N85955 being restored on a budget.

[jsf74]

covered my ailerons sunday. took almost 8 hours for the pair but they turned out real nice. pics this weekend.

[joea]

Tailfeathers and ailerons are the way to start.

You almost always get better as time goes along and if you need to re-do anything you can afford it with the small bits!

[jsf74]

heres a pic of the ailerons. i think they turned out good.



now for the bad news. started covering the tailfeathers today and noticed the paint lifting. im not real sure what to do now. i thought epoxy was supposed to be ok??????????





please help!!!

[MikeB]

Jason,
You're probably best to go with whatever epoxy primer and paint is recommended for whatever covering process you're using: i.e. Poly-Fiber, Superflite, Randolph, etc. Some of the glue is pretty MEK intensive and will tend to lift a 'lesser' epoxy and paint. I found that with Superflite U-500 glue, anyway. Also, it seems the epoxys need a fairly long drying period to harden properly. That's been my experience. I'm unsure about the Rustoleum product as I've never used it. Best to find out on a small piece rather than run into it on the fuselage. If you painted the control surface tubing the paint needs to be able to resist lifting also. The covering process should tell you what epoxy and paint to use. Some of them say you must use the recommended products to meet the conditions of the STC.

It's a bummer but better to find out now rather when you're really into it.

Hope this helps!

Mike

[jsf74]

im hoping i can maybe buy poly-fibers primer and just paint over the tubes that get glued. im going to test a piece and see if was just a fluke. this really sucks!!!!!

[Dennis]

Jason, see my post under "fabric and covering". Almost identical to MikeB answer. Plus he brings up a very inportant point about the requirements of the STC.

Dennis

[joea]

Jason,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY by the way!

Joe A

[jsf74]

i put the parts in the sun to bake and that seemed to fix the problem. not real sure what was going on. the parts have been painted for six weeks. btw my birthday is 5-4 not 4-5. sorry for the confusion but i appreicate it anyways.

[joea]

You might change the date on your profile. Thats what happened is that it pops up on the supposed day at the bottom of the first page.

[jsf74]

finished covering my control surfaces today. the rudder took me 7 hours!!!! real happy with everything though.

[joea]

Nice to have them done and ready for silver!

Now for the big bits!

[jsf74]

yeah im hoping to buy some spar blanks next weekend. thats going to be a big project!!!

[joea]

Start out small and work your way up. So far your progress and quality of work has been excellent, so keep going and you will end up with a very nice Aeronca!

[jsf74]

ive got all the control surfaces covered and in the first coat of poly brush. i had to recover my right elevator because for some reason i got turned around and put the seam on the top. i didnt realize it until i went to put the poly brush on. "DUH" lesson learned, the funny part is i even wrote bottom on the fabric and still got it upside down ? anyways i was able to sell a few extra parts i had and that gave me enough money to buy some spar blanks. i cant wait to see my wings all togther and looking like something again.

[jsf74]

well im back to it. i had to take some time off to be a husband and dad for awhile !! got to keep momma happy. i decided to tackle the spars today and it ended up being way easier than i thought. took me about 10 hrs to get to this point. there all cut drilled and sanded with doublers on one side. tomorrow ill do the other side and wrap things up. i also ordered a new headliner and some oleo rebuild kits a couple days ago.







and here is a little toy to play with while the chief is being finished.