Left Window Frame Installed

I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning up the window frame for the left rear passenger area. After lots of elbow grease, some MEK, and a little Scotch Brite effort, it was ready for primer. I also finished installing several of the screws that hold down the upper stringer assembly that I had started several weeks ago.

Today, I installed the window frame and also the pilot door frame. The window frame is complete, but I need to make some new wood shims for the pilot door frame. I went to several places looking for really thin wood yesterday, like 1/32". I finally thought of a hobby store and they are ordering me a sheet I can then cut shims from. So, that will be here in a week or so.

I also got some Bonanza flying in tonight. We took some friends from church for a flight over town and then around El Dorado Lake and back. Xury is a retired Beech employee, back from the days when there was a lot of pride and craftsmanship in building airplanes and they were called "Beechcrafters." It was a nice evening for sharing the joy of flying.

Neat Surprise

When I got home from work today, I discovered someone had left me a present between the front door and the storm door. It is an Esso lubrication chart for a Stinson. It shows all the lubrication points on the airframe and contains some other related information. It is amazing to me these types of items have survived for 60 years and are in as good as shape as they are (click on the picture to enlarge). I suspected my friend Wade had been by. I got on the computer and confirmed my guess. Wade had sent me an e-mail to check the front door. Thanks again, Wade!

So, you may be wondering who Esso is. Esso, from what I know, started life as Standard Oil. It was broken up around 1911 into 7 companies. One of them, Standard Oil of New Jersey, branched out into many states and marketed oil products starting in the early 1940's under the Esso brand. By the 70's we knew it as Exxon.

This is a neat chart and will be part of my airshow display along with my Life magazine ad and the 1947 Stinson sales brochure mentioned in previous posts. If you aren't familiar with the Stinson, this chart does a great job of showing the various flight controls and general layout.

In other news, I finally finished my instrument panel layout tonight. I have been making small changes all week as I get feedback from various folks. This weekend I'll go to a local place called "The Yard" and buy a piece of aircraft quality aluminum. They are like a big recycling center for all types of materials. They get a lot of aircraft quality stuff since we have so many companies in town who are in the business. Then, I'll pass all this to my neighbor who has a company that specializes in making metal aircraft parts. He has kindly volunteered to make a new panel for me including making all the various holes and cutouts. Pretty neat!

Burn Tests Successful

As I mentioned back in an August post, I obtained some liquid called DMMP to improve the flammability characteristics of my floor boards. I coated the bare wood twice, and then put on 2 coats of varnish that contained 4% DMMP. As I finished the floor boards, I also had 3 specimens that were 3 inches by 12 inches that I finished using the same technique.

Today, I finally got around to taking them to the burn lab to see how they did. I don't think there were any requirements in 1947 related to this, so anything I did was an improvement. We tested to the latest FAA standards, which requires a Bunsen burner flame to be placed at the edge of the specimen, end on. The flame was 1700 degrees. You apply the flame for 60 seconds and then remove it. The resulting fire must extinguish within 15 seconds and the burn length can not be greater than 6 inches.

The first specimen extinguished immediately - it was impressive to see. The burn length was only 2.4 inches. The second specimen went out after 5 seconds, with a burn length of 2.2 inches. The third specimen was different from the first two. I had only treated it with one coat of DMMP before putting on the varnish with the 4% DMMP. The difference was eye opening. After removing the flame, it continued to burn for 67 seconds before finally extinguishing. The burn length was 3.8 inches.

So, the first two are passes and the last a failure. It was fun to see the evidence of why you need to follow the directions and put on two coats! While the odds of a fire in an airplane like 98K are pretty remote due to its simplicity, it is good to know that the only wood in the airplane will not support that fire. Thanks John for your help!

Panel Planning the Old Fashioned Way

I received a template in the mail from Aircraft Spruce Friday that can be used to lay out the hole locations for various sizes of instruments. I also had some information from a friend at work about the size of cutouts for various avionics boxes as well as switches, circuit breakers, and instruments. With information in hand, I taped about 10 pieces of paper together to make a piece big enough to lay out the instrument panel for 98K.

As you may recall from posts earlier this year, at one time I had big dreams for what the panel could look like. I have since scaled that back considerably to keep the expenditure more in line with forecast available funds. The attached photo is of the nearly complete layout. I will take it to work tomorrow to get input from the experts. Of course, they are used to working with CAD systems where it is real easy to move things around. It is a little tougher using the old method of paper and pencil. However, I would rather make any changes now before we cut metal. The photo may be hard to see unless you click on it. That will blow it up and give you a better chance of seeing some of the detail.

I also spent 16 hours in ground school this weekend to get my flight instructor certificate renewed. This is an every 2 year ritual. If you don't do it, then you have to take a new check ride with the FAA, so this seems to be the lesser of two evils. One positive from this year's class was I met a gentleman named Jon from Omaha who has probably the nicest Swift in the country, judging from the pictures and knowing what awards he has received. He came over last night to inspect progress on 98K. That's a lot of the fun of this hobby - making new friends who have similar passions for the antiques and classic airplanes. We'll have to make a trip to Omaha in 98K when we are finished. Should be fun!

