Messages

Excellent job. Thanks for the post. It's fun to see such high end work.

Are you able to heat a hanger like the one in your picture up there in ND? Or is working in the cold a part of that type of business?

gene

Thanks Gene:
    Funny you should mention that about heating the cold hanger.  All of us in the shop have all our coats hanging on our toolboxes in the winter time. It gets to -40F at times and Man, when the Line Department (the crew who move the planes) move planes in or out of the hangers, we FREEZE! It really gets tough when they have to get the one in or out of a corner...they have to move all the other airplanes out first.  A lot of us try to work while they move, but sometimes we find other means of heat.  Back when heating was sky high, accounting said it cost close to $1000 each time to reheat the big hangers.

Hey there Steve:
   Ya I wish I could take one home. A lot of time I am able to take anything home that I can haul in my minivan. However the flooring and fitting the welded rack amongst other things have to be done on location. Here is a photo of one of our hangers where I work...



As far as the leather, it is mostly 3 or 4 oz leather from Spinney Beck, Garret, or Douglass if your a cheapie. They all have to pass a burn test. Most are pretty spendy. You measure 5 times...cut once...you hope.

My Surgeon who did my knee, cut on the side of the knee, so I would not have to kneel on the scar tissue. Rehab is so important since you only get one chance at get your mobility back...PT was murder but it paid off.

Hey Gang!   Well, it's been awhile since I posted anything since I have been pretty busy this last year. We took on a 5 airplane Lear Jet Air Ambulance conversion projects for one client to serve the State of Alaska. Between 4 of us (2 aviation mechanics, avionics tech and myself) we gutted the Lear 45s and installed a twin gurney configuration. 
Here is how it started...
I had to Fabricate and TIG weld a rear rack or shelf for medical equipment for all 5 jets. The prototype had to sustain a 7G weight load test (over 2000lbs) and become certified before they could go in.

Each Lear45 had to be rewired, plumbed, for vacuum, air, oxygen for all the medical equipment thru out the planes.

Here is how they turned out...

Now that the word is out that we have been doing this for awhile, we just started a Beechcraft KingAir 200 and a Pilatus PC-12.
  It is a real "test" for me since I had a "total" Knee replacement in August...just out for the surgery and a little rehab and I am back on the knees pad again...great.  I thought I would have time to complete my leather interior on my own Cessna 172M, but not yet. I will post that when I get done with that.
Bye for now,
Gale (NDAV8R)

"No, I Didn't Die!"

Hi Gale. Glad to hear that and to see you back. Are you getting this cold snap over there, or is it staying north west of you ?

Yes we are getting the cold...I know you guys like to share!

No, I Didn't Die!  I am 61.3!

Ya, the headlights are monsterous. I dont think you can get replacements at AutoZone.  The Lightning Bolt insignia on the grill and bumpers were the Marmon trademark.

Only the first picture is of the barn... the rest is in my tiny, barely have room to move, shop.

He purchased this car close to a couple of years ago. He and the seller had no idea of its rarity. He never did tell me the exact price, but the clues he gave me it was close to or above 30 grand. Now that it is known how rare it is, how can you put a price on it??  Someone should be able to get an idea.  The owner doesn't really care right now.
Gale.

I tried to find reference pictures of this model and Google, Bing and the other search engines came up with just this one.  there are a lot of Marmon sedans out there but no 29 model 68 roadsters. The owner never new how rare this one was until I tried to find any info on it. He did thank me for that!

Here is a little (I thought) project I took on in July for a buddy of mine. It is a 1929 Marmon Model 68 Roadster. This was my first attempt in sewing and installing a roadster top.
Here it is in my friend's barn. It is in original condition with a few repairs or touch ups, but the top was redone in the 50s or 60s...

Marking off before tearing it apart...

Had to remove a billion tacks...

Had to repair the oak bows...

Setting up and sewing the bow pads...

Bows recovered and Pads installed...

Fitting the rear window panel using Stainless Steel staples. When I talked to the President of the Marmon Auto club about installing period correct fasteners, he thought that this was the only 1929 Model 68 Roadster in existance...

Since the old pieces were so rotten, and the high cost of the new top material, I patterned on some trial canvas material first...

Stretching and Stapling the front down...

Laying out for the back trim piece...

CONTINUED ON NEXT POST (PART TWO) http://www.upholster.com/upholstery-forum/index.php?topic=14195.msg115940#msg115940

Completed...from Part 1 http://www.upholster.com/upholstery-forum/index.php?topic=14196.0



Outside my shop...



Interior photo...

Rear seat for the Mother-in-law, and the trunk was a trunk...

The engine is a straight 8 but other Marmons came out with a straight 6 and the limos came with a V16....


Me, standing in front of this rare car. The Marmon Motor company built cars from 1903 to 1933 and like 2000 other small car companies, they succumbed to the great depression....

Thanks Gene:
    Your thoughts about getting used is real. We get our past air ambulance projects as well as others in here for scheduled maintenance and you should see them...just beat to a pulp! I guess in the heat of the moment of saving lives, you don't watch if the gurney is tearing up anything or worrying if a little blood drips on something.  We do protect ourselves as much as we can...I have found hypodermic needles laying around in them!! Always use caution.

Gale.

Hey there Doyle:
   This twin engine is a turboprop airplane that hauls patients I guess from local to very distant flights. The embroidery was farmed out. There are many air ambulances in the work force right now, but this is the very first King Air 350 to serve as one. The 350 has a dual aft cargo door, which has a small walk in door with in the large swing up cargo door.
  A lot of single engine turbo prop Pilatus aircraft are used for their very big door and their ability to land in remote places. Plus the annual maintenance factor is so much cheaper than a twin.
  The was a tremendous amount of engineering involve on this project.  Every one of us including the avionic techs to the mechanical techs to me, were so glad to see this project done.

Hey there gang: Well, its been a while since I posted anything here. I have been busy doing welding, machining and a lot of small upholstery projects for the Fargo Jet Center. (where I work)   The latest big project was to convert a brand new 8 million dollar aircraft into a flying ambulance. It has been a 6 month long project including sending the plane to get new paint. The customer is the Mayo Clinic out of Rochester, MN. This is the first time a 350 KingAir have been converted.
Here is the front cockpit, IPOD pouches were installed on lower side panels...

Rear cabin shots looking forward...

Overhead instruments and rail system installed with the one off custom mounts I fabricated and were polished...

Aft section with some cabinetry...

LED lights were installed in the headliner, all seats were recovered, headrests were Embroidered with Mayo's logo, Loncoin flooring was installed, new fabrication stainless steel side walls were installed, all new USB, and com jacks were installed throughout the cabin.

Folding table recovered with customer communication jacks installed.

Here is the plane inside our shop...

And outside one of our hangers...

Our first Air Ambulance project a couple of years ago, involved just 2 other guys and myself. This complex-ed project involved myself and over a dozen other aviation techs.

this was one of my favorites of the 60s in my garage as a kid  in California with the transistor radio

What's a transistor Radio?? ... that's what today's kids say.  Never had one growing up in the 60s. All my friends got one for High school graduation present. However today I collect them when ever I see one at a garage or auction sale.  I currently have about 60 of them in a display case. Some are very bizarre. I don't think they are worth much, but kind of fun to collect.

NDAV8R