out on a chilly and
blustery spring evening, the work continues!
04/12/17
Well here we are in the middle of April. I know it's spring now because the frogs have
started croaking. What a beautiful sound
after months of cold and snow!
Last evening was another beautiful mild one, perfect
for a few Young Eagle rides. Three of our
four students went up for a tour of the Twin Ports and came back ready to work. They were Autumn Wolter, Samantha LaGraves, John Thro, and Dave Gramstrup
didn't get ride,
just came to work. Mentors and pilots were
Tom Betts, Bill Irving, Al White, Mike Gardonio, Frank
Kolo, Bill Bergland
and me.
John and I got started back on the fuselage, completing
the welding of joints in the new tubing untill he went
for his ride with Al. When he got back we continued with Samantha looking on occasionally.
Dave and Frank pressed the bearings out of the
elevator control bell crank so they could clean it up for painting and service the
bearings. Autumn used the sand blast cabinet,
guided by Frank to do the actual cleaning.
Dave and Mike mounted the tail wheel tire and finished
building the tail wheel with grease and safety wiring the appropriate fasteners. Samantha joined in later to see what it was all
about.
Autumn and Tom worked on the rudder, deciding how
to make the cut to section in the new material.
Dave and Mike, along with Al, brought out the main
gear legs for inspection. Basically they are in good repair except for some pin holes in
existing welds which will be repaired. The
main pivot bushings will also receive further analysis before making a go-no go
decision on their airworthiness.
All in all it was a bustling
evening with activity going on in all corners of the hangar. Try to make available next Wednesday to join in
the experience that is the "Spirit of Katrina" Sedan Work Session!
03/29/17
Last evening greeted us with more typical March
weather, low ceilings and a brisk wind off of Gitche Gumee. That didn't stop us from working though (although
it did prevent any airplane rides). Folks
showed up and we got to work. In attendance
were the LaGraves, Brett and Samantha, and visiting for
the first time was Emily, their sister who lives in Madison, Wi. She will likely be back this summer. Welcome Emily! Also here to learn about
fuselage repair was Milt Huhta. Supervisors along were Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio, Aaron Breitkuetz, Al White,
Frank Kolo, Bill Bergland, Bill
Irving and me.
Samantha and Emily joined up with Aaron to work
on the cabin door, specifically the lower hinge. The pivot pin area had broken and been repaired,
but not to our standards. Aaron coached the
ladies on a better repair which included removing the previous reinforcement to
replace it with one more robust. They were
able to disassemble it and are designing a new reinforcement.
Brett and Mike went to work on a new addition to
our hangar. New style chair racks, built
by Mike and Tom and Jim last weekend, and powder coated by our friend Chris Penny
at Precision Powder Coating in Superior.
Thanks Chris! Brett and Mike drove
plastic plugs into the ends of the tubing and bolted on the casters. Just about everybody pitched in to transfer the
chairs from the old racks to the new ones.
Tom and Mike tried them out pushing them through the door into our furnace
room, perfect fit! Next will be a new cart
for folding tables so that all can be stored in the furnace room, making more room
in the hangar proper. Good job fellas! Once that big job was completed, Brett and Mike
drilled a hole in a tail wheel bumper bracket they made for the new tail wheel stop. Brett is a hole driller, and a good one too!
Milt and I continued work on the fuselage, tacking
in the last of the cross members we replaced and welding some of the joints. We next started the planning of a tail wheel stop
to prevent it contacting the rudder in the event of a bunge
and safety cable failure. This is a modification
adapted after our Sedan was manufactured.
Thanks to all who participated last evening, our
last for March. Next week is our scheduled
committee and board meetings so there will be no work session. April 12 is the next one, I hope to see you all
then. Happy Spring!
03/22/17
Yesterday provided us with another bright sunny
evening. It was just right for a couple of
airplane rides, provided by Tom for Autumn and Tyler. I am told that Autumn even made the position calls
upon back taxi to the ramp. Do we have a
future pilot in our crew?
In addition to Autumn and Tyler, Dave Kostuch and John Thro rounded out the Youth Participant contingent,
with Milt Huhta along to observe the fuselage repair.
Member Mentors were Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio, Aaron Breitkruetz, Frank Kolo
and me.
Tyler and Aaron continued the work on the cabin
door. I brought a piece of .032" thick 2024 aluminum alloy
formed at 90 deg. to reinforce the door latch and handle. Tyler and Aaron proceeded to fit it, assisted
by Autumn after her ride with Tom. They got
a good start on the task!
Dave and Mike got to work finishing up the tail
wheel assembly including final lubrication, ready for the tire and wheel. They then turned their attention to the rudder
to continue the work from last week, removing an array of rosette welds holding
an inner sleeve from a previous repair. This
will allow us to replace the damaged lower section.
After Tyler got back from his ride, he helped Frank
fit some spacers to the lower control column.
This is where the control column pivots back and forth in the fuselage with
the Control Yokes. Our spacers were stuck,
so Al pressed them out last weekend. Mike
Hoag sent us a set he had (Thanks Mike) which are in better condition than ours,
so that's what Tyler and Frank were fitting.
Almost done!
John and Milt helped me fit the last diagonal brace
just ahead of where the tail wheel mounts.
We made a pattern piece, then John and Milt fabricated the replacement tube. We got to fit, ready to tack into place. We also removed the reinforcing truss that was
temporarily welded to the longeron while the fuselage was repaired. We are beginning to see the light at the end of
the tunnel on this task!
Thank you to all who attended last evening. Little by little we're all getting smarter, as
the "Spirit of Katrina" inches closer to overcoming gravity!
03/15/17
Yesterday felt like spring. With daylight savings time it might be darker
in the morning, but the afternoon daylight sure is nice. So nice that Tom took the opportunity to give
the first youth participant to arrive a Young Eagle ride. Dave Kostuch was the
lucky one, so up they went! Also on board to work and learn was Dave Gramstrup,
Brett and Samantha Lagraves, and Milt Huhta who is one of our own Chapter members, here to pick up
some tips on fuselage repair and TIG welding.
Welcome Milt! To round out the other side of the equation were Tom Betts,
Aaron Breitkreutz, Al White, Bill Irving
and me.
Dave G. and Milt worked with me on the fuselage,
fitting the last couple of cross and diagonal members just ahead of the tail wheel
mount. Dave got a taste of cutting and fitting
the pattern piece of the diagonal, discovering some fitting considerations along
the way. A great teaching moment!
Aaron and Samantha worked on the cabin door latch
area, straightening out the latch mount and with Al's help, plan a reinforcement
for a little crack in the door skin there to give the latch more support. They then went on to remove the lower hinge and
plan a repair for it. The hinge pin hole
had been broken off and a hasty repair made.
We want to refine it and perhaps make it stronger to boot.
Brett and Bill went to work on the control column. Seems that the main pivot bushings are stuck and
won't rotate. To help press them out of the
control arm, they had to fasten a vice to a work bench. Brett loves to drill holes! They got the vice fastened down just fine, but
no joy was found removing the bushings. More
investigation is required.
