Views: 146 My Dad's original Cherokee. Sadly, I believe it bet it's demise when it hit a light pole at the little airport he sometimes flew at. Views: 142 A picture of my workbench in a most unnatural state......clean! It is only this way two times, one, if I am having company that might visit my shop, or two, when I am about to start a new project! Views: 156 Minimal instructions for this kit! Views: 126 This parts diagram show the fuselage....no other pics or diagrams for the builder! Views: 115 Freshly opened, undisturbed model kit! Just like it came back in 1978! Views: 141 Some additional literature in the kit. Views: 133 Full size plans......still in pretty decent shape, just a bit yellowed. Views: 11 Assembly starts with gluing together a few formers, doublers, and the fuselage sides. Pins, weights, and titebond wood glue hold things together. Views: 12 As in every kit......one needs to be sure to make a left and a right side! Views: 11 Triangle stock and some vertical supports are added to the glued up fuselage sides. Views: 9 Test fitting and gluing the sides together. Neatness counts for a true and straight flying bird! Views: 9 Views: 7 The fuselage bottom added. Views: 9 I added the push rods next, before the top is glued on. It is much easier at this point, and I can add the proper supports for the tubes. Views: 6 Push rod exits are located and slots made. They will be permanently attached a bit later. Views: 11 The fuselage top can now be attached. Views: 8 Here I have cut the slot for the vertical stabilizer, and added the bottom nose sheeting of the fuselage. Views: 8 Here we are......ready to carve out the rounded shape! Views: 13 Here is my trusty tool.......the mini draw knife! Pay no attention to the thumb and band aide.....that was an injury from something else............. Views: 7 Ready to carve.......... Views: 10 Right side roughed out......left to go. Views: 12 Here I have marked the profile I am shooting for. Once the rough shape is done, I use several different sanding blocks to get to the final shaped finish. Views: 17 This is why I go to the garage..........removing what doesn't look like an airplane leaves quite a bit of shavings! This was just after one side! Views: 13 The hatch and cowl in place Views: 15 The windshield is test fit as well. Views: 14 This is the only pic that I have of the hatch before it was carved. Three blocks make up the hatch, and a rear and front former will be added. Views: 13 The vertical fin and horizontal stab in place. Views: 11 Views: 12 Pinned in place over the plans.....the Horizontal stab's ribs, leading and trailing edges are glued into position. Views: 9 Views: 10 1/16" sheeting is fit and glued in place on the stab top. Weights, pins and wood glue are used here. Views: 11 Once dry, the assembly is turned over, and the sheeting is added to the bottom. Views: 8 I think I have enough weight on here????? Once this is dry, the tip blocks are added and then carved/sanded to shape. Views: 8 Here the spars, ribs, leading and trailing edges are being pinned to the plan. Views: 9 The leading edge sheeting is being glued in here.....lots of clothes pins to help hold things in place. The curve of this airfoil is not too bad as to require wetting of the sheet to help it bend. Views: 6 The trailing edge is now in place, waiting for the glues to dry. This pic also shows the first wing section in the background getting its bottom leading edge sheet installed. Views: 9 Wing tip sheeting is in place now.... Views: 7 Both wings assembled and ready for the tips to be formed, as well as leading and trailing edges to be carved and sanded to shape. Views: 8 The first thing I did was to trim the tips to shape, then to carve the leading and trailing edges. Here the wings are back in the garage, ready to carve. Views: 10 Here the carving is complete, and the angled tips are sanded. Once the other half is done, I will go back to the shop and glue on the tip sheeting. Views: 8 Both wings carved, shaped and sanded....dirty work is done! Views: 9 Did I say dirty work???? Again, Lots of shavings and dust safely kept in the garage workshop! Views: 16 Both wings back in the basement shop with the tip sheeting in place and sanded. Next step, joining the wing halves! Views: 9 The wing halves being test fit before joining. One can see the ply center joiner on the workbench just in front of the wing by the clamp. It is not all that large.......but I will use some glass cloth on the center joint to help later. Views: 9 Test clamping.....test, test, test the fits........this is a critical step in the build and one needs to be sure! Views: 11 Wing hold down blocks and sub rib ready to be glued in. Note the landing gear blocks are in position, helping to ling it all up. Views: 9 Views: 8 Here the wing blocks, and the landing gear blocks are glued