Taurus-II restoration 1

After getting some minor projects out of the way, work began last evening on the Taurus II restoration. It is my intention to post the progress, (such as it is), on this thread. It may take some time as I'm not the fastest worker in the world, and I am a little awed working on a plane like this, built and flown by "the Great One" himself....it is kind-of like I'm "not worthy" or something. Now I know a little bit how the "restorers" felt working on Michelangelo's masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel....not quite, but you know what I mean. When you work on the original 45 year old wood, the shavings and dust has that "musty crate" smell; I am constantly reminded I'm working on an original Kazmirski "classic". On the other hand, I'm here and he isn't, so if the plane is going to fly again, I'm going to have to do the best I can, and "pray" for his guidance. I'm trying to be very deliberate and careful.

First thing, I am trying to restore the plane to the way it LOOKED, (on the outside) back in 1963, and am not particularly interested in using the exact methods Ed would have used with the technology available back then...the final goal of mine is that it looks the same. With that in mind, I considered several methods to try to lengthen the stab some 7-3/4 inches, (Ed shaved that much off in his effort to experiment with the Taurus II by adding "side thrust generators" to the stab, presumably in an effort to increase drag..see picture). Ed also shaved down the elevators, so they will also need to be built-up. Strength not being a major factor, I eventually decided to add an approximate 3" long by 1" thick foam extender to each side of the stab since the stab was 1-1/8" thick at the point Ed shaved it off. Stab-tips will make up the difference as it was in the original. I used my "unfinished fuse" as a model, since it appears both the Taurus II and the unfinished fuse have identical thick stabs, (which are about 3" longer than the original Taurus). I felt a built-up balsa extension would be more difficult and would add too much weight. I believe this method will work, and I'll let you know soon, and include some pictures.

Going back to Eds stab mods, I don't have any idea if Ed's experiments were successful, or even if he actually flew the plane after making the mods to test the results of the changes he made. The S.F.G. while carefully applied, were not even painted, and frankly looked a little strange. I made up my mind I had to restore the T-2 to its original configuration as he first flew it back in 1963-1966 or so....and as it appeared in all the vintage pictures contained in this thread. This will be the biggest part of the restoration.

More later
Duane