With the January 1, 2014 deadline looming, the pace of work on the Benoist is increasing. Ken has made great progress on the fuselage/hull. He still needs to put the last layer of planking on the hull but not until he gets all the inside sorted out and the hull flipped over. Here you can see some of the stringers in the front that are temporarily in position showing the shape of the nose that gets covered with fabric. The controls are temporarily installed. And of course, Kermit strikes his trademarked pose:
Rick made up a mock-up fuel tank out of aluminum, shown here, to fit the mounting brackets and check for clearances. The actual tank will be made of brass which Rick will fabricate once the sheet brass arrives.
Ken has also been laying out where the rudder and elevator cables run down the inside of the hull, through the top turtleneck, and back to the control surfaces.
Andrea and Dave are working on sorting out the wire cables and adjustment ends, which has turned into a bit more than we expected. Andy is machining away on the drive train that includes the prop hub, prop shaft, and sprockets.
All in all, we’re making a lot of progress, but we can all hear that clock ticking in the back of our heads. Will we make it in time?