Busily at work throughout the month, our DC-3 restoration team has made exemplary progress throughout October – with the refurbishment of various assemblies complete and ready for installation back on the aircraft.
Some of the month’s achievements:
1. Preparation of the wheel wells for oil tank installation is nearly complete.
The wheel wells have been cleaned of all debris, painted and inspected.
2. Inspection of the wing attach angles to ensure corrosion is completely removed is nearing completion.
3. The tailplane (horizontal stabiliser and vertical fin at the rear of the aircraft) has been cleaned up and inspected, and is now ready for flight control installation.
Interestingly, while the exposed surface of the elevator appears to be metal, it is actually coated fabric. This was a design feature of some older aircraft that served to reduce weight, but became impractical with the development of newer aircraft capable of travelling at higher speeds.
