The CallAir - January 2017 - C.M. Wangs?

I had a particularly obnoxious friend who would tell and retell lame jokes, sometimes without taking a breath, and laugh every time at his rendition. Over and over. It's like watching today's pharmaceutical ads during the evening news. Having no talent at joke telling, or remembering for that matter, it surprised me that I recalled, nearly 50 years on, one of those annoying recitations and so now you are the beneficiary of my friend's largess. To duplicate his (re,re,re)telling, you must begin with a clean sheet of paper and write it out as you go, in an exaggerated Southern accent (he was from Massachusetts and his Southern accent was awful):

M R Ducks.
M R Not Ducks, M R Chickens.
M R 2 Ducks, C M Wangs?
L I B! M R Ducks!

I told you it was lame.

The wings are in place on the airplane, where they belong!

The best time to round up help is on a Friday when all the guys gather in preparation for lunch at Mary's Kountry Kitchen

Doesn't she look pretty in the Florida sun?

The paint scheme is as close to the original paint scheme as we could get, thanks to Major General Boyd Eddins (Ret), who worked at the CallAir factory as a teenager 

We're finally getting closer. Malcolm and Jonathan are fitting the center eyebrow next week (the part that goes between the wings and forms the upper windshield fairing) and, after measuring, the new windshield will be in the works.

I'm getting a little excited.

I Got Stripes

Malcolm said this was about 4 days worth of work to get the stripes just right.  

 The lettering within the stripe is just as it was when the airplane was new

 Careful masking makes sure the paint goes only where it is intended

Nice work! Note the Wyoming bucking bronco on the tail - the image is owned by the University of Wyoming and I made sure they were OK with my using it - all the CallAir airplanes displayed it when they were sent from the factory.

The CallAir Cadet Restoration - index of posts

Here it is, the first of 2017 and the full restoration of my airplane is just about done. Here is an index of all my posts about the CallAir Cadet. When I bought the airplane from Burt's family, I really had no idea what I was getting into. The airplane looked ok mechanically and I thought a simple recovering job might be it, but the more I looked into the history of the airplane, the more intrigued I became and, I have to admit, my heart got ahead of my head. But that's what I do. Same was true with the Bonanza I bought from a WWII Navy Ace, same was true with a couple of Cubs. Leave them better than you found them.

My own skills are just not up to scratch when it comes to projects like this - I have to leave it to professionals. 

So in chronological order:

Apr 2012: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2012_04_01_archive.html

Jun 2012: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2012/08/ok-what-now.html

Sep 2012: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2012/09/flying-callair.html

Dec 2012: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2012/12/overnight-to-warmer-climes.html

Oct 2013: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2013/10/on-your-mark.html

Oct 2013: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-little-history-before-we-cut-fabric_25.html

Nov 2013: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-call-aircraft-company.html

Nov 2013: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-callair-restoration-begins.html

Mar 2014: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-callair-progress-report.html

Apr 2014: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2014/04/serendipity.html

May 2014: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2014/05/untitled.html

Aug 2014: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2014/08/go-placidly-amid-noise-and-haste.html

Sep 2014:  http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2014/09/meanwhile-back-at-airport.html

Dec 2014: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2014/12/time-do-fly.html

Nov 2015: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2015/11/update-on-callair-project-november-2015.html

Jan 2016:  http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/01/january-2016-callair-progress.html

Feb 2016:  http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/02/today-callair-update-feb-2016-pretty-in.html

Feb 2016:  http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/02/callair-in-silver.html

Apr 2016:  http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/04/old-yellers-coming-along.html

May 2016: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/05/malcolm-wizard-of-day.html

Jul 2016:   http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/07/progress-is-just-that-and-thats-that.html

Jul 2016:   http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/07/big-news-callair-is-closer-and-closer.html

Aug 2016: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/08/progress-on-callair-cadet-august-2016.html

Oct 2016:  http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/10/its-october-2016-and-heres-latest-on.html

Nov 2016: http://letsgofly.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-end-of-november-2016-callair.html

We're pretty close now. All the parts have been cut out and fitted and painted and most have been secured in place. The windshield is the current Big Deal and that, hopefully, will be in place this month. Finding a replacement for a part that has been obsolete for 75 years, give or take, is a bit of a challenge but, fortunately, Malcolm has experience with fabricating things like this and so, one way or another, we'll have a new windshield.

I've quit forecasting a completion date. It'll be done when it's done.