PA 18-95 Super Cub 1960

December 2023

Progress has been made though its never as much as we hope.  I've had some creaky joint problems so only working half days on the project.

Anyway here's a progress report, mostly in pictures:

Winter time my hangar is too cold so a good time to head to my basement shop to complete small parts and accessories 

500 hour kits for the mags

Freshen up miscilaneous components

Brake cylinders probably haven't been used for 50 years, so new seals and diaphrams installed

Fabricated new baffles.  Not all but most.

The existing throttle cover is serviceable but a little beaten up, so I made a new one.

Same for the instrument panel:

Plus I wanted to move the compass to free up space for an electronic attitude indicator.

In antisapation of the AD on the rudder post, I decided to strip off the new fabric and install a chromoly post:

The rudder, tailfeathers and gear leg covering was completed ready for the spray gun.

False spars fabricated and fitted.

Before installing the remaining leading edge skins, the wings are installed on the fuselage for a symmetry check:

Leading edge skins fabricated from 2024T3. 020"

2024T3 has quite a bit more memory than the original material, so it is nessesary to pre-form the skins to ensure the correct profile is achieved.

To pick up the original screw holes, I made a little hole-finder.

To improve durability in the refeuling area, I duplicated the stiffners Piper used under the outboard skins.

Two wings ready for fabric.

With the wings done I started mocking up the fuselage:

Repairs made to the exhaust shrouds:

New center shroud fabricated 

I couldn't locate an original oil screen shroud so a simplified version is fabricated.

And remaining accessories installed

Weld repairs to the nose bowl.  I also bonded a doubler on the inside to prevent future cracking.

I elected to do a machine sewn seam along the top centreline. The shrinking operation was long and methodical to achieve a straight line.

For topcoat, everthing gets a base coat of white urethane.  The string is just to help visualize the paint scheme.

So now I'm re learning how to paint Ranthane as it's been several years since I did the Taylorcraft.  It wasn't a particularly enjoyable experience so I guess I put it out of my mind!

I plan to finish the fuselage paint so that I can begin assembly in between covering and painting the wings.

That's all for now.

Merry Christmas and happy 2024

December 2021

Well I said I wasn't going to restore another tube and fabric aircraft but...

Received a call from a gentleman (John) in Red Lake who, having talked with the past owner of CF-CLR and looked at the restoration book, wanted to sell me his very original Super Cub.

So I flew up to YRL in my 172 to have a look and a couple of weeks later we agreed on the sale of his pride and joy.

John saying goodbye.  It was easy to see his mixed emotions.  Hopefully I'll do him proud.

Sub Cub came with the airplane.

So did more hornets nests than I could count.  Fortunately the residents had vacated.

The aircraft had unfortunately flipped over onto a dock while on floats.  Thankfully no structural damage other than the wing lift struts, but the fuselage superstructure was severely rearranged.

After completing weld repairs and some small modifications, fuselage was media blasted.

Onto the wings in an effort to fully evaluate the aircraft.

More nests!

And mud daubers!  The final straw perhaps, as at this point I decided to completely dismantle the wings.  

The spars were cleaned, etched, alodine conversion coated and epoxy primed.

There are 46 or so ribs, most of which needed repairs.  I did them in my basement during January and February when the hangar was cold.

Typical truss rib damage

Repairs are made by fabricating reinforcing doublers.

I made a tool to form the doublers tightly around the 'T' sections.

Lots of parts to strip, clean, repair, treat, prime and paint.

Leak testing fuel tanks.

New elevator trailing edges and some ribs.

Fuselage gets epoxy primer and urethane topcoat.

Stringers straightened and installed.

Another basement project was sewing left and right fuselage fabric which has a seem along the top centre stringer.  Daughter Jessie was head seamstress :)

Fabric work on flight controls. Another basement project while the hangar is frozen.

Ailerons were partially dismantled to repair dents and clean/paint steel parts.

New trailing edges were fabricated.

Lots of small jobs like restoring the original magneto switch.

Stab shaft was seized in place, so once I got it out I installed a nipple.

All new cables

Original Goodrich brakes salvaged (for better or worse!)

Trim cable guide. This aircraft is actually supported by some useful drawings!

I couldn't remember how the trim system went back together, so I reassembled it, just so I could stop thinking about it!

New floorboards made from burch plywood I selected with grain that looks similar to the original fur.

New boot cowl fabricated from 2024 T3, a little more durable than the original.

Late Spring I damaged my knee so had to switch to projects that got me off my feet a little. Dismantled the engine to see what was required.

I found water in the oil tank, but thankfully no sign of corrosion in the bottom end.

Generator and starter get rebuilt with new bearings and brushes.

Internal parts measured and found to be within "new" limits.

Of course appearances are important so new paint and hardware.

The cylinders were salvageable but, perhaps I was feeling a little lazy, and four new cylinder assemblies were purchased instead of reworking the old ones.

Sub Cub seems happy with the outcome.

Back to the wings. Left wing first.

Neither John nor I was impressed with the landing light installation and this area was crushed when the airplane flipped over. 

 So I built some new parts and used rivets and nutplates to achieve a better, more user friendly and frankly airworthy result.

The wing tips were broken and rotted.  Originally made of ash, they can be purchased, but the shipping costs are silly.  

With the help of some friends I located a small mill in Murillo, just a few miles from Thunder Bay that had "green" Black Ash.

After sorting through a large stack of rough cut boards, I identified 4 pieces that had potential.

After ripping and routing a half dozen blanks, I chose two to be steamed and formed.

We... Sub Cubby and I, were pleased with the result.

Now in the process of fabricating and installing new leading edge skins and aileron cove false spars.

The outboard skin shape is enhanced to provide better support for the landing lights.  Here the cutout for the lights has yet to be made.

Aileron cove false spar blanks ready for bending (they're too long for my brake so I've arranged access to a larger one):

Bench-edge contraption rigged up to bend the skins and in this case the bungee covers.

Given I was cutting 2024 T3 .020" I cut new interior side panels, and blanks for new bungee covers.

The old bungee covers were usable but a little worse for wear.

And that's where I stopped for the holidays.... only a little over a years work to go!!