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Tips
Tips

1940 Stearman restoration (moved from Triumph forum so all can enjoy)

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ypWYPTU.jpeg


The finished ailerons.



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The finished stabilizer



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The finished elevators

The timeline is to finish the wings and fuselage covering by the end of the year, and start the engine rebuild in January.

I can't remember if I posted or not about the cause of the crash in 2019?!? When I bought the wreck the story was that the engine failed and the plane stalled and crashed. I pulled up the NTSB final report, and it turns out the engine was brand new, with only 1.6 hours on it since rebuild. It was "screaming" all the way through the crash. The pilot was entirely at fault. He took off and started a turn too soon. When he realized that he was not going to clear the trees along the airfield, he yanked the stick and stalled the plane into the trees.

So...the engine should not need all new parts, since it only had 1.6 hours of time on it. This could save as much as $30k...woo hoo! After any prop strike the FAA requires the engine to come apart for inspection, but a set of gaskets could very well be all it needs. Wouldn't that be a nice break!!
 
CJD said:
Next, the curved tips go on. I had to remove the aileron to install on it's wing, so that the tip will match the curvature of the wood wingtip built earlier.

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Now she's ready for the covering that goes around the leading edge...with...868 rivets!?! The sheet covering forms the closed "D" section which gives the aileron stiffness from twisting. That is very much like the Triumph's fully boxed frame! Or...very unlike the Model "A" Ford frame which was an open "C" frame that twisted easily.

I am sure the scorching on some of the ribs bothers some viewers. Those are ribs that were mangled and had to be straightened. With aluminum, you must anneal it before doing any major bending or straightening. If you try to straighten a bad bend, the thin sheet will crack...and that's the end of the road for that rib. They are much too thin to repair by welding. A trick is to mark the aluminum with a sharpy. Then when you heat it, you know to stop heating when the sharpy mark just disappears. If you heat any more, you end up with a small puddle of aluminum that used to be your part, LOL. Once it air cools you can do some more straightening without cracking.

That's it for now...

Hope everyone is taking advantage of the nice Spring weather to get the cars out for a ride!
Click to expand...
Once the part is annealed and straightened, is it treated to harden it again? If so how?
 
Your work continues to impress me. I am very much looking forward to seeing this plane assembled.
 
Amazing. I wondered about how you did the stenciling as soon as I saw the pics. I’m sure many wouldn’t have bothered after reading how you did it and the amount of time it took but your patience and attention to detail are inspiring. Does it replicate the original on that particular airframe?
Good luck with the engine rebuild, I hope you find it to be undamaged…too bad about how it got there; airspeed and altitude are your friends!
 
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