SR-9F

There has been lots of progress on the metalwork of the Stinson SR-9F. In most areas we started from nothing, in others, next to nothing. What has taken place to bring all the metal work to be has been quite an exercise. Here is a gallery of what was available as patterns and examples.

We had a mount ring but the “J” shaped mounts for the engine that grab the ring were missing. New ones had to be fabricated. An original “J” bracket was used as a pattern. Numerous repairs were made to the mounting ring. A new cowling was made by D&D Classics using the existing panels as patterns which were pretty much done for. The new cowling is dimensionally correct, however has required lots of fitment and body work to give it fit to the aircraft and adjacent panels. The entire fuselage front end sheet metal was made new using the old as a pattern. This is a difficult task since it is all once piece and quite large on the Stinson. Achieving proper fit in all areas, maintaining shape and avoiding any “oil canning”  is not easy and requires a skilled craftsman with patience. Another seemingly simple yet complex panel is the windscreen cap which was made new as well. In this gallery you can see all of the new items in work and installed.

The fabric work began today with the fuselage being covered first. More photos to come. Thank you for checking in.