Warbird Information Exchange

Andrew, been using Klean-Strip Aircraft paint stripper (not to be used on aircraft, by label) Methylene Chloride. Works pretty good depending on prep prior to paint. Lots of what I have been doing on the F86 was painted over polished aluminum and falls off. Properly prepped is a bit more difficult. The upper inlet sections took about four applications but that was more for process than the chemical's stripping ability.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Thanks Scott. Everyone is always looking for a quick and easy way but as usual, time and hard work are the answers.

Weekend spinner fix. Seems I have become the go to guy on the airport to fix hangar rash. This is from a Turbo Bonanza and was done during the annual, whoops.

So, the trick is "light" and "reflection" with these polished spinners. Reflection does not lie and can be a "beotch" to get perfect again. Luckily, these aluminum GA spinners work well if you are patient enough.

This is a crease and a smear of the surface material.




This, even though hard to see is another crease, not as bad but you can clearly see the distortion of the light reflection.


Same crease/smear area


Second crease was left of center and about 10 o'clock, trust me

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Rib strippin...Doing the finish stripping of original paint on these ribs prior to refurbishing them. They need Camlocs replaced for those removed, errant Dzus wires removed, holes drilled to fit race mods filled, then we can start to actually put some of the new bits together for real.



The racers stripped the easy part






Nice and clean


These holes will be filled with solid rivets as they were part of the race mod


This is where these ribs fit on the wing, outboard of the intercoolers and inboard of the inlet sections. Important pieces these. I think this is a shot I sniped from Ezell's website, sorry.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Don't pay the ransom, I escaped...

Corsair:

Aileron hinge bits primed and ready for the final top color and then all new nut plates and bits


Cad plating done and now the nutserts can be installed.




High tech install tool


Extra push


Ready for prime and final paint


Can take the guy out of the race but not the racer out of the guy. Had used my Indy 500 1973 wheel hammer for something else but the Valvoline X-All grease dates to 1973 and I still have a full tub.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

MkVI Saber...

Ejection seat rework. As the plane is apart, The Maj requested we go back to original cockpit colors. Somehow, over the years they had morphed from the original dark gull gray flat paint to a gloss light gray. Returning to original.

As removed


Subtle difference but dark gull gray versus light


Foot wells

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Wittman Tailwind Fuselage

This is a cool project a friend has going. Welding fixtures done in a CNC mill.



Joints are us

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Great updates Scott, thanks! I was starting to wonder if you were lost in the maze of Waukesha construction and couldn't get out...

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Always looking for P-51D parts.

Still lovin' this awesome thread!
Arts and crafts with Mr. Dennison

Andy

Hi Scott.
Great stuff yet again! Could you tell us how you design your jigs? How do you decide what gauge steel to use, how long an unsupported section can be,.......etc. ta,
Mike

That CNC routed jig is an awesome idea!

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Taylor Stevenson

Mike, you give me way too much credit. I am not that smart. Like at home gardening, my wife has the Garden Club card, I'm only the laborer. Same here. This is a Steve Wittman designed Tailwind W10 with some mods by Jim Clement. Max Aero (Maxaero.net) does the CNC fixture boards which are really cool as all tubing centerlines are maintained with varying tube diameters. This kit has two symmetrical flat sides to start with so very easy to fit and weld. Material requirements are all per design from .028" to .049" wall thickness 4130 tubing.

Shameless plug for Marc Samsta at Max Aero, a true wood genius. He does the Howard wings, Pitts Model 12 wing kits, Waco Great Lakes wing kits plus tons of spars and ribs for most the big suppliers and probably a crap load of stuff I don't even know of. Has a 24 foot CNC router/mill. An amazing guy, he is also doing our wooden FG-1D Corsair ailerons.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Saber Division, seat IRAN nearly done. Repainted the ejection handles today using the original pattern as a guide, not symmetrical but original. This is a North American Aviation seat built for the Canadair MkVI. Arm rest pads, head rest pad and seat back pad yet to get new red vinyl upholstery.





So, here is a question for the WIX Brain. This seat has had the canopy breaker modified from stock. Does anyone know the evolution of this mod? What mounted in the angle bracket? A pointed spade was added to the breaker. The head rest was cut down and modified. Remember, this was a Corporate Jets Inc. target tower after returning from South African ownership. N50CJ.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Hi Scott.
Thanks for that but I think we are at slightly crossed purpose and I think you do deserve the credit! I'm asking about the jigs and bucks you have used for the excellent sheet metal you do.
Ta

First day back after Oshkosh. Spent about three hours searching print data base for things I learned at OSH and need for our project. Then spent some time on the Saber placarding work.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."