Curtiss Jenny Restoration

Tonight's progress

2012-02-09T19:41:00.001-08:00

Hooray! The left side cowl is burnished!

Here is the cowl in place. I'm holding the original cowl so you can see the louvers and beading we have to make yet.

We also lined the bottom cowl for burnishing.

Lastly, John and Martha Cole sent me this neat old picture. Look how they are stitching the wing - the same way we are doing it...except they are better dressed.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

The Photographer's Results

2012-02-09T19:28:00.001-08:00

You know, I finally know why professional photographers do what they do...

These two photographs were taken by Rod Reilly the other night.

www.rodreillyphoto.net

Also, John Slemp set up a photo gallery of the Jenny pictures he took this summer. This one is my favorite:

http://aerographs.photoshelter.com/gallery/JN4D-Jenny/G0000Ge3oDycjwd8

There are some really good pictures there. I think you will like them. If you want, prints can be made directly from this site too.

Cheers

Brian

Burnishing and stitching...and visitors

2012-02-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

The gang gathered at the hangar last night and Ron and Brian decided to do more rib stitching.

The wing is too wide for one person to stitch. Ron sat on one end with a bright light shining through the fabric. He fished the needle through...

...and Brian acted as the guide. "More up...left..." and so on.

Then, the knot was tied and the needle passed the other way.

We had some visitors last night. Professional photographers John Slemp and Rod Reilly visited the hangar and took lots of pictures.

Rod focused on the wing stitching operation.

And John photographed John Kuck and I burnishing the side cowl.

Actually, I ended up putting the photographer to work! The side cowl is big and unwieldy, so in between pictures, I had John Slemp steady the one side.

John Slemp was the person responsible for the beautiful photographs of the Jenny when we rolled it outside before we disassembled everything for covering. He is going to make these pictures available on his website soon.

More later in the week

Enjoy

Brian

Cowl Burnishing

2012-02-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

More work with the 2 inch scotch brite wheel again...

The front section of the rear cockpit was also burnished and awaiting the perimeter wire.

Here is the completed "joint".

I saw this picture in an old issue of Pro Pilot. Talk about an early corporate aircraft!

Lastly, Bernard Bra sent me this picture. He wrote:

Thank you for all your photos/web, it helps me to build my little Jenny

Bernard/ FRANCE

Hey! Someone else sitting in front of a spinning wheel for hours....I like it!

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Rib stitching has begun

2012-01-30T17:37:00.001-08:00

Hey! The first rib stitch has occurred!

Ron likes the modified seine knot right out of the Ploy Fiber Manual. First, you make the island...

...then the bikini....

...over and under...

....to make the "W".....

...pull it tight.

Only a hundred and nineteen to go on this wing!

John Kuck and I finished burnishing the front cockpit cowl. This piece was almost six hours of burnishing. You can see why we are happy.

Next step - burnishing the next piece.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Plane in the background

2012-01-28T09:27:00.001-08:00

All you have to do is ask....! Remember the airplane in the background? We got an answer.

Gary Fathers emailed me right away. He said:

As you know, my favorite plane is the Thomas Morse S4c scout, so you know what I'm gonna say next don't ya!!!

The plane in the photo is an S4c re-engined with something, don't know what though, probably something huge for racing purposes I'd guess. Several of them were modified after the war for barnstorming, displays etc, and even modified with tandem seating by grossly widening the fuselage for a passenger. Looking at the attempts at streamlining it was probably for racing.

A closer photo can be found on Flikr at this link;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/5962524146/in/photostream/

I think it looks pretty much the same.

See ya Gary

From what I can tell, the engine looks like an OX-5. Thanks, Gary for the identification. Gary is building a scale Thomas Morse and I can't wait to see it.

Jim Landon also e-mailed me and made the same identification. He also made a very detailed Thomas Morse Scout several years ago.

Getting back to Jennies... Jim sent pictures of the extremely detailed 1/16 scale Jenny model he is building for a museum in Colorado. Check out this detail!

Absolutely stunning. http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0091009/photos/landoni/6663442667/

Hope to work on the Jenny Sunday evening. There is more burnishing to do and I think the first rib stitch will be made. Till then... enjoy

Brian

Reverse exhaust stack

2012-01-27T05:43:00.001-08:00

I got some feedback about the reason for the forward facing exhaust on the OX-5 engine. I also noticed the unusual airplane in the background. Anyone know what kind it is??

Don Barnes wrote:

Brian,
I was told about 35 years ago by a former Jenny pilot, that they would reverse the stacks to place the outlet further forward out of their field of view for flying at night.

The aircraft picture was taken in 1926 was known as Ole #1. The pilot posing was T.A. Ewell.

Don

Another plausible explanation came from expert model builder Anthony Hixson, who also sent me pictures of his really neat 1/4 scale Fokker DRI painted up in one of Von Richtofens paint schemes. Anyway, Anthony writes:

Hi Brian,

I have a theory about the backwards exhaust. If the plane was used for wing walking exhibitions it was probably a bit more comfortable for the wing walker to climb out of the front cockpit without getting blasted by hot exhaust fumes. Seems plausible anyways.

Or a really screwed up mechanic ;)

Later!!
Anthony

Thanks, guys.

Brian

Sheet metal

2012-01-27T05:15:00.001-08:00

We had a productive evening the other night. John Kuck met Brian, Ron and me at the hangar. In a twist of fate, Russel Sanford called me that morning and volunteered his services too.

The first order of business was to finish burnishing the side cowl !!

Since the side cowl has a few fragile points near the big access door cutout, Russell and John held it steady during the burnishing process.

Above: the last burnish !

L to R - Russell Sanford, Brian Eberle, Brian Karli, John Kuck, Ron Alexander

I should count how many burnishes are there. Nah...I don't want to know.

While we were burnishing, Ron and Brian put down a layer of poly-brush and the rib stitching reinforcing tapes. Because of the wing camber, the fabric has to be stitched before final shrinking.

John Kuck made a bunch of 1 1/2 inch lines on the right side cowl - guide lines for future burnishing!

Meanwhile, Russell and I started burnishing the front upper cowl.

That's about an hour's worth of work right there.

Don Barnes sent me more neat old Jenny pictures from the San Diego collection. I'll be sprinkling them throughout the next few blog entries. Hey, I can only take so many boring burnishing pictures, right?

Anyway, the one picture which immediately became of interest is this photo of T. Clayde Ryan in a Jenny. See anything unusual?

Absolutely no windshield! Guess they didn't need it. Also notice the big cockpit cutout.

Just think about this...Claude Ryan's company built Lindbergh's New York to Paris Spirit of St. Louis...with a burnished cowl !!

Lastly, check out this paint scheme. Gotta love the rear cockpit machine gun.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Front cockpit cowl

2012-01-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

Had some time this afternoon, so I worked on the front cockpit cowl again. The strut cutout holes got some much needed attention with a file and sandpaper. Also sanded all the edges.

Lastly, in preparation for burnishing, lines were drawn across the cowl at 1 1/4 inch intervals.

Don Barnes sent me some really neat Jenny photos. He saw them in the Ryan Aeronautical Photo Collection @ www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/sets72157626514780879/

Thought you might like them.

What is so unique about this photo is the OX-5 exhaust. Notice it faces forward! I wonder why?

Here is another view. Looks like they just took the exhaust and flipped it upside down and moved it to the other side.

Anyway, I like seeing old Jenny photos. Hope you do too. Thanks Don!

Enjoy

Brian

Sheet metal and "Wings"

2012-01-22T12:58:00.001-08:00

I was thinking about the tachometer the other day. We have to order a cable to go from the engine to the rear cockpit and I was wondering what size cable to order. When I pulled out the tachometer drive from the engine, I noticed that one of the ears in the drive gear was broken!

The broken part went to the machine shop and a new one was made.

The new gear was pinned to the internal drive...

And inserted into the right cylinder bank.

Now...about that tach cable. Hope to order one this week.

I got to the shop early the other day and while I was waiting for John Kuck to arrive, I started laying out the 1 1/4 inch square lines on the left side cowl.

But John arrived and we began burnishing...and burnishing...and burnishing.

The area below the main access door has a flange which sits on the lower longeron. Because of this flange, we could not burnish the area with the drill press. So, we reverted to the "manual method".

A 2 inch hole was cut into a piece of plywood and we used the air drill to spin the abrasive disks.

We were able to burnish the hard to reach areas. There are only a few more rows to go.

After the productive day with John, I returned to the shop and began bending the wire around the front cockpit.

First, the 3/16 in aluminum rod was given a gentle curve. Nothing special - this was bent by hand.

I used a pair of vice grips to hold a section of the rod.

I flipped the cowling over and used a deep wooden block to help hold it against the sheet metal.

Using the hammer, the sheet metal was bend down nearly 90 degrees. Then, the pliers were moved down and the next area was hammered down. Eventually, the metal was worked around the rod.

Here is the new edge.

That was enough for one afternoon. I had to run home and pick up the kids at the school bus.

On Facebook, my friend and editor of World War I Aero magazine Tom Polapink mentioned that the 1927 movie Wings had been digitally remastered and released on BluRay. I had bought a DVD copy a few years ago, so one rainy night I decided to watch it.

Interestingly, when Buddy Rogers and Richard Arlen were learning to fly, there were some great Jenny scenes. Notice the two Jenny tails in the background.

These are Hisso powered Jennies with four ailerons. Guess that makes them JN6H versions.

Remember I said I had two different Jenny cockpit cowling prints and an original Canuck pattern? Well, if you notice the movie Jenny, it had the larger cutout!

What I like about these two pictures is the method the instructors used to enter the front cockpit. The top guy stood up in the center section cutout. The instructor below entered by leaning across the cockpit and settling in that way.

After we made our sheet metal, Brian and I debated how to get in the front cockpit. We tried it a few times and came to the conclusion that one must be a bit of a contortionist! Actually, it is not that bad.

Anyway, I enjoyed seeing the movie again.

More soon

Brian

Rear cockpit cowl

2012-01-15T15:58:00.001-08:00

Got the rear cockpit cut out today.

More soon - gotta go!

BK

Rear cockpit sheet metal

2012-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

Got the rear sheet metal cut to size last night. Just a little more trimming to be done...

We used the same paper pattern to mark the cockpit cutout.

Work is getting busy again, so I'm not sure when I'll get the opening cut. Probably next weekend. As soon as I do, something will be posted!

Enjoy

Brian

Jenny news around the world

2012-01-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

I wanted to catch up on a few things in the Jenny world and thought you might like hearing about them.

First of all, I'm proud to report that Einar Ketlesson of Bellingham Washington is the proud new owner of Curtiss JN4D Serial Number 2918.