When Tom and Dave K. returned from their flight,
(and once Dave was able to keep his feet firmly on the ground) they turned their
focus on the rudder.
Specifically where the tail wheel steering arm attaches. The arm was corroded into the steel tube of the
rudder, the attach holes are too big, so the lower section must be replaced. Along with Al and I we determined a course of
action and Dave and Tom went to work removing an array
of rosette welds holding an inner sleeve from a previous repair.
It's so nice to be on this side of winter with
the promise of spring in the air, not to mention Young Eagles! Thanks to all who participated last evening, I
believe we're making progress!
03/08/17
Last evening it was nice to finally walk around
outside without having to chase your hat across the yard! Boy this wind has been something! Never the less, we had
a good turnout for the Work Session, with Autumn Wolters and John Thro eager to
get to work. To help with their desire was
Mike Gardonio, Frank Kolo, Bill
Irving and me. We
even had two Chapter visitors, Dave Kauppi and Milt Huhta. Milt was especially interested in the fuselage
repair and the welding process it involved.
Autumn and Mike went to work preparing a section
of tubing to replace the lower section of the rudder where the tail wheel steering
fork attaches. Our rudder is compromised
in this area so we will replace it. Autumn
and Mike drilled holes in the tube to match the steering arm, not a small task to
do it precisely, and make it ready to section into the rudder. They also drilled out the steering arm where the
steering cables attach. This area had previously
been welded closed to repair the original holes which showed excessive ware. These holes will be fitted with AN42 eye bolts
to receive the spring as suggested by our friend Burl Rodgers in Alaska.
John and Milt were paying very close attention
while we continued to fit and replace corroded tubing in the aft end of the fuselage. I think we are getting closer to the end of this
process, just a few more sessions!
Thanks to everyone who came out last night in spite of the Gales of March, another in a long string of successful
work sessions!
2/22/17
Despite the rain and then snow, we had a god turnout
for the work session. In fact, we had a new
fellow come to see what we're up to. Matthew
Ierino, at the invitation of long time friend of John Thro. Matt says he hasn't built any airplanes yet, but is eager to learn how! He is interested in Industrial Arts and showed
good aptitude last night. Welcome to the
Project Matt! Also
eager to work were Samantha and Brett Lagraves. Helping to direct our crew were Frank Kolo, Aaron Breitkreutz and me.
The evening started with Samantha and Aaron inspecting
the rear window task. They cleaned up any
drips in the varnish, put the woodwork away for the time-being and cleaned up the
work station. They
then moved over to the display cabinet and hung the doors which were painted last
time. That complete, they shifted their focus
to the Sedan door. The latch area needs a
little attention. With a little clamping
fixture that I had made up last week they pulled a little dent out on the inside
skin and studied how to correct some minor deformation around the latch mount area. We will tool up for that job for next time.
Brett and Frank were back on the control column,
cleaning the aileron control chain assembly and the rod ends in the elevator push-pull
tube assembly. Once we get our replacement
parts, this control column will be good as new!
John and Matt were in there with me on the fuselage. We fabricated another jack post to hold the longeron
spacing and made up a couple of cross members just ahead of the tail wheel frame
assembly pivot.
Thanks to all who turned out last night, a new
Youth Participant and good work done, progress indeed!
2/15/17
Last evening we had a
little smaller group than usual, but it was fun and educational as ever! Dave Gramstrup, Brett and Samantha LaGraves were here
ready to dig in. Here it assist and advise were Mike Gardonio,
Aaron Breitkreutz, Bill Irving and me.
I worked on the fuselage along with Samantha and
Brett at times, Samantha worked with Bill too, putting the last finishing touches
on the rear window frames (which I really think are done now!)
Mike got Dave going on preparing a piece of tubing
ready to replace the lower section of the rudder post where the tail wheel steering
fork bolts on. Once this piece is prepared we will weld it onto the rudder.
Mike and Brett drilled some holes in a piece of
4130 steel sheet to shear into Tinnerman nut tabs to weld onto the fuselage where
necessary, and then they reassembled and lubricated the old Maul tail wheel gear.
Aaron, Brett and Samantha
worked on the display case, painting and installing trim. This thing is looking pretty
nice! Soon we will be able to display
our "Spirit of Katrina" apparel in the Superior Airport Terminal to help
raise funds and spread the word for our Project.
2/8/17
Last night was a chilly one. Here to work and learn was Dave Gramstrup. Present to
guide were Tom Betts, Frank Kolo, Al White, Bill Irving,
Mike Gardonio and me.
Mike showed up last evening with a spread sheet
list he put together with all the fasteners, bushings and clamps identified in the
Parts Catalog. This will be used to determine
what new hardware is needed for the complete rebuild. I counted 159 individual part numbers all together. Good job Mike, thanks!
Dave and I got right to work fitting and tacking
in the last section of longeron, just forward of the tail wheel pivot on the left
side. Dave did all the cutting and fitting
of the piece and I tacked it in. Good job
Dave!
Frank continued cleaning some bearings on the Control
Column while Mike and Al pressed the bearing cups into the tail wheel hubs. The rest of the crew did some cleaning and sorting
out of stuff in the hangar.
Thanks to everyone who came out last night, in spite of the cold.
I mean, winter can't last forever, can it?
1/25/17
Last evening was another typical Sedan work session,
solid activity for two hours. Youth attending eager to pitch in were Dave Gramstrup. Samantha and Brett LaGraves,
John Thro and Dave Kostuch. Rounding out the grown-up side
of this were Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio, Frank Kolo, Al White, Aaron Breitkrutz,
our friend from EAA Chapter 1221 John Welna, and me.
Dave K. and Frank worked on the control column,
cleaning and packing bearings and reassembling.
The column was powder coated last week by our friend Chris Penny at Precision
Powder Coating, a local Superior, WI business.
Thank you, Chris!
Samantha and Tom put another coat of varnish on
the rear window woodwork. Once finished with
that, Sam moved over and helped Aaron paint the display case. That display case is really shaping up, casters
and everything!
Brett and Mike shifted to work on the tail wheel. Al had earlier pressed our new king pin bushing
into the housing that we got from Jon Meserer last week.
As it turns out, the tail wheel arm king pin from Jon fits the bushing just fine,
so our search for tail wheel parts is over for now. Brett and Mike drilled and tapped
a grease fitting hole in the bushing and reassembled the tail wheel locking mechanism. More progress!
Dave G. and I continued our work on the fuselage. We cleaned up the cluster where our new longeron
passes through and adjusted the trial piece.
We tack welded the bushing that holds the left side of the tail wheel in
place and then made a pattern from our trial piece and transferred it to a new piece
of material. Time ran out before we could
cut the new piece out, so we left it until next time.
Meanwhile, Al floated around, giving advise where
needed. He even signed off some paperwork
Mike submitted on the main wheel rebuild.
Permanent records, I love it!
John Thro and
John Welna trial fit the cabin door to see how we might
repair the lower hinge leaf. They also wanted
to find out what sort of reinforcement we could fit onto the door latch area to
repair a little bitty crack in the area.
