Well.........I craked open the Nitrate dope today and applied my first pieces of fabric. I dont think I have doped cloth to balsa in about 15+ years. It came back to me ( the horrid smell ) pretty quick and John and I were at peace with the world in about 45 minutes. Cant wait for the supercoat to get put on and the wings will be a real treat. The undercarriage wing is glassed as well for the first coat. Man it was a real chemical fog on Blackberry lane by the time I left today. Thank John for getting completly wasted with me today. If I remember it tomorrow it was a lot of fun. I'm going to go sit in the corner and drool now.............

Morning after report: With the morning came a clearer head and no side effects.

Hopefully I will be able to get back up with the lower wing yet this week and get the bottom fabric on (not finished). This will not be a short process, I am guessing I will have at least 200 hrs into the fabric. I think in the end it will be worth it. Monkote or ultracote just wouldnt look right...........

Well its a week after I started and with all of the other things in life at high speed it seems as though I havent had any time to get over to the garage to do any more work. Maybe Tomorrow for a quick coat of glass. I havent had a chance to get any more fabric sewn together at this point either although both wings are ready to cover.

Just got the last of the fabric I needed from GTM. I got the wheels covered last night now I have to dope them. They look 100% awsome, lets see how they work out once they are doped. I have the horizontal stab done and the elevators are done. Both are ready for some more dope. I cant seem to find my supply of beeswax so I havent been able to start on covering the wings yet. The spars need to be waxed before covering and doping. Anyone have a good place to find beeswax for sale?

Good news, found the beeswax for sale at Kilkenny Hardware. Wheels now have 4 coats of Buterate dope and are getting pretty glossy. The tail group is ready for their rib tapes and leading edge tapes. The bottom wing has two coats of Buterate on the bottom surface. Things are looking pretty good. The landing gear is almost ready for paint with 2 sanded coats of resin and the strut legs are now covered with 1.5 oz glass cloth and block sanded out. I'm making progress.......... Its got a loooooong way to go before Rhinebeck !

Been working on the airframe again and have left the dope alone for a few days now. I finished the wing struts and now they need to be sanded and clothed over so they can be smoothed up with some glass resin. Soldering the struts took some time bacause everything needed to be aligned and checked as I soldered. It took me about 4 hours to rig them and solder them up, then another hour to get the wood in place over them and rough shape them. I will be at Johns soon to apply the cloth and resin. Then I need to do the main struts for the fuselage / upper wing mount. Those are soldered and in place but need wood, cloth and resin. YyyeeeeHHHHaaaaaaa

Well it seems as though progress is slow. I have completed the wings except for the ailerons on the upper wing. 2 coats of Nitrate on each surface, then 5 coats of super coat clear buyuterate dope on each surface. It’s a lot of dope and a lot of time. I thought when I hit the 200 hour mark I had a lot of time in it. I just went over the 300 hour mark and the radio gear isn’t in and the fuse isn’t covered or prepped. I also have a lot of glass cloth and paint to do, after that all of the insignias and markings. It’s by far the most demanding project I have ever taken on. 10 times more work than my B-17 was. Problem is I am already planning my next one. I might possible by clinically insane? It sure is pretty though. I have to thank John for the use of his garage as without the place to dope I couldn’t have made any progress this winter.