Obviously there is much work to be done, but hey...that's half the fun!

After talking with Einar the other day, I don't know who was more excited about the project - him or me. I can't wait to hear about his restoration progress.

Einar also told me that the Museum of Flight in Seattle is now displaying their Jenny in its entirety. That is good!

Also, Dennis Goodrich sent me a picture of the beautiful Canuck model he built.

Dennis writes:

Part of my interest in your restoration is my little project to build a Canuck Jenny model for the Ames (Iowa) Historical Society. The prototype's owner was Neta Snook, an Ames resident in the late 'tees and 20's, who went on to teach Amelia Earhart to fly. Her plane was a cast off of the RCAF obtained in Fort Worth, Tx, I believe. I found this Jenny Kit at Aerodrome R/C and have used photos on the historical society's web page for documentation. I am aware of several errors that I will correct the next time.

Beautiful model, Dennis. Thanks for sharing it.

Lastly, I got an e-mail from Steve Kessinger. He had a neat question:

I am building a radio controlled Jenny similar to the one my friend John Witt showed you this summer.

I imagine you must be asked many Jenny questions, if I could trouble you for a moment with my own I hope you could help solve a problem. I was told (I think it was many years ago at the San Diego Air Museum) that originally Jenny's undersurfaces were left unpainted/colored except for national insignia, and they were white even when when the rest of the aircraft was painted in US Army colors. All my reference materials are black and white so its hard to tell. Do you have any information or opinion on the subject?

I had never heard of Curtiss leaving the underside of the wings unpainted. I'm sure they were given several coats of dope, but why would they leave them colorless?

Does anyone know?

Steve maintains a builders log for his Jenny model entitled " Proctor Jenny by an Average Joe". I beg to differ. He is doing a spectacular job. I would hardly call him average. Check out his work:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1068532

You'll be glad you did!

That's it for Jenny news. Cheers

Brian

Front cockpit cowl

2012-01-02T08:37:00.001-08:00

Brian Eberle and I met up the other night to transfer the paper patterns to the sheet metal. We traced the openings and cut everything out with the pneumatic shears and tin snips.

I was thrilled with the results! The strut cut only only required a little tweaking to fit.

Here is one of the strut cut outs.

Then I stood back to admire our work. Boy, this cowl was looking nice. I was feeling pretty good. Then the sickening feeling came over me when I realized we screwed up. The seam! I forgot about the seam !

Each cockpit cutout has a seam right about where your shoulders are located. I don't know why they put a seam there, but they did. The seam consists of two little tabs - one bent down and one bent up. They "hook" together and two rivets hold them permanently in place.

In order to make the seam, we would have to cut the sheet metal in half and move the back half forward to make the "hook". This would move the rear strut cutouts forward too and they would no longer be in the correct location.

My nice, new cockpit cowl was junk. It was time to put away the tools and go home.

That night, I thought about leaving the cockpit the way it was - no seam. Who was going to know? We had all this time and effort already invested. I hated to waste the metal. But I knew every time I looked at that front cockpit, the missing seam would scream at me for the rest of my life.

The next day, I went back and cut the sheet metal in half. That's all I did. I had to run the kids around to various social activities that day so with the kids in the car, I ran inside the shop, cut the metal in half and ran right back out. But I knew cutting that metal in half was going to force me to do it right.

We met again last night. Since burnishing is such a mind-numbing and tedious process, we begin each session by spinning a few rows. That way, after spending an hour in front of the press, we were ready to attack the cockpit sheet metal again

We threw away the back half of the sheet metal and made a new rear one, this time adding enough material for the seam. Then, we cut out the cockpit opening. Who could resist a little "stick time"?

Remember, when you cut out the cockpit, allow 3/4 in for bending around the reinforcing rod. So, the cockpit opening will actually be bigger than what you see here.

OK - that seam! After careful measuring, the tabs were bent on both the front and rear sheet metal pieces.

Here is the joint.

Here is what we have so far. Of course we have to install the reinforcing rod, round the sharp corners, drill the instrument panel bracket holes, burnish (gulp) and bead. So, we have a little more work to do yet.

The side cowl is almost burnished.

Enjoy

Brian

Top cowl patterns

2011-12-28T18:48:00.001-08:00

Today, we made the cutout patterns for the cabane struts.

Marks were made at the cabane strut fitting locations.

And the patterns were used to find the optimal cut out. We decided it was easier to use the outside of the pattern. That way, you could move it around and get the perfect fit.

Our goal is to make a good paper pattern and then transfer it to the metal.

We also made a paper pattern for the cockpit cut out using the original Jenny cowl.

Here are the patterns.

Of course we could not resist making a rough paper template of the front windshield!

We also burnished another couple of lines on the side cowl. Not a bad day's work.

Enjoy

Brian

Left side cowl door

2011-12-27T17:24:00.000-08:00

Last week the kids told me they couldn't wait for the Christmas break. This week they told me they were bored. After some vigorous yard work and shoveling out the fire pit, the complaining stopped. But, today, our youngest boy Brighton announced that he was going to accompany me to the shop.

I wanted to build the left side cowling door, so after measuring, cutting and bending, the door started to look like one.

Before I had the first bend completed, Brighton didn't want to work on my door any more. He wanted to build his own "Jenny door".

So, we cut a scrap piece of sheet metal in the shears and set up the brake to make a 1/2 inch flange. With a push of the handle...

The bend was complete.

Time to make the door.

Done!

Anyway, while Bright was pounding away on his door, I finished this one.

More soon. I got a upstairs bath tub leak to fix tomorrow. Big stain on the ceiling. Once that is fixed, I'll head to the hangar.

Enjoy

Brian

Happy Holidays

2011-12-23T16:23:00.001-08:00

Side panel doors

2011-12-12T11:08:00.001-08:00

When I started this burnishing process, Dave Harwell at Barnstormers Workshop gave me a handful of these scotch brite disks and said "have at it". We used them pretty quickly on the belly sheet metal.

So, rather than bother Dave for some more, I decided to get some myself. I usually buy things from MSC. They have a big warehouse next to the Fulton County Airport (where I work) so it is convenient for me to stop there on my way home. Plus, their customer service is great.

Anyway, I searched "2 in. scotch brite disks 3M" on their website and a whole bunch of them came up. I narrowed it down. I wanted the purple ones like Dave Harwell gave me. A few days later, I had a bag of them. The grit felt the same but the back side of the disks were a different color.

No problem, right? I figured the ones I got from Dave were generic or something. They looked the same except for the 3M logo.

After two rows of burnishing, I could tell something was different. The pads really grabbed and wanted to twist the cowl! They made a lot more dust and the swirls were deeper. Obviously, the grit was different.

So, the burnishing was halted for the day.

Still not wanting to bother Dave Harwell, I went to the local Hardware store. They had some disks that looked exactly the same made by Fourney. I bought 20 of them. I was all ready to burnish some more when I had a change of heart. The pads that worked the best were from Dave Harwell. Why not just get some more?

So, I did.

I called Dave and he was more than gracious, ordering me more disks from his usual source McMaster-Carr. Now, I have plenty of the "preferred" disks for burnishing.

In the meantime, I didn't want to waste time waiting for the disks to arrive so the flanges were bent on the left side cowl.

And hammered flat.

Here is the left side cowl.

Then, I started making the little side access door on the right side cowl.

It is made the same way - the edges bent over 1/2 inch and pounded flat.

Here is the door being held in place with some cleco's.

Then the big right side door was marked.

Cut on the shears.

Bent 90 degrees with the brake set to 1/2 inch.

And pounded flat.

The hinge measurements were taken from the original cowl, marked, drilled and cleco'ed in place.

Here are the two right side doors.

Next step will be to drill the holes for the Murphy fasteners. They can not be permanently mounted until the doors have been burnished, but the holes can be cut.

This is what the Murphy fasteners will look like when mounted on the door.

Lastly, I put the prop hub in place for one final check. The hub works great, but I noticed that the the front nut was too long. The "nut" should be nearly flush with the hub. Something was amiss.

I got this hub from Denny Trone several years ago. I suspect it was a reproduction but unfortunately Denny is no longer around to ask. So, keep your ears open for a Hisso prop hub. I'm going to need a new front piece!

Got a busy week at work coming up. I'll try to post again soon. Enjoy!

Brian

Side cowl

2011-12-04T05:01:00.001-08:00

There are two doors on the right side cowling and one on the left.

Using the Curtiss drawing and verifying the measurements with the original side cowl, the marks were drawn on the new piece and cut out with the shears.

Then, flanges were bent down on the opening sides using a block of wood and a hammer.

These flanges were then bent back onto the metal. If you don't want to use the wood/hammer method, a rubber mallet works well, too.

Here is the completer door opening (from the inside).

The lower lip extends across the lower longeron.

Like this.

Here you see a good overall picture of the opening.

The second door on the right side allows access to the bottom of the fuel tank - specifically the fuel shutoff valve. It was also marked, cut out and bent using the above mentioned method.

The completed opening below.

Here is the right side panel to date. Next step is trimming, burnishing and louver pressing.

The left side cowl was marked last night, but it was getting late and I found myself staring at the measurements for minutes at a time. A fatigued brain makes lots of mistakes so I put down the tools and went to bed.

More soon. Enjoy.

Brian

Upper cowl

2011-11-29T17:01:00.000-08:00

While I was waiting for the Roloc disks to arrive and the burnishing to resume, we decided to start on the upper cowling. I figured it would be best to start from the front to back.

The first step - make the cutout for the fuel gauge and fuel cap.

The lip of the opening is bent downward. I made a forming block out of a scrap piece of wood.

Then the lip was bent downwards by stretching the metal around the form.

Flip the form over and bend the other side.

Trim and sand the edge smooth.

The opening is complete.

Another view.

Once the opening was cut and bent, the sides of the aluminum were marked and the pneumatic shears cut off the excess.

We put the original rear cowl in place. We haven't made the new one yet but the old one fits so that is a good thing. The opening for the front cockpit needs to be cut out yet. A decision has to be made. Here is why:

We have a bunch of original Curtiss drawings showing the cowling dimensions. The prints are from the JN4D2 which is different than the JN4D.

The JN4D has two nearly round cutouts with a small windshield.

Here is another view.

Now the Canuck has a bigger opening than the JN4D. If you look under the windscreen, you will see the cowling cut out beneath it. Plus, it is a bigger windscreen.

The extra cutout allows you to see the instruments better. If you sit in a JN4D cockpit, you have to duck your head to see the upper instruments. Not so in a Canuck.

Of course, the JN4D2 cutouts are even different. they have the same rear curve, but the cutout in the front is even bigger than the Canuck! So, our drawings are nearly useless.