There is room, and They made a pattern for a reinforcement. We'll concentrate on that area next time.
1/18/17
Boy! I like this weather way better than below
zero. January thaws are my favorite!
Dave Gramstrup, Tyler
Breitkreutz, Samantha and Brett
LaGraves were here, eager to work. Tom, Mike, Al, Bill
I., Aaron and I provided guidance and direction.
Tyler and Aaron were busy preparing the new "Spirit
of Katrina" apparel display case for paint, sanding and scraping away. I wonder what color they will paint it? My guess is whatever
color we have the most of on hand. Anyone
have a fabulous color paint lying around?
Samantha and Tom put another coat of varnish on
the rear window frames after checking, "which edge is it now that gets glued?"
They are going to be beautiful!
Brett and Mike and Al adjusted the air pressure
in the main tires for storage and went after the tail wheel. Last week we received a used tail wheel assembly
from Jon Messerer, of Jonathan Aero. As it turns out, the arm on that one, along with
our new king pin bushing, will be just fine.
Thanks Jon! The outer bearing races
will be pressed into the tail wheel next time and then should be complete. Progress!!
Dave and I continued our pursuit of an airworthy
fuselage frame. We removed the last corroded
longeron section and stabilized the structure in preparation for fitting the new
tubing. The work is coming along well and
should progress quickly once this piece is in place. Just a few more cross and diagonal members to
deal with; fabricating a revision, an additional tail wheel assembly stop (this
is to prevent the rudder hitting the ground in the event of a bungee and restraining
cable failure), a few miscellaneous repairs and ta da!
Mark Marino helped us out with some stenciling
for the header on our "Spirit of Katrina" youth participant board. This is a place where we put the names of all
the youth who have helped with the project.
So far we have 22 names on that board with plenty
of room for more! If you know of a eager young mind looking to develop an interest in aviation,
steer them over here and we'll show them a way!
Thanks to everyone who came out last night, it
feels so good to see the activity and progress in our Chapter hangar. Build on!
1/11/17
Last evening, we met again, for the first time
this year. The air was chilly, and the roads
were slick, but Dave Gramstrup and John Thro came to work. There to assist were Al White, Tom Betts, Mike
Gardonio, Frank Kolo, Bill Berglund and me.
Dave and crew, Mike and
Al, set to assembling the main gear with brakes and tubes and tires. The project is complete except for setting a storage
tire air pressure next time.
John and I continued work on the fuselage, fitting
the truss removed from the left side to the right side. With a little grinding and checking, we got it
close enough to weld in place. John discovered
the welding observation hoods wouldn't turn on, so while I welded the truss in place,
he went to work with Frank and Bill examining and cleaning the control column parts. When I was finished welding, John came back and we rotated the fuselage 180 degrees to set the stage
for replacement of the last of the corroded tubes. We discussed what we needed to do next, and measured the angle of the lifting handle to be 30 degrees
up from horizontal, as it too must be replaced.
I regret to say that through the focused work and
excitement, I failed to get any pictures of the activity last evening. Sorry, but you all know what we look like, and
I'll get a picture of the beautiful mounted tires next
time!
12/28/16
Last night
was still a little icy but a few brave souls made it over to the work session anyway. Ready, willing and able
were Dave Gramstrup, Samantha and Brett LaGraves along with their grandparents, Dawn and Bob DeSoto,
in from N Dakota. I was the only one representing
our chapter, but with Grandma and Grandpa on board it was full steam ahead.
After a short tour of the project for Grandma
and Grandpa, Samantha and Brett went right to work on the window frames that they
worked on with Sam taking the lead. I was
pleasantly surprised with her presence and knowledge from previous work sessions. "Shouldn't we sand the work from last time
before we varnish?" she asked. Yes,
we should, both the previous coat (we'll be needing two) and the run over on the
bare side. She and Brett got busy with sand paper with Grandpa Bob pitching in too.
In the meantime, Dave and I got to work
on the fuselage. The first order of business
was to remove the truss we had welded onto the left side to hold the fuselage in
shape while we worked on the lower longeron on the right side. After a little coaching, Dave got busy with the
grinder and removed the truss, beautiful.
I looked in on the sanding job. Those
guys really know what they're doing! After
the work session, the Grandparents were taking Sam and Brett to their Great Grandma's
house several miles south of town, so they had to cut their evening with us short. The window pieces were left, all sanded, ready
for the next coat of varnish next time. Thanks
Dawn and Bob for the visit, I hope you can come back for another visit real soon.
Dave had removed the temporary tail wheel
frame assembly pivot bolt, cleaned it up and reversed it in the assembly. We then punched a pair of witness points and strung
a string to check alignment. So far, so good! With the work session coming
to a close, we began to fit the truss on the right side for operation on
the remaining corroded longeron.
Thanks to all for another successful work
session. I am always surprised how all thoughts
of the rest of the world step aside while in the work session, and how fast the
time goes. You know what they say about time
and fun!
Remember, for more information about our
project, go to sedanproject.com for our web
page.
12/21/16
The Sedan work party again went off very
well with a turn out and some projects to do. The adults on hand were; Aaron, Mike, Frank, Bill Berglund, Al, and Tom. Jim was
away for the holidays. The students were; Brett LaGraves, Samantha LaGraves, John
Thro and Autumn Walter.
Tom, Autumn and
Samantha worked rear window frame parts, first removing them from the fuselage and
setting them up for varnishing. They learned that set-up and prep of the parts for
varnishing is more involved than the actual varnishing of the parts. Part way into
the project Brett joined the varnishing team and we made short work of it.
Mike, Brett and
John greased the bearings for the main wheel halves and temporarily assembled the
halves. We need new nuts and another type of felt seal for back halves.
Aaron and John cleaned up the display cabinet
and a real in the appearance.
Everyone wound
up the work at about 8:10, we cleaned up and headed home. It was fun and productive
evening for all.
11/30/16
The turkey has settled
and we were filled with energy, enough to build an airplane. Well, at least enough for a couple of hours work! Eager to get to it were Dave Gramstrup, Brett LaGraves
and his sister Samantha. Samantha is a 5th
grader who "knows a little bit about airplanes but hasn't built one yet",
so we're going to try to fix that last one.
Welcome to the crew Samantha!
Big kids present to guide their young minds were
Tom, Mike, Al, Frank, Aaron, Bill Bergland, and me.
Brett and Mike dove into their landing gear project
with some new parts generously donated by Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co. Thank you, Desiree, Chenelle
and Janette! Wheel bearings on the main wheels
were first on their minds. Mike brought some
dry ice to freeze and shrink the outer races and placed the wheels in the kitchen
oven to warm up and expand. The races dropped
in place like magic, the temperatures equalized and the
races are there for keeps. Brett got a good
lesson in what happens to things with temperature, they move quite a bit, don't
they? They next focused on the tail wheel
kingpin bushing, removing the worn out one to make ready for pressing in the new
one.
