A Long awaited update
Remember VAR-H1? Well we have definitely determined the UV life limit of those $165 Costco shelters
It's exactly 853 days and 17 hours - depending of course on wind conditions
Obviously, I'm gonna have to stop ignoring this and do something - anything
So I did the most prudent thing I could think of - I purchased VAR-H3
Yea sure I know, it has a Cessna 337 in it until January but that was part of the deal
Another part of the deal was that I purchased two other hangars which are rented out but that's a whole other story
Anyway, back to Project Luscombe. Here's a rotted lower door frame member
After cutting it out I match up a replacement section
Clamp it in and weld it up
Then do a test fit
Looks pretty good
I might want to move this hinge down a bit but you need to have it high so that you can shim the door up for fit
you can't shim it down if you're off in the other direction. This is a bit much though
Well, there's another little niggling detail behind me anyway
Another detail is the cowl. I have a new lower section that I got from Univair. It's a blank and will require a bit of fit work
Oh and then there's the wing. Remember that rats nest in the trailing edge? I finally got it cleaned out and was happy with what I saw
But there is another issue with the way they did the 'E' conversion. Specifically how they installed the wing tanks
Rather than rivet the lower skins on they did this - it's controversial, I haven't really sorted it out yet
At least some thought was put into it - they didn't countersink the spars but they sure did drill some big honkin' holes into the lower caps
I'm not a structural engineer so I'm not real sure about this. Possibly it's okay and heck, it's been flying just fine since back in the
early sixties when they did it. One plus is that it's real easy to get the tanks out.
Also makes it real easy to inspect the inboard spar sections - they look fine
My other endeavor was to start getting the engine back together
First thing was paint
This stuff is called Lycoming Universal Gray from Aircraft Spruce. I think it's a pretty close match to OEM
With the new data plate and the polished brass stuff I think it's gonna look pretty darn cool
With the hangar blowout I had to concentrate on the gear to get a 'rolling chassis' that I could move around
The old Cleveland mechanical wheels and brakes were a real wake up call on restorations
I didn't pay them a lot of mind when I bought Project Luscombe
Had NO idea that they would cost about eight large to replace if necessary
But I dodged the bullet and just needed brake shoes
Oh, and a couple of weekends to replace them - after studying the manual
It ain't quite as simple as the disc pads - I had to do a bit of cypherin'
You could easily screw this up and have to start all over again
Standard brake rivet tool for most of it though
A smart mechanic never takes apart two of anything at the same time
You might need a reference
There was a lot of neglect in these parts, I was lucky they were salvageable
Using the IPC I got all new hardware
I also made up a spreadsheet which makes it easy to resort by part number
Coming together
That little tab is not original and I'm missing one of those arm return springs - it might end up costing me big time
What a differenc eh?
Yes, they are still crappy brakes but with a nose heavy taildragger that's probably what you want
Time to start on number 2. This is an example of what can manifest under that wheelpant collar and if left unchecked could eventually
lead to a most unpleasant day
Here I am drilling the drain hole addressed in the service bulletin
I also filled and coated the interior of the gear tubes with rust neutralizer after inspecting with the ProScope
But here's a sample of the frustration. Notice upper left shoe missing bearing block
Okay, what do I do now?
But progress is being made
I know there has been an apparent long hiatus in the project. These things are normal but I apologize to those who have been monitoring my
progress. I get a lot of emails and you are almost like a fan base. Just keep the faith. Regardless of how it may appear I'm not
abandoning this project. I may have to move eventually buit if that comes to be I'm flying NC72004 out of here!
YEAH BABY!!!