Such decisions.

The piece of original cockpit is from a Canuck. I sat in the airplane last night and I must admit, the cutout under the windscreen is nice. I have not made a decision yet, but I am leaning this way.

There is a lot of sheet metal work to come. Stay tuned!

Brian

Burnishing - Jewling - Machine Turning - call it what you wish

2011-11-24T07:04:00.000-08:00

The seat cushion arrived from the upholsterer today. We had them put the old style buttons in the cushion, just like the Curtiss drawings.

Hey...the first panel was finished! Four Roloc disks later and four hours worth of work and the entire panel was done.

After the burnishing, the bead roller was used to put the 3/16 in. radius beads into the panel.

Two lines - 15/16 in. apart...according to the Curtiss drawings.

Here is the panel in place.

We also cut out the left side cowling.

More soon

Brian

Cowl Burnishing & Louvers

2011-11-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

Continuing with the cowling, I tried my best to decipher the measurements of the louvers from the Curtiss drawings. Many of the numbers were smudged. Luckily, I had an original cowl from which to measure.

Before we can make the louvers, the cowl must be burnished. If you did it the other way around, it would be difficult to put the swirl pattern on the raised or curved parts.

Paul Dougherty at the Golden Age Air Museum lent me his louver making pattern. He used this board with some thick gum rubber to press the louvers into the metal. As you can see in the background, the louvers turned out beautifully.

However, the guys in Minnesota who built the Jenny hanging in the history museum in St. Cloud gave me a louver jig, too. It works a little differently.

The jig is variable - the ends slide left and right to make the different sized louvers.

Then a louver die with a hard wood louver shape presses the metal. Instead of the hydraulic press, a mallet is used.

I wanted to practice making a louver this way.

Two holes need to be drilled at the end of the louver. Then a slot was cut into the sheet metal.

I used a die grinder for the cut. A die grinder not the best way to do this because it is hard to cut a straight line and it leaves a ragged edge. But, this was a test piece and I didn't care too much about the cut.

Paul told me he used a sharp razor blade with a steel guide to cut the slot. He said it took a lot of passes with the razor but it cut the steel just fine. I could tell from the pressed louvers that this method made a prettier line. When we make the final louvers, I will do it this way.

Anyway, the hardwood die was hammered into the jig.

You can see it better here.

A finished louver in about three minutes of hammering.

Brian and I also decided to experiment with burnishing. Burnishing was used back then to hide the machine marks in the sheet metal when it was shrunk, stretched or pounded over a form.

Using some photographs we played with several different patterns and spacing trying to find the look that we liked. Eventually, we came to a consensus. The burnishes would be 1 1/4 in apart.

I liked the way the drill press burnished the metal rather than how I made them earlier with the hand drill. But, the cowling is pretty deep and most drill presses can't reach that deep so I was resigned to make them by hand.

But after some thinking, I remembered the Grizzly long reach drill press I bought years ago to drill some angled holes in a stabilizer. The throat was deep enough to reach the center of the cowling.

So, I made an extension arm to go underneath the metal.

We marked the spacing on the sheet metal and started burnishing.

We also tried varying the amount of time the Rylok pad spun on the metal. Three seconds produced a feint swirl. Ten seconds made the swirls deep and dark. Holding down the lever for five seconds worked best.

We also tried various drill RPM's. About 900 to 1000 seemed to be the right spindle speed.

This really is a two man operation. The main job of the second person was to help hold the big piece of metal. But later, we found that if one person could sites down the top line and the other person set up the spacing distance between burnishes, things moved along nicely.

This is what the sheet metal will look like !

Let me warn you - this process takes a long time. What you see here was about an hour's worth of burnishing. There are 21 burnishes in each row. It takes 5 seconds to make the swirl plus about the same time to line up the next one. Doing the math, each row took nearly five minutes. We made twelve rows. That's one hour's worth of work. Whew!

Lastly, the oil tank came back from the welder. Some day I want to learn to weld aluminum with a TIG welder. I've always welded with gas because I couldn't afford a TIG welder but eventually I'd like to learn how to do it.

The tank was made using an old photograph as a guide. I found a picture of a Hisso Jenny without the cowling and tried to make it the same way.

I know having the weld flanges face outwards is not as strong (nor as pretty) as having them face inside, but this is how they made them back in 1917.

That's it for now. More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Burnishing

2011-11-16T12:57:00.001-08:00

I wanted to try a few things today. We are planning on burnishing the cowl like they did back in the 1920's. They used a wire wheel to burnish back then, but I used a 2 inch Riloc pad - basically a round scotch brite pad!

I practiced a few times with a drill press while I was visiting David Harwell at Barnstormers Workshop. This worked really well, but I got to thinking - How will I be able to burnish deep into the cowl? The throat of the drill press is only a few inches deep.

So, I tried burnishing by hand. That way I could make the neat little swirls anywhere I wanted. Much as I tried to hold the drill still, the pad wandered. The swirls looked awful. Oh, well. So much for that theory.

Paul Dougherty made a really pretty burnished cowl on the Golden Age Air Museum's Winstead. I always admired the cowl, so I called Paul and he told me how he did it.

Basically, you make a 2 inch hole in a thin piece of plywood. This keeps the pad from wandering.

Then, you just move the hole down the line and burnish with a portable drill. I clamped a wooden guide to keep everything straight (like Paul told me to do). This worked really well.

The Jenny cowl has lots of louvers and beads. Before you can do any of that, the flat cowl must be fully burnished. Using the practice piece, I experimented making the 3/16 in. radius bead using an Eastwood bead roller. It worked very well. The beads were 3/23 in high just like the Curtiss drawings specified.

On a more productive note, the first side cowl was trimmed today.

I couldn't resist hanging up the test piece!

Anyway, the perimeter of the side cowl was cut to match the lower longeron.

Here is what the cut out looks like at the lower wing attach point. More hand filing will be done later.

More soon

Brian

Wire roll on lower cowl

2011-11-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

Since the bottom of the lower cowl has a gentle curve to let the air flow through the radiator, a wire edge is needed to stiffen the sheet metal.

So, strike a line and using a hand seamer, bend the edge up about 90 degrees.

Then, clamp the wire in place with some vice grips.

With a block of wood, push down on the wire and bend the edge over a little more.

Then bend the edge over the wire.

Once everything is bent, go back and tap towards the wire. This tucks in the edge and gives you a nice finish.

Here you can see the edge rolling around the wire. at the corner of the block is where I stopped for the photo. You can see the unfinished section to the left and the finished section to the right.

Here is the edge of the cowling from the inside.

And the outside.

More soon.

Brian

First fit of lower cowling

2011-11-07T18:18:00.001-08:00

Since I don't have any drawings of the Hisso cowl, I have to rely on old pictures. This one shows the curve of the lower cowl and how it tapers back towards the firewall.

Here is another photo showing the lower cowl.

And finally a picture showing the "lip" of the front lower cowl.

Armed with these photos, we set out building a cardboard template.

This gave us a rough outline to trace onto a piece of 3003 aluminum.

I wanted to leave a two inch lip below the firewall. Hopefully, this will allow enough air to go through the radiator and out the bottom to keep the engine cool. I guessed at this dimension after looking at the old photographs.

Now, it was time to cut metal.

The front lip was curved using a manual shrinking die.

Cowl on...cowl off...make an adjustment...cowl on...cowl off.....etc.

Here is the front lip. I left the protective plastic on the metal. This will come off later and the shrink marks will be sanded out.

Here is the rough fit of the lower cowl. There is much more finish work to be done.

More soon. Enjoy!

Brian

Seats and cowl

2011-11-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

Well, the seats have come back from the upholstery shop. Check it out:

He did a great job and I'm pleased. The seats will be ready for installation as soon as he finished putting the buttons on the cushions.

The first sheet metal part I decided to make was the one on the belly. Luckily, the drawing was pretty accurate.

Here is the belly sheet metal. The 3/16 beads will be added later.

The side cowl drawings are really hard to read. Many of the dimensions are smudged. Luckily, I have an original side cowl to use as a pattern.

Many of the dimensions were taken right from the cowl. To fit the Hisso, a cutout needed to be made to accommodate the spark plugs.

This is an OX-5 cowling. The spark plug cutout nearly touches the upper bead. Interestingly, the drawing (which is for a Hisso JN4D2) does not have the upper bead in this area.

Time to cut some metal. This is 3003 H aluminum .032 thickness.

Here you can see the spark plug cutout. Much time was spent getting the holes lined up for the two cowl wire attach points.

That was it for one night. There is a lot more trimming to get the side cowl to fit, plus the beading, fabrication of the two doors.....stay tuned!

Brian

Aileron cables

2011-11-03T17:18:00.001-07:00

Ron and Brian got the last aileron taped the other night.

The lower cross brace (where the sheet metal attached on the belly) was given its copper ends and drilled.

Here is the brace in place. The fitting will be painted black soon.

One of the things that needed to be done before the fuselage gets covered is the aileron cable. It travels a really funky route but works pretty well. Follow me on this:

The aileron cable starts on the outside of the fuselage and goes around the forward pulley.

It turns rearward and goes past the aft pulley and goes over the fan. The cable then goes down through a hole and across the fan to the other side. It exits another hole, travels back abouve the fan and out the other side.

There is a two-bolt fitting that locks the cable to the fan.

Pretty neat....eh? Because the ends of the cable get woven and the weave will not fit through the little holes in the fan, the ends have to be woven after the cable has been routed.

Each end sticks out 16 inches. Eventually, another cable attaches to this short piece and goes all the way to the aileron.

Had two visitors today! Bart Vancompernolle was visiting his brother in Atlanta and they drove down to see the Jenny.

Bart lives in Belgium and we share a passion for airplanes. In my case it is old airplanes. In his case, it is Radio Control model airplanes. We had a great visit and I hope they return again someday.

More soon

Brian

Lower cowl brace

2011-10-28T20:03:00.001-07:00

I wanted to get the rudder bar completed and two bushings were needed to do that. So, a piece of round stock was drilled for the 1/4 in. bolt...

And turned to fit the rudder bar bracket.

You can see the bolt in place with the new bushings.

I am about to start making the sheet metal so one last brace was needed in the fuselage. This piece goes under the front floorboards. The end of the belly sheet metal attaches here.

So, some 1 in. spruce was cut to size on the bandsaw.

Sanded smooth on the spindle sander.

Here is a shot of the left side.

And the entire brace.

The brackets were made from some thin sheet steel.

Rounded, drilled and countersunk.

