I can't wait to see it all done. The plane is looking great. You do fantastic work.

Thanks guys. Its been a slog, but a blast!

Looking awesome, Greg. I can't wait to see this thing when it's all done!

Crow island Flyin this weekend, you going to be there?

P.s. Looking good. Your getting close...

thats just down right sexy!

I gave Greg a ride home yesterday from crow island. He was excited to see a 180 come in and his friends 172 was running rough. I think he just needed to get some 180 time to get him back working harder. Ha.
He showed me the airplane yesterday WOW. The amount of detail and work you put into it is amazing. No corners are cut. Everything is done right. So nice to see these older airplanes so well cared for. Over the years they get pretty hacked up, and the wiring is a mess. Not the case on this one. Looking great. Hurry up and get it done and flying. And you even got your Hours in too. I can't wait to see the finished product. And get a ride in it.

Thanks for the ride Tom. Was fun to take a spin in the 180. Def got my juices flowing. I hope you have a great flight to TX!

Well the panel is in and finished. Totally pumped. Actually most of the big projects inside are done, and Im ready to fire her up which feels good... but I guess I didnt want to fee that good cuz I went ahead and pulled the horiz/vertical stabs.

The theme of this past year has been "while Im here..." and since it made sense to do it now, I drove up to Canada to Skywagon City and grabbed a C185 vertical stab from Peter. They are getting harder and harder to find so I figured I had better get it done now. Peter only had one "3" bolt (earlier stab to fit my 66 H model) so I couldn't be choosy. He did have a couple of rudders to choose from, but when we laid them out on the shop floor, I grabbed the one that went with the stab. They both are in pretty decent shape, so Im happy. Part of the deal was to swap out my stab/rudder as a core. It was sort of sad to leave the orig stab up there, but Im sure it will be put to good use down the line.

I haven't weighed her yet, but Im hopping sub-1700. With the new 3190 GW, I should have over 1500lbs of useful.

The Kenmore Air STC is super easy to install and with a 400 lb increase in GW, who can argue? Spent the last three days stripping the stab and rudder. (cant believe I am back to stripping)

Anyway, she's still moving forward...

Did you find any surprises when you pulled the tail feathers? Surprises like corrosion you wouldn't have seen or fasteners and such? I can't wait to go find fun fields with you once you get her back in the air, not to bumpy due to my little tires. Looks awesome!

Of course if you look hard enough you will always find something... There are some small things that will be addressed, but nothing really worrisome. Its Its also a good excuse to check the jack screws and give everything a good once-over.

We do need to address the "little tire" issue you have...

That's kinda what I was thinking,I'm trying to plan my winter projects. Sportsman,bigger tires and brakes,and or pull the tail and look things over. Then again I'm thinking just go fly.

And I though your 170 was the bomb.. Stunning.

Is that the same fiberglass trim tunnel cover?

Charlie

daedaluscan wrote:
Is that the same fiberglass trim tunnel cover?

Charlie

Thanks Charlie. Same company, different part. The flap tunnel is by Selkirk.

Aside from the pain of sourcing and buying a 185 vertical stab, the Kenmore Air Gross Weight increase was really easy to install. During my research, all I could find out about the install was that you just needed to "install a doubler." Where did it go? How did it work?

Well... here it is. Its a simple doubler that goes in the center of the horizontal stab between the leading edge. You remove a nutplate, cleco the doubler, drill out the holes, buck it in place, then reinstall the nutplate. Pretty simple operation lets you go (legally) from 2800 (in my case) to 3190lbs.





Now off to paint!

Thanks for showing that doubler in place. I'd run up against the same vague descriptions. Once it's installed and the tail feathers reassembled, is it possible to tell it it's there just from looking from the outside?

No. Its hidden. But then again, if the aircraft has a 185 tail (C185 or later C180) it will have the doubler.

Hey Greg while your there, there are only 8 bolts holding the wings on...... Just saying.

Looking good!

Dont tempt me....

Actually the wings are on the list as I still have to still strip the paint, install the Sportsman and WingX. I will also most likely be rehabbing the bladders. All of this is SOOO much easier with them wings off.

Im focusing on getting her flying now. Maybe fly it for a day, then dig in again!

If you do take the wings off it's pretty simple to drill the butt rib off and remove/install bladders that way, so much easier. Good way to save a few hours of futzing around thru those filler neck holes, makes cleaning out the tank bay properly an option as well.

Looking good

That is a great idea! I spent just over 40 hours this spring cleaning out the old tape and replacing it on a set of 185 wings.
I would have done this in a heartbeat!