I was rung the other day by a friend who had been asked to find some willong hands to help a young restorer fit the wings on his Rearwin Sportster .
I arrived at the barn on the farm to find the 21 year old owner with a couple of his mates , a couple of old guys . The older guys took charge as the owner seemed a little shy . In about half an hour we had one wing in place and about twenty minutes later the other was on as well .Then the wings were levelled and for the first time in twenty nine years the basic airframe was complete . The owner seemed to think it would take 18 months to 2 years before first flight . All in all a great way to spend an afternoon .
By: Melvyn Hiscock - 26th March 2007 at 10:35
That is the same scheme that this will have when restored .
Standard scheme no 1. Stearman Vermillion with insignia blue and gold trim. I used randolph butyrate (when I could finally get it, delivery took ten months) on the fabric and a two-pack on the metal. Much easier than using enamels on the metal. Randolph enamel was useless and I found an exact match two-pack. One mistake was using car paint as the gold as that is acrylic and not nitro so is a pain to strip if you get enything wrong.
I can supply colour chips if the guy is interested.
Actually, give him my email, [email]melvyn@melvynhiscock.com[/email], as it would be good to be in touch with him.
Melvyn
By: Melvyn Hiscock - 26th March 2007 at 10:29
Hi Melvyn, is this your aeroplane?
Rearwin 8125 Cloudster (G-EVLE)
Richard
Yes, that’s it.
And that may be me too. Taken at Woodchurch last year when I was unofficial HFL taxi service to and from Headcorn. Took Clive Denney to get his Chipmunk and then straight back with Shiney Simmons to get the Hurricane.
By: OHOPE - 26th March 2007 at 01:24
That is the same scheme that this will have when restored .
By: REF - 25th March 2007 at 23:18
Hi Melvyn, is this your aeroplane?
Rearwin 8125 Cloudster (G-EVLE)
Richard
By: Melvyn Hiscock - 25th March 2007 at 22:28
I could usually find extra hands to turn wins and for people to hold them but I also built high trestles to help take the strain.
The Flyer piece could only scratch the surface of what actually happened.
By: BlueRobin - 25th March 2007 at 20:36
Reading your piece in FLYER, Melvyn, it sounds as if you would have welcomed some extra help as with the above chap and two old hands ? 🙂
By: OHOPE - 25th March 2007 at 19:19
Cancer unfortunately took Johns life last year and so ZK-ALF is being restored by Tim his son .
By: scrooge - 25th March 2007 at 12:09
hmmm, thought Tony Paynes’ was in a hanger in Auckland, unless he sold it to aforementioned young fellow. Might be the one from Te Puke, ZK-ALF?
By: Melvyn Hiscock - 25th March 2007 at 10:42
There are a bunch of Sportsters in New Zealand.
I had just posted this to say there were two and then realised that I had not scrolled all the way down Eric Rearwin’s excellent list.
607D ZK-AGS 1938 SPORTSTER 9000-L DELUXE GEDDES, BOB (DECEASED) NEW ZEALAND DESTROYED
613D ZK-ALF 1938 SPORTSTER 9000L DELUXE GALPIN, JOHN PONGAKAWA, TE PUKE 3071 NEW ZEALAND NOT FLYING
654D ZK-AKF 1940 SPORTSTER 9000-KR DELUXE PAYNE, TONY AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND RESTORING
656D ZK-AKA * SPORTSTER 9000-KR DELUXE NZ SPORT AND VINTAGE AVIATION SOCIETY MASTERTON, NEW ZEALAND *
So I presume this is ZK-AKF and I would love to see some pics.
Melvyn Hiscock
By: Newforest - 25th March 2007 at 09:45
Ah, England as it was then! At least Melvyn won’t be worried about any competition locally. Good news on the rstoration.
By: OHOPE - 25th March 2007 at 09:26
Nope , quite the other end of the earth in New Zealand .
By: Newforest - 25th March 2007 at 07:56
A much better way of spending the afternoon than watching sport on T.V., this would presumably be in the U.K.?
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March 25, 2007 at 12:24 am