1st ANNIVERSARY OF
PITTS N599JW AT CROSS COUNTRY ESTATES!!!
We got the complete fuselage, the ground looped
damaged set of wings, and a brand new uncovered set of wings, as well as
various other items.
June 26, 2006
– August 9, 2006 – My dad and I have been working steadily on the Pitts wings.
We’ve been inspecting, marking, and fixing any problems with them. We cleaned
out hornets nests from between wing ribs. I have been working on cleaning
corrosion from the drag anti-drag wires. After cleaning them I painted them
with primer. We also cleaned up the wing mounting plates on both top and bottom
wing. We sprayed them with primer then zinc. We have inlaid some of the nails
and gone over them with T-88 epoxy. We have also been sanding the leading edge
of the ribs to prepare for the application of the Steen Aerolabs wood leading edge pieces.
We have also fixed the pitot/static tube that was damaged during the ground
loop. Gallery
August 10, 2006 – August 13, 2006 –
We’ve been working on lining up the leading edges of the wing ribs and false
ribs to make a good fit for the wood leading edge piece. Video
August 21, 2006 – My father
flew to Aircraft Spruce and picked up the trailing edge piece to my Pitts wing.
He also purchased the pitot/static tubing for the lower right wing.
September 1, 2006 – Today I flew
with my neighbor Dewey, and my dad down to the Gulf Coast Regional Aerobatics
Competition in Conroe, Texas. While I was down there I took some pictures of
some of the many Pitts to use as reference. Gallery
September 11th – 23rd
– We cut out and fit the center section top and bottom pieces. Once the fit was
good they were glued in place. The last leading edges were put on as well as
the center section leading edge. The leading edges are finished and we are
about ready to test fit the wings on the Pitts. Gallery
September 27th – We mounted the
wings on the fuselage. The plane looks AWESOME!!! We have the aft landing and
flying wires on as well as the struts. We will be cutting the holes for the
forward wires as well as working on the ailerons. Gallery
September 28th – October 31st
– Work on the wings is finished. We have added metal plates for the flying wires
to run into the wings, as well as lined up the ailerons properly. There has
also been quite a bit of other work. I have been very busy lately making it
hard to update my website. I hope to keep up with it for a while. Gallery
November 9th – 10th
– We inspected then put the two coats of varnish on the wings. We now have to
wait seven days before we can put more chemicals on and begin covering. Gallery
November 22 – 23rd
– We purchased the Stitts Poly Fiber video and have watched it many times to
get drilled into our heads “How to Cover and Airplane.”
We have inspected the wings once more in
final preparation for applying the covering. All the chemicals have been
purchased, besides paint. We have made two chemical holders to carry around
while we are applying the Poly-Brush to the wings. These were made out of old
model fuel cans. We had to buy a new covering iron and calibrate it as well. We
also constructed a wooden box to stretch fabric over for heat forming and
making inspection covers. SHOULD BE COVERING SOON!! Gallery
November 24th – December 1st
– We finally begin covering. After watching the Stitts Poly Fiber video a few
times we were ready to cover. We put chalk lines on the leading edge and an
inch in both up and down directions. This was for reference on where the fabric
needed to be cut. We then rolled out the covering, cut it to the proper length,
and glued down both the leading and trailing edges. We held the fabric pieces
in place using clamps and close pins. We then heat formed the wing tips and
glued these down as well. Once the gluing was completed we cleaned up the seams
and repeated the process for the other side of the wing. Once all the fabric
was glued down we began to shrink the fabric to the wings. We started at a
temperature of 250 degrees. Once we shrunk the entire wing at this temp. We
brought it up to its final 350 degree shrinking temp. At this heat the fabric
shrinks 10-12%. It is currently too cold to apply any of the poly brush to the
fabric, we will begin this next. Gallery
December 2nd – December 13th
– It was cold out, about 40 degrees, when we wanted to start adding the first
coat of poly brush. The ideal temperature is around 70 degrees. In order to get
the right temperature and not wait for winter to be over, we pulled the cars
out of the garage and put the wing in. We stretched a piece of fabric over the
wood frame in order to make the round inspection covers. Once the wing was in
the garage we began to poly brush the whole thing. It turns the wing a pink