and clamped in position. Epoxy was the glue of choice here........While I make good landings......I want to be sure there are no surprises down the road! Views: 9 One can never have enough clamps! Views: 11 Here the bottom right sheeting is in place, and the left sheeting is being fitted . Note the notch in the sheet on the workbench...that is for the wight hold down block. All the hardwood blocks are flush with the sheeting surfaces. Views: 5 Tri stock is added to the ribs on the one end.......the other block one sees is the vertical hardwood that the landing gear sticks into. It is epoxied into the wing and reinforces that end of the landing gear blocks. Views: 6 Look close.....one can see the added balsa stock I glued in against the gear blocks in between the ribs.....this allows more gluing surface for the sheeting around the blocks. Views: 11 Now the top center sheeting can be fit and glued into position. Again, note the notches in the sheets for the wing hold down blocks. Views: 6 Views: 8 All center top sheets glued and pinned. Views: 9 There are actually cap strips on the ribs.....but they are very narrow compared to most I have done. But, they serve a purpose....and are easy to install. Views: 11 Light weight fiberglass cloth is added to the center section of the wing. Spray adhesive is used to tack it in place, then thin CA is used to glue it down permanently. Views: 14 Once the cloth is bonded with CA, Zpoxy resin is used to seal everything up. Note the center section hole in the wing where the aileron servo would be on the original design. The servos will be in the wings on this one. Views: 9 While the wing is curing, the blocks for the wing hold downs are added to the fuselage. Views: 17 Here the horizontal stabilizer and elevator have been hinged, and tooth pick pins installed. The hinge pins were removed to seperate the parts, and then the toothpicks will be trimmed and sanded smooth. Views: 12 Same process for the fin and rudder. Views: 11 Here both stabilizer surfaces have been sanded and reinstalled.......safe-secure, and more importantly...bind free and smoothly operating! Views: 12 The ailerons have been hinged, and a test fit of everything back in the shop. Views: 11 Push rod outer housings are secured using micro ballon filler mixed with resin. Strong and easy to sand! Views: 11 Here the rudder push rod exit is shown before sanding. Views: 10 Both push rod exits are sanded, and the push rods are ready to hook up to the control surfaces. Views: 8 Rudder connection complete. I used a ball link connector due to the angled hinge line. The push rod moves with little binding. Views: 12 Elevator push rod hooked up and ready! Views: 9 Here is the firewall with the cooling hole enlarged for the filler piece. The firewall is 1/4" ply.....as is the filler. Views: 14 Nose gear bracket installed. Views: 9 Views: 15 Here the bracket and nose gear, as well as the push rod for the steering connection are installed. Not too bad of a fix for not thinking ahead. Views: 15 Here we are............Sitting pretty on the landing gear, cowl in place and everything ready to start covering! Views: 25 Views: 11 Views: 8 Views: 8 Views: 14 Views: 14 Views: 15 Views: 6 Dad's original larger Cherokee, the basis for my color choices. If anyone from the eastern Iowa area reads/sees this pic, it is from the Cedar Rapids Skyhawks field at Seminole Valley park......a long time ago.....(1960's) Water is from flooding. Views: 8 Covering begins. I try to do the smaller pieces first, ie, control surfaces, etc. They are more tedious for me, so it is nice to get them out of the way. Views: 7 Fairly clean bench.........a rarity. Views: 9 A morning of work.....wings, horizontal stab, and vertical stab, plus all the control surfaces. Views: 15 The end of day one covering.....windows are only on the left side, and that was as far as I could get today. Views: 13 After a week away, I was able to get the trim mostly completed. I still need to paint the cowl, luckily I have some yellow paint that is a good enough match. Views: 13 Clear windscreen is glued onto the hatch. Sadly, it has some scratches on the inside, but not too bad that it is unusable. I should be happy it is in this good of shape after sitting in the box since the 1970's! Views: 5 Motor mounted on a short extension box. Views: 6 Nose gear fitted, and installed permanently. Views: 3 Cowling being fitted. Views: 6 Battery tray installed. It sits about an inches off the bottom and is removable so I can access the speed control easily. Remarkably, the battery sits right up front for perfect balance. I still might need to add an ounce or two for final balance. Views: 6 Just needs some N numbers and logos. I have to break out the vinyl cutter for those. RTF weight is 3#-6oz, 2oz under the specifications. Views: 5 Views: 2 Views: 3 Views: 3