Progress continues on the landing gear for the Hall Bulldog. Drew has continued the fabrication work on the box frame for the landing gear and we now have one stout leg for the Bulldog!

With one leg nearly complete, there is still a lot of work to be done on the gear. Besides the second leg, there is still the issue of adding the drag strut which will attach to the back of the main gear at the front end and attach to the rear pivot point which is just in front of the cockpit. The drag strut is important to add strength to the gear, in particular to prevent the gear from ‘walking’ back during taxiing.

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It’s been a while since we’ve had any updates on the Bulldog project and apologies for the lack of progress reports. Despite the lack of updates here on the website, work has been continuing on the airplane. The latest efforts have focused on the landing gear, one of the more complex fabrication jobs on the airplane.

Because there are no exact drawings of the original Bulldog as it was originally designed by Bob Hall, much of the work being done to recreate the airplane has to come from different sources. A lot of what is known about the design comes from drawings that were made by Vern Clements who had been in contact with Hall and used extensive photographs of the original. Jim was able to get copies of the master prints that he made and has used them extensively. But the drawings aren’t perfect.

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We’re happy to announce that our PA-15 Vagabond is flying again. The path this airplane has followed over the past several years has been a tough one as this is the second restoration in the several years. The airplane only had 1.5 hours on the last restoration before an accident totaled the airplane. We’ll have the rest of the story up here at some later date, but a hint is the airplane’s nickname, “Freeflight.”

Our Vagabond is a Deluxe model that has also been converted to a PA-17. The deluxe model included several amenities from the factory in Lock Haven not found on the budget conscious base model Vagabond. A few items include gear and strut fairings on the outside of the airplane and carpeting on the inside. And the conversion from a PA-15 to a PA-17 was accomplished with the addition of dual controls and it also has a 75 horsepower Continental.

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With a short gap between the Arlington Fly-In and the Concrete North Cascades Fly-In, progress is being made towards the first flight of our Piper Vagabond. The fourth short wing Piper to be restored in our collection, the Vagabond recently enjoyed having its wings attached and is looking like an airplane now.

The wheel pants are being finished up with plenty of sanding to achieve the stunning detailed finish to match the Clipper, Colt and Tri-Pacer. Using a laser to achieve a level stripe, the pants will soon be masked before the final clear coating is applied.

After that there are just a handful of details remaining including attaching the ailerons, final attachment of the windshield, gap fairings and the weight and balance.

Then we’ll just have to hope for some good weather, which has been in short supply this summer, for a first flight.

Over the winter we did some disassembly work and repainting of our newly acquired Culver Dart. The airplane had been in a hangar fire and was burned badly, but most of the parts were in good condition.

The Lambert R-266 is in good shape and after finishing cleaning the crankcase, we can’t wait to get it repainted and back together. Though with the summer flying season upon us, this is likely to be pushed to the back burner until fall. It would be nice to get it done, but there are some other airplanes that need some work for this summer and we’re also keeping going with the Bulldog project.

The engine was fairly dirty, and the fire didn’t help. Several hours were spent with various paint removers as well as a small rotary wire brush. Eventually it started to clean up nicely.

One of the neat things about cleaning up an engine like this are seeing the markings that are often missed without a close inspection. Here the foundry mark can be seen.

The latest addition to our short wing Piper collection is almost ready to fly again. Lately much of the work on the final painting, sanding and polishing has been completed and after a bit more work, the airplane will be ready to fly.

Anybody who has seen the finish on some of our other short wing Pipers knows the amazing work that is rarely seen on fabric airplanes. The polish is so nice on the aluminum cowling, you can see the reflection of the Champ sitting in the hangar.

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Okay, it wasn’t the first flight of our Bulldog, but we did get to see the logbook entry for the first flight of the real Bulldog when designer Robert Hall flew the racer on its “first test hop.” We recently enjoyed a special visit from Eric Hall, son of the legendary airplane designer Robert Hall. The younger Hall was passing through Seattle and stopped by Concrete to check on the progress of the Hall Springfield Bulldog we’re building.

In addition to visiting, he brought by some amazing pieces of history, including his father’s original logbooks. The logbooks are in remarkably good shape and show many first flights of historic airplanes including the GeeBee Model Z and of course the Hall Bulldog (above).

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Since our last update showing the changes made to the engine mount on the Hall Springfield Bulldog, it should be no surprise that Jim decided to hang the engine to see how the new mounts worked and to start fitting other firewall forward parts for fabrication.

In the photo above you can see the initial form of the oil tank. Seeing the engine on the fuselage really makes you appreciate the design ethos back in the early 1930s when speed was king. Just had to answer one question really, how big of an engine can we put on how small of a fuselage?

Even though it’s just a first step, it is exciting to see the Pratt & Whitney on the Bulldog.

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One of the great things about restoring or recreating a classic airplane is that the learning never ends. In the twenty or so years Jim has been working on, thinking about and researching the Hall Springfield Bulldog, there have been many resources for gathering the history and details about the air racer.

We’ll have more about some of the history of the airplane, and Jim’s history of recreating it coming up in the next few months, but one of the recent discoveries that led to a new engine mount was right on the front page of the newspaper.

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The restoration hangar has been in full swing over the winter and the Bulldog isn’t the only airplane seeing action. The most recent addition to our short wing Piper collection is nearing completion. Work has been ongoing with the Vagabond and over the past month or so the last of the items to be painted have been checked off the list.

The cowling and nose bowl have gone through a thorough cleaning, priming and painting in recent weeks. This is the last of the major paint work to be done on the airplane. Once the pieces are assembled on the fuselage, we’ll be zeroing in on the final assembly of the interior and a just a few other things before taking her skyward.

And presto! They’re painted. The hangar door won’t look the same without the Vagabond’s face hanging from bracing.

Of course those final few details still means plenty of work to be done. And with this Vagabond being one of the “deluxe” models, there are a handful more details to take care of compared to your typical Vagabond. A peak inside the cockpit shows much of the work has been done, including installation of the beautiful, albeit simple, instrument panel.