August is here.

I have been on vacation the last two weeks and not able to post so I have a bit of catching up to do.

I had a lot of time to figure out the path for my project and the short version is this: Look original but increase safety and performance where it makes sense. To this end, I've decided on the original style cathedral ceiling and three piece windshield. I'm going to keep the panel as true to the original as possible. I will be buying updated sealed struts and replacing the spars. I'm also going to install a C-85-8 Continental that I just so happened to pick up on my vacation. Actually I picked up a bunch of parts on this trip.

First off was the compass; it turned out to be the key to so much more.

The original Airpath Bubble faced Type 61 Compass that you see in the picture is as rare as hens teeth that you may find loose in a field of four leaf clovers. Its the center piece of the 1941 Cub panel and I could no go original without it. I had met a guy online that was selling a tail post cluster on e-bay (that I also needed for my project) and in the negotiating I asked if I could pick it up in person. He was in Pueblo CO and I was headed through on my way to Colorado Springs. In passing He asked if there might be any other parts that I needed. I didn't figure he would have one but I asked about the compass anyway. He said he though he had just what I needed and we agreed to meet up on my way through town.Over the week or two leading up to my trip we talked about additional parts that I needed and he mentioned that he had a friend with a C-85 that might be willing to part with it, and that he had piles of other old cub parts. I planned ahead and brought enough money that I figured I would not have to walk away from anything just from having a thin wallet. They cleaned me out......

When I got there, Greg (the seller) took me up into his attic to dig through about a thousand square feet of boxes. All were parts from 1940's era airplanes. Most were from Cessna 140's but there were also a few parted out J3 and Super cub boxes as well.

It was hot.

When I say hot, I'm talking about 130 degrees in the attic... This limited searching to 10 minute sessions then back down the latter for more water and to admire his Rearwin Sportster that he is rebuilding. We made a number of trips up into the attic but he couldn't find the box he was looking for. We finally decided to make one more ascent. And as it always is, the box was in the last place he was looking for it. In the box he found what he was looking for. A 3 1/8 inch Airpath B-16 which he proudly held out to me. It's a close compass so I understood why he had mistaken it for what I was looking for but it just wasn't what I needed. I was dejected and tired and VERY hot. I had given up and was headed for the ladder when something caught my eye in a box. It was partially buried but when I pulled it out it was one of those "Eureka!!!" moments. It was the exact compass I needed, and the one pictured above.

To the Airport to see the C-85.

Next we headed out to the dirt strip airport that was home to more airplane carcus' then airplanes. It was dusty and hot, the hangers looked like they could fall down if leaned on, but to me it was a magical treasure chest. I knew I was in the right place when we drove past several Aeronca and Piper frames dutifully rusting in the sun half covered in grass. My host's hangar was packed with broken wings and frames, dusty bins of parts and a couple of uncovered cubs waiting for Rearwin to fly so that they could some of the love lavished on it. From the piles in that hangar, I managed to come up with some ribs to replace the modified ones in my wings. Both of my wings have factory spliced rear spars and the ribs that are over the splice plates were specially built at the piper factory to accommodate the additional thickness at that point. In order to install new spars, I would have to either add a dummy splice plate to fill that gap or to replace those special ribs with standard ones. I also managed to a find a serviceable set of all metal cowlings that were painted the most unfortunate share of wrong yellow.... Easy enough to fix.

About that time the owner of the C-85 pulled in and we walked over to his Hagar (actually a corrugated steel shed) that was packed with relics of our once active general aviation community. There was a Luscom and and a Champ both torn down and left to languish, stacks of wings, old parts and even a 50's era trail bike. It was fun to poke around but what I came to see was sitting on a stand in the corner. Being that it was on a crank stand I was easily able to spin it around a couple of times and instantly tell that even though it has sat since the 70's that it still had compression. we pulled the plugs and took a peek at the cylinders with a bore scope. The walls were mirror smooth and the pistons had a light layer of carbon on the tops. It looked like it had just been run that morning, not 40 years ago.

The original McCauley Met-L-Prop was part of the deal and if all was to be believed, the engine had never had a prop strike and should be completely rebuildable as it only has 924 hours total time. Not knowing for sure what is inside, I was hesitant to buy it, and the issue of a Flanged crank which is not explicitly allowed on the Type Certificate didn't help. The seller made me an offer that I could not refuse and we loaded everything up and I said my goodbyes, we shook hands, and I was off to rejoin the family.

Univair

On our way through Denver I talked my wife into letting me stop by Univair. If you have not heard of Univair, I'd be surprised if you were still reading my blog... It's the best source for original design and PMA equipment for old taildraggers such as the J3. I wanted to pick up an engine mount for my new power plant I had in the back of my truck so I at least had an excuse to stop in.

I wasn't expecting much, I thought it would be a big parts warehouse and shipping center. I know they claimed to make their own parts, but who really does that now a days? Usually when someone claims to make their own parts, they send the drawings off to China and get the parts back via shipping container. I expected to see them changing label and sending parts back out the same doors they came in. Boy was I surprised.

That place is a factory! Not an automated one, but a good old world craftsmanship one. When I told them I was there from Texas, they didn't hesitate to offer me a tour. With my wife rolling her eyes, I gladly accepted and was shown every one of their assembly area's. I saw new sealed struts being made, wings on jigs, fuselages being welded, and parts being stamped on their giant hydro form machine.

The hydro form machine was amazing. It is so big and heavy that the train tracks that they had to have laid to bring it to its current spot are still in the floor. They brought the machine in a placed it, then they built their building around it. It really is the heart of their operation. If you have a Univair cowl or gas tank, any formed aluminum or steal part, it was most likely made on the machine in the picture. Yes the old fat guy is me. I came away from Univair with a healthy respect for the prices they charge. The old adage applies; "you get what you pay for" when you buy from them. These products are made with care, the old fashioned way accept for the laser CAD and other high tech machining) and are as good or better than original.

1955 337's

After acquiring my spoils, I set out to make sure I could hang my new engine on my airframe legally. The problem in short is just a short sightedness on Piper and the subsequent STC holders who based their designs on what Piper provided. It turns out that during the revisions of the Type Certificate that Piper included flanged crank engines such as the A-65-8F, A-75-8F and C-90-8F but they left off the C-85-8F. The F standing for Flanged. All of the small tapered crank engines are approved and the A-65-8F crank is the EXACT same part number as the one used in C-85-8F. It was merely an oversight. Luckily there is a continental service bulletin that states that tapered and flanged cranks can be interchanged during a normal overhaul and are considered the same. There is also a bulletin that allows for the remarking of the engine plate should the crank be changed from one to the other. So armed with those two documents I should have no problem explaining why it is perfectly OK (and most would argue better) to have a C-85 with a Flanged crankshaft installed on my cub. Oh the pleasures of dealing with our Friendly Flying Agency.....