Instrument panel

With the (finally!) correct combination of tachometer cable length and recording/non-recording type, it was time to mount the instrument panel! The panel was one of the first things I bought for this project after obtaining the aircraft itself. I picked up the panel in February 2013 when I was on a business trip to the US. The instruments are restored and yellow tagged by Keystone Instruments in Lock Haven, PA. The panel itself comes form Clyde Smith who has his workshop also by the old Piper factory in Loch Haven.

OK, once again, I must admit that the panel looks stunning. However, I was a little too quick with the research at the time. It turns out that only L-4A and L-4B models were equipped with cream face instruments. The L-4J should have all black instruments with the exception of the Steward Warner oil temp- and pressure gauge. I'm working on gathering all original instruments for a more authentic panel. I have the B-8 air speed, but missing the altimeter for now.

Once again a big thank you to my cousin Sander who has worked hard preparing all connections to the panel: oil lines, primer fuel lines, static and dynamic etc. And most of all his great effort creating a working BATTERY indicator which is very rare in L-4J's today even if most J models had them.

Birdcage (almost) complete!

LN-MAV "Maverick" was a modified L-4, resembling a PA-11. That was very common for the ex-military L-4's that came to Norway as US Army surplus material. It was mainly the birdcage and engine cowlings that was modified, so building a birdcage was a lot of work. However, with strips of 1 mm aluminum and a cheap plate bender tool, we managed to do a great job! Just picked up the strips from etch-priming and OD painting a few days ago. Also, the BC-659 radiobox has undergone sandblasting and repainting. The radio was not painted in the same OD as used on L-4's but a darker and more green variant.

Important to drill the holes in the glass larger to avoid cracks. All screw heads was primed and sprayed OD and locknuts was used, with a red plastic which looks more antique than the blank ones. Underneath the strips we sticked a window-sealant foam in order to keep water out. Don't know how well that will perform, but it looks very good from the inside and it was less "messy" than using silicon/Tec-7 etc.

We decided to split the aftmost windows so they can be taken off in order to access the avionics in the aft fuselage such as ELT and antennas.

The US Airforce Insignia star's are also produced and ready. They are made from high quality film of the same type as used on company-ads on cars etc. However, we need higher temperatures to mount those. We're missing only two cross-strips on top before the entire birdcage is done. A huge step forward.

Next up: waiting for a 30" Recording tachometer cable from Univair. When this arrives we can complete the instrument panel mounting. Then the exhaust pipes will be needed to complete the engine installation and it can be started soon...

Engine and tail installation

The key to progress: 3 days off work and a warm hangar... Took "Maverick" over to my EAA Supervisor hangar at Aeromech. Started by mounting the exhaust system... which turned out to be a waste of time because it was heavily modified and would not fit with my brand new cowls. We're trying to weld new ones that will fit perfect.

Next was mounting the engine which had been assembled by professionals.. It was on LN-RAK (another L-4J) and was blown over by heavy gusts on a frozen lake in 1976.. The engine was disassembled and kept in a box ever since I was 4 years old! Engine mounting was pretty straight forward. Once it was on I just had to test-fit the propeller. It just looks so much more like a plane with the prop ON... Will have to get 3" 31/32 prop bolts (on it's way from aircraft-spruce).

Tail also came on during these days. However, we have not finished control cable attachment quite yet. Since I'm off to a business trip for a week we spent all the time finishing the window strips. They are now in for priming and paint. Things are moving forward!

Testfitting the Hercules wooden propeller, a pretty good replica with great improvements such as carbin leading edge.

Tail surface mounted, a challenge to drill the inner cross tube without getting any slack.. 

Full tail on! Remember to cross the elevator cables.. :-)

Back in my own hangar.. happy that the spring seems to be established with temps above 0 most of the time.. 

Now working on exhaust system which will fit the precut hole in the engine cowl, at the same time as giving room for tach cable and oil temp probe. It's pretty packed in there!

Waiting to get back inside. Before first startup we need to finish exhaust system and tachometer cable (needed another angular drive also on the engine side). Then all controls must be attached as well as fuel.. 

Fuel system complete

After detecting deep scratches in the existing fuel tubing (from wing- to main tank), we decided to make complete new tubes. The copper tubing came out nice with the olive drab. Plastic protection around the tuning prevents the kind of vibration-induced cuts that we saw in the previous aluminum tubes. My tank does not have the inlets for wingtanks, so it has to go through a T into the drain plug. Flow tests are performed to ensure that we can cross fill more than 150% of a C90 max usage with a good margin. This was a great leap forward, it has taken quite some hours in the cold hangar...

The fuel cap has a doubler around it. This is due to the fact that the boot cowl was not splitted. When fitting it, a couple of rivets broke around the fuel cap area and this is purely a repair to that. They say that "in the good old days" you would get the boot cowls without rivets on the bottom side, so that it could be fitted more gently.

The last pic is the gascolator. I was adviced to use "Steve's Aircraft" Gascolator by friends at the Clyde Smith restoration seminar in Denver. It's a solid gascolator, and we needed to use a doubler in order to get all 4 screws fastened (the pre-cut hole was not right for the bracket). Admit it: it does look expensive! (...and it was...)

We should be all ready for engine installation next week unless my employer sends me off to Nebraska again...

Firewall / bootcowl

Today we attached the firewall / bootcowl. A challenge to drill the 3 x 2 horizontal holes. Also working on the sidepanels for avionics, fuel valves and mags. Bending new fuel tubes as well.
Next up: waiting for the correct 34" "recording" tachometer cable. Now with firewall attached, we can mount the gascolator. Then we need to finalize windshield strips before instrument panel goes on.

