- Joined
- Jan 27, 2017
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This is my first post, much appreciate any insight as I begin to get in to the initial stages of restoring my '40 J3. The Cub has been in my family since the 70's and I first flew in it with my Great Uncle in western PA at 8 yrs old (1974ish). He introduced me to airplanes and I'm fortunate to own his Cub today. Flew it for several years on the east coast and then here in Montana before we found some corrosion in the lower longerons and had twin babies..followed by one more. Figured it had been covered for 27 years and living on the east coast so it probably made sense to tear it down. That "two year project" is still sitting in my garage 17 years later...time for her to fly. Fuselage is ready to go and is epoxy primed and it's been in this state for 10 years. I wanted to get that part out of the way. I've found a mechanic who is good enough to work with me on the project and I'll be doing much of the work myself with his inspection and sign off. So, on to the question of this first post. I think I'm going to go the Poly Fiber route (I think) and in the interest of budgeting and working through the project in phases...would it be advisable to do tail surfaces through top coat, move on to wings through top coat and then fuselage through top coat...or am I better served to cover everything and finish through poly brush for instance before moving on to poly spray and top coat. Hope that made sense. I guess I'm wondering what the best means of getting everything covered and protected is, while keeping in mind that some of the covered components may sit for a year...maybe two (hope not) before final assembly. I wouldn't want paint match issues and I'd also want to make sure I'm not jeopardizing the top coat by storing the covered components inappropriately and possibly introducing dust for instance. Will be in my garage and can drape with plastic if that's the recommendation. I'd love to say I can just spend the next 6 months putting cash and time in to the Cub and complete it...but twins headed to college sort of eliminates that possibility for now. I am a 25 year member of the Cub Club and have all back issues of Cub Clues as an additional reference. I've also attended one of Clyde Smith Jr's seminars. One final note...use to fly in and out of Dave Henderson's place in DE as he was right down the road from my home airport...was always amazed at the goings on in Dave's shop.
Thanks again for the forum and any thoughts on the best way to proceed.
Thanks again for the forum and any thoughts on the best way to proceed.
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