Warbird Information Exchange

Here's a link to my photo bucket site with the Navion pictures. it arrived today and it's awesome.

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r148 ... na/Navion/

Where is it now? Gonna be out on Monday?

for now it's on a trailer at the museum (near the tanks). since we can't move into the new hangar until next weekend, I won't be out again until Saturday morning. it's gonna be tough doing this part time.

Ya think????

bdk
"Owner of the worlds longest running T-6 restoration"

Cindy,that looks like the one that was at Meadowlake, glad to see it will be put back in the air.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Here's our first real update on the reassembly of the Navion.

After some waiting due to pior commitments we started working on the Navion Sunday. It is our plan to have it up and flying ( fully airworthy ) no later than June.

To this end we have hired Matt Nightengale to take a look at the plane next week-end and give us a list of things that need to be fixed or replaced.

We were hopeing to get an early start on Sunday but on the way home Saturday night we picked up a 4" dry wall screw, so the 1st part of Sunday was used to fix the tire.

We worked on repairing the damage to the tail cap and removed the engine cowl that was damaged in the move. It was while Paul was working on this that we found out we should look before starting anything! We removed about 20 rivets before realizing that it was bolted in....... D'oh. Once we got it off, we found a broken bracket that held the engine baffle. We started to build a rack to hold the wings but due to the above problem it was getting a little late so we called it a day.

Latest pictures are up on Photobucket at (http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r148 ... na/Navion/)

Paul & Cindy

You're getting in deeper. Look out! Before you know it you'll be consumed. At least your money will.

well....here's the latest.

we replaced the rivets that were removed unintentionally and cleaned up the cowling. I quickly discovered that rivetting is more an artform than a technical skill. Today was spent trying not to eat too much Chino dirt with the Santa Ana winds blowing at 25 w/gust to 40+! I'll be tasting grit in my mouth for a week. In spite of the winds, we got the paint stripped off the parts that were still in red (wind tips, elevator tips and spinner). Never having stripped paint before, I was caught off guard by how much that stuff burns when it hits your skin. I was wearing gloves, but got hit by splatter a few times. And of course, I had to put up with all the smartass comments from the guys about coming out just to watch me strip. Gee....I love aviation!
Anyway, in the next few weeks we should have the jig finished for the wings and start rewiring those (the guys cut a few wires when they were taking it apart).
Decided not to go with the Palo Alto tail or toe brakes at this time. The tail won't give us that much of a speed advantage and the hand brake is authentic, so we've decided not to convert.
Well...that's it for now. More updates as warranted.
Cindy & Paul

Looks like a great project... I've done about 6 Navion Restorations and a lot of Mod work... I worked with the TC holder for a couple of years. If you have any questions I would be happy to help... I also know where to get parts and so forth, so feel free to shoot me a PM anytime!

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Keep 'Em Flying

Well....we finally posted some new pictures (http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r148 ... na/Navion/) of the Navion project.

Here's a run-down of the latest.

The rig for the wings is built and with the help of our motor pool friends, the wings have been put into the rig. It appears to be holding quite well, but we'll probably add some extra support to be safe.

We've finished the Texas plates and are ready to rivet them on the tail. Unfortunately, the compressor at the hangar quit working just as we started to rivet, so that's on hold until the compressor is fixed or replaced.

We spent a couple hours pulling out the old foam and insulation from the cockpit. We still have to remove the foam from the firewall, but that shouldn't take too long. The worst part will be cleaning up all the adhesive so we can inspect the metal.

We pulled the fuel tanks out of the wings (about 6 hrs of work). The interior of the wings look really good - although we did find a rat nest in one. The tanks will have to be thoroughly cleaned and inspected before we know if we can use them or if they have to be replaced.

We'll spend the next couple weekends cleaning the wings and the tanks and fixing/replacing the compressor!

Well....that's it for now.

Cindy & Paul

Well....the Navion project is temporarily on hold. We were at the hangar to pick up the wings so we could clean them and got some bad news.
The primary lease holder on the hangar we're in has decided to give up the hangar. If we leased directly from him, we would have known 2 months ago and been able to line up another hangar. However, we sublease from someone else who subleases from the primary lease holder (yeah....confusing!). Anyway, the guy we lease from told me 'I didn't think you needed to know.' Therefore, he didn't say anything. He claims that he's working with the county to take over the lease. The county says otherwise. So, as of the end of the month, our Navion project is homeless and on-hold We're scrambling to get another hangar, but in Chino, that's a tough thing! We have high hopes that we'll line something up quickly and be able to get back on the project.
I did post the latest shots of the wing (post cleaning) on Photobucket. There was no corrosion to be found!
We also got the accumulation tank today, so that's one more thing off the list. Depending on when we get set up in a new hangar, this may be the last update for a little while. If anyone based in Chino knows of (affordable) hangar space available, please PM me.
Cindy

Any update on this nice airplane?? Hugh

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My father was a a/c armorer 7th aaf 318FG 73FS