These two culprits are the Restoration Shop Security Crew, Colt on the left has been getting some dual from the Famous Winnie mae on the right . Colt looks hung over! must be those dope fumes.
Fearleess Fred Ludtke with his old mount , Monocoupe 90AW145 , NC18166 , it`s been over 30 years since Fred flew in his airshow routine , Four G`s Four minutes. It shows you that good things can come around twice!!
On a later trip to the Museum Fred and son`s Marc and Rick enjoyed their old crosscountry flier, Both son`s were 4 and 7 years old when Fred would launch with one in the baggage compt and one ridding in the passengers seat for an Airshow somewhere in the Pacific N.W. , Oshkosh and Blakesburg. Fred`s last Monocoupe was a Clip Wing recreation of the famous NC2064, Now located in Pa. Boy, would`nt that look great with both Coupes sitting here at the Museum, Ya and ripping up the skies??
Our loyal friend Paul Cullmen visited the museum a few weeks ago with his newest machine, a beautiful Meyers 145 a rare bird indeed. this Meyers has been re-engined with a Fuel injected I0360 Continental and constant speed prop, this combonation makes for a real tiger. Paul lent us his Curtiss Jr pusher two winters ago and it was a big hit. Thank you Paul , your a gentleman and a pilots pilot!!
A nice shot of the Meyers 145 with Sauk Mountain for the back drop.
Paul on the roll for departure from Concrete.
With Andy getting the NEW 120 wheelpant upto a mirror shine, we`re ready for the Dark green trim on the raised beaded body line, hours and hours just on these two parts!! but the little 120 will be nice!
Fitting the new wheel pant bracketts and overhauled brake calipers, a formed streamlined cuff will cover all of this.
After many hours, of nitpicking , sanding, and buffing were ready for the trim paint layout and masking will begin. The skins are are all origianl and 65 years old , so they needed quite a bit of work!!
The left wing after sanding and shooting two cross coats of Randolph Butyrate silver, Aero graphics stencils are used to mask the Nc letters, again in forrest Green, almost there!
The R/H wing ready for some Green!
In past month we`ve had custom Main landing gear shock strut springs fabricated along with custom 5 leaf tailwheel spring set up . A new aluminum Flat pack Oil Cooler for the P&W 1340 arrived from Pacific oil cooler this week , we are fabricating mounts for it`s location on top of the engine mount, Mounting bracketts are being fabricated for the fuel system`s wobble pump and fuel screen off of the L/H side of the engine mount/firewall.
Bob Halls beautiful BullDog V-1 during rollout on August 15th, Three flights were made in this configurationin during next two days. Bob Hall felt the original small tail which is claimed to be the most attractive and was more than adequate. Premo Galletti a 16 year old Jr. Draftemen for Bob documented the entire construction and every flight of the Bulldog until it was flown to Roosevelt field, NY for Thaw to fly the Bulldog in the 1932 Bendix. History tells that Thaw was not happy with the Bulldog, Feelings have surfaced throughout the years that Thaw was just behind the power curve when it came to flying the BullDog. Bob flew the BullDog directly to Cleveland to race in the 1932 Thompson . Copies from Bob Halls pilot log will show all his flights in the BullDog next month.
With completion of the horizontal stabilizer, fabrication of the R/H elevator begins, lots of tubing and welding!
Another shot with the airfoil shaped 5/16″ & 3/8″ ribs being fit in place.
All ribs tac welded in place and ready for the bottom ribs to be installed and welded, a 1932 shape happening again!
Final welding of the R/H elevator Bottom side, The Tig welding allows you to get in and out with out a lot of distortion.
With the R/h elevator completed the L/H elevator base structure is tac in place.
Liz Kasier , an intern at the museum gets some instruction from the Museum`s Drew Jenkins A&P in proper tourqe sequences in order to place the continental 0-200A crankshaft in the crankcase halves .The 0-200 is undergoing a complete major O/H.
Doing some math figuring the tolerances for the new bearings and reconditioned crankshaft, the Mission Chips keep the parts from rusting!!
