Timmy

Last weekend it was again time for the annual Kjeller Airshow "Flydagen". Great airshow: Spitfire, Tigermoth formations, DeHavilland Vampire, L-4J "Timmy" and many more.

Great day, me and my kid Ludvig was there from morning to the end. We got a good look at LN-RAP, the L-4J "Timmy". I also got a lot of useful tips from the owner and restorer Tor Nørstegård. 

Here's some photos:

Apparently "official approval" by Disney! :-)

Mr. Tor Nørstegård, owner and restorer. 

My kid (5), he can't wait to our own L-4 takes to the air. Meanwhile he builds planes in lego.

LN-MAV model

An aviation artist living up north in Norway, Roald Olsen, is among the kindest people I know. He is doing some artwork for us at work - norwegian marble stone tiles with custom carving of aircraft. However, on his spare time he makes models. Lots of them. Not only the aircraft, no this guy makes the jeep with the mechanics, the toolboxes, he puts it all together like it was photos from WW2.

Roald made me an L-4 model based on pictures on our LN-SAI, also located at Kjeller, Norway. However on this one he painted the MAV serial number 54417 on the tail as well as my selected "J 43" unit code. The model is in my office so I can enjoy it all day! 

Roald: THANK YOU MY GOOD FRIEND!!!

And by the way: Roald will travel 1000 miles to come and paint nose art on MAV this autumn! I guess he is practising his Pinup paint skills now... :-)

More interior work... and trim!

Hi all, not so much pressure on MAV past couple of weeks, been busy both at work and around the house. Anyway, waited a while for a tiny little trim screw key which in itself costs 50 cents, but with transport, customs, VAT etc. ended up costing as if it was made of gold! Now it's in place and the trim works (quite) well! I can't seem to get the trim indicator to move nicely all the way. I'm guessing that I might have tightened the trim wire too much. I'll make some tests soon, otherwise get another spring.

Floor protection plates are in after giving them a good rub. Carb.heat, throttle levers and tonight also fuel controls are put in place. Starting to look like an airplane (at least on the inside!).

Battery has been purchased. A GEL based battery suitable for motorcycle and snow scooter (!), which can be mounted even at 90 deg. The gel makes it less likely to leak. It's a 12 V, 9 Ah battery. It will be placed just behind the front seat to the right of the stick. Covered by the special AAF battery box and I do have the original connector (got it on Ebay). However, I prefer to wire the battery using new AWG-16 wires which has been laid under the floor. The original connector will be there, but only as a dummy.

Next up: fix the trim indicator issue, prime and paint new 3 mm steel rods that go between breake pedals rear and front. Then a very exciting project: A colleague of mine has set out to help me mount a soft ski bag, hidden in the rear fuselage. This must be carefully done so the bag and contents will not in any way reach any control wires. Pictures coming soon!

Need to adjust the tension (I think) to get the trim indicator to move all the way.

Old cups, beaten and repaired - probably the original ones. 

Some fresh red spray paint did well on the fuel controls. Do I have to write "MIXTURE" on the lower one ??? It's experimental anyway, so I might get around that.

The battery position. Still need to build the AAF box around it and I need to decide how to mount the battery properly. It should also be easy to remove for charging, if I don't include a charger in the box.

Interior

Working on the interior these days. Front rudders and breaks were easy to assemble. Rear rudders attach to both front seat as well as break cylinders - they were worse to get in place, mostly because of the rudder pedal spring. Need to call in a friend to help me. Impossible to work alone - you press from the underside and the bolts go back up... Even my wife came out to assist me, which I appreciated very much - a first!!!

However, with some "help from my friends" I will get the rear rudders mounted soon. Wood strips for the BC-659 are in place. First aid kit needs fasteners, I don't know where to get those, must ask on the Cub forum.

Considering if I should put the existing floor protection plates in place or not. Must check if that was original or not. Might go for some plexiglass only - that will protect the floor but hardly be visible at a glance.