Curtiss Jenny Restoration: May 2008

Front Landing Gear fittings

Worked on the front gear fittings today. As you remember, there was a doubler that needed to be attached to the fitting. I suspect that the original piece was brazed, but I decided to weld it together. When that was finished, the tab was bent to the 44 degree angle needed to accept the landing gear wires. Then, the attach points were drilled.

Here is the fitting in place. I did not drill the holes for the gear legs yet. That will come later.

The rear fitting is original.

Plus, another wire was made. Two more to go!

Enjoy

Brian

Lower spider plate

Went to the water jet cutter today and picked up the lower spider plate.

This will be welded to the existing OX-5 spider plate to accomodate the Hisso. The rings are doublers to strengthen the openings. I had the plate made oversize. Once the radiator is in place, it will be trimmed to size. More about this later. I was just excited to pick up the plate.

Till then

Brian

Station 1/2 lower fitting & wires

It felt good to be back to work on the Jenny after a 9 day business trip. Hence the span between postings here! Moving forward, it was time to build the wires between the spider plate and station 2.

First, two fittings had to be made to accept the shackles. I cut these out of .125 stock. Easy fitting to make. You can also see where the lower part of the spider plate has been cut. The spider plate was built for an OX-5 radiator, which is flat along the bottom. Since the Hisso radiator is curved (for more cooling area), the bottom part had to be cut off and a rounded section put in its place. I got good news today - the lower section is finished at the water jet cutter. Once the fuselage is out of the jig, I'll line up the radiator and weld on the new section.

OK - back to the fitting - here's a detail shot showing how it all goes together. Don't worry, the bolts are temporary and all the fittings will be finish painted later.

As it stands today. Four more wires to go!

Enjoy

Brian

Station 2 wires

Burned the midnight oil this evening and got a few more wires built. One more bay to go! Didn't do any soldering though. I'm saving that for later.

It is with sadness that I learned Denny Trone had been killed in the crash of his Dormoy Bathtub replica earlier this week. It's a sad loss for antique aviators everywhere. Denny, as you remember, sold me his spare Hisso engine for the Jenny. He was ever so patient whenever I called him with Hisso questions. Later I learned that everyone had that same experience. He was just that kind of guy. That's Denny in the middle, flanked by Ron on the left and me on the right (with my oldest boy Graham).