Samantha and her crew of Aaron, Frank, Al and Bill continued work on the door. Removal of the extra skin was first. The only thing holding it on after work from last
time was the door lock, which took some delicate fingers to remove, that Samantha
provided. With the lock removed, the spot
welds and a few remaining rivets holding the original door parts together were in
their sights. Rivets were drilled out and
spot weld removed with a carbide burr on a die grinder. The outer door skin must be replaced once the
rest of the door is repaired. We are still
on the fence about replacing the entire door if we can find one in serviceable condition
at the right price or repairing this one.
Anyone know of one available?
Dave and I concentrated on the fuselage longeron
that was fit and tacked into place last time.
I brought Dave up to date on the task and explained why we were doing what
we were doing. We checked that the fuselage
was still straight and true as we could with a string line and our witness marks. We welded, rolled the fuselage, welded, checked
alignment, welded, rolled the fuselage, welded and checked
again. We did this pretty much all evening
and went as far as we could. Next is removing
the truss and the last section of longeron.
Thanks again to all who participated last night,
slow but steady, progress marches on.
11/16/16
Last night was our last work session before Thanksgiving,
and progress was made. Dave Gramstrup Brett LaGraves, Autumn Wolter
and John Thro came to make sure of that!
Here to assist were Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio, Aaron
Breitkreutz, Al White and me. New to our group of mentors last night was John
Welna. John is
an Aeronca flyer and builder who hails from EAA Chapter 1221 that operates from
KCOQ, Cloquet, MN. John came to see what
we were up to and if he could lend a hand. Thanks John!
Autumn and Tom continued their work on the rear
window frames, positioning the frames and drilling mounting holes. The frames are about ready for varnish and Lexan.
Progress indeed.
Brett and Mike continued cleaning wheels in preparation
for new parts that are on their way. When
they took that task as far as they could they moved to the tail wheel steering fork
mount on the rudder. The steering fork was
frozen into the rudder and when removed and corrosion cleaned up, the rudder tube
wall is too thin. We will replace the lower
section of the ruder where the steering fork mounts. Brett and Mike began preparing a section of tubing
by drilling the bolt holes that secure the steering arm. Once they are satisfied the bolt holes are correct we will cut the tube to length and replace the damaged
section with it.
Dave Gramstrup was assisted
by quite a crew as consensus was achieved on the direction to go with the door. As mention before, the
door has a fair amount of damage so further disassembly is in order. With the outside door skin riveted in place, rivet
removal was the task. After the lower section
of door skin was removed, it was discovered that at some point, the door had been
repaired with an additional sheet of aluminum on top of the original. Hmmm! In the
beginning, John Welna said that his Champ door had been
spot welded together where ours was riveted.
Now we know why because beneath the riveted skin, the original was still
there, spot welded. We will continue to disassemble
the door, and at the same time search for a replacement possibility. John thinks the Champ door may be the same.
John Thro and I continued with the fuselage repair. The longeron section was prepared and trial fitted
last time so we carried on. First, alignment
of the fuselage was checked with a string line down the center, our witness punch
marks were measured and the tail wheel assembly fit verified. All seems good. The replacement tube fit was refined and tack welded into place. Next time we'll weld it in a little more before
moving to the other side.
11/09/16
With this unusually warm weather, it's
hard to believe it's November! At least it
gets dark early so we don't have to feel bad about working
inside on the Sedan. That's exactly what
we did last evening. Dave Kostuch, Dave Granstrup, Brett Lagraves and Autumn Wolter pitched in along with Brett's Dad
Chris. Chapter members there to help shine
the light were Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio, Bill Irving and
me.
Autumn and Tom got busy on the rear window
frames, Tom showing a method for plugging holes drilled in the wrong place, with
a dowel epoxied into place, then fitting them into the fuselage. Tabs on the fuselage will be used to locate the
new holes in the correct position.
Brett, and his Dad,
helped Mike examine the brake calipers and hydraulic lines that feed brake fluid
to the calipers. They were disappointed to
find massive corrosion on inside of the calipers. There is a good chance that they are damaged beyond
salvage but we'll look closer before we make that determination.
Dave G. and Bill focused on the cabin door. There were a couple of patches in the upper hinge
area, pull riveted in place that covered some damage. Rivets were drilled out and patches removed. This did not reveal much. Further study is needed to make a proper repair. Their attention turned to the door latch. The handle is loose and the latch sticky. There is a plastic bushing for the door handle
all worn out that will have to be replaced.
They were able to remove the latch box, take it apart and found it full of
dirt and corrosion. They think it can be
cleaned up and put back into service. We'll
know more next time.
Dave K. and I worked on producing a replacement
tube section for the longeron removed earlier.
Dave got a chance to read about accepted methods of repair to steel tubing
in aircraft in the FAA Circular "AC 41.13-1B, Acceptable Methods, Techniques
and Principles" This
is the recognized authority that describes all sorts of repair and construction
procedures in all aircraft. We then made
a paper pattern from our trial tube and transferred it to a new piece of tubing,
to cut, grind and fit it into place. Once
that was done Dave cut another piece of tube to act as an internal reinforcement
for our scarf joint of the appropriate diameter and length determined from what
he learned from studying in the AC 41.13-1B.
Next we will refine our fit, check the fuselage
for alignment and tack our new pieces in place.
10/26/16
On a dark and gloomy Halloween like evening
we were met by three eager fellows, Brett LaGraves, John
Thro and Dave Granstrup. Present to assist were Mike G, Aaron B, Bill I,
Frank K, and me. We had them outnumbered!
First of all, Aaron and
Bill went upstairs and found the left side, pilot's window and the door. Dave worked with them to inspect and assess their
condition. The left side sliding panels simply
need to be replaced salvaging the steel frames. The rivets holding them on were
drilled out on the drill press and removed.
The window was then used as a pattern to trace out the shape on our new lexan sheet provided by Aircraft Spruce. The door will be more
of an issue as it was damaged around the upper hinge area, and the handle needs
to be re-bushed.
Brett and Mike paid attention to the main
wheel halves, removing the bearing outer races.
The wheels were one at a time placed in the chapter's kitchen oven at 215
degrees for 20 minutes, and the races were then tapped out using a block of hard
wood as a drift. Out they came, clean as a whistle! The wheels were then scuffed up for repainting.
John and I continued our work on the fuselage,
successfully removing the corroded longeron section we have been working on and
then fitting a pattern to make the replacement tube. This section involves the boss for the tail wheel
pivot on one end and a splice joint on the other. Next time we'll prepare the new tube and splice,
hoping to have them tacked together.
All together it was another successful
session, even though the hangar was cold!
Someone didn't turn up the heat, I think we were thinking it's still summertime. With our floor heat there is quite a lag in raising
the temperature out there. Next time we'll
try to be more on the ball, I don't think it's going to be warmer out any time soon!
10/19/16
They came, they worked, they learned, they
grinned! Dave Kostuch,
John Thro, Autumn Wolter and Brett LaGraves were at it
again bringing the Spirit of Katrina ever closer to her former glory. Present to assist were Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio,
Bill Irving, Al White and me.
Autumn and Dave teamed up with Tom to further
the instillation of the right rear window.