color. Once poly brushing was finished (the smell of the chemicals was
STRONG!!) we moved the wing back into the hangar and began using a chalk line
to mark the locations of the rib stitching. Once marking was finished we laid
pieces of reinforcing tape over the wing ribs to strengthen the fabric. We then
began rib stitching. This very repetitive process was completed in record time,
TWO DAYS!!. That’s 19 rib stitches per rib. 18 ribs and two smaller ribs near
the hand hold. IT WAS
December 14th – 28th
– After we finished rib-stitching we began preparations for applying the pinked
tapes. We poly-brushed two inch spaces over every rib, and place where the
fabric transfers from solid to a rib bay. We also made four inch poly brush
areas around the trailing edge and leading edge as well as three inch spaces
around the wing tip. After this we began applying tapes by brushing on poly
brush, laying a tape on top, the brushing another coat over that. After putting
all the tapes on we heat down the pinked edges to prevent them from coming up
and getting paint underneath. Gallery
December 29th – February 23rd
– I apologize for not updating in so long. I have been very busy with many
things, but have also done A LOT of work on the Pitts! We completely finished covering
the top wing and have completely covered both bottom wings and the ailerons all
the way up to applying tapes, which we are in the process of doing at the
moment. On cold days we heated up the garage and moved our equipment in there
to co the covering and some poly brushing. The process was the same for the
bottom wings as the top. My grand parents came to visit us and my grandfather
helped us put tapes on the bottom wings! The pictures tell the story! Gallery
February 23rd – March 21st
– Since the last update we have made some serious progress on the Pitts. We
finished touching up some details on the wings then began spraying the first
two coats of Poly Brush. After that, more touch ups! Then we took our four
gallons of silver over to Bob Falstad’s house to get
our cans shaken (thank you very much for you service and the addition of the
fresh air filter!) We began spraying the silver and it was very exciting
finally seeing the wings take on some color, even if it’s not the final coat!
So far we’ve completed one whole coat (out of 3) and have started one side of
all parts with the first stage of the second coat. Gallery
March 21st – April 7th
– We finished spraying all the coats of silver and have begun spraying the
white paint. After spraying the silver we wet sanded the wings to take out any
high spots or blemishes. We also got my N-numbers and names from the sign shop
and applied them to the plane as well. So far we have completed spraying all
the bottom surfaces of the wings with the white. Before spraying we also put
the drain holes in the wings using a soldering iron. Gallery
April 7th – April 22nd
– All of the white has been sprayed onto the wings. We have now masked the
wings for the color coats and are prepared to spray the red the next time it
isn’t humid out. Gallery
April 22nd – April 26th
– The wings have been masked and both the Red and Blue has been sprayed onto
the tops of the wings. Gallery
April 27th – May 20th
– The wings have now been completely finished being painted. Also, we have made
a GIANT purchase. Two weeks ago we bought an O360-A3A engine. It is currently
on the engine hoist but will be mounted on the front of the aircraft soon! Gallery
May 20th – May 27th
– Now that the wings are finished, we have begun work on the fuselage. So far
we have removed the cowling and boot-cowling of the Pitts. It’s really neat
looking without the sides on the
aircraft. We have already set up the brakes, drilled the holes for the wheel pants and attached
them with klecos, and we have started cutting out the
sides of the boot-cowl to add the lexan sides. Gallery
May 28th – June 5th
– The lexan sides have been finished and we have made
another large purchase, a Christian 844 Wobble Pump. It is now mounted in the
plane. We have also taken the canopy off to work on it, worked on the wheel
pants, and we bought an oil cooler in the fly market
at SWRFI. Gallery
June 5th – June 18th
– I was out of the house for a week at summer camp and also working at Rays,
but during my spare time my dad and I have finally mounted the engine (I will
have a time lapse video soon) as well as tested the battery replaced all the
old tie-wraps and reattached the sides among various other small updates. So
far I only have pictures of attaching the engine, more
pictures of he sides will be on the site soon. We also test fit the old
propeller. Gallery, Video