This brace was given a coat of varnish and the brackets were painted in primer. Since I mixed a batch of varnish, the instrument panels were given one more coat too.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Oil Temp

2011-10-16T18:28:00.001-07:00

In the last post, I mentioned the need to modify the Hisso oil screen plug to accommodate the oil temperature bulb. I was going to do some welding but Mike Damiami e-mailed me with a suggestion.

He mentioned the availability of an oil temperature probe adapter sold by Aircraft Spruce. I ran over there and Mike was right. The adapter fit perfectly!

Mike, by the way is a Tech Rep for Lycoming in Williamsport, PA. When he is not working, he spends most of his free time tinkering with the old engines and airplanes at the Golden Age Air Museum. I appreciate the tip, Mike!

Enjoy

Brian

Systems

2011-10-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

My goal has been to get all the little things done between the firewall and the tail post. Things like cotter keying every bolt, safety wiring the turnbuckles etc. One of the last things to do is put the little leather anti-chaffing disks in between every wire in every bay. Nothing fancy. I sharpened the end of a piece of tubing and hit it with a hammer to cut out the disks. Tedious, but pretty neat.

Ron and I reinstalled the engine and radiator so sheet metal work can begin. We are also running all the lines (oil temp, water temp, electrical etc) and having the engine in place is a big help.

When we installed the water pump, it did not fit. My pump was one of the new parts manufactured by Denny Trone. We noticed that the pump shaft was bigger than the drive!

So, the impeller was pulled out of the pump.

This is where the pump mounts.

The drive was removed which gave me a good look at the oil pump, too.

Here you can see the differences in the drive and shaft. The shaft will go to the machine shop this week.

The oil temperature bulb goes into the oil screen housing. Should be an easy installation, right? It didn't work out that way!

The bulb threads into the cap, but there is no lip to stop the bulb from going forward. So, that has to go to the machine shop also for some welding and machining.

Lastly, the booster mag lines were made. I got some of the 16 gauge cloth covered wire from the Brillman Co. and installed the ends with a crimper.

The wires were fished through some special old time automotive style conduit up to the firewall.

That's it for now....Enjoy

Brian

Soldering and Oil tank intake tube beading

2011-09-30T19:35:00.001-07:00

I started off tonight by soldering the engine compartment cross wires. Fellow Jenny restorer Phil Mintari recommended using a non-acid flux/solder mix so I decided to try it.

The iron can be seen on the left. This shows you what it looks like when you begin the soldering process. Kinda messy...

One technique is to get a "puddle" of solder on the tip of the iron and rotate the wire in the puddle. Of course, you really want to make sure the solder penetrates underneath the wrapping. When I get to the gap area, I pour a lot of solder into the gap and make it flow rearwards.

After the soldering is finished, I wash away the flux and residue with water and an old toothbrush.

Viola! One completed end.

All four ends were soldered and the wires reinstalled.

I wanted to finish fabricating the oil tank. The basic structure had been built a long time ago and Much thought has been given to the oil inlet and outlet tubes. I didn't want to just weld an aluminum tube to the side of the tank. I thought that method could easily crack and fail. Secondly, I wanted the tube to retain the oil hose without leaking. Here's what I did.

I wanted the inlet/outlet tubes to be beaded. Bill Hammond had just the tool.

I took a length of aluminum tubing, sprayed it with light oil and began the beading process.

You can see how the dies make the bead. Pretty neat! The tubes were then cut to length.

Instead of welding the tubing right to the side of the oil tank, I felt better using a reenforcing boss. I bought these at Aircraft Spruce. The boss on the right will have a oil drain fitting. The tubes will be welded to the bosses and the bosses welded to the tank.

This is where the oil outlet will go.

And the oil return.

The fill cap will be welded here.

And the drain fitting.

The tank is almost ready for welding. I need to do some more trimming, make the radius in the flange cutout more rounded and give one final fit in the fuselage. Whew!

More soon

Brian

Engine compartment cross wires

2011-09-25T03:29:00.001-07:00

It sure felt great to spend a few hours at the shop last night. After a hectic schedule at work, turning wrenches on the Jenny was really therapeutic.

A lot of people ask me what it is like to restore a Jenny. I think they are really asking what it is like to spend six plus years on a project and still have more work to do. I came across a quote by Winston Churchill which really described it perfectly.

Winston's quote was referring to writing a book, but the same idea applies to restoring an airplane. So, sorry Winston. I'm stealing your words and replacing the first three with my own:

"Restoring an airplane is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.”

Back to the Jenny. After witnessing a fuel leak in the Buzz Pump, we found that the internal o-ring was pinched. I emailed Buzz Aero and George Buzel was kind enough to send a new ring right away. So, I installed the new ring and the leak stopped.

George mentioned that future models of the Buzz pump will not even have this o-ring assembly. I think this is a great idea. Once the Jenny is covered, this pump will be difficult to access if I have to change the o-ring again.

I have no complaints with Buzz Aero. It is good to see companies stand behind their produce. Anyway, here is a picture of the completed installation.

I went to Aircraft Spruce and got some more 5/32 wire and began wrapping. What is this? Wire number two hundred and fifty three....?

Anyway, four ends were wrapped last night.

These wires support the engine bearers.

And they cross in front of the firewall.

A picture from the front.

Lastly, I went to MSC and got some more flux and solder. We have a lot of wrapped wires to solder and I wanted to be provisioned accordingly.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you something really neat, especially if you get excited about old things like Jennies and race cars.

Kurt Wheaton from Oregon emailed me asking about what to do with his grandfather's scrapbooks. His grandfather was an early aviator and Kurt had five scrapbooks filled with Jenny pictures as well as Nieuports, Spads etc. I could not stop drooling.

Well, Kurt decided to share his treasures with the world.

http://ivanpwheaton.blogspot.com

I just had a look at his blog. The pictures are great! Thanks, Kurt.

More soon.

Enjoy

Brian

Covering

2011-09-20T17:06:00.001-07:00

While I was busy at work, Ron and Brian got busy covering the flight controls. They gave the stabilizer the first coat of poly brush...

And stitched the ribs...

The aileron stitching was finished and the tapes were applied.

Here are the tapes at the tips.

Lastly, Kurt Wheaton sent this neat photo of a Jenny with a three bladed propeller. His father was an early flyer and Kurt has five of his grandfather's scrapbooks more or less full of Jenny’s and a smattering of other planes, F boats, Spads, Nieuports, etc.

His grandfather was also an early auto racer, like Eddie Rickenbacker, and he lived close enough to Indy that he went there and photographed 3 years of the Indy 500. Kurt has over 300 original photos of that, alone. In fact he has 2 of Rickenbacker that are unpublished, decent photos.

Interestingly, he has original photos of Victor Carlstroms deadly crash, of which I did not even know existed! His grandfather quit flying nearly altogether about two weeks after hearing of Vic’s death.

I hope Kurt will share some more of his collection. Stay tuned....

Brian

Stitching

2011-09-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update tonight - Brian got some rib stitching done on one aileron. He and Ron also put a coat of poly brush on the stabilizer.

I worked on making the cross wires in front of the firewall but ran out of galvanized wire. Gotta order more when I get back from work.

On another note, Kurt Wheaton sent me this e-mail:

Wondered if any on your list is interested in a Hisso manual. The starting bid is$39.00. I put it up on eBay this morning, and depending on the interest, I'll probably put the LeRhone manual up next.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120777860862?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Hope the project is progressing well!

Cheers,

Kurt

There you go - a chance to get a neat manual.

More soon. Gotta busy two weeks at work coming up.

Cheers

Brian

Ignition switch

2011-09-11T08:05:00.001-07:00

Here is the offending o-ring on the Buzz pump. Somehow, it got split when the pump was built. I emailed the factory and they are sending another o-ring.

It was time to wire the ignition switch. Paul Dougherty recommended the Brillman Co for old style wire.

Here is the black 16 gauge wire.

I also bought some 3/8 in conduit but in retrospect, I should have gotten some larger stuff. That size only holds three strands of the 16 gauge wire.

Anyway, once the switch was wired, Ron and I figured out where we wanted the conduit to go.

It is secured underneath the upper longeron with a simple clamp and a brass screw.

The conduit ends at the firewall.

Here is the back side of the switch. The wires will be secured above the switch later.

Here is the front side of the switch.

The booster magneto was secured to the airframe by four AN-3 bolts.

Here is the back side of the mag. The wires will be installed soon.

Enjoy

Brian

Fuel System

2011-09-09T03:04:00.001-07:00

Last night, the fuel plumbing was completed. Originally, the Jenny had few filters of any kind - fuel or oil. I read a lot of stories about Jenny pilots landing in fields with sick or dead engines. Often it was contaminated fuel. Conscientious Jenny pilots strained their gas through a chamois. Especially when they used a rusty steel gas can.

They didn't know better back in 1920. But we do now.

So, a decision was made to install a fuel strainer. We wanted it close to the tank, inconspicuous, and looking like it was supposed to be there. So, we cut the copper fuel line between the fuel tank and the wobble pump.

The ends were flared and EZ Turn was applied to the threads.

The gascolator bracket was secured to the firewall with some screws.

Then the fuel shut off handle was reinstalled.

And the line from the wobble pump to the engine was run through the firewall. We used a uni-bit to cut the hole.

Here is the engine side of the firewall. Eventually, this copper line will be cut and flared and a barb fitting installed. From there, a flexible mil-spec line will run to the carburetor.

Here is how the copper lines are secured.

Then came the moment of truth. A gallon of gas was poured into the tank.

Everything worked well. We did notice a leak around the pressure set screw of the Buzz pump. It was a new pump, so that should not have been happening. We removed the screw and found the o-ring was cut. A new one was ordered.

More soon

Enjoy

Brian

Fuel tank goes in

2011-09-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

I stopped at MSC on the way home from work and got some more 1/4 in felt stripping.

The tank rests on three slats mounted on the firewall. These slats get cushioned by the felt.

Ready for the tank!

The tank slipped into its cradle OK. There is a wrapped and soldered cable that holds the tank in place. Some of the felt goes under the strap, too.

When that was done, we finished drilling the brackets used to hold the front instrument panel in place. This is a trial fit. The front panel needs varnish and a really neat drop-down map table (to be built later). But for now, I wanted to make sure the panel was square...

...And level.

Brian drilled the holes for the rear panel instruments

We had to attach the data plate!

The brackets were drilled and the panel stands on its own. Once again, this is a trial fit. The panel gets more sanding and varnishing.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Firewall

2011-08-31T08:22:00.001-07:00

Nothing exciting to report. After the kids were fed and homework was tackled, I had two free hours so I went to the shop. The U-bolts were installed on the engine bearers, noting that the right side was put in place temporary for when the oil tank is installed.

