wouldn’t have minded to have them
as part of my living room set at
home! They are absolutely beautiful
in my mind, and they are true to the
1941 look of this airplane.”
pt paint and progress
With the fuselage complete, Mike
covered the airframe with Ceconite.
As he began the process of building
the wings, he had to stop for a time to
move his family to Florida. Trucking
the project from a dryer climate to a
humid one caused Mike some difficulties when the wings were eventually finished. “I started to cover the
wings in my garage in Florida,” said
Mike, “and I was having a hard time
dealing with the humidity.” When
he applied the dope it created a foggy
look to the surface, causing him to
sand until he realized he had sanded
off more dope than what he had put
on. Mike estimated that he sanded
each wing seven times. “By the time
I was done I had no ridge detail on
my fingers and kiddingly thought
this would have been a good time to
rob a bank!” In the end, installing an
air conditioner in the garage solved
the fog issue.
With the wings and fuselage almost
ready to be mated together, Mike
began to concentrate on the engine
and exhaust system. He stayed with
the tried and true Continental 220-
hp engine that powered the original
Stearman and had it overhauled by
Blakley Engine Service in Texas.
Then he stumbled across a dia-
mond in the rough. Mike was able to
locate a factory fresh, albeit 1940s,
brand new, never been used exhaust
shroud along with all the sheet
metal pieces. In fact, Mike found
his metal pieces with the Boeing
factory tags still attached. With the
engine and exhaust issues laid to
rest, he began to concern himself
with a paint scheme.
