Someone help me get this Stearman flying!!
I have finally fixed this bad boy and have measured the incidence angles all around. This is my first experience with the incidence meter, so I hope I did it right. I aligned a small level along the main fuse crutch that seems to run down the thrust line of the plane. Making sure as best I could from this level I attached the meter to all of the surfaces. Top wing is about +1.5, bottom wing about +1 and the tail seems to be pretty much zeroed out, which I found hard to believe since I added 1/8 sheet to the stab mounting platform, sanded at an angle to nothing in the back. This should have given the tail more incidence than this, right? I don't plan on ripping the tail off of this thing, but am willing to add some more weight to the nose as it seems to have lots of power with the Homey 30cc.
I ordered a new firewall and cowl from Midwest (it arrived promptly within a couple of days). I didn't change any of the original set up here, but reinforced the landing gear mounts stoutly with plywood and epoxied in 1/16 rods through the blocks and mounts. The firewall couldn't have fit in any better as the old one sheered off pretty cleanly (builder had used thick CA rather than epoxy or pro-bond). I filled in the cracked sheeting, gusseting where it needed and it looks better than it did after I swapped engines and used the old cowl.
I sure don't want to wreck this plane, so I will listen to all advice, be careful with it, and if I am not confident with my abilities here, I will pass it along to someone who might have more experience here.