I just finished the rebuild on my 54 180. It's under refurb madness as a photo album if anybody wants to look.
Chris

Very Nice! What a project. That didn't happen overnight. Would love to see your aircraft someday, If you're ever in Western Montana or the Bitterroot.

flyingzebra wrote:It's under refurb madness
Chris

Interesting folder title! LOL

Nice work Chris. I wish I didnt know how much work it takes to get stuff to that point. Looks like its gonna be fun! Whats with story with the Army paint scheme?

The army paint scheme story is that there isn't really one, I just liked it. The longer version of the truth is that I spent a bunch of time over the last few years with line drawings and crayons. From that deeply cerebral endeavor I ended up settling on either zebra stripes, cub yellow or a military option. A little web searching turned up photos of Australian army 180's that they used as liaison aircraft. Theirs were painted exactly as mine is with the yellow wing tips and tail feathers. After a bunch more looking at web photos I cashed in my crayons and graduated to super sophisticated computer print outs, scissors and tape. I really wanted to go with something historically accurate but my fiction writer side won out over my right brain, factually oriented side and I just mushed the things I liked into a plausible scheme. I couldn't buy into the kangaroo sitting in the bullseye on the side (no offense to my Aussie friends). The end result is that I ended up with what amounts to the result of a three way crash of a 50's era Australian army plane, an L19 and any number of army reserve aircraft. The other side of the whole story is that I painted it in a dark hangar, under less than ideal conditions and it didn't turn out perfect and the green is way more forgiving than yellow ever would have been.
Thanks for checking it out!

Looks amazing.

Figured I'd help you (and readers) out. Will delete if you don't want them in this thread:

Incredible job!!


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Fantastic!! Great attention to detail, it looks VERY well done. I'm sure it's a joy to fly!

Do you mind sharing what it ended up weighing?
https://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/ ... read-19604

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Looks great! Thanks for sharing.

Looks Great!
is that the stock control column?

Tom

mountainmatt wrote:Fantastic!! Great attention to detail, it looks VERY well done. I'm sure it's a joy to fly!

Do you mind sharing what it ended up weighing?
https://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/ ... read-19604

+1 would love to know the weight when you get a chance.

Did I forget to mention that I absolutely LOVE that panel? Looks very well done!

Hope it flys as good as it looks

Thank you asadarnell! I really did watch the video but was posting from work... and the sun was in my eyes...
Thanks all for the comments. It really does fly incredibly well. After 60 some years of use, ALL of the old cabling and controls were pretty stiff.
The control column is the original "T". There is about .75" clearance at the bottom of the stack and we fabricated an additional bracket from the back of the bottom of the radio to the top of the firewall, to insure that no amount of bouncing could ever cause interference between radios and controls. That is also why I have that exact configuration with the radios, that was the only combo that gave me the capabilities that I needed in the space that I had. I considered the Avion Research option but frankly I'm just too cheap or maybe stubborn, or both. As it was I traded in the firstborn for those yokes. I offered up the wife but they took the kid instead.
Empty weight is 1638 (the plane, not the wife). That was a gain of about 60 pounds and that after taking out the back seat, rear mounted battery and a bunch of other crap. I know that paint is heavy but I'm still suspicious of 1950's scales and 60 years of pencil on paper math. I had truly wished it would come in lighter but I wish that same thing for myself every time I step on the scale too. I can live with the 912 pounds useable.
If anybody has any questions about the process, I'd be happy to share.
Also, thanks Zane for the amazing venue and thanks all for your posts and projects and all of the cool ideas that I was able to use.
Chris

Where did those interior door handles come from?

So, the door handles. Unfortunately they are not one of he 24 or so 337's that are going to Omaha after this project. With resignation they will be placed back in their Summit racing box before the last signature will be meted out.

flyingzebra wrote:So, the door handles. Unfortunately they are not one of he 24 or so 337's that are going to Omaha after this project. With resignation they will be placed back in their Summit racing box before the last signature will be meted out.

So... you are saying you need my address to slap on that box? [emoji6]

I think he's saying they'll be in the box while his IA is signing the logs so as to maintain the integrity of the signature. They may find some use between annual inspections or while on static display. Of course, as part of elementary work, they may be installed and removed while effecting upholstery maintenance, right?

I'm going with Pinecon's poetic summary of the situation.
I do wonder though if an STC would be possible. Those display handles way about a third and lock in place with set screws. A i think they are vastly superior to the factory ballast.

Weigh

flyingzebra wrote:I'm going with Pinecon's poetic summary of the situation.
I do wonder though if an STC would be possible. Those display handles way about a third and lock in place with set screws. A i think they are vastly superior to the factory ballast.

I know where you were going with that. I really like the plane, looks great! It's hard for me to swallow how that would be a major modification requiring an STC or 337.