ED'S EXCELLENT RESTORATION ADVENTURE...
From: Edward S. Krause (n97697@cecomet.net)
To: Monty747@aol.com
Subj: N2307B
Good morning.....thought I would give you an update on my Swift restoration. I have the panel removed, wiring harness from rear of firewall out, fin, rudder, elevators and stabilizer are also removed. Found corrosion on the false bulkhead that the trim assembly is bolted to. It looks like an uncomplicated repair. Could find no evidence of further corrosion in the tail (that's good). This morning I have a pressure washer and I am taking it outside for a complete wash job, inside and out. I found out how old I am (45) when I had to crawl inside the fuselage to the rear bulkhead and hold the wrench to remove the four front stabilizer bolts. Can you two think of anything else I should be looking for? Thanks for your input, Ed Krause

Ed,
It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on where to look for problems. The tail is the first place to look for corrosion. At 45, it was EASY to crawl back in the fuselage and under the instrument panel. Now at age 60 its getting tough! Keep in touch! --- Jim

CONCERNS WITH A 50+ YEAR OLD AIRPLANE... (010400)
Subject: Restoration
From: Keith Bracht <kab_bjb@skat.net>
Too windy to fly today, gusts to 60kts in the area. So us hanger flyers started talking about fabric vs. aluminum. One fellow believes that any airplane regardless of skin material should have the skin removed at least every 20 years just to see what's going on underneath. I got to thinking that 29K still has most of its original skin except where a couple repairs were done along the way. Neither I nor Paul Nyenhaus have found any corrosion or cracks. So what do you think? Do I need to start planning for a restoration in the future?

Keith,
Any airplane should get inspected annually, with maybe a little more thorough inspection every few years, but not to the extent of deriveting the skin of a metal airplane! If they had just chromated the Swift structure internally corrosion would not be such a factor, but as it is there are enough inspection panels for an inspector to find any incipient corrosion. Some of the control surfaces don't permit much of an internal inspection but when rivet heads start popping off, its time to remove an end rib or drill a hole for a closer look at the innards. The control cables on a Swift can be inspected very adequately, unlike some brand "C" or "P" airplanes which need one end of the cable unbolted and the cable pulled out of the airplane to inspect it. Many "rag" airplanes have wood structure, which may require a close look. I feel comfortable inspecting the 50 year old structure of the Swift because we know where cracks are likely to occur and where corrosion might exist. I have been spraying the structure of the Swifts I annual with LPS-2 or 3 for the past 10 or 15 years. There are some other products on the market such as ACF-50 which do a good job too. -- Jim

FOUND AUTOMOTIVE UNDERCOATING USED INSIDE CABIN... (010400)
Subject: Coating
From: Larry La Force <LaForce55@aol.com>
I am currently removing a coating that is inside 80844 that appears to be similar to automotive undercoating. It is cracked and peeling pretty bad. I figured with everything out of the fuselage... now was the time to do it. My question is ... was this coating in all Swifts? If so ... would you recommend reapplying? Thanks.... Larry LaForce

Larry:
I have seen that stuff before. I see no reason to reapply it. I think the idea was a sound deadener - I don't think all Swifts had it. Nowadays we rely on headsets more than anything to save our ears. -- Jim