Propeller, antenna and cabin heat box

The highlight of the week: the propeller arrived from Hercules Propellers in Britain. It's a coarse cruise prop with muddy green tips matched with the original Sensenich props. The brown leading edge is in carbon, which makes this prop perform slightly better than the original Sensenich prop due less drag. And it's not imitated wood: it's the real thing! Light weight with a nice alu crush plate.

Also, drilled hole for radio AN-29C antenna connected to the BC-659 radio. This antenna is for authentic looks only and will not be in use. Happy with the tight fit using the rubber O-ring. Not a drop of water will pass through there!

Furthermore, installed the cabin heat box to the bootcowl. Getting seriously close to engine and wing installation now.

The AN-29C antenna sticking up though the birdcage.

The BC-659 radio box will contain an Air Avionics 8.33 kHz VHF with a Garrech Mode S transponder. The VHF unit is currently being developed and will be launched late 2015. So the first season will be flown with a handheld VHF only. The really nice thing with the Air Avionics device is that both the VHF and Transponder will be controlled from a single remote control head. Less "footprint" in the cockpit.

1 kg fire extinguisher, operated with one hand only which is why I selected that particular unit. May spray paint it OD..

Cabin heat box now attached to the bootcowl. Just waiting for the gascolator and tachometer wire now before bootcowl can be attached ONE LAST TIME!! :-)

Cabin heat box seen from the inside. 

There is a kind of system in all this mess... 

Noseart

L-4's in the field mostly had very simple nose art. Either nothing at all, or a plain white pencil stroke figure with a name written beside it. The ones that carry noseart today usually puts some more effort into it. And there were some.. that had great nose art but they were very few. My danish L-4 fellows has done a great job on their noseart. However, I also respect the ones arguing that an L-4 should not have nose art as this was very rare in WW2.

A very good friend and "Aviation artist" in the north of Norway has created the below sketch for me. He has chosen Martha Vickers as the model, she was a very popular WW2 pinup girl. A youtube clip here.

Most L-4's has a name, at least today.. I've chosen a cool aviaton name: "Maverick". Why ? Well, ever since the plane came to Norway (1947) it has carried the national registration LN-MAV. Now, every hobby pilot has seen Top Gun at least 8 times, right?.. and Maverick is constantly referred to as "Mav" by his colleagues. But the expression "Maverick" refers to wild cattle which the cowboys needed to catch and brand, often using a lasso.
From Wikipedia:
"Maverick is a term, usually referring to cattle, for an animal that does not carry a brand.^[1] In the period of the United States open range, such animals were relatively common. Many cows would give birth in wild or semi-wild conditions, not be located in an annual round up, and their ensuing calf could thus grow to maturity without having been captured and branded for ownership. The term derived from Samuel Maverick, who, among his other claims to fame, was notorious for not branding his cattle. "

So, dressing Martha Vickers as a cowgirl was done to get some connection to a real Maverick wild cow. I'm very grateful to Roald Olsen, the aviation artist for taking such a lot of time and effort to make me a unique nose art. He will be coming down from the north to paint this on the side of my aircraft some time in the spring.

Martha Vickers and the photo that was used for my noseart.

Martha Vickers as drawn by Roald Olsen, dressed up as a cowgirl. I'm thinking of also putting a lasso in this picture.

As it could look on my L-4 (which will be J 43 by the way, not 44).

Danish L-4 enthusiast and owner Thomas Damm. His son actually painted that noseart - I think it's absolutely stunning!

My good facebook friend Kenneth Maigaard and his newly restored L-4 - a real D-day aircraft!

Birdcage strips

Making progress with the birdcage. All windows now fitted. Working on bending pre-cut aluminum strips to build the strips. Fun, but cold fingers... ( - 5° C in hangar yesterday..)

Panel fitting

Today we fitted the boot cowl once more - and to get it 100% we had to include the instrument panel. This is the first time we're seeing the painted panel in place - I just this it looks really good!

I must admit that the cream face instruments are not right for a J model, it was used on A and B models. I was in the US early in my restoration project, eager as any, and determined to buy the panel when I was there. So that was a result of poor research. However, I'm already working to build a correct panel- I've got the hard-to-find airspeed indicator of type B-8. 

Getting there...

Someone once said about aircraft restoration: "When you think you are 90% done, you're about half way there!". I would like to shake hands with that guy... :-)

A few photos and comments below. Next big milestone is mounting of engine and wings. Hopefully first week of February. Then the big concern is if the L-4 will fit in the hangar with a rather large Cessna 177 RG... Done some measurements, but I think the Cub may need to be elevated so that the wings of the Cessna will go below. 

Had to search for gear/coupling components for the generator. Also needed parts for the exhaust system as well as 100 other small things - it all adds up! Propeller is being made by Hercules Propellers in the UK and should arrive soon. Other parts are on it's way now - hopefully the last purchase for a long while... 

All windows now fitted. Working on the strips from pre-cut aluminum. 

Battery box under front seat. Battery is a 12V Gel battery for MC / scooter. Should do the job well.

ELT connected and verified by test. The connection of the ELT was the last task in the "aft section". Could now be closed for a while (ELT needs a new battery in 5 years from now...) And hopefully all antennas on the ground plane under the seconite will perform well. There is a concern that the transponder antenna may be located too close to the VHF and GPS antennas. The tests will be very exciting to perform.

The aft cover put in place. Waiting for the BC-659 radio box which is still for sandblasting and painting.

Remaining wiring and antenna cables bundled. First season will be flown with a handheld radio and without a transponder.  I'm waiting for a VHF 8.33 kHz channel spacing radio with a combined mode S transponder - all with only one remote control head. Air Avionics radio: http://www.air-avionics.com/air/index.php/en/products/air-com-8-33khz-radio-systems .