Pressing Business

Some jobs are clear priorities.  One of those crossed my path this weekend.  My wife and I sent the children upstairs to clean and neaten.  Several trips later, all of the trash had been collected and we had a new candidate for the" Isle of Misfit Toys".

Flight grounded indefinitely.

My wife had purchased this plane used some time ago.  It wasn't terribly well made, and while not one of our son's favorites, I guess I had a soft spot for a wooden toy that required more imagination than most toys on the market today.  Besides, it was an excuse to putter around in the shop on a day when I didn't have the ability to work on something more involved.  At a glance, it looked like an easy fix, just glue the wing back on. Off we went to the hangar for some much needed maintenance.  

Once in my shop, lucidity (and a cup of coffee) kicked in.  Not only was the wing broken free, but the entire tail section had been snapped off along the grain line.  Judging by the wood color, my son had never enjoyed the plane in it's entirety.  Looking further, on the bottom of the wing, there had once been landing gear.  Now, being something of a perfectionist, clearly, just gluing the wing on would not be an option.

My first order of business was to glue the wing back on.  I figured that if he enjoyed the plane in that state for so long, he would continue to, at least for a while.  Then I would assess what more could be done.

A little closer to air-worthy.

Next, I sawed the remaining tail section back to a 90 degree angle to the sides of the plane's body. That would give me a solid surface to glue to.  The body of the plane was slightly thicker than  the one inch stock that I had in the scrap bin.  So I planed down an off-cut from one of the bedside table legs I had on hand.  Once I reached the proper thickness, I drilled both pieces for a dowel, as the curved bottom of the plane would not allow for proper clamping.  I rough cut the tail piece and glued it up, using a rubber band to hold it in place.

Once all of the glue had dried, I cut a new rear wing in a profile to match the main wing.  I attached that with glue and brads.  I'm hoping to keep this plane on the flight line for some time to come.

The plane, waiting for a little blending on the tail section with chisels and a rasp.

Over the next few evenings, I hope to shape the tail section and figure out what to do about the landing gear.  I was going to cut the wheels with a plug cutter I had, but as with many tools, it seems to have gone missing for a time during my on-going shop reclamation project.  I'll keep looking as I also work to remove the growing pond of snow melt from the shop.  

Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see you again soon.  I'm off to bail more water out of my shop.