FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Slow and steady Dave! That's the secret!

skylark-flier

Good day! Actually, it was bordering on great!!!! Fuse is totally covered, thanks to a whole day of steady rain. Can't work in the garden, can't work in the carport, lawn's cut & trimmed, honey-do list is caught up (first time in 46 years). Other half left me completely alone for a whole day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

History in the making!!

With just a bit of luck tomorrow will be just as bad (good) and I'll get the wings covered too.

Love that koverall!!!!!!!!!!!!

TomCrump

I'm happy to hear that the covering is going well.

I couldn't get any shop time in, yesterday. The weather was perfect, and I was out flying.

My wife was good with it, though. I promised to get to my chores "next week". LOL

Michaelj2k

My wife always finds a way to keep me out of the shop. I usually try to disappear for a couple of hours after work.

skylark-flier

I just LOVE the smell of butyrate in the morning! In the afternoon too!!!! Shoot, it's not half-bad in the evening either. Best part of all is that everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY leaves me alone while I'm doping.

She's got 2 brushed coats of 50-50 clear dope-thinner all over, and half my clear quart is gone. Tomorrow she gets a coat of 100% clear (well, 85% anyway - it's a bit thick in the can). Geez, I may just have to order another quart of clear before I go to colors - she's really soaking it up.

My normal practice has always been 2 coats of 50-50 clear, sand with 400-grit, 2 coats of 100% (more or less) clear, sand with 400-grit, and then 2 coats each color, and it's always been enough. Most every one of those planes is still flying with original covering/dope and most of them are 30+ yrs old, some over 40. However, something tells me this lady is going to take a lot more than 6 coats overall.

Thoughts, anyone?

TomCrump

Sounds like lots of work, but I'm sure that it will be purdy.

Pork Chop

My Feedback: (5)

The anticipation is building! The last pictures were awesome Dave, cant wait to see her done!

Michaelj2k

I stick the silk on with nitrate then using same, build up with one brush coat and two sprayed coats, keeping the consistency a 70% - 30% mix of thinner to dope. Then I spray three or four of butyrate clear and wet sand the last coat. Next I spray two coats of silver pigmented dope, sanding after the first coat. I base coat the surface with white dope, sand once more with 600 then mask and apply the color trim coats. When all the trim coats are complete, I mix a batch of 60% butyrate clear, 30% thinner and 10% retarder. I spray the surface then hang it up to cure for at least a week. Next, I sand with a high grit we or dry then rub out with fine polishing compound. The finish looks like a million bucks and adds little weight.

skylark-flier

WOW! That would certainly give you a showroom finish - no doubt about it!

Geez, forgot about the nitrate - that was over the weekend, just 2 coats brushed. I really need to get a sprayer though. Spray is so much "smoother" than brush most of the time.

skylark-flier

Haven't had the camera down in the shop lately - thought I'd drop a couple pics. Here she sits with 2 coats clear nitrate & 2 coats 50/50-thinned butyrate clear. Now she gets to sit for awhile while my head reattaches itself (hopefully) to the rest of me.

LOVE THAT DOPE SMELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Still playing with the colors but I'm probably going to go with that blue/yellow/maroon combination. There WAS a thought to re-creating a USAF T-33 that I helped repaint for the bi-centennial a long long time ago at Elmendorf AFB, AK. Here's a couple pics of her as she was wayyyyyyyy back, when...



and what the rest of the Elmendorf T-33s looked like back then...



BTW, that "way back when" was when I still had hair ... a long, long time ago ...

Michaelj2k

Hey real Class A's! Not those bus driver outfits they wear now.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Hair is over rated anyway.

TomCrump

I wouldn't know. I haven't had any for 25 years.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I was told that only people with hair can feel as I do about it!!

TomCrump

I have a beard. Does that count ? It's gray, if that makes any difference.

skylark-flier

Y'er all right!! BTW, I was once told it this way...

Some of us go bald in the front ... it's because we're great thinkers.

Some of us go bald on top ... it's because we're very sexy.

Some of us go bald in front AND on top ...

..

..

..

It's because we think we're very sexy.

..

I've always wondered how they explain all the hair coming out my ears...

...sheesh!

Would you believe, I haven't seen a USAF uniform in over 20 years. I've heard there's been a lot of changes, few (if any) for the better. Geez, 45 years ago we thought they looked like bus driver suits - can't imagine how they could screw it up any more than they were back then. Also, and this will also give away just now "dinosaurish" I am - I've not only still got that particular uniform, I've still got the one that replaced it (double-knit) and my original winter-weight class-A's & overcoat (belted), 2 sets of the dark blue shirt/pant combinations, 3 sets of 1505's, AND my chukkas from back then. Ye gads, I've still got my original fatigues too (the straight olive drabs).