The holes were drilled into the firewall and brass screws installed.

Here are the side screws.

These are #6 round head brass screws.

More this weekend. Enjoy

Brian

Firewall

2011-08-29T14:48:00.001-07:00

I wanted to start out by sharing a new Jenny picture I saw this weekend.

This is Doug Davis standing in front of a Canuck in Atlanta sometime back in the 1920's. We had our annual Vintage Day Weekend at our Museum and a member of the Davis family came to the show and brought a bunch of pictures. Doug Davis was an early barnstormer in the Atlanta area and was one of the first people to set roots in the burgeoning Candler Field racetrack known as the Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.

Gotta love that Baby Ruth logo!

I was working on the oil tank yesterday. A square rectangle had to be cut in the top portion of the tank. This was done with a nibbler and a file.

The rectangle was cut to accommodate the U-bolts which help secure the engine bearers.

Work will continue on the tank later.

Over the past few days, I had the opportunity to spray the black urethane on the firewall as well as a bunch of other miscellaneous parts that needed it (rudder horn, aileron pulleys etc).

Now that it had time to dry, the firewall was installed.

Here is another view.

And the back side of the firewall. The fuel tank will be dropped into the cradle as soon as we get all the bolts and brackets in place.

Like all of these.....

More soon

Enjoy

Brian

Firewall painted

2011-08-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

Ah, it was good to get back to work on the Jenny tonight. As I mentioned before, I've been real busy with work, the kids started school last week and fall baseball began for the older two children. Sometimes, there aren't enough hours in the day.....

Anyway, Brian Eberle met me at the hangar. We rubbed the galvanized firewall with some scotch brite to scuff up the surface.

Then an epoxy primer was sprayed. We are spraying DP-90 and I must say, I am happy with the paint.

Here is the primed firewall. It will get a gloss black finish next.

Do you remember those sheet metal parts we made last month? Well, the tray was screwed to the rear lower longerons. I built this tray in case the Jenny becomes nose heavy with the Hisso engine up front. I now have a place to bolt some lead in the event we need some.

Also, the brackets that hold the last cross member was screwed in place. This is where the belly fabric will end. It will be cemented to the wooden cross member.

While I was away, Ron got the bolts for the tail skid so they were installed, greased, torqued and cotter pined.

Lastly, I went and got a 7/16" drill at the store. We drilled the final hole size in the engine bearers. Now they will accept the AN7-46 bolts which hold the Hisso in place. The bearers were reinstalled and I started putting the brackets back in place.

That was it for one night. Pretty productive evening.

On a side note, I got an e-mail from Ken Gulliford who built a really nice Radio Controlled Jenny model. Ken wrote:

I had the misfortune of having an engine failure on the downwind leg of a landing approach. I had no choice except to land straight ahead as loss of flying speed would result in a death spiral. Jenny did her thing and as neat a stall as could be done by the most skilled pilot. I called in our official expert tree climber and he performed the most marvelous rescue possible. Virtually nothing was broken due to removal of Jenny from the tree. He delivered her to my waiting arms virtually intact and capable of flying again that except for the aileron cable which broke in the landing(treeing?).

I got to thinking about Ken's plight. It seems he wasn't the first Jenny to end up in a tree. I dug through my Jenny photos and came up with this one:

Glad the Jenny was all right, Ken.

Also while I was away, one of our museum volunteers Jan Moffett send me this neat photo of a Jenny in Atlanta:

The caption mentions the Jenny was sold to Doug Davis in 1923. It's actually a Canuck, not a JN4D as marked, but that's OK. It's still a neat picture. Ben Epps is the fellow on the right. I don't think that's Doug Davis on the left. It is someone else known only to time. Ben Epps was a very prominent Atlanta flier back then.

More soon

Enjoy

Brian

Update

2011-07-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

I have not forgotten about the Jenny! Ron and I did a presentation at Oshkosh the other day which took a bunch of time to research. Plus, things got busy at work so I suspect Jenny progress will resume next week.

Till then, enjoy these stills from the Jimmy Stewart movie The Spirit of St. Louis. John Gaertner watched it the other day ans sent me these pictures of the Jenny used in the movie.

Also, if anyone out there is interested in buying a Jenny, Phil Mintari had decided to sell his machine. From barnstormers.com :

1917 CURTISS JENNY JN-4D • ACCEPTING OFFERS • This Curtiss Jenny SN/4072 was manufactured in late 1917 delivered in early April 1918 by Liberty Iron Works of Scramento CA, who had a 150 built contract from Curtiss Aircraft before the war ended in 1918. This aircraft by SN was based out of Love Field in Dallas, TX and has a TTA of 175.5 hrs verified by Smithsonian archives. Aircraft restoration was completed June 22, 2011. Aircraft is available for inspection by appointment only. Located in Ingram, TX. Contact Phil Mintari at 830 377 0533 for information and/or appointment. • Contact Danny Mintari, Owner - located Tomball, TX USA • Telephone: 281 450 3713 . • Posted July 22, 2011

You can also see a clip of the restoration on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G78gTfv3NMs

Enjoy

Brian

Engine mount drilled. Gascolator

2011-07-17T18:42:00.001-07:00

For a long time, I thought about how to drill the engine bearers. Should I just mark them a certain distance apart, drill and hope the holes match the engine case? Should I make an elaborate jig and drill them with the engine on the plane? That way I know the engine is aligned with the center line of the fuselage.

I decided to do it this way.

I took a little piece of tubing and ground the one end sharp. Then, I took a C-clamp and gently pressed the tubing into the engine bearer wood.

The sharp tube made a nice indentation in the wood marking the spot to drill.

A few minutes on the drill press and the engine bearers are ready for their long AN7 bolts.

We had another issue to solve. Jennies had a simple fuel system - from the tank to the carburetor was a direct line. Because we know so much more today, I wanted a gascolator to catch any dirt and water that could accumulate in the fuel. So, we decided to install one in the line between the tank and the wobble pump.

The gascolator would be mounted on the back side of the firewall. Since the firewall is curved, brackets would have to be made. Brian Eberle took care of that.

This is how the bracket will mount.

Here is a trial fit with the gascolator in place.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

2011-07-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here is something neat - I got an e-mail from John Witt the other day saying he was going to be in the area and wondered if it was OK to stop by and see the Jenny. He was attending the scale model airplane meet in Dayton, Ohio and drove to Atlanta afterwards. As you can see, the model is a thing of beauty. I now know why he placed second in the competition, losing to a Cosmic Wind racer by one point!

We had a wonderful visit and I really enjoyed chatting about Jennies and aeroplanes. I can't wait to see what this Seattle craftsman builds next!

John Gaertner also came to Atlanta to help cover the Jenny wings and tail. He brought with him a pair of Avirex reproduction WWI flying boots. Hey, they just had to touch a Jenny rudder bar, didn't they? And the boots happen to be my size.

While we were waiting, I built the cross piece on the lower longeron near the tail skid. The fabric attaches to this piece. Here is the cross piece temporarily held in place by the bracket.

Another view before the other bracket was made. Before the day was done, the cross piece had two coats of varnish and the brackets were primed.

Brian Eberle made the plate in the tail. This was not on an original Jenny. After studying a few Jenny weight and balance paperwork, because of the heavy Hisso engine, we may have to add weight to the tail. I won't know until we weigh the aeroplane. But, just in case, here is a plate that could be used to hold some lead. This piece was also primed and awaiting the gloss black paint.

Messed around a bit fitting the oil tank. More work here.

OK, I know several of you have e-mailed me begging to leave the Jenny uncovered. Sorry. We are going to fly this thing. Besides, it is too late. The covering process has begun.

We were fortunate to have Hualdo Mendoza, a Poly Fiber technical rep, come by and show us how the professionals do it.

John Gaertner got his hands dirty too.

As did Brian Eberle.

Here is the rudder with the Poly Fiber fabric standing by.

One wing covered.

All four wings covered.

By the end of today, all the wings and tail were under fabric. Hopefully, some rib stitching will be done tomorrow. Till then...

Enjoy

Brian

Upper wing bolt fitting

2011-07-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

On the upper wing, last outer strut (where the rear king post attaches) there is a bracket that holds the two bolts in place. I only had one original piece, so another one had to be made.

Brian Eberle volunteered to make the simple bending jig.

So, with the heat of the torch softening the steel, a few blows with a hammer bent the lip over the jig.

Original on the left. Reproduction on the right.

This is how the bracket goes.

Also, I made a paper template of the fuselage side. This marked the location of the elevator cable exit locations. When the fabric is put on the airplane, I'll just have to hold this paper up against it and cut out the holes.

We are starting to cover the wings tomorrow. I'll post more soon.

Enjoy

BK

Disassembly and aileron coppering

2011-06-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

It was time to undo everything we spent months doing! It needed to be done however if progress was to be made.

All the wires were removed...

...and cataloged for re installation at a later date.

The upper wings were removed and Brian started safety wiring the turnbuckles.

I put the little leather grommets between the wires.

And John Kuck safety wired the other wing.

All four wings are now ready to cover.

Today, Brighton and I headed to the shop. I wanted to get the copper reinforcements on the ailerons. We took some 10 oz. copper and cut it into 7/16 in strips with the shears. Brighton's job was to stand on the shear bar to work the blade.

The copper helps hold the ribs on.

We sheared all the strips we will need for both ailerons. He liked that machine!

The ribs on the right aileron are all coppered now.

Also, the aileron horn gets some crush protection from the copper. That was made today also.

Lastly, professional photographer John Slemp has made available his photographs of the Jenny available for public view:

http://gallery.me.com/johnslemp#100092

I'm sure John could make you some fine prints if you want some. He does really nice avaition photography. I really like the Ryan STA photos. Pretty classy!

See www.aerographs.com

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Jenny gets some sunshine.

2011-06-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the Jenny came out of the hangar this evening!

L to R - Glen Marsh, Ron Alexander, me, Brian Eberle

My wife took these photos and I wanted to get some published before the night was over. Luckily, professional photographer John Slemp was there with a camera that probably cost more than my car. So, when I get the information, you'll be able to see John's nice high-res photos on his website.

Now it is time to take the wings off and finish the fuselage.

Cheers

Brian

King Post wires

2011-06-20T19:23:00.001-07:00

Made the remaining king post wires last night. First step was to bent the piano wire with the bending tool, insert the fitting and pull the ferrule up to the loop.

Cut and bend the end.

The king post wires are now built.

In preparation for covering, each drag / anti drag wire got an anti-chaffing patch secured with wire.

Inter wing turnbuckles were safety wired till the clock struck twelve. Enough for one day.

