News from MeierMotors South Germany EDTG

[Matthias Dorst]

Time for some updates concerning the conversion Buchon to Gustav. A lot of work for the sheetmetal workers but the fuselage grows step by step.

overall view wings





Detail uplock undercarriage



OMG its a hedgehog



Working on the fuselage

[Matthias Dorst]

the fuselage

[Matthias Dorst]

a very special view ... call it "time journey"

Through the socalled "Handlochdeckel" you can see a Jodel Robin. Its not only a Jodel Robin, its the personal aircraft of a famous Luftwaffe-pilot who served on several Bf109 with Jagdgeschwader 54 "Greenhearts", decorated as "Ritterkreuztraeger" (German Cross in Gold). At the end of the war he flew with JV44 Messerschmitt Me262. He survived the war and stayed uncompromised to general aviation, flying that Jodel Robin. He said as he brought the Robin "I know its not a 109, its not so fast, not so powerful, but the manoeuverbility is the same as in the 109. The rudders, ailerons, everything seems to be similar". He laughed and went to the Messerschmitt project. What a man. Sometimes he is in the shop, looking at those warbirds. Sometimes I want to know his thoughts, sometimes not really.

[Matthias Dorst]

work on the control surfaces. Marc Lais is a specialist for that job







elevators



close up

[Matthias Dorst]

more work on the fuselage











after that ... tear it apart again and move the parts to the paintshop, paint it lightgrey (RLM02 is too dark for comfortable work in the fuselage), and again back into the "slipway" ... what the hell is that word in english concerning aircraft







and last but not least for today, men at work, excatly those sheetmetal workers. These guys are really artists. Incredible what they are douing with sheetmetal. Awesome work

[b29flteng]

Fantastic!!!

[Rick65]

Looking at these photos I can only believe that the rebuilds are done far better than would have been the case originally. (and done with love)

[gregv]

Matthias

first off, thank-you so much for taking the time to take & post all these photos, it is extremely interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes, to say the least.

Would "jig" or "assembly fixture" be the term you were looking for for "slipway"?

If you don't mind a couple of questions regarding the Buchon rebuild? How does the quality of the metalwork compare between the Spanish made Buchon and the German built 109G you are also working on? I'm curious, as there is certainly a difference to be seen between the Italian built Innocenti Lambretta scooters, and the later Spanish license-built Servetta copies; just curious if there is a similar thing with aircraft. It will also be interesting to see the difference in metal work between the early 109-E1 and the later 109G; I'm sure they had more time to craft the E model at the factory....

Was the Buchon's rear fuselage distorted or otherwise damaged to require it being taken down so far? Or was it simply that some of the skins needed to be made new, and the '109 doesn't have "skins" in the traditional sense? At any rate it's fascinating to see what and how much work goes into these aircraft. Will you be making a cowling from scratch, or have you sourced one?

Sorry for all the questions!

thanks!!

greg v.

[James D]

Great updates. Always fascinating.

[Matthias Dorst]

These days the fuselage reached the MeierMotors shop



Achim, CEO & pilot looks after thee fuselage. I think he is pretty hungry to fly this baby





some work to prepare the fuselage for the paintjob





"place is in the smallest hut" says an old German saw, enough place I think



Marc and the canopy. The dismantling of the canopy and its frame is a not so easy job. You should be very careful. One fault and you have an expensive problem. After dismantling the panit of that canopyframe will be washed off, the frame checked and painted again.



the fuselage in the paintshop



masking the fuselage





the fuselage is fillered



some work to prepare the fuselage for the primer inside



ready

[Matthias Dorst]

The fuselage is huge











cockpit section













serials



close up

[Matthias Dorst]

workin on the main spar engine mount

























painted and ready for installation

[Matthias Dorst]

Felix preparing the airframe for mounting the Merlin









05.10.2012 mounting the Merlin



.... slooooooooooow work

[Matthias Dorst]

Millimeterwork ..... the engine should sit exactly over the attachmentpoints .. difficult work for Felix and the team. But all are more than highly concentrated. It is one of those very special moments in the shop





sits in place



the team calms down, stress is falling down, some minor works are to be done





And Felix, responsible for that project, tries some moves. Think he is very happy I told him that I will post those pictures in the world-wide-web, I think he will b e not amused, but that is webmasters fun A lot of fun at that Friday afternoon after the work was done.

Felix, you rock





grouppicture left-to-right Felix Ohlhoff, Sebastian Frei, Erik Meier, Steffen Petersen)



The 8 bolts are sitting in place, next week all those wirings and hoses will be attached.

[ktst97]

Thank you for sharing the photos, Matthias.