Modified gear-legs...

They have been there all along. Well, I exchanged the original MAV gearlegs with the second L-4 I had (LN-RAK). I did not notice anything strange about them - they were restored, painted and hang on the wall. I simply repainted them gray and OD and it was only when we mounted them on the fuselage that I noticed "something" was wrong... could not really put my finger on it, but this was somewhat strange. Walked over to the other L-4 at Kjeller airport (LN-SAI) and compared. Ahhh! MODIFIED gear-legs! Damn!! If I had known I would have kept the ones from MAV originally and sandblasted them.. Anyway, this was a modification done to many J3's on floats. It makes a great step for refuelling and entering the Cub. So we simply glued a strip of black leather to protect the ceconite. With all other modifications to this one, especially birdcage, this is really a minor one.

The modified gearlegs. A strip of leather will ensure good grip when standing on it for refuelling and stepping in and out.

Norwegian air safety board recommends as a general rule using helmets on Annex 2 / vintage planes. I will use it in the test-flight period as well as when going on short fields and "special missions..." I'll show later what I did, but basically this is a chineese motorcycle helmet for the grand price of 30 USD. Then I easily fitted my Bose QC15 with UFlymike - and thats how you get an active noise reduction aviation helmet for less than 1/5 of the normal price.

Breaks looks good, it was a big moment to get it back on it's own "feet".

Status...

Hi all, I'm not dead after all! Has been a while since the blog was updated, sorry about that. So what's new: let's start with the bad news... I had a goal all the way to fly Maverick on her 70th birthday, which is December 9th this year, but that is not going to happend. It might have, if I had sacrificed a lot of time and cold hours in the hangar... No reason to rush it, better to enjoy the work and make it good.

Good news: My cousin Sander has joined the restoration and he is much better than me at most practical things! (also the theoretical ones actually...) And better: there are so many tasks that requires more than two hands, i.e. mounting of the fueltank today - try that one alone!! THANKS Sander, I don't know how I would ever finish this project alone, it's enjoyable to work with you.

So, the Maverick is based in the hangar at Kjeller airport now, no longer in my garage. After painting I had the feeling that we were almost at the point where wings goes on, but if I had known ALL the small things still to do, I would definitively brought her back home. Windows was a lot more work than I thought. Using a 6 sqm sheet of LEXAN, scratch resistant and VERY expensive. No room for mistake, very little left over - I guess an L-4 requires more than 4 sqm of window... Anyway, windows are now cut roughly to size. I wanted one single piece for roof, so the main challenge was bending the lexan in the aft part. Heat was considered - lexan does not like it. Cold bending is better, but no plate-bending device could take such a big piece! Then we figured it out - lets cut a 2.5 mm stripe in the lexan, leaving 0.5 mm. It will then bend quite easily along the cut, still leaving a water proof one piece roof. GENIUS! (we think...)

Furthermore, we think we have found a good solution for shoulder harness both in front and rear seat. The front seat harness is often seen attached to the stick screws but we attached it inside the seat cover. First some sewing of the harness was necessary - luckily there is an "automobile furniture workshop" in this area, and the guys there are really helpful. They might give you a fixed price for a job, then when returning to pick it up they might say "Oh, this was not so much work after all", and cut the agreed price by half... I did not know such people existed anymore. Then again, other expenses has been greater than expected at this stage of the project (try a set of new mags with harness, new cowls... it all adds up!).

OK folks, some pictures as usual. And, the new goal is to ENJOY the remaining work. I'm very happy if we get undercarrige and wings mounted before the winter really sets in. If we can put the engine on and start it, that would be a blast! So it will not be a flight for Mavericks 70th, but there will certainly be birthday cake and coffee! Oh, speaking of which, a water boiler and coffee has been brought to the hangar, nice! But the old electric system requires us to lower the volume of the Bose loudspeakers before turning on the water boiler... :-)  Thats another discussion BTW: What is the best background music when restoring aircraft ??? Tonight there was anything from jazz to Mötley Crüe...

My cousin Sander and myself in deep discussions...

Rear seat should harness: using an automobile seatbelt roller which is mounted to the crossrod behind the "curtain". The black belt is only visible when I lean forward to operate trim, carbheat etc. On ground, the OD green harness will go all the way back to the slot in the observers desk.

Rear seat belts complete. Notice how nice the one-piece top-roof bends towards the rear.

Again, the rear seat should harness. It will go nicely over the BC-659 radio box (which is still for sandblasting...)

Trying out... I'm short, Sander is tall. So we both have to make it work.. 

Front seat shoulder harness attaches to the main belt points - all hidden inside the leather seat. Notice the battery box - a kids lunchbox from the local kindergarden... Wires from alternator going in there to charge - output going into the BC-659 box to power VHF, transponder and other goodies, possibly an iLevil AHRS system...

Really glad we got the bend in the lexan roof so perfect. This was a major concern for some time...

Fueltank installed - and I hope I don't have to do that again... New fuel cap from Univair.