Enjoy

BK

Jenny roll out date

2011-06-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

OK everyone, the last flying wire has been built so now it is time to move the Jenny out of the hangar for some sun shine! Once it goes back in, the wings will come off and the covering process will begin.

So, on Monday evening, we will open the hangar doors and roll the Jenny out onto the ramp for the first time. This will be the only time to see it fully assembled without fabric. The next time you will see it this way is during final assembly!

We still have a lot of work to do on the fuselage (sheet metal, fuel lines, oil pump), but the wings and tail are ready to be covered with fabric. My goal is to start covering them around the first of July.

I'll post pictures when I get them. Till then...

Enjoy

Brian

Right side king post

2011-06-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

My son Brighton and I went to the shop early this morning and we made the rest of the king post wires on the left side of the airplane.

I also finished drilling and dressing the king post cross wire fittings Brian Eberle cut out the other day.

Once they were bent and fit to the lower king post fitting, the inner ends were brazed together.

Here are the fittings after brazing. They need to go into the bead blaster next followed by painting, but for now, I was happy just to get them brazed.

This is where they attach.

Brighton wanted to deburr the holes. Gladly!

He also wanted to build his own airplane. Hey, it kept him occupied while I ran the torch.

Enjoy

Brian

King post

2011-06-16T03:06:00.000-07:00

Brian volunteered to work last night, so after a few slices of Pizza he started wrapping wires.

On the the other end of the work bench, I started making the six wires right aileron brace wires. The .010 piano wire was bent using the wire bending tool.

The loose ends were bent up by hand and cut off with wire cutters.

Voila! One wire end awaiting a shackle.

The six wires were completed shortly thereafter. I have not tensioned the wires yet.

Before Brian made the rear king post wires, we cut and drilled the king post rod.

Here is how the bracing rod fits. I used some 7/16 in .049 steel tubing for this. I have a drawing of the general king post area, but nothing states the size of the rod. Luckily, I had two original king post top brackets and I measured the socket to get the correct size.

We switched duties and I took a turn wrapping wires while Brian cut out the king post cross brace fittings out of sheet steel.

Two more to go.

Here is the fitting after a little bending. The end will be brazed before the wire loop is attached.

That was enough for one night. Here is the progress so far.

We are still on track for the photo roll out Monday evening. Enjoy!

Brian

Back from vacation

2011-06-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

Just got back from a well needed family vacation to the old stomping grounds of my youth in Pennsylvania. One of the highlights of the trip was my plan to participate in the Golden Age Air Museum's Flying Circus show, but the weather was awful and the show got cancelled on Saturday. Unfortunately, I had to return to Atlanta Sunday, but at least I got to see the Jenny fly around the patch.

Back to work!

While I was in Pennsylvania, fellow antique airplane nut Mike Cilurso handed me a very rare tool - an original 1940's vintage cable splicing tool! Man, these things are as rare as hen's teeth. The neat thing about this tool is the way it holds the cable in place and allows you to rotate the entire assembly making cable weaving a whole lot easier. More about this tool later.

I'm trying to finish up the king post wires this week. These fittings were made out of flat stock, drilled and countersunk.

This is where the new fittings attach on the upper wings. They hold the wire from the king post inwards . None of the bolts have the spherical washers installed yet. We are still in the trial fit stage.

This is the wire attached to the new fittings.

Here is the top of the king post.

And the wire going towards the tip.

OK, back to the new tool. I made a few wrapped wires with this tool and it worked really well. In this picture, you can see the prototype tool I made a few years ago (center) the new production tool made by Blue Swallow Aircraft (top) and the original tool from the 1940's (bottom).

I was worried the new tool would make me want to throw away the home made tools, but that was not the case. They worked equally as well. So, if you can't get the original 1940's tool, don't despair! The new tools are easier to make and work the same.

The only advantage of the 1940's tool was the ability to rotate the assembly all the way around. When you have to weave the underside of the cable, all you do is release tension on the thumb screw and spin it around. With my tool, I have to unload the vice and manually turn the whole thing around. Gives me ideas....perhaps the next version of my tool....

Anyway, our plan is to finish the wires by this weekend. On Monday, we will roll the Jenny out of the hangar and take pictures. After that, the wings will come off and the covering process will begin.

Till then - enjoy

Brian

Wire wrapping...and wrapping...and wrapping...

2011-06-01T08:23:00.001-07:00

The other night, while sitting on the couch pondering why I ate too much at our Memorial Day picnic, I decided to head to the shop and make a few more wires. Two text messages later, Brian Eberle joined me and we went to work.

I called it "Dueling Wire Wrapping Machines" - we each made wires on either end of the table.

This morning, I went back to the shop and continued working.

The wire cut-offs are a good measure of progress.

My wife took the other three kids for haircuts, so Brighton accompanied me to the hangar. He wanted to make his own wire, so I set up one of the tools and told him what to do.

He wrapped for a while and I showed him how to tap the wraps to make them tight.

The grinding wheel was a little scary for him, so I cut off the end and he finished the wrap.

Then he saw the bubble wrap in the corner and all thoughts of making more wires went away.

Seven more wires to go.

I may not post anything for a week or two so hang on - got a busy week ahead with other things. You might have noticed that my trusty Panasonic digital camera seems like it is getting sick (the pictures have been blurry). It's been a faithful camera for the last ten years and it took all the pictures you have seen on this blog. But I think it is time for a new camera. Oh, well. Good bye old friend.

Enjoy

Brian

Aileron brace wires

2011-05-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

On the way home from work, I stopped by MSC to get some .100 piano wire for the aileron brace wires.

The first step is to put the wire in the bending tool...

...and pull the handle. I love this machine and it sure saved me a lot of work over the years.

Then the ferrule is pulled up.

And the end bent over and cut off.

Here are the first two wires - top and bottom.

All the wires join at the aileron horn shackle.

The left aileron wires are finished.

Unfortunately, MSC only had one spool of piano wire. The second spook (for the right aileron) is on back order. Should be here in a few days.

We had a few visitors this week. Larry and Vic Grondzki came by the hangar to see the Jenny. They own a beautiful Tigre powered Bucker Jungmann and we have been friends for many years. Dummy me forgot the camera to record their visit.

Ross Oetjen and family flew to Atlanta in his Cherokee 180. While his kids and ours went to the swimming pool, Ross and I ran to the hangar to get a peek at the Jenny.

Ross and I flew together at USAir and he now works for Gulfstream as a G550 Demo pilot.

Patricia Mintari e-mailed me pictures of their Jenny project. As you can see, they are inching closer and closer to completion.

Here is a smiling Phil Mintari pointing to the newly made Jenny roundel.

I liked this photo.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Still working on it

2011-05-26T17:33:00.001-07:00

No, I have not forgotten about the Jenny. I went to Europe for a few days (work), Brian Eberle was off flying a Pitts for a few days (fun) and Ron was busy with several things here in Atlanta.

But, we managed to get a few more wires built before running out of shackles. I went to get some more today from Aircraft Spruce but they were out! So, I got to find another source so we can continue.

I'm not going to bore you with pictures of flying wires.

However, at the Bucker fly-in last weekend, I met the Rutten brothers from outside of Tallahassee Florida. The told me that their father soloed a Jenny back in 1927. I asked if they had any pictures. Here is what they sent:

Looks like an OX-5 powered Canuck. I love seeing previously unpublished photos. Makes me want to step back in time and be there.

More soon...I promise.

Brian

2011-05-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

Sixteen more wires to go.

To keep things interesting, I measured and drilled the aileron horn mounting holes.

Once I get the bolts, the horns will be installed like this.

Because of the stagger of the two wings, the strut hold down plates have certain angles to the tabs. For example, the front upper struts have a steep angle on the tab holding the inter connect wires. The front lower plates have a shallower angle.

Since I didn't have a complete set of plates, we had to change the angle of a lower plate to fit the upper wing. Here you can see the an upper plate on the far side and a lower plate in the foreground. We need to increase the angle of the first plate.

Out came the torch. After some gentle heating, the tab was pulled down to match the template.

Here is the upper plate installed with the new angle. Notice how the shackle and wire line up with the tab.

A couple of the other plates needed adjustment too. We finished most of them last night.

Got more wires to build tomorrow. Till then...

Enjoy

Brian

More wires

2011-05-03T12:30:00.001-07:00

Just an update - I haven't forgot about the blog!

Things have been busy at work and all we have been doing at the hangar is wrapping wires.

The flying and landing wires on the left side are nearly done.

We'll keep wrapping!

Brian

Wires and King Post fitting

2011-04-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

We have now begun building wires - lots of them. Brian Eberle built five last night. Here is a picture of the double flying wires.

At the top.

Also spent some time working on the king post fittings. The flat stock as to be curved to accept a connecting rod and a turnbuckle end.

We did this by taking some flat stock the thickness of the turnbuckle end and round stock the diameter of the rod, heating the fitting with the torch and tapping with a ball peen hammer.

The fitting is held in place by a piece of tubing which fits into a slot in the king post. I got some 5/16 tubing and peened over the end.

Here is the completed end. This tube will be inserted into the fitting and the other side peened in place. I'll show some pictures of this later.

Well, instead of posting picture after picture of the fifty two wires we have to build, I thought I'd post some other Jenny stuff.

Phil and Patricia Mintari in Texas sent pictures of their Jenny. Should be flying soon!

I'm proud to say Ken Gulliford has successfully flown his Jenny model.

Ken wrote:

Test flight done today, 20 April, not much flying just a short crow-hop as the wind was really blowing. Plane is missing a few details like cowl straps, windscreens, pilots that will be added tonight and tomorrow before the initial debut. As you can readily guess, I really enjoy doing this. I broke both bamboo tip supports on taxing and landing. They were very old, dry and brittle, at this time I don't know what to use to replace them but I will think of something.

Ken

The pics were done by my model partner Peyre Pringle, his aerial shots are outstanding.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Cheers

Brian

Upper wings installed

2011-04-14T11:06:00.001-07:00

Sorry for not posting in awhile. The family and I spent a week in Florida on vacation. We had a good time but now we are home and back to the usual routine.

Part of this rigging process is making sure the wings were straight. Bill Hammond, who spent many years turning wrenches and flying at Old Rhinebeck came by to lend a hand. Bay by bay we trammeled the wing square, adjusting the turnbuckles accordingly.

Here is one end of the trammel.

Before long, the upper wings were in place!

Now we have fifty wires to build...or better yet...one hundred wrapped and soldered ends.

It was such a nice day that Ron rolled out the early Stearman and went flying. Brighton volunteered to clean the hangar floor.

"Aren't their child labor laws, dad?"