I must be ancient!!!!!!!

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I gave all my fatigues to my dad, I had a lot of them, about half tailored no less. He wore them out wearing them as his gardening clothing. Thank the maker that the Army changed there dress greens!! I thought they were beyond ugly, the new uniforms look pretty good though.
For an adventure try finding a Navy p-Coat at a thrift store. They really were warm and a sought after item even when I was in the Army. I would still like to have one.

Michaelj2k

My quest is to have an Air Force parka with the fur lined snorkel hood. I had one while working the flight line at McGuire AFB and gave it back when I separated. For $35 I could have kept it.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Hey Dave! Got any new pictures?

skylark-flier

Just the ones from yesterday. She's got one more coat of 85% clear (brushed, of course) on her today. That makes 2 coats nitrate clear, 2 coats 50/50 butyrate clear & 2 coats 85% but. clear. Ordering the colors on payday (1st of month). Still playing with combinations - other half came up with this idea yesterday:


Can't say I don't like it - I do. She's also talked about all yellow on top and all met. maroon on bottom:



Vert stabs would be yellow overall but maroon under the elevator on the inside only. Gotta admit, it's got its points.

All combinations, whatever I end up with, will have a very dark charcoal (not quite black) name & date on the left wing and my AMA #s on the right.

(ignore the attached bmp. I screwed up on that one)

TomCrump

I like the yellow/maroon combo, Dave !

This is unrelated, but I thought that I'd pass this on, here.

I was in need for some specialized graphics to apply to a Phaeton II bipe that I'm building for a little boy and his father. I thought that the litle guy would like the graphics from the old control linr bipe, the Flying Fool.

I asked my friend, Gary Sibert at Decal-it, to spruce up the graphics from the old kit. Gary did a super job of changing the colors and creating the graphics in my needed sizes.


If you guys need custom graphics, give him a try.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Hey Dave who scrapes you off the ceiling after breathing all those dope fumes? I have a friend who retired from the USAF as a E-9. They changed the rank insignia for the CMSGT to match the other service branches by taking a stripe of the bottom and putting it on top He said it was because the other branches were too myopic to tell an Air Force CMSGT he refused to wear it and kept his old insignia until he retired. His report to was a 3 star so he didn't get any lip about it.

Michaelj2k

CMSGT's run the Air Force.

skylark-flier

No lie there! CMSgt's tell officers what to do - and that goes all the way up to the guys with the stars.

There's nothing quite so God-like as a CMSgt.

Last of the colors for the Stratus was ordered today. Already have the stencils cut for the name/date and AMA #'s. Should be starting the finish pretty soon.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Well Chief Montgomery on more than one occasion told a senior officer it was time to drop his papers and they complied. They knew where the order was coming from and it wasn't the CMSGT! He also blocked a O-7 from force discharging a E-9 with 18 years in. He told him you covered for him for 18 you're not cheating him out of a pension you're stuck with him. The O-7 didn't argue either. He was tough on the senior enlisted if they didn't take care of those under them. He ordered a few of them to drop paper or not to bother to reenlist. By his O-9 order he was to sit on his right in all meetings and God help the officer that tried to take the seat he didn't face the Chief he faced getting called out by the O-9 regardless of who was there. They were a pair. The Chief had mentor lot of the senior enlisted working for the flag officers before he left and they were all a like him. Those guys and girls didn't know what "can't" meant they got things done.

skylark-flier

Still waiting for the last of my color dopes to arrive, and my canopy glue. The four SIG spray cans I got from Brodak are here but they're the darker colors (2 met. burgundy & 2 miami blue) and I want to do the yellow before I dip into them. The plan is to brush 2 coats of each color (I've already got about a half-quart each of met. burgundy, black and miami blue from a long time ago - they're ready to go), topping off with 2 sprayed coats of each color and a final spray of clear. Still have about 1/4 of my quart can of clear so that'll definitely be enough to get the job done - especially once I thin it for spraying.

One thing I didn't expect was a pair of repair/correction jobs on the fuse. Where the head rest meets the fuse and where the top rear fuse fairing meets the horizontal stab the koverall separated from the plane and formed what can best be described as a "tent" in the gap. Had to cut them out, re-adhere the koverall to the fuse & tail, and seal it all with clear. That's taken awhile to get it right, but it looks pretty good..

At long last I know how much one of my planes weighs too - finally bought a scale that reads low enough, digital that shows lbs & oz. Everything is installed on the plane except the prop & spinner right now, she comes in at 6 lbs 9 oz. The final dope coats will probably bring her up to something just short of 7 lbs, so I guess I did pretty well with the build. Recommendations were 6.5 - 7.5 lbs.