Ever since getting the fabric off of the Stinson SR-9C Reliant we acquired last winter, it’s been no secret that there is a lot of work to be done on this airplane. Most of the wood work will have to be redone and there’s a fair amount of metal work as well.

Recently Jim removed the baggage door from the airframe and in some ways it seems like that little part is indicative of the bigger plane. A lot of the wood on this airplane hasn’t been touched since new. And with this SR-9C spending a fair part of its life on floats, there is plenty of wood needing some attention.

The Stinson receives most of the restoration hours these days. Over the winter, there are several other projects to be worked on, but the Reliant will see a lot of progress. Here’s a look inside the door. The good news is that most of the wood throughout the airplane is still in good enough shape to use as a template for fabricating the new pieces.

A look inside the baggage door on the Stinson SR-9C

A close up look at the latch area on the Stinson Reliant door

Baggage door frame on SR-9C

Progress continues on the Vagabond. The control surfaces are now covered. The next big step is to take it over to the paint booth and start to make it look even nicer on the outside.

Ailerons getting covered on the PA-15 Vagabond

Finishing the covering on the museum's Piper PA-15

One of the airplanes that has been sitting patiently in the restoration hangar is the museum’s Piper PA-15 Vagabond. Progress is always being made on the Vagabond, despite some of the more attention grabbing airplanes like the Waco QCF-2 and Stinson SR-9C that probably get longer inspections from visitors. But the little PA-15 sits quietly, not complaining and is getting closer to flying every week.

Andy has done a beautiful job of covering the Vagabond. The workmanship is great and we are all looking forward to seeing this airplane join finish out our collection of showroom condition short wing Pipers.

Next up is covering the control surfaces and slowly building up the airplane. Can’t wait to see it in the air and on the ground in our future Piper showroom.

Andy finishing up some of the stitching on the tail of the Vagabond. For now the Waco QCF-2 waits quietly in the background.

Here’s how the airframe looked a short while ago. The bright yellow paint on the airframe looks great, but I suppose if you want it to fly, you have to cover it up at some point.