Kevin Conner from Tulsa OK stopped by to see the Jenny. He was on an Atlanta layover (he is a corporate pilot) and drove south through the Atlanta rush hour traffic just to see the project. Kevin and I have been corresponding for years and as soon as he finished his Hatz biplane, he is going to build a Jenny. I know he will succeed because he has been collecting bits and parts of a Jenny and already has quite a collection.

Ken Gulliford e-mailed me while I was on vacation and sent pictures of his Jenny model. Sure looks nice.

More soon

Brian

Upper wing

2011-04-02T19:04:00.001-07:00

After dinner, the kids were complaining that they were bored, so I asked them to help me in the shop. Two of the four kids volunteered.
"What are we going to do?" they asked.
"Something really cool," I said.
"Can I bring my i-pod?"
I forgot how kids think these days. They don't go anywhere without an "i-something".

I told them that they were going to witness a historic event. We were going to install the upper wing on the Jenny and they were going to be a part of it.
"Why is this so historic?"
"The wings have never been put on the fuselage before."
"You're weird, dad."

Geoffrey (left) and Graham (right) volunteered to lift the wing root.

Ron held the tip. After the pins were installed, Ron crawled up the ladder and the struts were installed.

Ah, success!

We paused for a family photo after the plumb lines were taped to the upper leading edge of the wing. We were pretty close to the 16 inch stagger.

A view from the balcony.

That's it for tonight. Hope to have the other upper wing installed soon. Till then...

Enjoy

BK

Aileron trailing edge fittings

2011-04-01T18:36:00.001-07:00

Spent most of today drilling the rest of the aileron hinges and I am proud to say...they are finished! Both ailerons are firmly attached to the rear spar. I've posted enough aileron hinge fitting pictures already so we will move on.

I had nearly a complete set of original aileron trailing edge hardware. They were bent up quite a bit, but a little work with some duck billed pliers, a hammer and a piece of tubing got them straightened out. Here is the outer fitting.

This is the center fitting. These fittings brace the trailing edge. There will be hard wire between these fittings and the back of the aileron horn. Trust me...and give me some time. It will make sense soon.

Here is the inner fitting.

Sometimes, when you're really making progress and metal is being cut, wood being shaved and paint goes flying across the air, your tools get deposited wherever they were used. The shop was looking that way recently, so I took some time to clean up and reorganize for the next flurry of building activity.

Till then - enjoy

Brian

Drilling holes in the wing

2011-03-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

The two remaining king post fittings were cut from some sheet steel. I used the original one for a pattern.

Here is the part fresh from the bandsaw and grinder. The edges were smoothed with hand files.

The sides were bend with a block.

Here are the pieces. The "dog bone" at the bottom was .090 sheet steel.

Clamped in place for brazing.

Original on the left and reproduction on the right. The holes have to be drilled next as well as the bends in the flanges.

We marked the location of the holes for the wing fittings.

And drilled them using the drill jig.

Here is the front top wing king post wire attach fitting.

And the underside.

We also drilled the aileron cable pulley assembly holes.

Lastly, we marked the location of the 3/16 in holes which hold the aileron hinges in place.

Here is one hinge with the bolts installed.

Two of the four hinges were drilled before it got too late that night. We decided to call it a day.

After I drove home from the shop and pulled into the neighborhood last night, it was pretty late (after 11PM). For some reason, I noticed that the wife had the outside lights on so I would not have to fumble my way from the car to the front door. It made me think about all the times I came home late at night over the past few years. Only last night did I realize that each time, without fail, she had the lights on waiting for me to come home.

Building an aeroplane is easy. She has the hard part.

Enjoy

Brian

King Post fitings and Ailerons

2011-03-25T18:42:00.001-07:00

Hello again. I have not posted anything for a while but three of the four kids got the flu on the same day. To make matters worse, my wife got sick the next day and while I was taking care of all of them, I got sick too. It was awful! The dog was the only one who remained unscathed.

But, we lived and time moved on.

Last week, our museum had a benefit dance. We booked an 18 piece orchestra who specialized in 1940's swing music. The place was packed with dancers and the museum raised a bunch of money.

At the dance, two gentlemen introduced themselves to me. Ken Gulliford came all the way from South Carolina to see the Jenny. Ken is an extraordinary model builder who is nearly finished with a large scale radio controlled Jenny.

Well, since Ken and his son came all that way to see me, I had to show them the Jenny. The next morning we met at the hangar. I could not stay very long because our second son had a baseball game, but we spend a good half an hour together and Ken took a lot of detail pictures for his model. It was a wonderful visit.

Eventually, I was well enough to resume work on the Jenny so I measured the aileron hinge locations.

The slots were drilled in the same manner as before - dremel tool.

One aileron in place.

And the other one.

While I was working, Bob Lindley came by to show some of his friends the project. I needed to take a break, so I gave them the nickel tour.

Back to work - here is a picture of the aileron hinge. The next step is to drill the bolt holes that hold the hinges in the spar.

Today, I decided to tackle the front king post fittings.

I had two extra original rear king post fittings, but they do not work on the front. The angles and the plates are different. I would have to make new ones from scratch. To make matters worse, I do not have drawings for these parts.

The first step was to measure the angle of the king post in relation to the fitting.

I copied the airfoil shape of the rear fitting onto paper and transferred it to some sheet steel. After several tries, I could not get it to bend into the proper airfoil shape. I didn't want to make an expensive die for just two parts so I figured I could hammer one out by hand. I was not pleased with the results.

By dumb luck, I spotted a set of bent Piper Cub wing struts. Do you know that the rear strut is nearly identical to the airfoil shape of the Jenny king post fitting?

The sheet metal pieces I spent two hours making went in the trash.

I cut a section (that was not bent) from the Piper Cub strut and transferred the angle to the tubing.

Using the old paper pattern, the shape was made on the bench grinder.

I decided to use two extra upper wing strut plates as the base of the new front king post fittings. This how Curtiss did it and I was lucky to have a few extra plates. The airfoil piece was lined up in the center of the plate...

...and acetylene welded.

To make the cutout, three holes were drilled at the corners.

The center was routed using a Dremel Tool.

Smoothed by hand with various files.

Finished.

Here is the front king post in place.

Close up view.

Not bad for a day's work. The other fitting is nearly finished too.

More soon.

Enjoy

Brian

Aileron Hinges

2011-03-15T13:02:00.001-07:00

Ron and Glen had the unenviable job of safty wiring all the wing turnbuckles last night. The team headed to the fuselage turnbuckles shortly thereafter.

Before the wings can be hung, the ailerons have to be installed. The first step was marking and drilling the hinge points. There are four hinges per aileron.

Now that the hinge fits the slot, a vertical hole will be drilled and an AN3 bolt will hold the hinge in the spar.

Here you can see two hinges lined up

Brian Eberly built several 1/4 in. plywood spacers that were glued to the spar.

The kingpost fittings (shown) sit on these spacers and two holes are drilled for the bolts.

Wife and three of the four kids all woke up sick this morning. Some sort of virus going around. So it may be a day or two till I get to the shop. It's like a hospital around here today. Till then...

Brian

Rigging

2011-03-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

Last evening, we moved everything out of the hangar and put the Jenny in the middle so we could hang all four wings.

We installed the lower wings by inserting the four pins.

Who needs a saw horse when we have Ron?

Anyway, Brian started putting copper on the bottom of the wing struts.

And the rest of us finished drilling all the holes in the spar for the strut plates.

Here is one of the plates. Do not worry. The fittings will be bead blasted and painted after we're finished rigging. No use painting them now. They will only get scratched as we put them on and off several more times.

We have more plates to install, but I couldn't help putting the first strut on the wing.

By now, Brian had the coppering finished and put the center section back on.

It was nearly midnight by now, but the temptation was too great - we gotta sit in this thing!

Here is a view from the rear cockpit looking ahead.

I think he likes it.

Looking out the rear cockpit to the right.

And the left.

It's late. Time to call it a day.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Wing Strut Copper

2011-03-05T17:20:00.001-08:00

After dinner, Brighton followed me to the garage to help copper the four remaining wing struts.

We started by wrapping poster board around the struts and marking the fitting outline. I used an original strut to get the distance correct.

Then the patterns were cut out and transferred to the 10 ox. copper.

And nailed in place.

Here is a completed end.

One evening's work - eight coppered ends = four finished struts.

Enjoy

Brian

Drilling the wing plates

2011-03-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

Had a good productive evening yesterday. Since the center section is almost finished, Ron and I started drilling the wing strut hold down plates.

First step was to mark the center line of the rib and the spar with tape. Using a lower plate as a guide, the center lines were matched.

Then we used a punch to mark the hole locations.

The wing was flipped over and the holes on the bottom were marked the same way.

How many Jenny builders does it take to drill one hole?

I am kidding. The drilling jig worked perfectly.

While we were marking the holes, Glen and Brian finished wrapping the last two wires for the center section.

These wires go from the front to the back of the center section on both sides.

John Gaertner sent pictures of the aileron cable guides we asked him to build. The original is on the right and the reproduction on the left.

He also sent us the aileron pulley guides he made.

Lastly, I got a nice e-mail from Jim Landon in Denver Colorado. Jim is building a scale Jenny model and sent his builders website:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/landoni/sets/72157625985126494/

Look at the detail! This rib is the same as our Jenny rib but he has to use smaller tools.

Pretty neat.

Anyway, more soon

Brian

2011-02-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

After much thinking, and some cajoling from Brian, we decided to make the center section rigging jig after all. It is possible to rig the center section without it, but the more we tried, the thought of having the center section securely in place while we built the wires became appealing.

There is a Curtiss drawing of the jig, mostly made of U channel material and angle stock. We did not make the jig exactly the same way, but used the dimensions (16 in stagger, etc) and made our own jig out of angle aluminum.

Ron and I drew the dimensions on the table and started measuring aluminum.

Here is the general layout.

The jig is designed to be disassembles after we are done. That way I can ship it to future Jenny restorers without much trouble.

Here is the jig in place.

The wing attach points are here. There are fittings on both sides of the jig. One set for the right side. One set for the left side. One jig. Two uses.

Now that the jig was completed, the cross wires were built with some 5/32 in. 1x 19 non-flexible cable.

One of many...

The cross wires in place.

Here is where they attach on the fuselage. Sorry for the blurry picture.

We made the rear center section-to-fuselage wires too.

These two wires attach on the lower longeron behind the rear seat and run through the cockpit.

Here is another shot.

A good couple of days work. Enjoy!

Brian

Wire fittings

2011-02-17T10:10:00.001-08:00

The king post bracing wire fittings were brazed together this morning.

Then they were drilled and countersunk.

