OK, I took several months off (posting to this, not working on the Champ). I now have both wings rebuilt, awaiting Spring to be covered. New spars, leading and trailing edges, hardware, ribs etched, and painted with epoxy primer.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
This is as far as I am going with the right wing until I get the left wing back together. I use this wing to "Reverse Engineer" the other wing back together. This wing looks much better than the other one. It still gets the same treatment.
The surprises continue. You can see that there are no nails installed in the front side of this rib. In addition, there was never any rib lacing tape put in. The fabric held the ribs in place.
Retired flight department manager. 11,800 total time. Restored 6 antique classic airplanes. Currently have a J-3 at Peach State airport in Williamson, GA.