2007-Feb-3
Getting started on the covering. The elevator seemed like the easiest place to begin. I bought a complete set of envelopes from Aircraft Spruce and then discovered that I misread the plans and made the elevator about a half inch longer than it should be. So another order to AS for enough Ceconite to make a blanket.
2007-Feb-18
Stitching the elevator ribs. The Poly-Fiber manual shows how to hide the knots under the fabric. It has other tips in it as well and at $10 is a good investment even if you don't use the Poly-Fiber process.
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2007-Mar-4
Covering the horizontal stabilizer. It really helps to apply diluted glue before cutting the fabric - it gives a nice, clean edge like the one in the left photo. If you don't you get the fraying shown in the right photo.
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2007-Mar-25
The fuselage. The presewn envelope from Aircraft Spruce leaves quite a bit to be glued. The sewn seams line up with the bottom longerons but only for about six feet on one side and four on the other. The material must be glued to the rest of the empennage, to all four longerons around the cockpit area, down the top of the turtle deck and up the vertical fin. However, it did fit well and was less expensive than buying enough material to make blankets. One word of caution: if you order an envelope for a 2-stretch make sure to tell them (in writing of course) that it's for a STRETCH. I did but whoever made mine must have thought "2" and "stretch" were the same thing because mine was made for the standard 2 version and wasn't long enough. It took some persistence but they finally agreed to replace it. The second one worked fine.
2007-May-20
Finished with nitrate and ready for the butyrate coats. I used less than one gallon of Rand-O-Proof nitrate and two gallons of thinner. You can almost see in this view how the fabric bends the bottom longerons. I can't believe it's taken two months to get from applying the fabric to this point. It's no wonder I've been at this seven years.
2007-Jun-10
The finish coat is on the fuselage. To save a little weight I decided to make it silver and put WWII fighter markings on it. Unfortunately, silver magnifies every little bump and defect.
The wings will be unpainted and polished.
2008-Feb-27
Shit! A little carelessness while cutting out the spar openings and then a real hack job in trying to patch it. I slit the fabric an inch too far and then tried to sew it and tape over it. What a mess.