Hello all,
Here it goes. I have a 1946 J3 with C90 engine and 17 gallon wing tanks. The plane has been in my family a long time but hasn’t been flown much the last 20 years. It has recently fallen under my care and it’s been fun working the bugs out of it and giving it some much needed love ($$$). And it’s been rewarding for me to focus on the basics again. I have a couple general questions and a couple specific items I’ve been wondering about.
1) I’m not at the plane to measure, but could someone give me an idea of how much total rope I’ll need to make my own tiedowns? I’ve decided I’ll use a static climbing rope and knots.
2) Looking around in the various forums, there doesn’t seem to be a universally-accepted answer to how to clean fabric covered aircraft. I’m assuming I need one thing for the bugs and another for the oil. I prefer something relatively mild and is minimally toxic as possible.
3) I need to replace a window vent or two. Previously we had the simple scoop style that can be rotated to either catch airflow or downward when not needed however I can’t find this available online. The holes are 2.5 inch diameter. Is this the style that was original to the plane in 1946?
4) This is a bit of an open-mic question but what would you want a born-again owner/pilot of a J3 to know? Maintenance, flying skills, upgrades. It’s all on the table.
Here it goes. I have a 1946 J3 with C90 engine and 17 gallon wing tanks. The plane has been in my family a long time but hasn’t been flown much the last 20 years. It has recently fallen under my care and it’s been fun working the bugs out of it and giving it some much needed love ($$$). And it’s been rewarding for me to focus on the basics again. I have a couple general questions and a couple specific items I’ve been wondering about.
1) I’m not at the plane to measure, but could someone give me an idea of how much total rope I’ll need to make my own tiedowns? I’ve decided I’ll use a static climbing rope and knots.
2) Looking around in the various forums, there doesn’t seem to be a universally-accepted answer to how to clean fabric covered aircraft. I’m assuming I need one thing for the bugs and another for the oil. I prefer something relatively mild and is minimally toxic as possible.
3) I need to replace a window vent or two. Previously we had the simple scoop style that can be rotated to either catch airflow or downward when not needed however I can’t find this available online. The holes are 2.5 inch diameter. Is this the style that was original to the plane in 1946?
4) This is a bit of an open-mic question but what would you want a born-again owner/pilot of a J3 to know? Maintenance, flying skills, upgrades. It’s all on the table.
