It seems that Team Kansas City must have been frozen in time, and unable to update their blog. That doesn’t, however, mean that no progress has been made on the Morane AI. The project is going through another one of those periods where the hours spent working, don’t seem to yeild much in visible results. Students are finding out how long it takes to stitch the fabric to the control surfaces (and they haven’t even started rib stitching on the wings), as well as how much sanding it takes to make the museum quality finish that is expected here.
The tail feathers and the fuselage have been covered, stitched, and doped up to the silver coat. We have included a photo that shows the current status of the fuselage. You can also get an idea of the unique shape of this aircraft. It has been described as looking like an ice cream cone laying on its side.
With the fuselage up in position to work on, you can clearly see the work that has gone into converting the tail skid into a steerable tailwheel. The idea was to give the pilot more control on the ground, save the headaches of landing on asphalt with a tail skid, and still maintain the look and dimensions of the original aircraft. With a little in-house engineering, and a lot of work put in by a dedicated student, we believe we have met that goal.
In another part of the shop, work on the wing continues. The basic structure is complete and the aileron torque tubes are installed. Still under construction are the ailerons and wing tips. This is pretty slow going because the original drawings (and there aren’t many) show no details here. We have relied on the expertise of several other builder/restorers, photographs of existing aircraft, and application of LTAR engineering principles. The photos here show the thin plywood bent around the leading edge of the aileron to help stiffen the structure, and provide a leading edge for airflow.
One of the unique features of many aircraft from this era are the scalloped trailing edges. While this might look like an important design feature, or maybe even an eccentric flourish, it really has quite a humble origin. Most wing trailing edges today are made of small aluminum angle pieces. In the early days, to keep the weight down and provide the structural integrity needed, a cable was strung along the trailing edge. Under the correct amount of tension, the system worked very well. I understand that in one German factory, the tension was correct when the wire would just support the weight of a Luger pistol – so much for cable tensiometers! Because the cable is free to flex within the limits of its established tension, when the fabric shrinks the trailing edge moves in tightening the cable. The net result is the familiar scalloped design. We have include a couple of pictures of the Morane wing with the cable in place, and with the cable deflected (we left the luger at home – the school has a no weapons policy).
Work has also been going on to prepare the engine for installation. The exhaust collector that came on the engine was just right for its original installation, but was far to big for the small space available on the Morane. The exhaust stacks all had to be shortened, and the flanges re-welded to the collector. We have the cut and shorten part done, but ran into a problem with finding the right welding rod for this application. Because this collector is not made according to US standards, we are unsure of the type of stainless steel used. Several experiments with different types of welding rod were not successful. Only yesterday did we discover the whereabouts of a gentleman who routinely welds these same types of stacks. We will be prevailing on his kindness to share what type of rod he found that works. We have included a picture of the engine with its disconnected exhaust components – wait to find the right welding rod.
Well this module is about to end, and a new crop of students will show up next week. We hope that at least a few of them will be interested in helping this project stay moving ahead. Warm weather is coming, and open cockpit flying would be just right for those warm days!