This task is proving itself way more challenging than it appeared at first. However, steady progress is being made. Next week
they should be able to bolt it into place.
The left one will be a piece of cake, with all the questions and issues solved
by the right one. Go Team!
Brett and Mike got after cleaning and inspecting
the wheels of the landing gear. The tail
wheel needs some machine work as the king pin on the arm is bent. The rims of the
wheels need new bearings too, that's next time.
John and I focused on the fuselage. We extended the truss we built earlier to the
next cross member, much stronger, and placed a screw jack under it to "add
suspenders to the belt" to help keep everything in place. Our string line shows we are on the right track,
as well as the two witness points we established before
the surgery began. John continued, removing
the corroded tubes in this section. Next
week we'll remove everything that isn't the lower longeron in this section and hopefully
begin to fit the new tube.
Al floated around making suggestions and
helped us make sure the work being done is in accordance with approved practices.
10/12/16
Last evening's work session was a bustle
of activity. Eager to help and learn were
Dave Granstrup, Autumn Wolter, John Thro and Dave Kosutch. Chapter members
ready to lend a hand and show the way were Tom, Mike G., Frank, Bill I., Al and Jim.
Work started with arranging the furniture
in the hangar, making room for some benches and a dandy media blast cabinet donated
to the Chapter by Gene Amorde. Thanks, Gene!
Next we divided to conquer, Autumn and Tom teamed
up to fit the right rear window to the fuselage with help from Frank and Bill and
Al. I think they got it figured out. Dave K. and Mike got together to disassemble the
tail wheel post assembly for inspection and evaluation, and Dave G. and John threw
in with Jim on the fuselage. We strung a
string line down the center of the fuselage to gauge symmetry, which showed the
fuselage pretty straight. We then made the bevel cut on the lower right
longeron in the third bay forward of the rudder post. This point is the end of corrosion damage needing
attention in the lower right longeron. We
noticed the truss we built was shorter than it should be as the fuselage sagged
a little once the tube was cut. No worries,
we put a jack post under the forward end of the truss to bring everything back into
alignment and started making parts to extend the truss to the next cross member.
Bill presented the crew with a work sheet
to help us be better organized in our documentation of work accomplished. The two-sided form allows room to specify the
date, the task, people involved, steps taken, note conditions and on the back, room
to identify specific parts required to complete the task. Good job Bill. This form will become a permanent part of the
restoration record, stored in a dedicated binder.
These work sessions are kind of exciting
in that we don't know exactly who is going to show up and thus what we are going
to do for any given evening. However once the crew is all together, we coalesce into a finely
tuned machine dedicated to restoring this classic aircraft. It is a joy to pause and take it all in. You folks are amazing!
9/28/16
We had a good turnout last evening. Eager to work and learn were Autumn Wolter, John
Thro, Brett LaGraves and Tyler Breitkreutz. Rounding out the grown-up side
of things were Tom Betts, Bill Irving, Frank Kolo, Aaron
Breitkreutz, Brett's Dad, and me.
Right off the bat, Bill had his C-172 on
hand for a young eagle flight, a young fellow independent of our group. As soon as Bill got back, all the kids except
John disappeared. They were off flying with
Bill! I understand that Autumn executed an
excellent take-off and flew most of the flight, you go girl!!
John and I got back into building a truss
to hold the fuselage in place while we remove and replace a corroded section of
the lower right longeron. We have it nearly
finished, just a couple of small welds left to make, then the surgery begins. John is showing himself as a darn good metal man!
Autumn and Tom continued work on the rear
window arm rests and frames. Autumn showed
us her skill with wood work, doing a great job on her assignment.
Tyler and Brett followed Frank and Aaron
up into the upper parts storage and came down with the control column assembly to
inspect and disassemble. First apparent were
the dried and cracked u-joint boots. The
rest of the parts seem serviceable with only cleaning and repainting required. We'll know for sure when the inspection is complete.
Thanks to all who participated last evening. The time flies by, but we get work done. Fun!
9/24/16
I was a dark and stormy night, lightning
flashed, thunder boomed and the rain was pouring down (I
always wanted to open with a line like that!) but we had a great turnout just the
same. Young people ready to work were Dave Kostuch, Dave
Granstrup, John Thro, Brett LaGraves,
Tyler Breitkreutz, and our newest, Autumn Wolter, our
first young lady to grace our crew. We are
excited to have you on board Autumn, a fine addition to our crew! Present to guide and assist were Bill I, Mike
G., Tom B., Aaron B., Frank K., and myself.
Dave, Dave and
Mike continued their disassembly and inspection of the main wheels and found corroded
bearings which will be replaced, but the wheels were otherwise in good condition.
Tom took Brett and Autumn aside for shop
safety and hand tool instruction as is protocol for new participants. Brett missed
his opportunity last time, so he got his chance last evening.
Tyler and Aaron were busy inspecting and
assessing the condition of the seat frames and cushions. They found the rear seat in very good shape, nothing
wrong that a little cleaning won't fix, but the front ones are a little more worn
and will need repair. The front seat frames
appear to be serviceable but a little closer assessment
is in order.
John and I focused on the fuselage and
longeron repair. Earlier in the week I had
a conversation with a friend of the Chapter, Roger Sundin. Roger is very experienced in all kinds of aircraft
repair so I leaned on him for some advice before we moved
to the next phase of our repair. His suggestion
was to build a structure, more or less a fixture onto the
fuselage to hold it in shape while corroded members are removed and replaced. This makes total sense; I would have done the
very thing back in my welding shop on any other complex framework that needed surgery. Thanks Roger!
Well, John and I set out to do just that. I brought in some square tubing I had at home so we designed and began to build our truss. John was the man behind the saw guided by Bill,
and I assembled the pieces. Dave and Dave stopped over to help take critical measurements
of pieces to be removed, and to observe the process. We still have a little more fabricating to do
before we cut out the corroded section, but we're well on our way.
Thanks to all who came out in the foul
weather last evening. A very dedicated crew
I am proud to be associated with!
9/14/16
Hi
Folks,
Last night was anything but normal for
our work session. First of all we were met by a photo journalist from KQDS FOX 21 TV News
to do a story on our little project! You
will find a link below to their piece, only about a minute long, that pretty well captures what were up to, including a link to our
Sedan web site at the end of the text. Check
it out!
Now, back to the work session. We had a full house last evening with Dave Granstrup, Jon Thro, Dave Kostuch,
Tyler Brietkreutz and a new fellow, Brett Lagraves, here to learn.
Chapter members were Mike, Bill I, Frank, Aaron
and me. Tom was home sick with pneumonia, get well fast Tom, we missed you!
First of all it
was my distinct pleasure to present to the crew our first shipment of parts donated
from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co.
We received main and tail wheel tires and tubes, shock rings for suspension
and enough acrylic sheets to make all the side windows. Thanks you so much Desiree
Czaplinski, Marketing Manager for ACS for such wonderful
support! You are an inspiration to us all!
