I've been able to sneak an hour in here and there during the past couple weeks with some progress. I was inspired to work on it even for little periods of time from an article in a recent Sportair EAA magazine or Kitplanes magazine I read.
I was able to use the cardboard template for the strobe power supply to make the mounting board which will attach to the frame to hold the power supply. I used a 1/4" thick piece of marine grade plywood and coated it with satin polyurethane spray about 5-6 coats. I had to get more hardware from Aircraft Spruce (the clamps and a clamp compression tool) to complete the install. It's rock solid and won't move. Here's my completed power supply installation:
I also installed some of the wood pieces that the headliner is attached to in the cabin area. I used the same pieces that came out of it since they looked really good, so I sanded them and coated them with some brush-on gloss polyurethane I had from a left-over project. This also gave me time to think about installing the headliner and how the aluminum bows are positioned to give the headliner a nice shape when installed. Our IA said to be sure to install the headliner before putting on the fabric because it is much easier that way. I'm not sure where the bow attaches to, but I think it might be some of the same hardware I used to attach these curved headliner pieces over the rear windows so I might have to pull these out again and replace with longer bolts and nylon lock-nuts.
I also started making the cabin dome light and speaker grill support piece using the old one that came out of the airplane. I want to install a speaker in it too although most restorers I hear do not replace the speaker due to the added weight. We hope to have a quieter cabin with some insulation, a thicker new boot cowl, and thicker windshield so we might be able to hear it in flight or maybe just listen to the radio or music when it's parked on the ground. I have to order a speaker yet so that is why I haven't cut the second circle for the speaker:
Studying how the speaker grill/dome light wood is installed I found out it uses Stinson clamps which are spring steel type of clip that goes around the round tube frame and has a part sticking out straight that can be screwed into. I studied dis-assembled Stinson photos on the internet and some of the dis-assembly photos that were taken when my aircraft was dis-assembled. I found all the clips in a box of the parts but most had some old paint, rust, and junk on them. I wanted to clean them up so I got my handmade blasting cabinet set up for the first time since I built it last summer. I used 80 grit glass bead as a mild blasting medium I thought would work well on aluminum too. In order to test that, I started dis-assembling the old oleo shock strut cover which is underneath the front seats and had them blasted too. I removed the old carpeting from the strut cover and started to clean it up to re-use. I only cleaned up a corner of the oleo strut cover by hand scraping and trying some circular scotchbrite pads on my electric drill (I wanted to use my air drill, but it was late in the evening and I didn't want to wake neighbors). Anyway, I got a chance to try how difficult it will be to clean this piece up for painting:
Oleo strut cover the way it came--faded blue carpet and all.
Partially stripped cover. Foreground you can see where I've cleaned it so far.
Stinson clips (cleaned) and various sizes according to frame tube sizes and cleaned oleo strut covers and an aluminum support piece for somewhere I haven't figured out yet.
My homemade blasting cabinet made with warped old plywood, 2x4s, some old glass, a light inside, and some purchased gauntlet rings and gloves to protect my hands. I wear a filtered mask too just to be on the safe side. Had trouble with media clogging with water in my lines despite a water trap that I think doesn't work. I'm going to buy a second water trap to put on the red pressurized vessel to see if it'll trap more moisture there too.
Former Owners Re-connect
I got a surprise email one day from a blog reader who read my blog and also tracked down the tail number. She is Patty McNabb (formerly Hauch) who's father Don Hauch once owned our Stinson. She and her surviving brother Michael Hauch had a lot of fond memories flying N97917 with their father out of Susana airport in Simi Valley, CA in the early 70's. Michael even sent a photo of Patty and her father with N97917.
Some of the old paint is still visible on our cowling and now I know where these Cessna wheel pants came from that came with the aircraft. You can see they were once installed on the aircraft in the photo above and below is the same left wheel pant photo taken today outside my hangar (shop).
I checked the log books to see how recent (since 1960s -1980s) ownership progressed and this is what I found in the documentation on N97917:
Brad Onion and Bill Gray, Simi California purchased May 7, 1964 and sold it December 1, 1970 to Don Hauch, Westlake Village (Patty and Michael's father). Don Hauch sold it on October 13, 1977 to Eric L. Miller, San Jose, CA. Eric Miller sold it Dec 2, 1978 to John Stevenson, Moklumne Hill, CA who then sold it to my cousin Mike Ganschow and his wife Amy Newsom in 1979. My brother and I along with my father's help purchased N97917 in late 2010. It's cool that people connect with an aircraft and the experiences they have with them and wonder what happened to that wonderful old airplane. I am delighted and honored to be able to have a hand in getting this bird back in the air--the sooner, the better.