And finally, a complete set - originals in black. reproductions in primer.

Enjoy

Brian

center section

2011-02-16T13:10:00.001-08:00

Ah, the center section...here we go again.

As I mentioned earlier, when we put the cabane struts in their sockets, we got a 14 inch stagger between the upper and lower wings rather than the 16 inch stagger we needed. So, I knew the bottom angle on the cabane struts had to be changed.

This was frustrating because the cabane struts were perfectly made exactly to the Curtiss drawings.

So, we had to change the angle of the struts. Easy, right?

Well, not really. Not only was the angle wrong, but the distance between the center section and the lower wing was off, too. There is supposed to be 61 1/4 inches between them. We had 60 3/4 in. I was not very happy. The frustration level was very high.

Sometimes sleeping on a problem is the best thing to do.

With a clear head, a solution was worked out. We cut the back of the struts to get the proper angle for the 16 in stagger. Then we added material to the bottom of the struts to get the proper height.

Here you can see the new steeper angle with the laminated spruce pieces.

Now we have a 16 inches of stagger and 61 1/4 inches between wings. Next step is to drill the holes, varnish and copper.

I took some time today to lay out all the wing hardware.

These are original forgings. The wing struts attach here. One plate needs to have a tab cut off and put on the other side but otherwise, we have a complete set.

We were missing one kingpost wing wire attach fitting, so using the original as a pattern, another was cut out of sheet steel. It will be brazed together, the oblong hole cut and countersunk next.

I was also missing one upper wing flying wire fitting.

The original on the top was also used as a pattern.

Here's a shot of the project so far. We're getting there!

John Gaertner made some of the aileron wire pulleys for us. They are two halves brazed together.

Here is a picture of the original one on the top left and the reproductions.

John sent me these pictures of Lt. Campbell and his Jenny right after he set the record for the most continuous number of loops back in 1918. What struck me was the straight exhaust stacks on the Hisso! Check that out.

Here's another picture of an OX-5 Jenny.

More soon. enjoy

Brian

Oil Tank and Bushings

2011-02-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

It was an eclectic day today.

I went to the hangar early after dropping the kids off at school. I only had a few hours before our youngest son needed to be picked up, so I grabbed the sheet of .050 5052H sheet aluminum and began cutting out the oil tank. The pneumatic shears are worth their weight in gold!

After staring at the void on the firewall, I decided on the tank dimensions. Then I added 1/2 in. on all the sides for bending and welding.

I used this picture of a Hisso Jenny to determine the shape, size and location of the oil tank. You can see the rectangular tank right below the rear of the engine. Looks like a little suitcase.

The corners were cut out for bending.

So ended the morning. I picked Brighton up at school, ate lunch and then the other kids came home. Homework, dinner, sports...by 745PM I was back at the shop.

Richard Epton's box brake made the oil tank flanges perfectly.

Here is the oil tank going together. I have never welded aluminum before (I want to learn someday), nor do I own a TIG welder (I want one of them one day, too), so I will take the tank to a local welder. I have been debating whether the 1/2 in. flanges are too much material for welding. Maybe I need to cut them down to 1/4 in.? We will see what the welder says.

This is the basic tank. The inlet/outlet/drain bosses need to be welded on too.

While I was at Richard's shop, I made the bushing for the control stick pivot. For some reason, there was slop in this piece. The only way to fix it was to bush it.

So, a 5/16 in. drill bit was used for the ID.

And then the outside was cut down to 21/32 in.

It is a thin bushing, but it takes the slop out of the elevator control. The bushing will be cut to fit the pivot tomorrow.

The aileron pulleys needed bushings too. I had one original pulley which had a bigger hole than the AN3 bolt that helds the pulley onto the seat rail. Once again, a bushing takes care of that.

Now you see how it fits. This bushing will also be cut to size later.

That's it for today. Many thanks to Richard Epton for use of his tools.

Enjoy

Brian

Coppering the radiator brace

2011-02-08T19:36:00.001-08:00

Spent a few hours at the shop today. The radiator support braces needed the copper installed. Since there was a curved cutout for the spark plugs, the first piece of copper covered the curve.

Then the sides were installed. I did this with one piece of copper.

Here is the finished end.

Then the radiator end was finished. This was much easier than the last end!

Here is the finished brace,

I was able to complete both braces and add copper to the ash seat support piece too. All three pieces are now quietly drying after a good coat of varnish.

More soon. Enjoy

Brian

Fuel tank and fuel gauge

2011-02-07T05:40:00.001-08:00

We decided to work on the fuel tank because I wanted to permanently mount it in the fuselage. Two gaskets were cut from some cork gasket material purchased at the local auto parts store.

The gasket between the tank and the spacer was coated with Permatex #3 to ensure a good seal. Because the fit between the spacer and the fuel gauge was really good, the upper gasket was installed dry.

Here is the fuel gauge in place. Also notice the fuel cap - the vent was attached to the cap using JB weld.

Now, the big test! We took the tank to the fuel farm and filled it up.

No Leaks !! I was really happy. I wanted to make sure the tank was sealed because later in life, if the fuel tank had to be removed, the upper wing would have to come off and the center section removed.

Oh, yea. And the fuel gauge worked too.

We spent the rest of the day working on the cabane struts. More about that later.

Enjoy

Brian

Brace, Fuel Tank & Seat Rail

2011-02-04T20:17:00.000-08:00

The right side radiator bracket was cut from some .063 stock to match the bracket on the opposite side.

And the radiator support was also cut from some spruce stock.

A few minutes on the oscillating spindle sander...

There is the support.

The OX-5 Jenny tank sits in its cradle at an angle, but the Hisso version does not. So, the fuel gauge "neck"was machined out of aluminum and the holes were drilled onto the tank.

The neck is held down by some brass countersunk screws.

And then the gauge itself is attached to the neck with some machine screws. I didn't tighten anything down because the parts have to come off one more time so some gaskets can be made.

The tank needs a way to vent, so a hole was drilled into the cap and a brass tube was inserted.

The tank also needed a finger strainer, so I bought one from Aircraft Spruce and cut off the threads.

The assembly was inserted into the sump of the tank and the fuel shutoff valve reattached.

Lastly, the piece of spruce on the left is an original seat rail. I used it to support the rear seat but I noticed that anytime someone sat on the seat, the rail bowed and the aileron cable guide touched the control fan. That was not good. Much as I wanted to use original parts, I decided that a new seat rail had to be made. This time, I used a piece of ash. It's stronger than spruce and since the only way to get into a Jenny is by stepping on the seat, I like having the extra strength.

The spindle sander got a workout today.

Here is the new rail.

Both the seat rail and the radiator supports were varnished before the day was done.

I was hoping to have posted some shots of the Jenny sitting on the ramp, but the reporter from AutoPilot magazine wasn't able to make it last week. We postponed the interview until a later date. I promise I'll get those "big" pictures soon.

Enjoy

Brian

Radiator Brace and New Wire Splicing Video

2011-01-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get the radiator supports built so the radiator could stand alone on the fuselage without me worrying about it falling off. After studying the drawings, I decided it would be easier to make a template right from the aeroplane.

I had to plane some spruce to 3/4 in thick to begin.

Here is the rear part of the brace after the cuts were made on the bandsaw.

This is how it goes. This brace not only holds the radiator steady, but the cowling screws to the wood. That's why the wood sticks out past the longeron. Remember the furring strip? You can see it on the right. The brace has to match that profile so the cowl is smooth.

Here is where the Hisso installation is different. Normally with the OX-5 engine installed, this piece of spruce runs from the fitting straight to the radiator. However the spark plugs of the Hisso interfere with the top part of the brace and a notch has to be cut.

Smoothing out the notch with the spindle sander.

Here is the radiator end of the brace. 3/16 in was cut away for the attach fitting.

Speaking of attach fittings - the OX-5 fitting would not work so Brian Eberle made one from .063 steel that was custom to our brace.

OX-5 fitting on the left. Our Hisso fitting on the right.

See how it works now?

Here is the completed brace. It gets a coat of varnish next followed by some copper.

David Harwell, who owns Barnstormers Workshop at the Peach State airport gave me this photo yesterday from his collection. It's a great picture of a Navy Jenny on floats called an N-9 even if the landing didn't go as planned. In order to lift the floats, the N-9 had a greater wingspan than the JN4D. Unfortunately it also had less speed! Later versions of the N-9 had Hisso engines.

According to the book Jenny was No Lady this particular N-9 was the second to last one from a batch of thirty built by Curtiss in 1917. Neat stuff.

Lastly, John Gaertner has finished editing the cable splicing video we shot a few weeks ago and it is now available from his company - Blue Swallow Aircraft.

I had a chance to see the video and I sure wish I had a copy when I learned cable splicing. That was the purpose of making the video - to save people the frustration of learning it from an old book, making lots of mistakes and getting frustrated. I was fortunate enough to have Paul Dougherty show me how to do it once, but by the time I got home the details were fuzzy and I finally figured it out after many frantic phone calls were made to poor Paul. (I know you are grinning right now, Paul)

Here is a still shot from the movie.

John is also making cable splicing and wrapping jigs that you can get on his website. If anyone is interested, go to www.blueswallowaircraft and check it out.

More soon

Brian

Radiator, pump and control horns

2011-01-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

Before I left on my last trip, I finished brazing the other side of the radiator. Here's a picture right after brazing.

Cleaned up a bit...

Now you can see how the original OX-5 radiator would hit the Hisso cylinder banks.

I also found two NOS Titan CH5495 fuel pumps still in their original wax papered box! They are in remarkable shape and should fit perfectly in the Hisso after we make the adapter gear.

In order to save time, I asked John Gaertner to make a set of aileron control horns for me. Here they are.

My friend Steve Beaver sent me these pictures from the Curtiss Museum in Hammandsport, NY. Steve had just dropped off his daughter at college in Ithica, NY and since he was so close, he just had to stop by the museum. I heard this was a great museum, but I have not had the opportunity to go there. Someday....

Check out the old map in the map case.

Remember the last post - I asked all the Jenny model builders out there to answer Rolland's question about the best Jenny RC kit? Well, several people were kind enough to answer and the majority recommended the Proctor kit. I passed this information along to Roland who was most appreciative.

A special thanks to : Anthony Hixon, David Paule, Mike Diamiani, Anthony Dilluvio, Cliff Hartley and Milt Clary for replying to my request.

Lastly, several of you have e-mailed asking for big pictures of the Jenny rather than my detail shots. This Saturday, a reporter from Autopilot Magazine is coming to do a feature story on the project. I plan on pulling the fuselage out of the shop and photographing it outside.

More soon

Brian