After the bright lights of the media were
gone we settled down to work. Dave and Dave along with Mike got into disassembling,
cleaning and inspecting the tail and main wheels. They discovered the bearings on the tail wheel
were rough, with the verdict still out on the main wheel bearings and tail wheel
arm oilite bushing and locking mechanism. Tyler, Brett and Frank
continued work on the rear window frame and arm rest. Jon and Bill brought down
and started inspection of the front seat frames, finding no glaring discrepancies. Further inspection will be required. Jon and I moved to the fuselage, preparing to
remove the next section of longeron from the tail wheel assembly pivot forward. This will be a rather complex procedure as there
are multiple clusters involved. No worries
though, it's all good!
It was great to be a part of all the activity
last evening. Thanks to all who participated.
If you haven't been to a work session, I encourage you come out and experience
for yourself what we have going on. It's a lot of fun too!
8/31/16
There was a gathering at the hangar last evening. In attendance was our old friend Dave Granstrup. You remember Dave, he used our Sedan as his Senior
Project last winter. Dave graduated from
Superior Senior High last spring and is now attending Lake Superior College in their
Aircraft Maintenance course. He said that
his experience with us gives him a leg up with his studies at LSU. Way to go Dave! Also in attendance was Jon Thro, and Brandon Cegelske's two sons, Owen and Mason.
Chapter members helping out to show these young fellows the way were Brandon, Tom B, Mike G, Frank K, Bill I, Al W, and me.
Dave and Mike set out to press
some new oilite bushings into the tail wheel assembly. Jon helped out until my wife came by with some
welding equipment I forgot to bring with in the first place. Thanks Cathy, you saved the day! As soon as my equipment arrived, Jon and I resumed
our job of welding the replacement tubes in the fuselage. Dave also stopped over to observe and pick up
some pointers on TIG welding. Owen and Mason,
with Tom and Brandon, started to make a replacement arm rest for the right side rear window.
It was in there someplace that Tom gave Mason, a young fella just starting
the 4th grade, a lesson in hand tool safety.
Mason passed the quiz at the end with 100% correct. Congratulations Mason! When Dave and Mike finished with the tail wheel
assembly they gathered up the tail and main wheels and
prepared for their disassembly and inspection.
Frank continued working on name tags and Al, our A&P/IA floated around
observing and telling us what we were doing right, and wrong! For example, I had asked Cragin
Machine to make an axle for the tail wheel assembly which required cutting threads
on a grade 8 bolt. Turns out that this is
not allowed in aircraft construction. The
threads must be rolled to minimize stress risers and grade 8 is too brittle, AN
bolts (closer to a grade 5) must be used. Thanks for your help anyway
Bob. We'll be in touch with any machine work
we run across. So
the search begins for an extra-long AN bolt.
Stay tuned!
Thanks to everyone who participated
last night. Progress, that's what they call
it!
8/24/16
Yesterday turned out to be a very nice evening, a little breezy but
no rain! Two fellows eventually came to join
in the project, 13 year old Dave Kostuch,
new to our group came with his Mom Krista.
It was just the three of us for a while as all other comers from Duluth were
stuck in traffic. Road construction! We three
started going over some basic tool orientation when the crew started to arrive. Among them was our old friend, Jon Thro and his
Mom Catherine. We decided to move into the hangar and get to work.
Present to assist Dave and
John were Tom, Aaron, Frank, Mike, Bill I., Al and me. Mike Busch, president of EAA 1128 stopped by to
be a familiar face for Dave and Krista. He
referred them to us after they visited him in Two Harbors a couple of weeks ago. John and I got back on the fuselage, fitting
the tube we removed last time while Al arranged a Young Eagle ride for Dave. After Al and Dave returned, with the usual Young
Eagle grin on his face. Dave set in to join
Frank and Tom cutting out name tag blanks from the old fabric. These name tags will have the names of all our
participants written and then posted on a cork board hung on the wall. That way we can see at a glance
all the youth we have introduced to our project!
The evening came to a close way too quickly, and we all went our separate
ways. It was great to see a new face at the
hangar. Dave, we look forward to seeing you
again, thanks Krista for bringing him by, there is much more work to be done!
Thanks to all who participated,
it's good to be back in the swing of things.
7/20/16
It was cool in town last evening, the lake breeze
felt good for a change. Jon Thro and Tyler
Breitkrentz came to work and Tom, Mike, Aaron, Bill Irving and I were there to assist.
Repairing the fuselage was the task at hand. First of all, we fabricated
a jack post, to be used along with a bar clamp, to hold the structure in place while
welding. Tyler and Aaron were busy cutting
some 5/8 threaded rod while Jon prepared the tubing. We put the fixture in place before tack welding
the tube we fit last time. Next we rolled the fuselage
over and removed the opposite tube. We were
all ready to cut and fit the new one when it was time to go. Time flies when you’re having fun! We're making progress, one tube at a time.
Meanwhile Bill was flying a Young Eagle and her
Mom, a gal that had contacted him thru our Chapter web
site. They all came back from the flight
with the usual ear to ear grin. Tom was busy
going thru his pre-flight inspection with Tyler and they too went for a Young Eagle
flight. Tyler came back with the usual grin
that lasted the rest of the evening. He showed
me the selfie Tom took while he was flying.
There was one happy guy!
Thanks to everyone who showed up to work, you make
it all possible!
Due to member participation at Airventure in Oshkosh next week, there will be no work session
on Wednesday the 27th. Then, with the Chapter
meetings on August 3rd, the next session will be on August 10th. Wow, that seems like a long time from now, but
enjoy the summer, August 10th will be here before you know it!
7/13/16
Yesterday, a day that earlier promised good flying
weather did not deliver, so much. Even so,
there was a window thru which Tom was able to give a Young Eagle ride to Jon Thro
and get back just in time for a downpour!
Both were thrilled to get an up close and personal look at local rain clouds
and yet stay dry. Good job Tom, Thanks!
Otherwise, it was Jon, Andrew Wcklund and Owen Cegelske that came
to build an airplane. Chapter members on
board to help guide the boys were Tom, Mike, Frank, Bill Irving
and me. The order for the day was to begin
replacement of corroded tubing from the aft end of the fuselage. Thanks to Mark Marino we now have all the tubing
we need to accomplish this task. Thank you Mark! I started with
the aft most tube on the right side. It was
removed and then a new piece of 5/8 dia. X .035 wall tube was cut and fit into place. Time ran out before it could be tacked in place,
but that will be first thing to do next time.
Meanwhile Mike and Tom helped Jon and Andrew glue the rear window frames
together getting them ready to fit into the fuselage.
Thanks to everyone who came and helped out yesterday, it's a joy to work with you all!
6/30/16
Last evening found us again at the chapter hangar
with four eager lads wanting to build an airplane. Jon Thro, Owen Cegelski,
Chris Young and and a new fellow, Hans
and his dad. I am sorry, in the excitement
of the session, I forgot their last names.
Hans, please come next time and straighten me out! Chapter members were Brandon Cegelski, Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio, Rob Cotter, Bill Bergland, Bill Irving, Frank Kolo,
Al White and me.
