More proof that things are progressing

In case you were in disbelief about the progress, here's the latest picture:

 

with a happy Rex and Eric, and with Dave the Stitch giving a hand.  He doesn't know it yet but he's going to be giving us more help with the covering and stitching once Rex has finished all his adjustments and measurements!

 

In the foreground is a (much) younger stablemate -a Yak 3.

 

On the left is the wing of a Fokker D.VIII under restoration.  Watch these spaces!

No, we haven't gone to sleep!

Rex has "done his thing" so it was time to trial rig again.  The consequences were, I guess, not unexpected:  what seemed to work the first time, didn't the second time round. So it's a case of "let's take another look at this".  The one positive about this whole process is that we are getting quite adept at rigging and derigging the wings!


 











And then I had a visit from Grandson #1, called Jett, who looks to be rather serious about flying a radial -when it's re-installed. (It's currently sitting in Graham's N11 to get some running time on it.)

Once Rex is satisfied then it will be a case of fabric covering and getting out the sewing needles -that should keep me going through the winter........

Good things take time...

...as our cheese advert tells us.  Now we can see Rex doing a trial offering up of both upper and lower right wings.  The exercise was to determine just how much we have to pack up the upper wing rear support and whittle down the upper wing forward struts.  As well as doing some measurements here and there.  So if you ask me whether it will be ready in time for the Airshow, I will say: "Yes" (just not which one....!)

 

It has been glorious flying weather lately -the only trouble being that I haven't been taking advantage of it lately as my sciatic nerve has decided to play 'bobbsy-die' and I'm still trying to get the damn thing under control. But under control it will be!!!  I might have to have a knee operation as well as the old one is starting to get a tad creaky and Graham was telling me that getting in and out of his Nieuport 11 is starting to be a bit of a trial.  Younger, lithe legs are called for! The knee will do for a start....

Another view of the lowere port wing

See the previous post for details.  I was trying to get this picture in that post but something wasn't liking the upload process -until I tried a new post. Technology!!

 

A long time coming.....

Well, folks, at last Rex has got into a position where he can offer up the lower port wing to the fuselage to check for dihedral and incidence.  So progress is being made!

Unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be as much to allow it to be completed by the coming Easter Airshow.  There are still a number of things for him to do before we can even think about covering the wings, let alone anything else.

However I will remain optimistic (although still realistic) that we might be able to have the uncovered wings in place for static exhibition. So watch this space for further news as it happens.

When it's OK to be biased....

Firstly, a Happy New Year to all my readers! (All 5 of you).

 

Now that the festive season is behind us, we can get on with the serious matter of ailerons.  Having covered them I then have to put the necessary tape around the edges to hold everything in place.  So off I go to Jay and ask for the appropriate 2" tape.  Everything goes fine until I get to the curved edges.  That's when things don't go according to plan! Why?  Well, I just cannot get the tape to lie down flat no matter how much I pull and iron the stuff.  To be frank, the end result was a mess.  So I go to our resident fabric expert (Marty) for an inspection.  One look and he says: "What you need is some biased tape."

 

Having acquired the stuff, I cut off the crinkled tape and apply the new biased tape.  Works like a dream! Just needed a slight pull on it and the edges close up just like a clam.  I must put that in the back of my mind (or preferably write it down somewhere) for when it comes time to do the wings.  I'm just waiting on Rex to get back from his holiday to put the top wings together so that we can do some trial fitting to determine what needs to be done to get them at the correct angle of incidence as well as work out dimensions for the "V" struts and cables.

 

Much as I'd like to think that all will be finished by Easter (our Airshow), it doesn't look likely.  However maybe we can get the wings covered and the struts in place so that it will look as though we haven't been kicking our heels for the last couple of years.......

What a difference a coat of paint makes....

or in this case a couple or more.  

 

Now that Rex has finished the wings it is time to put the cabane struts back in place so that we can do some fitting and measuring.  The struts have been left off so that there is room to fiddle around inside the cockpit. Now, there is a stretch bar between the two forward cabane struts which fitted very nicely in its unpainted state. After the paint job of both the bar and the struts, it no longer fits -it's too long!!  So now I have to remove the paint work back to a point where it will once again fit -after giving the exposed bright metal a coat of primer (if nothing else).

 

At first I'd wondered whether I was putting it back in the right place but fortunately my initial photos taken during its dismantling showed that, yes, it WAS the right place.  The other problem that cropped up was that, since the engine and instrument panel had now both been fitted and bolted in, there was no access to the bolt holes in the brackets holding the struts in place.  After consultation with Jay (our engineer) I removed part of the wooden frame which holds the top fairing over the tank in place so that I could get at them. That's been taking some time.

 

Meanwhile it's been a case of relearning stitching so that I could tackle the ailerons, which are now finally done (after several abortive attempts) and are ready for tape to be applied over the top of the ribs.  Naturally the weather will now play a part and delay that operation possibly further as the temperatures drop.  Nice timing, Mother Nature!