RECENT PROJECTS
Here are just a few of the projects we have had in our shop showcasing our workmanship and expertise.
Tally-Ho Edition C-152
1980 Cessna 152II
From concept to paint, this gem took roughly a year and a half to complete.
The owner purchased the airplane as a 6000 hour airframe and about 1200 hours on the engine with a fresh top overhaul in November of 2010. It was a VFR airplane with stock radios and long-range fuel tanks. Not a bad baseline to build from.
After doing some pattern work one day, both the owner and the Air Traffic Cotrollers were complaining that the radios were virtually unreadable. Time for an upgrade. One thing lead to another and the King stack we were mocking up turned into Garmin which lead to interior and untimately paint until, sparing no details, the makeover was complete!
After sourcing and installing the factory child seat, the airplane was sent to KPOU to Ken Gleason of Precision Avionics for the radio install and wiring. In addition to the classic Cessna 6-pack he installed a Garmin 340 Audio Panel wired for 4-place intercom, Garmin 430 WAAS GPS NAV/COM, KX 155 NAV/COM, KT76A Transponder, Dual King VORs with glideslope and a shiny new IFR Certification.
Once the airplane returned to KDXR, the owner had learned of a plastic reapair process that her father had just done on his Mooney M20J which would reduce the cost of a new interior by refurbishing the existing panels rather than replacing them.
While the interior was removed we began optimizing the instrument panel. We removed the dated faux woodgrain and black plastic panel overlay and replaced with a custom powdercoated and laser etched metal panels. We installed panel mounted, hard-wired USB charging jacks, pull circuit breakers to replace the old pop-breakers and black switches because the original white ones didn't match anymore.
A customized CGR-30P Electronics International (EI) Engine Monitor was installed providing Full Engine Analizaiton, 4-Cylinder CHT and EGT readings, OAT, Fuel Totalization with electronic fuel gauges, RPM, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure. It is linked to the Garmin 430 and shows Fuel to Destination and Fuel Flow.
With the reinstillation of new carpets form TN Wings,and custom leather seat uphostery, flap-gap seals and some other touch-of-class details such as the Rosen Visors, Precise Flow airvents and a Ram suction-cup mounted iPad Mini coupled with a Stratus ADSB receiver, and two Bose A20 headsets, the Airplane was complete! ....... Well, almost.
The owner worked for 8 months to design, sketch out and prerfect a paint scheme and the C-152 was sent to Three in the Green in Selinsgrove, PA for Bryan Fedder to work his magic.
And just like that, the 1980 dated ugly duckling becomes a SWAN!
BUSH AIR C-170B
equipped with the Sportsman STOL leading edge cuffs, aileron gap seals and 31" tundra tires.
equipped with the Sportsman STOL leading edge cuffs, aileron gap seals and 31" tundra tires.
1952 Cessna 170B
Early summer of 2016, we met "CC" Milne Pocock, a bush pilot from South Africa who provides Advanced Backcountry Flying Safety Training courses, who was in town visiting friends. You might also recognize him from the Discovery Channel show "Deadliest Job Interview" which showcased his flight school BUSH AIR in Barberton, South Africa.
CC currently has a Cessna 172 which is the primary aircraft for his training in South Africa and was looking for a Cessna 170B to also provide the option of a tailwheel aircraft for his students as well.
It just so happened that we knew of a 170B on the field her at KDXR and it was just a matter of asking the owner if he would be willing to sell it. The only potential problem was that the aircraft had not moved for the past 12 years.
So the first week of July, the deal was made and the airplane was towed over to Tally-Ho to start it's new life...
After an extensive annual inspection, a replacement rudder and a much needed clean-up, all compressions came back into the 70's! The bird got a clean bill of health and was flying again!
Since CC specializes in Bush and Mountain flying as well as advanced flying techniques, he purchased the Sportsman STOL leading edge cuff kit from Stene Aviation. This allows him to safely reduce his stall speed with better control.
Next was the addition of the Aero Classic 31x11.00-10 4ply tundra tires which require the 10 inch wheel hub adapters to bond to the original Cleveland hubs.
As the transformation continued, the airplane was painted Olive Drab Green with yellow accents to match the famous Bush Air C-172, which is currently still in South Africa. The new decals were applied and the airplane was released on it's cross country adventure to Arizona.
CC and his Bush Air 170B are not based at Kidwell Airport (1L4), Cal Nev Ari, Nevada where he has resumed his flight training courses and enjoying the local fly-ins.
Stripping & Repainting a Citabria
This 1978 7ECA Citabria came in for an annual inspection and had some cracked paint on the fuselage which the owner wanted addressed. The owner was looking into recovering just the fuselage since the wings were recovered relatively recently, prior to him purchasing the aircraft.
After chipping away some of the trouble spots the paint began to peel off in rather large pieces, which uncovered the underlying issue. The paint never bonded properly to the fabric from the factory!
Since the fabric was still in good shape we scraped and stripped the paint from the existing fabric, then re-taped and prepped the surfaces for new Dope and silvercoat. Once the basecoat white was applied, the door was rehung to match the stripes from the cowl back to the tail. Matching yellow paint was applied and the airplane was reassembled.
Fresh annual. Fresh Paint.