nope,, nobody wants to see you sand off one of your cool paintjobs man,, sheesh

glad its going to prove to be a solid airframe,, in case the tedmobile doesnt pan out

Mark, it's pretty beat up. I could have tried to "fix" the finish but truth is, it had a lot of problems. So, I'll sand it down, fix some issues like refitting the cowl and closing in the pipe tunnel and some other stuff and put a new, killer paint job. And keep it light. No lead paint.

I'll post some pics at some point. Right now I'm fixing all the things that Paul pointed out to me on the Tedmobile. I'd like to get it done for the Fall Follies.

    Randy, what is the clear top coat you mentioned that flowed out so well?   Marc, what did you shoot on your green Nats plane?
                    John

Mark,

At least it has a belt now. Might keep it's pants up this time.

John,

House of Kolor UC-35 Kosmic Klear with KU150 Kustom Catalyst. I used some pPg urethane reducer though you are supposed to use their RU311 reducer. But mine worked fine. This is their show car clear coat. I sure liked it but it's a bit pricey.

Here it is so far. The new flaps and elevators are built but need shaping. Only have about half the fuse sanded with a lot to go including wet sanding.

Charles,

The font is called BadaBoom.

Wayne,

Used 220 Sandblaster paper to cut through the clear then am switching to some 320 Sandblaster. Once done, I will go to 320 wet/dry and wet sand it down. Touch up any areas that need it the shoot base color. So far, it's going fine. Got new control surfaces done and am hinging them now. I also have to refit the spinner.

This was a very very cool airplane,, the color scheme actually was very effective,, but it kind of hid the lines of the airframe,, This needs a pearl and candy finish

But it also put the elevators in the airflow all the time and created a lot of turbulence that in turn contributed to the hunting issues.

How's that? 

The new control surfaces are done and the main airframe is about half sanded. Very tedious work. And I keep having to patch areas of sand through. Sigh....

Wayne,

This is more edges of open bays that were probably a bit thin when ti was first painted. Only had problems in a couple of areas but it has delayed the process. But I'll keep plugging away at it. I will shoot a pic with it's ready to paint again.

Hey I saw a really sturdy bellcrank somewhere in Salem,,, hmm I think it was on the tarmac or something surrounded by a disturbing accumulation of red white and blue balsa,, Just do NOT use that pilot guy he worries me,,

I may leave it alone. It is solid, just seems to tilt. But I will decide this weekend if surgery is required.

 Aw heck, what's the worst that could happen? 

I'm more worried about the effect on tracking. I'm not concerned that it will fail so much as it is effecting the plane's ability to track.

Doc, of course. That's why I'm looking at it now.

OK, I've never changed out a bellcrank in a plane before, but I have to say that it is no fun. I managed to get the old one out without damaging stuff to much.
but getting a new one in should be just a treat.

Hey, at least the sanding is mostly done. I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Well, I have the new bellcrank set up about ready. It's, ah, different. Never tried a bellcrank setup with bearing before.

This is turning into a lot bigger project than I first envisioned.

 Kinda seems like it always does, all part of the fun.

I would note that when inspected the plane, the original bellcrank was rocking around. A lot. So I cut in and discovered that the bearing was shot. Really shot. It was a poor design originally and just didn't work all that well. Lateral pressure was put on the bearing and 300 or so flights pretty much did for it. So, I cut in from the bottom, removing a section of the fuselage and the planking on the wing over the bellcrank. cut the leadouts, cut out the bellcrank mount, disconnected the pushrod and managed to maneuver the bellcrank out. Akin to building a ship in a bottle as I cut a fairly small hole (see picture above). I used some music wire to thread back into the wing, attached new leadouts with Brett Buck style ends and drag them back through the wing and out the leadout slider. Getting the new bellcrank in along with the new mounts (with integral bearings) was nightmarish, but was eventually done. Attaching the leadout to the bellcrank wasn't too bad but rotating the bellcrank in the wing to reattach the pushrod was just not fun. Had to disconnect and reconnect it 4 times as I had to adjust the pushrod length (the bellcrank didn't go back exactly in the spot as the original - close but not exactly) to recenter the horns and bellcrank together. Then I reinforced the area , put in new ribs and bridged the edges of the sheeting, put in new sheeting and replaced the section of fuse that was removed.

Hopefully, I bridged the area well enough that the thing won't fly apart when I fly it. This was a really light plane and I don't want to add significant weight to it. Now I just have to grind down the filler put in the areas were I cut the fuse, modify the elevator horn to allow a bit more adjustment, refit the spinner area then I can finally get on to painting.

It was a great flying plane before (despite it's tracking issues which are hopefully now fixed).

Ain't life grand.

Wayne,

Almost certainly. With it rocking around like the, I'm surprised I could get it to track at all.

It's the list of honey-dos that takes all the time.

Randy,

Really nice canopy lines. 

Looking good!

Charles

6 hours of taping for 15 minutes of painting trim. Joy.

 And...? 

Yea, I pulled tape late last night. Looks OK. As a couple of places that will need a bit of touchup, but overall, not bad. The colors are pretty cool. Problem is, I'm not sure where to go next. Red maybe, or blue. Perhaps some off beat tonal match. Hmmm.... There will be a bit of black or maybe some checkerboard. We'll see.

I'll post a pic later just for Wayne. Can't have him wondering.

I'll post a pic later just for Wayne. Can't have him wondering.

 HA! Thanks Randy, always curious about what's happening at the Powellworks!