[hharney]

Another day in paradise, snow paradise that is. Winter has officially arrived in Michigan and driving to Kalamazoo this morning to remove more windows from the hull was just about all I could do for excitement. Earlier on the road to Kzoo a pickup crossed over the median and created a head on situation for the on coming traffic. I fatality, not a comforting thought as I proceeded to Larry’s hanger at 50 MPH. Nice thing is, I am not in a hurry. No set time schedule. Makes things a lot easier when the stress is gone. Well because I am now writing this it is evident that I made the trip there and back safely and uneventful.

Enough about that let’s talk aircraft, removal of windows, not too bad. Installing windows, yet to find out. I have all windows out except the windscreen up front. Again it has really been a learning experience. Sorry to bore you if you have been through this already but it’s just plain exciting stuff for me. The AI that is working with me prepped me on removing the rivets and said “have at it”. Well I got them all out and started to clean up the frames. Left side center has a fuel line right along the frame that I was drilling rivets from. That made things a little more exciting but no leaking fuel yet. Larry had some toluene that really make the clean up easy around the frames where the sealant has been for the last 40 years. After scraping the big stuff off with a putty knife I used the toluene to make it look new again. It is really amazing that the sealant was still soft and sticky. 40 years is a long time. The photos below show the before and after and the fuel line.

How do you work comfortably in the cabin of a Skymaster with the interior gutted? Well on a bumper of course. While on my knees working in this wonderful aluminum cave, I decided it would be a lot nicer to have something to sit on. First thing I thought about was a bucket or something and started snooping around Larry’s hanger to see what type of throne I could come up with. All of a sudden I saw several boat bumpers over in the corner. Now when I have used boat bumpers they would make a good seat for a 4 year old but not my fat ____. The bumpers Larry has were for some kind of yacht or something because they are biggies. Just right for a growing boy working on his toy. Anyway I soon learned that using this bumper was just about the best idea that I have had since I installed the 530. I showed my AI and he said WOW that works great. Nice cushy seat and won’t even scratch the floor. With all the irregularities in the floor a bucket is all but stable but with the bumper it just doesn’t matter. It’s stable no matter where on the floor it is. OK enough about my new invention. Anyway next you’re in the plane without seats you gotta try it.

I decided were changing the windscreen too. That will have to be removed next but I will wait for Craig my AI for that one. I did receive the new air vents and looks like they will retro to the existing vents really easy. They should really bring things up to date inside aesthetically. I also bought the battery operated LED under wing light from Knots2U. It will be a nice addition and easy install. Really a cool item. It has a built in timer so that if you turn it on it goes out automatically in 5 minutes. If you need light longer then a different sequence of the power button keeps it on for 15 minutes and then turns off. You can use the provided access panel or use the original under the wing and modify it to mount the light in it.

Seat belts will be shipping next week. The BAS system up front and all new matching lap belts for the other 3 seats. I will be writing more on this with some detail and photos because there have been a lot of questions about these lately. I have never had the 5th seat, not sure what happened to the original. I don’t think we ever got the 5th seat when we bought the plane in 1976. I had used a Cessna 206 rear seat in the past but it really didn’t fit right and not legal. I purchased a seat from Don at Commodore Aero. I will now have that seat re-upholstered to match the new interior. I also found the luggage tray (parcel shelf as Larry calls it) and will have it trimmed to match too. Haven’t used this much but thought I should include it in the redo. Anyone else use this unit? It is hinged to the rear firewall and has spring loaded pins that keep it in position when used or release it and allow it to lay flat against the rear firewall.

Well that’s about enough today, more to come.