I thought I'd start a thread on my project since it might help someone in the future.
The backstory. Julie and I love airplanes. We currently have 2 gliders and a Glasair 2RG in the fleet. The Gliders are great fun and I put in thousands of miles of cross country flying in them each year, but they aren't point to point aircraft. The Glasair is a great commuter. 200mph on under 9gph. Fast and efficient, but also complex and for some reason doesn't feel like the kind of airplane you just hop into and knock around the pattern 10 or so times for fun.
Julie and I both got our tailwheel endorsements in Citabria's and they are a blast and something that was on our radar. Especially since you can add a towhook and use it for our own private towplane.
A neighboring hangar had a project Citabria in it. Over the period of a few years I saw a little bit of progress. Finally paint on the fuselage, but the wings were bare and hanging in the rafters. I asked the owner on a few occasions if he was looking for a partner. Not really. Then he mulled it over a few times. Then his business picked up and space went down and he bought a house and the projects were piling up. Julie nagged him a bit more about selling her the project. In March, he decided it was time to do a little hangar cleaning.
So we ended up with a 1974 GCBC. Mid time engine. The fuselage fabric and interior are done and immaculate. He took it down to bare metal and brought it all back. The kind of work that makes you smile when you look under the panel and see tidy laced electrical. Then I think about that level of quality and wonder if I can maintain it during the remainder of the build. As we moved box after box of parts to our hangar, the reality of the scope kind of hit hard. What did I get myself into?
The wings were already stripped and a previous, previous owner had started the Milman Spar conversion. So they looked like they were just a few steps from covering. But the spars weren't primed and the ribs weren't cleaned and ... So the guy we bought it from had completely disassembled the right wing. So I had piles of parts and the left wing to go off of as a guide.
Progress has been slow. A variety of things have got in the way during the spring and early summer. Lately I've been hammering away at it pretty hard. Trying to stop at the hangar for an hour or two on my way home from work. Progress has felt great the last couple of weeks with the right wing nearly back together.
I'll post a few pictures and try to keep this updated a bit.
Morgan
The backstory. Julie and I love airplanes. We currently have 2 gliders and a Glasair 2RG in the fleet. The Gliders are great fun and I put in thousands of miles of cross country flying in them each year, but they aren't point to point aircraft. The Glasair is a great commuter. 200mph on under 9gph. Fast and efficient, but also complex and for some reason doesn't feel like the kind of airplane you just hop into and knock around the pattern 10 or so times for fun.
Julie and I both got our tailwheel endorsements in Citabria's and they are a blast and something that was on our radar. Especially since you can add a towhook and use it for our own private towplane.
A neighboring hangar had a project Citabria in it. Over the period of a few years I saw a little bit of progress. Finally paint on the fuselage, but the wings were bare and hanging in the rafters. I asked the owner on a few occasions if he was looking for a partner. Not really. Then he mulled it over a few times. Then his business picked up and space went down and he bought a house and the projects were piling up. Julie nagged him a bit more about selling her the project. In March, he decided it was time to do a little hangar cleaning.
So we ended up with a 1974 GCBC. Mid time engine. The fuselage fabric and interior are done and immaculate. He took it down to bare metal and brought it all back. The kind of work that makes you smile when you look under the panel and see tidy laced electrical. Then I think about that level of quality and wonder if I can maintain it during the remainder of the build. As we moved box after box of parts to our hangar, the reality of the scope kind of hit hard. What did I get myself into?
The wings were already stripped and a previous, previous owner had started the Milman Spar conversion. So they looked like they were just a few steps from covering. But the spars weren't primed and the ribs weren't cleaned and ... So the guy we bought it from had completely disassembled the right wing. So I had piles of parts and the left wing to go off of as a guide.
Progress has been slow. A variety of things have got in the way during the spring and early summer. Lately I've been hammering away at it pretty hard. Trying to stop at the hangar for an hour or two on my way home from work. Progress has felt great the last couple of weeks with the right wing nearly back together.
I'll post a few pictures and try to keep this updated a bit.
Morgan