Order for the day was to continue work on the rear
window frames, headed up by Tom and Mike with help from Bill I., Chris and Hans. Mike brought
his router table to cut the rabbit for the rear window and to fit the vertical bar
to complete the frame. The frames are shaping
up nicely with more work to be done such as fastening the fore mention pieces together
and fitting the arm rest. Next the frames
can be fitted to the fuselage and varnished like the rest of the wood work.
Meanwhile, Jon and Owen were busy itemizing the
tubing needing replacement in the tail wheel area with help from Rob and me. We now have a list of tubing sizes and lengths
required. I then demonstrated the process
of inspecting the interior of some of the tubes by cutting a hole with a burr on
a die grinder and looking inside the tubes.
To our surprise and delight, the interior of the tubes were very clean and free of corrosion. This means that there is likely no corrosion from
the inside out, only the outside in, which makes repair pretty
straight forward. Next thing, we studied
the drawing for installing a left side "Seaplane" door provided to us
by Mike Hoag, (thanks again Mike!) to figure out what materials we will need to
make that change.
Next session we will continue
on with the rear window frames and begin to replace tubing in the tail wheel
area of the fuselage.
In a quiet moment, Hans's Dad gave some basic flight
theory to Hans and Chris in the chapter meeting room.
The weather last night was so beautiful we found
ourselves asking, why aren't we flying these kids on a day like today? Well, the short answer is that we failed to provide
them with Young Eagle release forms to make it all legal and insured! This has since been corrected. From now on, and I admit to falling behind the
curve on this one, our intention is to have the crew flight ready in the event that weather permits for Young Eagle Flights. To that end, I would like to extent an open invitation
to any and all Pilots wishing to give Young Eagle rides
to show up on all but the first Wed. of the month around 6:30 pm to share the joy
of flight to these deserving youngsters.
Thanks to all who helped last night, your excitement
and contribution gives this project life!
6/15/16
On a rainy Wednesday evening, varnishing was the
name of the game. On board to work were Jon
Thro, Andrew Wicklund, Chris Young and new to our group,
Ryan Miller from Superior Senior along with his mentor Linda Harper. Welcome Ryan and Linda! It's exciting to see new faces come to our project.
Chapter members were Tom, Mike G., Frank, Bill I, Al, and me.
First order of business was to mix up some varnish
and get previously varnished pieces ready for the second coat and a place to work
on the floor boards.
While Jon and Chris and Andrew were scuffing previously varnished bulkheads,
Ryan helped set up an additional table for the floor boards. When all was said and done, we got a second coat
on one side of all the bulkheads and formers, and a coat on both sides of the floorboards. Man that bare wood soaks
up the varnish! Sometimes it's hard to see
where you've been it soaks it up so much.
Nothing was done to the fuselage last night, I was afraid of getting iron
and grinding dust in the wet varnish, we'll get to that next time.
In the meantime, off site, Tom has been making
ready pieces for the rear window frames from Douglas fir donated by Ken Peters. Tom has them beautifully milled and spent some
time last night shaping the inside of the frames. I suspect that we'll be gluing them up soon and
making ready to receive the Plexiglas.
Thanks to all who threw in last night. It's amazing what can be accomplished in just
a couple of hours. Again, welcome Ryan and
Linda, you are a great addition to our crew!
6/8/16
Yesterday started out with warm sunny skies so
we opened the hangar door to let some fresh air in. After a while it got a little chilly so we closed the door. Go figure, I love Superior! We were also greeted by Andrew Wicklund, accompanied by his Dad Joe, and a new fellow, Chris
Young. Chris is a 6th grader from Cooper
Elementary School and a hard worker. Our
mentors who came to help were Tom, Mike G, Frank, Rob, Al
and me.
Our task last night was varnishing the other side
of the wooden bulkheads and formers. We scuffed
up the varnish which found itself on the back side from last time and proceeded
to varnish. We covered all of the pieces we did last time plus the forward most section
of the floorboards. Meanwhile, we organized the work space
by putting away the old bulkheads and stringers to the attic along with the new
stringers awaiting their time to be installed.
Once the way was cleared we turned the fuselage
over and began to inspect the corroded tubing for candidates for replacement. We found some obvious ones and some not so obvious
ones. A more detailed exam will have to be performed to determine the scope of the
task.
5/25/16
Last evening was a rainy but productive round of
work on the Sedan. We were greeted by our
'ol buddies Jon Thro and Tyler Breitkruetz,
and a new comer Andrew Wicklund,
an 8th grader from Superior Middle School.
Andrew was accompanied by his Mom Jenna and his Mentor, Jean Walsh. Jean and Andrew have been together for 6 years
thru Mentor Superior. Welcome to the project! Our project mentors included Aaron Breitkreutz, Frank Kolo, Bill Bergland, Mike Gardonio, Tom Betts and me.
The order for the evening was to begin varnishing
the woodwork. Several of the fuselage fairing
bulkheads had been removed for the gluing on of stiffener strips, so they were ready
to go. The rest of them were removed from
the fuselage except for the upper fwd cabin bow which
Tyler, Aaron and Frank were still working on.
The pieces were laid out on a plastic sheet covered table and the varnish
mixed. Jon and Mike discovered a missing
access hole in one of the bulkheads so they cut that prior
to varnishing. With safety glasses and nitrile
gloves on the varnishing began. Jon and Andrew
learned how much the thinned varnish soaks into fresh clean wood and darkens it,
showing all the places we missed! We did
one side of the pieces, leaving the other side for next time when the first coat
is dry. Meanwhile, Tyler was doing double
duty helping Tom shape the rear window frames.
More varnishing is on tap for next time as we begin
to shift gears to working on the fuselage, replacing corroded tubing, fabricating
a left side door and possibly a separate door for the baggage compartment.
Thanks to all who turned out on rainy evening,
this project gets funner every time!!
5/11/16
Jim Nelson here, back on the job. I have found
that the project has progressed quite well in my absence. Reinforcements were added to the wooden bulkheads,
notches we're cut to receive the stringers, cabin formers at the wing root were
made and installed, and the forward floorboards had shims glued on in the appropriate
places. Tom and Frank have been experimenting
with steaming the stringers so that they would more easily bend into shape. More experimenting is on tap for that.
Last night Jon Thro was on board to work. He was joined by Mike Gardonio,
Frank Kolo, Al White, Tom Bets, Bill Irving and me. Needless
to say Jon had plenty of mentoring going on! First of all he tried
the front floor boards back in place for fit.
It was decided all's good. We then
checked the aft floorboards and found one place on each that could use a shim. Floorboards were marked and shims glued into place. While the glue was drying, it was noted that the
forward most floorboard was missing so we proceeded to produce it. A template was first made from cardboard, and
when that fit properly, Jon traced it onto a piece of 1/4" plywood and cut
it out with the band saw and jig saw. After
a little minor adjustments, the piece fits just fine.
We had a little time left so we checked out the
rear window frames and came up with a couple of questions to answer before next
time.
