Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Robert Haines"
Hello, Piet aficionados-What the heck, it's close to Christmas so even though I don't have a Piet started yet, I'll sit here and look under the tree and wish for what Santa would bring me. A Pietenpol, pulled by 65 horses or so!My Piet will have a paint job much like Steve Eldredge's. Love it! Green fuselage, silver wings, big letters on the wings, and the "Air Camper" logo on the side. Big letter on the tail (probably a "P" for Pietenpol, and I don't care if the frightened millions on the ground get a good I.D. on me anyway; but good luck seeing through all the smoke trail I've just laid!) I agree with the person who said "keep it light"- use HS90X or equivalent lightweight fabric where it will do, and just enough finish to keep UV out and cover the fabric adequately. I do like the idea of keeping with the simpler finishing methods like roller/brush rather than spray, the theory being that builders back in those days didn't have our fancy HVLP rigs, Imron, or any of that. Plus it gets the plane in the air sooner, causes less grief when a gnat or two flies into the wet paint, and looks just fine from 20 ft. away! Mike Cuy can be the showplane poster boy for the rest of us with his beautiful paint job.Really enjoyed the series of posts on tools. I did it the easy way: made friends with a guy who has all the shop tools I need (table saw, planer, band saw, air compressor, etc.) so all I have are less-expensive stuff and hand tools. And my kids already know I want clicker torque wrenches for Christmas (gotta do those bolts just right!)Oscar ZunigaMedford, Oregonmailto: taildrags(at)hotmail.comwebsite at http://www.flysquirrel.netJoin the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: Doug413(at)aol.com
For all you in the Midwest, there is a place in Kansas City called PaxtonLumber. (Of course, Wicks in right outside of St. Louis and they will sellyou fully dressed lumber at full price). Paxton sells rough lumber forcabinet makers. So a few years ago when I was shopping for spruce, Icalled, allthough spruce wasn't in there catalog. The salesman said, "sure,we always keep a little on hand for those airplane guys." The cool thing isthat they also had a delivery route which extended into St. Louis. Theygave me the name of their customer on the edge of their route closest to me,which was still about 100 miles away but at least wasn't on the other sideof Missouri. That customer was very helpfull, they unloaded and stored thewood and called me to come pick it up. I think I paid about$6.00/board-foot for rough sawn 4/4 lumber and planed it myself. I ended upwith planed lumber 7/8" thick which translated into more capstrips andslightly thicker spars.My suggestion is to call your regional lumber supplier catering to cabinetmakers. You might find one that keeps some "for those airplane guys".Robert HainesMurphysboro, IllinoisP.S. - In light of last week's emails regarding the misunderstanding of sometounge-in-cheek comments, here's my disclamers:I will not write an email intended to make fun of anyone other than me. I'ma light hearted good-ol'-boy, although somewhat of a smart-ass and sarcasmsometimes creeps into my conversation. I will reserve that behavior foronly those who I consider a friend. I consider all of you my friends.I'm not a know-it-all although I write like I'm one. I'm addicted to thisemail list because there is so much to learn. Please forgive me if I get alittle long winded.________________________________________________________________________________