ebay Beechcraft Staggerwing project arrives today

About it.  90% as found.

Had to build a new vertical stab/rudder.  Only sorta matching paint I had on-hand was some old latex trim which I slopped on to match.  I had to cut the control-line lead-outs to get them out of the guide.  Music wire.  My side cutter wouldn't cut them had to get out the lineman's.  I do not know how the original builder got such nice bends.








Some of my other smashed "saves" left mostly as the original builder built them.  Orange speed plane has a Freddie built engine in the nose.  T-28 was crushed in transit.  Two of them are Scientific hollow logs.  All engines removed and cleaned.  All had smashed tail sections except the white speed plane.  Others are in the loft or hanging from the ceiling.  

Nice looking lineup on the apron with the new Beech up front….. Engine and front end cleaned up nicely…. Orange plane looks fast just sitting there, With an engine branded “Freddie built” I’m sure it is ….Restoring them to “as they were” reveals much about their first lives…. I’m sure they would have interesting stories to tell if it were possible…

rsv1cox wrote:I do not know how the original builder got such nice bends.

Bob, those music wire lead out lines look like they may have been factory formed hooks. I bet it was part of the pre-fabrication by the company that made this Beechcraft 17 kit. It may have been a selling point of theirs. A tip off is that both front and back leads have the same direction hook, toward the front. If it were me, I would have done the back opposite the front, both would be mirror images of each other instead of duplicate.

For me, I used a slightly smaller diameter music wire that was easier to bend, yet strong enough for flight.

It's possible George, the lead-out end has that nice bend that "guides" the leadout into the opening.  But, still they have to go through the struts guide holes and the bellcrank.  Can't do that with bends.

This is artestry: I had to cut them with a Dremel cut-off disk.



The only model that I have not been able to determine the CG.  Oh, it's there alright, I just can't position the sticks close enough with out it tipping fore or aft.  It's just too precise, somewhere about a half inch back of the leading edge on the bottom wing.  Staggerwing, bottom wing is ahead of the top wing.  

For the picture, I did not position the bevels right as they are 90 out.



A little on the heavy side.  Got to weigh the Ok Cub against a Cox Babe Bee.



That horizontal stab and elevator is a story in itself.  Broken off, half glued wrong, cloth hinges wrong, control arm wrong, OMG.    I'm beginning to wonder how many lives this model had.

rsv1cox wrote:It's possible George, the lead-out end has that nice bend that "guides" the leadout into the opening.  But, still they have to go through the struts guide holes and the bellcrank.  Can't do that with bends.

It can during construction, when all is exposed and prior to strut and upper wing final assembly. The hint is that the bellcrank end of the lead out wires are cleanly bent like factory, but the outer end where the fly lines are connected appear to be less consistent and less "polished", owner bent.

The full fuselage Beech is a thing of beauty no doubt. I think I remember seeing an early Scientific catalog ad with Walt Musciano's hollow log Beechcraft 17 bipe.

Although Sig's profile Beech still builds into a nice looking model, nothing beats the full fuselage in this case.

You did a nice job in bringing it to a finish. Did you ever find the story on the fuel tank fill and vent openings?

GallopingGhostler wrote:

rsv1cox wrote:It's possible George, the lead-out end has that nice bend that "guides" the leadout into the opening.  But, still they have to go through the struts guide holes and the bellcrank.  Can't do that with bends.

It can during construction, when all is exposed and prior to strut and upper wing final assembly. The hint is that the bellcrank end of the lead out wires are cleanly bent like factory, but the outer end where the fly lines are connected appear to be less consistent and less "polished", owner bent.

The full fuselage Beech is a thing of beauty no doubt. I think I remember seeing an early Scientific catalog ad with Walt Musciano's hollow log Beechcraft 17 bipe.

Although Sig's profile Beech still builds into a nice looking model, nothing beats the full fuselage in this case.

You did a nice job in bringing it to a finish. Did you ever find the story on the fuel tank fill and vent openings?

Thanks George, nothing solid but speculation says it's the reason the builder left the fuel tubing so long instead of containing it within the cowl.  Makes it easy to fuel through it.



Duanes illustration shows the decals that Scientific used, just like on the factory builts.



That tail section was a mess.



Edit add; It just hit me........that round blob - maybe hot melt glue?