June 19th – June 24th
– Major updates to the overall look of the Pitts. Thanks to the help of my
awesome neighbors Mark, Richard, and Dave, my dad and I were able to gets the wings
mounted on the Pitts. I plan on having a time elapsed video of the wings being
mounted as soon as possible. Today also happens to be the 1st
anniversary of Pitts N599JW being home! Gallery,
Video
June 24th – June 30th
– Quite a bit was accomplished today. A special thanks
go out to John Harlan for allowing us the use of his tools and time! We
completely rigid the Pitts, tested the wire tension, and sat in the plane while
pushing it around in the hangar and on the pad! Gallery
July 1st – We honestly
didn’t do any work on the Pitts. Today was mostly a photo shoot with the
Clipper and me in the Pitts. Gallery
July 2nd
– We have now attached the ailerons and temporarily attached the cowling, wheel
pants, and propeller. We pulled the Pitts out for another small photo
shoot. Gallery
July 3rd – July 7th
– Since the last update all we have completed is the basic construction of the
sighting device. As you can see from the pictures, I opted for the diamond
shape rather than my original plan to have the star. I also took many pictures
of the inside of the cockpit as well as some more external pictures. Gallery
July 8th – July 9th
– We have shortened the sighting device to make it a little better looking as
well as made some new lower wing flying wire covers. Gallery
August 8th – Today was a
big day! The Catto Prop came in and so did the
spinner as well as the rest of the hardware. It is 74 inch diameter and 60 inch
pitch! It also has a massive chord! Gallery
August 9th – 13th
– Well we decided that it would be cool to go ahead and mount the prop and
spinner on the plane just to see what it looked like and well…..IT’S AWESOME!!
We also washed the plane for the first time and removed the canopy and put on
all the acorn nuts. We are getting closer to the first flight! Gallery
August 14th – August 29th
– Well because I have been very busy working on my
March 21st – March 26th
– As you may have read from the home page, we have
just begun the “3 Weeks to Running” project.
We have been working vigorously trying to get the engine checked out and
back together. So far we have removed the cowling and replaced the old seals on
the left hand push rod covers. We have also placed an order for the remaining
hoses and fittings we need, they should be here tomorrow. We have removed and
inspected the mags, and various other parts as well as finished rewiring some
of the electrical. Tonight we are hoping to attach the pressure carb(possibly
temporary, we aren’t sure whether or not it will fit underneath the cowling, we
may be doing some mods) and attach the throttle and
mixture cables. We will also be reattaching the tail hook onto the tail wheel
spring. So far so good, I hope the “3 Weeks to Running” plan doesn’t have too
many nasty snags. Gallery
March 27th – April 5th
– We have just completed week two of the “3 Weeks to Running” project, and to
say that this past week has been productive would be an understatement. The
Pitts has been run, and with a week to spare. Over the past week all the hoses
have been built, a new ignition harness installed, and…I’ll just let the
pictures and videos speak for themselves. Gallery /
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl72RKFK9SA
April 6th – May 21st
– It has been a while since the last update due to a computer upgrade and lack
of time reinstalling everything, but I’m finally back online. There has been a
lot of work done to the Pitts, especially with the cowling. We have cut out a
hole and inserted the vans air scoop in order to achieve direct flow to the
pressure carb. We have now fiber glassed the scoop in
place and hope to paint the cowl and remaining parts that need painting this
weekend. Gallery
First Takeoff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHymqKRmmtQ
First Landing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP08h9eCpQk
Also, I have made a new video called “The
Pitts Story” which is a short overview of the entire Pitts project from start
to first flight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ1p0SFGIF8
Sunday June 15, 2008 – After some work on the engine baffling to help our cooling
issue, the Pitts made it’s second and third flight today. My father flew the
plane first, then I strapped it on for the second
flight of the day. All I can say is AWESOME! The plane handles so much better
than I expected…and I had high expectations. Landing and takeoff were easy
because the visibility is so great in this Pitts. Hopefully I will be able to
fly it again tomorrow! Gallery