Taildragger Aviation Culver Restoration

Updated 2-7-2008 We added a page two for more information.

We got a Culver Cadet! This cute little baby last flew in 1962,
so it is due for a good looking over! I am still trying to come up
with a name for it. Ken doesn't like the ones I have so far.
If you have any good ideas, send them to me!

We got it home and took stock of the parts and pieces.

Cleaning is in order.
Heavily concentrated Simple Green, results in dirt and grime washing away!

The metal pieces are stripped, and inventory is taken.

Gene took the wings down to Texas and stripped the old fabric off.
He inspected them and prepped them for fabric.

Gene covered the wings in fabric.

Ken covers the rudder and Gene puts silver on the wings.

At first glance, the inside looked great.
Upon further inspection, we decided to scratch off all the old glue, and
re-glue all the stringers and bulkheads. The old style glue was getting
brittle and it was easy to get it to flake away from the joints.

Some of the wood was a bit rotten. It was removed.
That gave us a chance to check out the structure better.

The front left corner had a hole (I think we put it there in the move!)
We removed the skin, which gave us access to the bolts that hold on a
metal strip on the bottom for securing the belly skin. That gave us an opportunity
to remove the strip and clean it up. The metal strip was re-installed, and the
new skin was put on by Gene.

The inside of the cabin areas were re-glued, then re-varnished.

It was hard to get into the interior of the plane to check everything out,
and so the decision was made to remove the belly skin and replace it.
The plane had been sitting for 45 years, and the belly skin was full of
years of settled dirt, so it was a good idea to get rid of it and start over!
It also gave us great access to the interior.

The Rudder bar was removed, cleaned, lubricated and re-installed.
All of the hardware was removed, sandblasted, primed, painted and re-installed.

Thank goodness for clamps when dealing with wood!

After the glue dried, the inside is varnished.
Any leftover varnish is used up on the outside.

Do you want to see More? Go to the Culver Page 2!

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