Air to Air

 Took advantage of a gorgeous day this week to try some air to air photography.  Thanks to first time air to air photographer daughter Jessie, and my friend Jim for flying the photo plane (my 172).

July 2019....... Gold Lindy!!

http://eaavintage.org/2019-airventure-awards/2019-classic-awards/

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat at OSH this year.  I flew in on Tuesday to miss the air traffic peak and, as it turned out missed the dreadful weather that caused some problems.

It was a great week culminating in the the unexpected honour of CF-CLR winning the Gold Lindy, Grand Champion Classic Aircraft.  My thanks to the judges and all the other VAA volunteers for their hard work, and congratulations to all the other award winners and participants.

In preparation for Air Venture 2019, I had a small laundry list of things I wanted to address on the aircraft in addition to its first annual inspection (including opening and installing inspection plates), paint touch-ups and aluminium polishing.

One thing I was not happy with last year was how the plating had turned out on things like the cowl latches and stabilizer flying wire components.  The objective was to achieve a light, mat gunmetal finish emulating the white cadmium that was likely there from the factory.  What I ended up with was much brighter and too shinny.  I removed these parts with the intention of stripping and re-plating but decided to try a light blast with aluminium oxide.  This did the trick so the fix was easier than I thought, and made a bigger difference than I anticipated, so happy with the result.

Perhaps the most significant task was to create a "restoration book."  How do you condense five years of work into an informative but brief document that will hold the attention of the reader?  The answer is you spend many hours sifting through photos, a blog in my case, and various on-line and other historical reference sources, patch it all together and then spend many more hours editing and summarizing!

I started with my home printer and a three ring binder, but ended up using an on-line photo-book app.  It took them three tries to print it correctly so I'm glad I started the project early (December).

I am happy with the result.  It is 11'x 17" and there's likely still too much detail included but it was clear at OSH that the book is a great conversation starter, which is the best possible outcome.  Here is is in micro:

Special Visitor

November 2018

Last week John Mast stopped by for a visit and has inspired me to flesh out the history of CF-CLR in a bit more detail.

John, originally from North Carolina, makes his home in Red Lake Ontario about 3 hours NW by Taylorcraft from Thunder Bay.  He imported the airplane, then CF-DEP, in 1973 and flew it in the Red Lake area.

We had fun chatting about airplanes, looking at his entries in the log book, and I could see by the look in his eye that for John, seeing the airplane again was like catching up with an old friend.

Unfortunately the weather has been cr*p this Fall and it was below VFR minima, so we just enjoyed hangar flying.

Still researching but I've made a start and created a new section.  Click on "History" on the right.

Oshkosh 2018

Camp CF-CLR OSH 2018

Thanks to all who stopped by at OSH.  Certainly all the complements and congratulations made me feel good after what was a somewhat stressful few weeks leading up to July 23rd and the flight to Oshkosh.

I'd put some hours on my 172 leading up to the big day so that at least my basic flying skills were current.  I picked up the C of A Thursday July 19th,  flew CF-CLR for the first time on Friday, did a few circuits, adjustments, and a very short cross-country over the weekend, and Monday morning loaded up the sleeping bag and headed for Oshkosh.

 I Stopped at Grand Marais MN to clear customs, then southwest until Lake Superior seemed manageable (just northeast of Silver Bay) then hung a left over the lake toward Price County WI where I stopped for fuel and a bio-break before heading into Wittman Regional.  About 4 hours and 20 minutes total air time.

 I had made no preparations for CF-CLR to be "judged" meaning I didn't have a "book" or as it turns out, good answers to all the questions!  Despite this I'm happy to report that CF-CLR won "Outstanding Taylorcraft," a decent way to cap off this restoration odyssey.

I've created a section "Epilogue" to tie up some informational loose ends and report on the first 15 hours or so of flight.

Thanks again to all who stopped by to chat and for everyone who has offered help and support along the way.

This is my last post at least for now.  I will of course continue to answer any questions, here or on the Taylorcraft Forum.

Can't believe I just wrote that!

Only One Thing Left

Fly it!

On Thursday last week I finished the Weight and Balance, work report and log book entries and submitted all to Transport Canada.  Normally a new C of A would not be required but a couple of years ago I discovered that the aircraft, formerly CF-DEP, had been de-registered by Transport Canada.  Long story short, a new registration meant the C of A needed to be reissued and TC decided to wait until project completion.

Anyway today I picked up the new C of A so within the next 48 hours (I need to work up my nerve) CF-CLR should be airborne once again.

The home stretch is detailed in the Final Assembly section.  If all goes well over the next couple of days, I'm planning to fly to Oshkosh, which other than flying, is the only other thing on my To-Do list at the moment. :)

June 12th First Engine Run

With the windshield installed and the Engine installation complete save for a run-up,  I wheeled the still wingless bird outside and tied down the tail.  I'd like to be able to report that the A65 fired up on the first pull but...  Well actually it did fire up and run briefly, but then quit.  after repeating this a couple of times I knew something was off with the Stromberg, so back in the shop.

It's been a long while since I rebuilt the carb.  I thought perhaps some debris got in or something but nope, it was clear that I'd messed up the float setting.  Anyway, somehow I managed to get an extra fiber washed under the float valve housing.  Once removed I rechecked the float level setting and reassembled and reinstalled the carb,  wheeled CF-CLR outside again for take two:

During the run-up the throttle cable failed (Stiff/sticky) so I need to change that and I must have nicked the crank seal on installation.  It doesn't leak while the engine is running, but drips a few drops after shutdown.  So I have a new throttle cable and crank seal on the way.

Headliner is done, shoulder harnesses in, windshield and top retaining strip installed, and the seat and door panels are nearly ready.  Tomorrow, if all goes well, the wings go on :)

June 2018

Well progress has been made and I hesitate to say it but there may even be a glimmer of light at the end of a very long tunnel.

My frustrations with topcoat continued but I finally managed to finish the right wing which is the last of the major assemblies in terms of paint.  Just a few small parts left to paint and I'll need the space in the hangar for wing installation, so I dismantled my paint booth.  Glad to see the back of it!

Look for updates in the Wings and Final Assembly sections.

I've also started the process of assembling all the paperwork and compiling a work report to make the CofA application.  I need to find scales, need to do a compass swing, and a test flight.  One problem is I have no Taylorcraft time since I last flew this aircraft... in 1989!  Don't panic but there are many details to look after.

My parts and paint shelves are getting empty however so I must be getting close!!