In early 1972 Ernie decided to make some changes on the Fly Baby and repair some accumulated hangar rash. The plane was originally covered with Razorback fiberglass cloth. Probably I good fabric for some applications but a little heavier than Cotton or Ceconite. The fabric was donated if we would demonstrate it a Chapter meeting, which we did. It only cost us for the dope. Today I would only recommend Poly Fiber (Stits) or if you want to use dope then Ceconite.
One of the problems to be fixed was that we used aluminum flashing for all the leading edges. It's just too soft. It was beaten up pretty badly and probably most of that happened the first year.
The tail surfaces got beaten folding the wings and moving the plane. One change during this process was to ad handles to the fuselage for ground handling.
Even the fin was pretty beaten up.
One of the things we realized was that at this point the plane was not likely to be trailered except to bring it home for the winter. As a result there was no need for the flat fuselage sides. With a fully cowled engine it would be nice to have the fuselage rounded to match the cowl.
We also found some water damage under the fabric. This was before epoxy varnish so all the wood touching fabric was just sealed with dope, not adequate
We realized we already had a heavy airplane so we asked Pete if there would be a problem if we cut away the plywood on the fuselage sides to offset the weight of the stringers. He said the only reason he used plywood on the sides was to make it simpler to build than if all the joints were just gusseted. We managed to save all the weight of the formers and stringers and it wasn't all that hard to do. It took a little layout work and some time with a saber saw. If I were building a new plane I would do it and put 2 stingers to just lift the fabric from the sides of the fuselage, about like a CUB.
With the fuselage lightened the next task was to make plywood template of the firewall and add formers for the stringers at each fuselage bay.
Some wood block were needed at the wing root so the wing would be tight to the fuselage even though the fabric was almost an inch out at the top of the wing.
With the strings added it was time to varnish everything. It really give the fuselage a nice look.
The original A-65 engine resting while the the plane gets worked on. Good memories of going with Dad and Gene Tanner to Andy Anderson's place near Rantoul, Illinois to pick up this engine and a CUB fuselage for Gene. I rode home to Michigan sitting in the fuselage, on it's side, with the tailgate of our '58 Chevy Wagon open and the fuselage sticking out a long way. The engine was strapped on the roof. Life doesn't get much better.
The left wing hanging in the rafters of Debbie's horse barn.
The Aluminum on the wings was as all pulled off and replaced as well. Some areas were not bad and others were really beaten up.
Everything ready to add the aluminum back on. There were minor repairs to the ends of some ribs but otherwise the wings were solid.
We changed the pitot tube to one that hopefully would not be so easy to damage. You can't have it here if you fold the wings against the fuselage.
The wings are ready for cover.
The instrument panel was rearranged to add room for a radio.
The panel is also slightly taller. This also move the wind screen up a bit higher.
The cockpit was trimmed with naugahyde with some carpet on the floor. I like the look of bare wood better but it made it very finished looking.
Pre-cover assembly to make sure everything fits properly.
Back to the shade for the dope and fabric work.
Assembling a new cowl to fit the sexy new lines.
Ready for color
Somehow I talked Dad into painting the plane to look like Jimme Matter's Lockheed Vega. I just thought it was cool and fit the Fly Baby by just moving the wing down. It was a lot of work to layout and paint but I liked it.
Brother David doing the hard work.
The plane is finally back to the airport for a test flight around the 4th of July 1973. A year of fixing and changes finally over. I believe that is Geof Geisz doing the flying.
That summer Ernie made it back to Oshkosh. The next year the Christen Eagle arrived with a stylized version of the eagle. I can only hope we inspired him.
After 4 years in the Air Force Dennis was able to make 2 flights in Fly Baby while it was at Oshkosh this year and one more in September. His next flight in it wouldn't be until April of 1990 when he moved it to Waynesboro, Virginia.
The last trip for this year was to Rixport. It's now a Dump (land fill).
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