After the work was done last night, Jon was awarded
a hot off the press "Aeronca Sedan Project" tee shirt for his continuous
dedication and perseverance with our project.
It will look good on him!
3/23/2016
Last night there was another in a long string of
successful work sessions on the Sedan. Jon
Thro and Tyler Breitkreutz were on board with enthusiasm!
There to lend a helping hand were Tom Betts, Mike Gardonio,
Frank Kolo, Bill Bergland, Al
White, Aaron Breitkreutz and
me.
Our task was to finish fitting the floor boards and sort out the remaining formers above the cabin. We were able to get the floorboards to fit real
nice thanks to the skill demonstrated by Jon and Tyler. Thanks guys, you make this all possible!
I invite you to come by the Chapter hangar anytime
and check out our progress, this bird is starting to take shape!
3/9/2016
Last night we had yet another successful round
of work on the Sedan. Despite the nasty March
wintry mix, two experienced and eager young fellows came back for more, Owen Cegelski and John Thro.
The crew of advisers was also strong, with Tom Betts, Frank Kolo, Rob Cotter, Mike Gardonio, Al White, Brandon Cegelske, Bill Irving and me.
Sawdust flew again with the sawing and saanding of the remaining wooden bulk heads and formers, and
the rear window frames. Floorboards were
further fitted and trimmed, with installation considerations discussed. Communication was strained at times over the noise
of the belt sander, but fun, as that is the sound of progress!
I was able to present to the crew our latest acquisition,
beautifully milled stringers and former strips, generously
produced and donated by Ken Peters. Ken is
a new friend of the Sedan Project and mine, he lives in Cloquet and makes his living
working with wood and timber framing. Thank
you so much Ken for your generosity and interest in our project. Your efforts will be put to good use! We inventoried and inspected the wood, which we
found beautiful and plentiful.
Another contribution to the project was presented,
a kit of Poly Fiber Epoxy Varnish from our own Mark Marino, thanks Mark! The kit is enough to varnish all the wood in the
plane. The Sedan is going to be so pretty
it will almost be a shame to cover it all with fabric!
2/24/2016
With our Sedan Project Leader, Father
Jim Nelson out of town, I went out to the join our crew of adults and students in
our first effort at installing our new wood formers. The formers and stringers to
follow, will give the fabric its shape. We also set the floor
boards in place and confirmed that they will need to be cut a little closer.
I had purchased a box of quarter inch bolts and nuts to temporarily attach the parts
and test the fit as Jim had suggested. We still have to
fit the stringers and then remove all those wood parts for varnishing. With the
temporary fasteners, they’ll come off quickly.
The folks involved were; Dave Granstrup, Josh Canfield,
John Thro, Frank Kolo, Bill Bergland,
Mike Gardonio, Aaron Breitkreutz
and Tom Betts.
These two hour
evenings seem to go by very fast. It’s pretty light, we’re
having fun with it!
2/17/2016
Last
night at the Chapter Hanger we had another round of working on the Sedan. We were graced with a couple of new faces, brothers
Ryan and Kyle Granquist of Northwestern Middle School. They rode with Brandon Cegelski
who also brought his son Owen. To round off
our crew, we had Tyler Breitkreutz and John Thro. Chapter members advising last night were Tom Betts,
Aaron Breitkruetz, Mike Gardonio
and Jim Nelson.
To start off the evening the young men were given
a brief tour of the project and then Tom set up a little classroom instruction session
to orient the lads in the safe use of some hand tools from pliers and hammers and
drills to wrenches and screw drivers. The
instruction ended with a quiz in which everyone got a perfect score. Good job boys, and Tom! The lesson materials were provided to us by Bret
Steffen from EAA Headquarters. Thanks Bret!
We plan on expanding the lesson part of the Sedan experience to include many
more tools and Safe Practices for Shop Work.
The evening continued with a demonstration conducted
by Mike and Jim in the proper use of epoxy resin as an adhesive. We set up to join laminates of the rear window
frames. The parts cut were
made from 1/4" plywood which we had been using for all the bulkheads, the finished
parts are 1/2" thick so we just put two together for each of two windows, follow? As we worked we talked
about various aspects of working with epoxy resin, safety and properties, and some
places where this material is used and its role in aviation.
At the end of the evening, we turned the fuselage
right side up in anticipation of our next session, where we will be fitting wooden
bulkheads and floorboards.
Thanks to everyone who attended, we look forward
to the next session.
1/31/16
Some sawdust flew but mostly we were tracing
out the last of the patterns, floor boards today. Devon
and Tyler dove in on transferring the patterns and did a fine job. We were able to nest the parts in the remaining
plywood on hand, and then they were made into smaller pieces, ready for the band
saw. Tyler had an opportunity to try his
hand with a jigsaw for the first time, separating the patterns from the sheet. He did very well, listens to instructions, and
seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself. We hope
he comes back for more!
Meanwhile, Al and Austyn, assisted by various
members operated on the right side horizontal stabilizer
which had a hangar rash type dent in the forward tube (the one which holds the hinge
bushings). The dent was about 6" from
the outboard end of the tube. Al had turned
an 8" length of steel to a diameter to just fit inside, to drive into the tube
and force the dent out from inside. Once
the drift was in place, a little coaxing with a hammer on the outside of the tube
removed the dent. There was a slight learning
curve to the process when it came to removing the drift, but Austyn got a firsthand
look at what "figuring it out as you go" in the arena of aviation is like,
a valuable lesson!
1/28/16
Last night we had another round of making
sawdust in the Chapter hangar, cutting out bulkheads and window frames for the Sedan.
Dave Gramstrup,
John Thro were busy, with a new fellow, 6th grader Owen
Cegelske along with his Dad, our own Brandon Cegelske, who came to check us out and to help. Owen is an eager worker and seemed to enjoy himself. We look forward to the next time he joins us. Dave and John dove right in, working practically
unsupervised making great progress. Guiding
the young minds were Tom, Frank, Al and Jim
We are finished roughing out the bulkheads
and window frames so it won't be long and we'll be fitting
them to the fuselage. This is a fun part
where we see our work taking shape!
Yesterday we had another work session at
the Chapter hangar, with a couple of Boy Scouts from Troop 16 this time, brothers
Austyn and Devon Smelley, and Aaron Breitkreutz's son Tyler.
Members of our crew were Al White, Frank Kolo,
Mike Gardonio, Aaron Breitlreutz,
and Jim Nelson. Tom Betts was there, in and
out, flying a Young Eagle on a beautiful winter's day.
1/21/2016
Last night we had another productive work
session on the Sedan. John Thro was our
man, demonstrating his skill on the band saw, cutting out parts for the rear window
frames and the upper forward cabin bow.
His assistants were Frank Kolo, Aaron Breikreutz, Mike Gardonio, Robt Edelstein, and Jim Nelson.
Our next scheduled session is next Wednesday
the 27th at 6:30, come if you can and join the fun. We will be cutting out the interior of the window
frames and gluing the 1/4" plywood together to make 1/2" thick frames. Depending on the crew, we'll continue producing
wooden parts from the tissue patterns.