The Rebirth of Cessna 140 NC3771V
Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:39 pm
After getting lots of helpful information here from forum members, I decided to consolidate the info on the repair of my plane into a single thread and also use it as a basis for future discussion when questions arise.
I have had the 1948 aircraft since 2017. At the time I was training to get my pilot's license with the intention of finishing out in the 140. Since it had no dual brakes, I had a terrible time finding an instructor toward that purpose and was advised to finish out in a more common type. It was good advice and that being accomplished, I then looked forward to flying the little Cessna as my primary aircraft and to obtain lots of tail wheel experience to further my goal of flying WWI biplanes.
Things were progressing nicely until November 2019 when on my 4th take off and landing from a full stop, I had a complete cowl latch failure, (not a pre-flight issue but an actual structural failure of the latch). The left cowl metal began to lacerate down the middle, perpendicular to the center piano wire hinge, and threaten the canopy and prop. I was able to make an emergency landing on a service road with no major harm to us but did have the cowl damage and clipped the left wingtip on a post.
Since there was no major damage to anything or to us, the 'occurrence' caused me no problems with any authorities but did open my eyes to just how little insurance companies regard these old planes. After nearly three months of back and forth, a 'totaling' of the aircraft (which still defies imagination as it was a left wingtip, 12" of leading edge, two nose ribs, and the left cowl as the only damage), and a $5500 buy back, I have embarked since February on getting her back in the air.
But what an opportunity. The aircraft always struck me as kind of ugly. You know, like a '57 Chevy painted with more 'modern' colors rather than letting it be what it is. The more I looked at it, the more I disliked the 1970s era paint scheme. So, knowing I was going to have to paint portions of it anyway and recover the left wing, and really not wanting to repaint an ugly scheme, I explored taking her back to the 1940s. I discovered she had a rich history with Sinclair Aviation. Without the emergency landing, I likely would have never taken on a restoration to bring her back to her service days with Sinclair Aviation in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Here is a link on the research phase of the aircraft:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=872&p=6834#p6834
The exact appearance of the pre-paint era of Sinclair 140s is still unknown to me. The log books show the planes were not painted until 1954 (at least mine) when they metalized the wings. By the interior colors, I have determined mine had red exterior trim on the factory aluminum. I was able to get a fair idea of a representation of how it might look from talking to a former Sinclair pilot who flew during that time.
Since then, I have gotten great advice on the cowl, wings, cockpit, brakes, and many other things here on this forum. So, I decided to post some progress pics to record the effort in the hopes it may be helpful to others who are on similar journeys.
My intent is to get the aircraft back in the air this fall. I will post some pics in the following posts of the progress to date.
Steve
I have had the 1948 aircraft since 2017. At the time I was training to get my pilot's license with the intention of finishing out in the 140. Since it had no dual brakes, I had a terrible time finding an instructor toward that purpose and was advised to finish out in a more common type. It was good advice and that being accomplished, I then looked forward to flying the little Cessna as my primary aircraft and to obtain lots of tail wheel experience to further my goal of flying WWI biplanes.
- Cessna_140_3771V_Jan2018.jpg (260.71 KiB) Viewed 95711 times
- Cessna_140_3771V_1Nov2019_2.jpg (404.23 KiB) Viewed 95711 times
But what an opportunity. The aircraft always struck me as kind of ugly. You know, like a '57 Chevy painted with more 'modern' colors rather than letting it be what it is. The more I looked at it, the more I disliked the 1970s era paint scheme. So, knowing I was going to have to paint portions of it anyway and recover the left wing, and really not wanting to repaint an ugly scheme, I explored taking her back to the 1940s. I discovered she had a rich history with Sinclair Aviation. Without the emergency landing, I likely would have never taken on a restoration to bring her back to her service days with Sinclair Aviation in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Here is a link on the research phase of the aircraft:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=872&p=6834#p6834
The exact appearance of the pre-paint era of Sinclair 140s is still unknown to me. The log books show the planes were not painted until 1954 (at least mine) when they metalized the wings. By the interior colors, I have determined mine had red exterior trim on the factory aluminum. I was able to get a fair idea of a representation of how it might look from talking to a former Sinclair pilot who flew during that time.
- Cessna140_Paint2.png (281.45 KiB) Viewed 95711 times
My intent is to get the aircraft back in the air this fall. I will post some pics in the following posts of the progress to date.
Steve