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Re: Taylorcraft Metal Parts by David Wenglarz
While I was doing AGATE for NASA we were developing the Glass Panels for GA. As a joke I took my Taylorcraft panel and used full size photos of the glass panels to paste up an all glass Taylorcraft. It looked real from INCHES away!
You want to see some SHOCKED faces? Try when someone looks in the locked door of a 100mph rag and tube antique and sees a $150,000 instrument panel! I wish I could find the pictures. They stuck on really easy and would be GREAT for going to a local Fly-In.
One problem to look out for on the wing to fuselage fairings is ALL of the planes seem to be a little different. The long strips also tend to buckle and get "waves" if the fairing is off by just a fraction of a degree. I am trying to make them for the 41 now and they are a BEAR to get to fit right, especially close to the wing leading edge and windscreen. I think they must have custom cut a paper template for the front by the glass then trimmed the long pieces to the trailing edge on the plane.
Just as a hint to save some money, aluminum gutter flashing is fairly inexpensive and makes pretty good fairings. Don't get the stuff that is too thin, it is too hard to handle. Also, count your fingers before and after working with those rolls of narrow aluminum. The edges are like razor blades and cut you without your even feeling it!
Hank
While I was doing AGATE for NASA we were developing the Glass Panels for GA. As a joke I took my Taylorcraft panel and used full size photos of the glass panels to paste up an all glass Taylorcraft. It looked real from INCHES away!
You want to see some SHOCKED faces? Try when someone looks in the locked door of a 100mph rag and tube antique and sees a $150,000 instrument panel! I wish I could find the pictures. They stuck on really easy and would be GREAT for going to a local Fly-In.
One problem to look out for on the wing to fuselage fairings is ALL of the planes seem to be a little different. The long strips also tend to buckle and get "waves" if the fairing is off by just a fraction of a degree. I am trying to make them for the 41 now and they are a BEAR to get to fit right, especially close to the wing leading edge and windscreen. I think they must have custom cut a paper template for the front by the glass then trimmed the long pieces to the trailing edge on the plane.
Just as a hint to save some money, aluminum gutter flashing is fairly inexpensive and makes pretty good fairings. Don't get the stuff that is too thin, it is too hard to handle. Also, count your fingers before and after working with those rolls of narrow aluminum. The edges are like razor blades and cut you without your even feeling it!
Hank
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