The Crankcase with new bearing inserts , reconditioned lifter bodies and camshaft, were`s that crank??
Our long awaited Fred ludtke Monocoupe 90AW145 arrived a week ago from Burlington, NC.
The photos show the Coupe , the Warner Super Scarab, the long 32` one piece wing and a bunch other parts that all made the trip in good shape.
Bill Willmeroth from Deland Florida does a fantastic job in moving delicate projects such as our Monocoupe.
All the parts and pieces have been inventoried, we seem to be missing only the two lower control stick pivot bracketts that mount through the floor boards to straps welded to the cross tubes .
The 90AW145 Fuselage rolls off the trailer, all the wood work is there for patterns and will helpful in fabricating all new wood for the curvaious Monocoupes lines. 650X10 wheels and brakes have been added over time and as a result the original axels were cut off and a bolting pad welded in place. With the age and amount of splices on each gear leg quite a bit of fabricating will take place and then heat treating to create new gear legs.
As you can see most of the instruments are still in place that were installed when Fearlees Freddie flew the Coupe.
Freddie has supplied us with a few parts and some drawings to aid in the restoration process, also included was a antique Hallcrafter com radio that might look great with front face plate installed in the new panel, kind of art deco.
The woodwork was last open to day lite way back in 1967, one can see how the Coupes Teal shaped aft fuselage gets it`s beautiful shape .
The fuselage tubing appears to be in great shape and after documentation and critical photos we will go forward with the fuselage disassebly , sandblasting and priming, followed by the new woodwork.
One of the more difficult and delicate pieces is the Coupe 32` one piece wing, I wish this was a Clip Wing ( more on a Clip Wing later)
Peeking in a few holes cut in the fabric the wing looks to be in great shape, gremlins can come out in mega batches once old the old fabric is cutaway though, we`ll see shortly!!
With a little warmer weather, (55 degrees) Andy applies a coat of epoxy primer to the 120 gear legs and Firewall.
With the Continental C-85 removed from the airframe work has begun on a top over haul . Two cracked cylinders were found, two replacement cylinders and the remaing two cylinders O/H`d, were replacing the old parts with new pistons,piston pins, rings,valves and o/h`d rocker arms we`ll have a great C-85 for the finished 120. Even with a compression check the cracked cylinders did`nt show a problem.The engine would have gone until a failure if we hadn’t torn into the C-85 . Peace of mind!!
Fabrication of the R/H Front and rear wing hinge flat patterns are complete, Fixturing in place front and rear hinge plates after heating and bending fabrication of wing hinge fittings and patch plates has been completed for the R/H Fuselage/wing stub assy.
With the center rear wing hinge fitting formed and welded in place , the front and rear .125″ 4130 doublers are added front and rear, they are edge welded to the ears of the first fitting and then the doublers are heated and formed around the center fitting and stub tubes and are welded. Next a third short doubler is added to the front and rear “ear” of the base hinge fitting , edge welded again and formed which completes the entire wing hinge assy.
This is the R/H Forward hinge fitting with the first fitting tack welded to the forward stub, heating and forming is next and then welding, the front and rear doublers get added as each piece of 4130 is heated and formed. The rear fitting in this view still needs the third doubler added to the front and rear “ears”.
Another view of the R/H fwd wing hinge base fitting before the tack welds are doned.
With the front and rear wing hinge fittings welded in place a section of 1.125″ x .063″ is welded between the front and rear attach fitting/stubs. The third doubler is added and welded to the hinge ears and formed to the tube and final welded.
A view from the left side of the fuselage looking at the completed R/H Stub/wing attach assy. One can see the amount of patch plate fabrication, forming and welding that takes place in a scratch built airframe of this magnitude.
With fabrication of the L/H wing hinge stub fittings completed, work can begin on the L/H side of the stub wing assy.
With completion of the stabilizer front /rear spars and truss, 4130 tubes with three different diameters give the stabilizer it`s airfoil shape. The leading edge tube was formed seperatley before installing on the fixture.
Tags: tting in this view still needs the the third
