Sewing Fabric Blankets - Joyce, Henry & Jill

 Joyce Stoyka helped Rick and Jill cut and sew the first blanket at "Cooks Creek International".

Henry manufactured a bobbin holder that was heavy enough not to move around and thick enough to accommodate the spindle of fabric - clamped to the table...he ought to take out a patent on this really useful holder!

 Henry Riege and Jill sewing the 2nd wing's blanket.

 Rick, Adrian, Henry and Jill measuring and cutting the 3rd blanket.

Two 60" wide panels plus one 30" panels cut about 114" long (shorter for the aileron wells) made one wing blanket.

Serial Numbers on Upper Wings

These are a few of the markings found under the paint on the upper right and left wings.

Upper wing leading edge slats - Bob and Al Stripping

Bob Stewart and Al Tring get to know each other while stripping the Tiger Moth's upper wing leading edge slats. Darlene was learning how to land with Aaron from Harv's Air.

Masking the last wing before painting with

 Luke Penner, Harv's Air, was instructing spouses in the RAA-SFC sponsored Learn to Land course while his girlfriend, Natalie, helped mask the wood so we could prime the metal rib-cap fittings. Tough Coat metal primer from Goulet was used on the fittings.

 Right to Left - Natalie, Jeannie Podaima (who just finished her first hour of flight training in the Learn to Land course) masking the wing.

 Bob Stewart pitched in to help mask the wing while his wife, Darlene, learned how to land in the Learn to Land course.

Typically it takes us 1 1/2 DAYS to mask a wing; with everyone helping we were done in about 2 hours and had a lot of fun swapping stories from (right to left) Cayman Islands (Jeannie), New Caledonia (Natalie), the Arctic (Rick) and Cruising (Bob). Thank you for all your help!!!

This last wing will receive several coats of varnish over the weekend and then covering will begin after Tom and Steve Phinney complete the pre-cover inspection for the upper wings. The lower wings and ailerons are ready for cover.  Let jill_oakes@umanitoba.ca know if you'd like to help with the covering or rib stitching or painting. Thank you to Jim Goold for lending his wing rotisserie. We're looking for someone willing to volunteer their paint spray booth when we get ready to paint. The first few coats of 'dope' will be brushed on...then we'll need a spray booth and someone with experience spraying.

Cleaning all Four Tiger Moth Wings' Fittings

Out at Tom & Joyce's private airstrip, "Cooks Creek Intenational", Tom Stoyka carefully sand blasted all the external steel fittings - at least 5 layers of paint were peeled off! Rick Riewe stripped layers of paint off the inspection covers.

Fourth Tiger Moth Wing - preparing for varnish

George Inman removing fittings while cutting off the fabric and Vic Prefontaine removing the leading edge slats from the upper right wing. This wing had only one cracked nose rib, all components are in excellent condition, the trailing edge was wavy; possibly due to distortion from the fabric .

 Bob Russell (Springfield Flying Club), Al Tring (Canadian Aviation Historical Society) and Jill Oakes straightening the trailing edge using Vic Prefontaine's jig. A strand of upholstery thread was tacked from one end of the wing to the other and tightened so it could be used as a straight reference point. Rick Riewe took the lead in removing the 4 layers of paint with Al & Jill helping. Ribs were re-glued with T88 glue from Bill LeBrun.

Covering the Wings and Ailerons with Fabric - supplies needed

Thank you to Rick Riewe for donating the Ceconite fabric and to Goulet Aircraft Supply for providing the materials with a discount.

If you or someone you know has any of the following they'd like to donate to the Brandon CATP Museum's Tiger Moth - please contact jill_oakes@umanitoba.ca or drop it off at the RAA hangar at Lyncrest Airport:
Fabric tape, rib stitching needles (we just need 2 more, we have two from Gil and Jill), rib stitching thread (we have some from Gil and Jill), wing rotisserie, volunteer rib stitchers (training provided!), more 400 grade sand paper, a paint booth to paint the wings and another volunteer with experience painting, and a donor interested in paying to get the flying wires zinc coated - too long to get them cadmium coated.

Work Party - Today - Friday
And ALL DAY Sunday - come for an hour or stay for the day and swap some great 1938 flying stories!