Elevator Tube Installed

Kala came home from K-State for the weekend and we also went to a Mid-America Antique Airplane Group (MAAG) function yesterday. As a result, I didn't work on 98K much this weekend. I did install the elevator push/pull tube this afternoon. It runs from the control column in the front of the airplane to the area just aft of the cabin where it connects into the elevator bellcrank. From there the fore/aft motion of the control column is carried by cables to the elevator.

Stinson tried to design an airplane that was aerodynamically difficult to stall. They did this by putting permanent slats in the leading edges of the wing ahead of the ailerons. They also limited the amount of up elevator travel as a function of flap deflection. The more flap you extend, the greater the amount of control column aft travel. There is a simple stop in the push/pull tube that interfaces with the lower end of the flap lever to limit travel. Simple, yet elegant.

I was looking through photos of 98K which I took as I dismantled it to get an idea how this tube and stop should go back in. That is when I discovered that whoever last rebuilt 98K had the stop on upside down. Just another example that while the pictures help tell the story, I need to keep looking at the manuals and picking Wade's brain.

What Flying is All About

Last Saturday evening, Debbie and I had the pleasure of taking some friends from church for an airplane flight. We flew around Andover a few times, went out over the wind farm, up around El Dorado Lake, and then to Hutchinson for dinner. The return flight included a pass over the city of Wichita near sunset. We all had a great time. Zach and Caitlyn had not been for a ride in a small airplane before.

Tonight their father, Alan, called and asked if they could stop by. To my surprise, they had each made me an airplane with a thank you note incorporated. I was really touched by their thoughtfulness. While they were here, I also gave them the tour of 98K.

It is always nice to share the love of flying with the younger generation. You never know what fire you may light in the process. That is what flying is all about.

A Door (frame) to the Future

It was another beautiful day in Kansas, though a little warmer. I think it got up to the mid 80's today, Labor Day. Without much going on, I decided to get started cleaning up the door frames for priming with epoxy primer. I spent some time this morning with the MEK and scoth brite pads trying to get all the old glue off the frames. The last person to restore 98K glued leather to about every surface you can imagine. It probably looked good at the time (pre-mice infestation).

Awhile later, with lots of elbow grease expended, I had the frame for the pilot side ready, in addition to the frames for the two back windows. I had purchased a used frame for the passenger door, as the original was in sad shape. The guy shipped it in pieces, so I decided to prime it prior to assembly. I also had a few other fuselage parts standing by for cleaning, so I got those cleaned, too.

I brushed a coat of epoxy primer on everything and left it sitting in the sun on the driveway to "bake on." We also managed to work in lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant in the middle of the activity.

Debbie decided she wanted a new look for the various drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Rather than buy 39 new pulls and handles, she thought she would try painting them first. With no guidance from me, she proceeded to spray paint them on her own and they turned out great! I told her I now know who can paint 98K when the time comes. Debbie says she can only work with spray cans. So, 98K may end up looking like a hippie van from the 60's!

Baggage Compartment Almost Finished

I received the baggage sling from AirTex Friday. I spent some of yesterday and today getting it installed. Having the sling allowed me to located where to install some of the fasteners. The main thing remaining is to install two reinforcing strips that go on the front side of the forward baggage compartment wall. These are made from stringer material, so I will need to order a piece from Univair.

As you can see, the forward wall is solid, as well as a stub wall on the pilot's side, and the floor. The remainder is the fabric sling. It is attached by snaps in case you need to access the aft fuselage after the airplane is covered.

I am now moving on to the door surround structure and aft window structure. They need a lot of cleanup and some minor repair. That should keep me busy for the next week or so.

Time to Relax

It is our 3rd nice weekend in a row. After spending time working on the baggage compartment, Debbie caught Willie and I on a break.

A little while later, Wade came by with his father, Woody, to inspect progress. We were later joined by Larry (who I work with) and his friend John. Larry and John are at the initial stage of restoring a 1943 Willys jeep. Woody has done a lot of kit car building and other auto related adventures, so we all spent some time discussing auto and airplane restoration. A fun time was had by all! Right to left in picture: Larry, Wade, Woody, and John.

Floor Support Details

After discovering a few key pieces in my parts pile that go under the floor boards, I decided it was time to remove the forward floor boards from their "fit check" and install a few more goodies. I have zinc chromated the support that holds the aft edge of the forward floor boards as well as several other miscellaneous items the past few evenings.

I received another shipment of hardware from Aircraft Spruce today, so I was ready to install a few items after cutting the grass. I pulled up a picture to see how this floor support was installed and decided it might make a good before and after comparison shot. So, here you go. Old on the left, new on the right (as if you couldn't tell). It is comparisons like these that keep me motivated to keep after it.

I ordered a new baggage sling from Air Tex on Monday, so I am hoping it arrives before the Labor Day weekend. I have plenty of other things to work on if it doesn't.