Upholstery and Radiator Completion

Kind of a short post tonight.  Still been busy with Kelch Museum airplanes and will probably continue for the next couple of weeks.  I got the Curtiss 12W annualed and flown last week - everything went fine.  Got Mike Williams '28 Stearman C3B annualed, and now ready to start on the Kelch C3B.  Heading up this Friday to get going on that.

Good news, though, the L-P is ready for cover!  I've actually been stalling a little bit.  Our airport (Ogle Co. Airport in Mt. Morris, IL) has its large fly-in on July 4th.  A lot of folks will be stopping by to see the progress so I wanted to leave the engine on until after that.

I finished the cockpit upholstery.  Here are pics of that...

Right side - front

Outside of right side

Left side - front

Outside of left side

As I mentioned in the last post, the top edge will be secured after the fabric is installed.  The rest is all laced in.

And, I got the radiator painted and assembled.  Here you'll get your first look at the trim color of the airplane.  I had plenty of the original sheet metal with the correct color red to match.  It's a deep red, much darker than insignia red.  The airplane is painted silver overall with this red trim.  Photographs of the airplane showed that the radiator covers and shutters were also painted red.

So, sometime after the 4th, I'll be pulling the engine and prepping the fuselage for cover.  The airplane will be done in Ceconite and Randolph dope.  I've covered airplanes with every system out there (except water-base) and the Ceconite/dope is what I like best.  It's forgiving, easy to spray and maintain, and most importantly - looks correct on antique airplanes!

It may be a little bit longer than normal on the next post, so hang in there.  Hope everyone has a nice 4th!

Cockpit Upholstery

1928, Wright J-5 powered Stearman C3B

It has been a busy couple of weeks.  Working on getting the Kelch Museum Curtiss Wright 12W annualed in preparation for another busy flying season.  We are also getting the 1928 Stearman C3B flying again after about 18 years.  It only has 1/2 hour flying time on it since the restoration!  It has a Wright J-5 which will be a real hoot to fly.  We would love to take it to EAA, but want grass to land it on.  Working on trying to make that happen, but it's not looking good.  I don't get it, the largest fly-in of its type in the world, and we can't get a grass runway to land these rare antique airplanes on!

1932, 165 Warner powered Curtiss Wright 12W

Please consider donating to our museum building fund.  Details can be found on our website  www.kelchmuseum.org

Besides all that, I manage to keep plugging away at the L-P.  Got a good start on the cockpit upholstery.

Marking and cutting out material 

Eyelets installed, ready to be laced in

Right side, rear cockpit

It ended up going easier than I thought it would.  I started by making cardboard templates, then transferred that to the cobra-grain material.  This is the same stuff as the seat upholstery.

Outside of right side, rear cockpit

Left side, rear cockpit

Outside of left side, rear cockpit

Eyelets were then installed, just like the aluminum panels that were previously done.














Here's the right side all laced in.  The top edge will be finished off later, after the dope and fabric work is finished.  It's important for the fabric to be glued well around the upper longeron to avoid coming loose over time.












This is what the outside looks like.  Of course, you won't see any of this after the fabric is installed.












The left side.  A little more complicated as it had to be slit for the throttle rod as well as the seat belt.















Outside view of the left side.

Attachment angles for front cockpit fabric

So I still have to finish the front cockpit, but did get the bottom attach angles fabricated and installed.  These are the bare aluminum pieces in the photo.  I still need to paint them.











Once this is done, I need to step back and carefully think because there will be no going back - it will be time for covering.  The engine will come off and the fuselage will be put back on the rotisserie.  A little over 2000 hours on the restoration so far - I feel pretty good about the progress...

Check back soon!