Lockheed Vega Restoration - Skin Fabrication
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2020
- The Lockheed Vega restoration has been making great progress lately. It is being restored by Kevin Kimball at his facility in Mt. Dora, Florida. I got the footage for this update from Kevin recently showing the progress on the fuselage. We finally got around to editing the clips together and have a really informative video here showing what they've been up to. Watch as Kevin explains the process of fabricating new skins, and other needed components, to get the Vega fuselage back to original shape. Looking forward to seeing this project come to completion, and have her back in the hangar here at Fantasy of Flight, and ready to fly. Come on along and check out the progress.
Kermit Weeks
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Kermit Weeks - บันเทิง
A 91 year old aircraft made of wood returning to showroom condition.
SO COOL! WHAT SKILL!
💛
Wow. The cradles are as amazing as the skins! Super nice work.
Kevin Kimball and his son are such a pleasure to listen to about what they are doing in this project.
Kermit has a real genius working for him..
Kermit, I thought your new videos could not be better, more informative and explaining processes better as those you already posted in your Mechanic‘s Corner. And I was wrong. This one is even better, or at least on par with the best of the other ones. Don‘t get me wrong, they are all good. But with every new video you amazingly broaden the wealth of knowledge shown already. You got some real masters of their trade working for you. Thank you for letting us join you in watching those excellent videos. One learns something new with every single video.
Incredible how the skin was made, and how these artisans are resurrecting the skills to make parts needed to make the Vega airworthy.
Very educational with constant detailed explanation at all stages. The Vega was way ahead of the game . I wonder if this manner of construction was common practise as it's well documented that the De-Havilland Mosquito was famed for this constrution method. Thanks Kermit. And many thanks to Kevin.
Never ceases to amaze me with this Kermit Weeks character, No matter how bad something turns out to be after the teardown, Aircraft restorations Always turn out to be the best they possibly can be. I can only imagine all those aircraft, after the sun has gone down and everyone's gone home and there's nobody around, Except maybe KW! ... all those planes are laughing with each other, Singing away how great life is again! That mythical Aviation fountain of youth.
He is the Jay Leno of airplanes. His money allows him to do this. When we are all gone, the airplane will still be around for future generations.
It's amazing how hand built some of the old machines are. Beautiful!
Wow! Thank you for sharing and explaining it all. Never knew it was done like that.
Wow, such a shame the frame is in a bad shape with all of those repairs and mods over the years, but I know Kevin and his crew will make it all good again. Nice to see the fuselage skins being made and just how thin the raw material is...vacuum bagging is going to save so much time and effort.
Great presentation Kevin, it is nice to see all the hard work that goes into restoring these beautiful aircraft.
Thank you once again Kermie for sharing these FoF Mechanic's corners...looking forward to part two!
Wow!
High Tech from 1927!
IMPRESSING 👍
Thanks for some new unknown wisdom Kermit 👍🌷
Incredible! It’s amazing that Kevin (and his team) have revived this lost art.
Wow! I sent some time searching for the drawings of the Sirius. I am so very happy that Kermit & Kevin are teaming up to reproduce this great airplane. The "Wooden Lockheeds" were so important in the '30's expanding the capability & exploration by air. Another example of Lockheed engineering excellence. Thanks for sharing all of this information.
Thanks for posting this Kermit it's very interesting to see the progress on your Vega I've been wondering how it's been coming along. I imagine when the time is right these are the guys to have a go at recommissioning your Mosquito. Surprised the new wooden strips expanded and shrunk so much with the humidity. Great video.
Wooden aircraft are so subject to rot and decay. Having the skill set to repair these aircraft is a challenge.Hopefully Kermit has the technicians to be able to complete this restoration. I am so impressed with what they have achieved so far. If anybody can get this accomplished,it’s Kermit and his crew.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Flying history being brought back to life and absolutely amazing unmatched skills possibly a dying art hope not
Thank you for taking the time to present this Kevin. It's very interesting to see how you crated the skins in an alternative way, and introduced modern techniques to an old concept. You and your team should be very proud of your success. My respect to all of you, and nice to see the dog joining in. I wish that I could take my dog to the hangar, but he's a Boxer and would court certain disaster... :)
The dog is Roscoe Turner, named after the famed aviator from the 30's who flew the Gilmore sponsored airplanes including a Lockheed Air Express.
Kevin Kimball Great name for a dog - Roscoe :)
Excellent work and commentary!
Amazing talent ! I would love to volunteer and learn from these folks. Guess my riveting skills blip, back to layering fiber ! Keep vids coming please , excellent commentary sir ! 🇨🇦👍
How very interesting, a modern take on some old skills that should not be forgotten.
Amazing. I hope this man has apprentices. He truly is an artisan.
21:44 of pure joy! Thank You Mr. Kermit.
Mr. Kermit, as a born Okie, Willey Post was my first aviation hero! Again thank you......
Thank you for your time to explain the dedication of your restoration and craftsmanship, it's a credit to you. Its not quite as easy as "oh we need to reskin the vega as it's getting a little tired" I would think it takes 6 months just to get to the stage of putting the first of the plys onto the mold!
Many thanks again.
Fascinating explanation of the original process and the 2020 solution to the problems of restoration. Congratulations to Kevin for an engaging and informative presentation.
Brilliant! Thank you for sharing. Bedford, UK.
Now l know a little bit of what it takes to....Rebuild older aeroplanes....Thanks very much...Kermit for sharing part of your life....!
Thank You for sharing! This answered so many questions that I had wondered about.
This video really stirs me. Wood laminations for aircraft are amazing. From the WW1 Albatross, the inter-war Vegas and DH Comet Racers, WW2 Mosquitos and post-war Bellanca Viking wings, wood has such adaptability. Many people are surprised how much wood is in a Lancaster.
After 30+ years and many wood splinters of woodworking, I am in awe to see someone knowledgeable and skilled to save this aircraft. The humidity impact on unfinished wood is a bear that is constantly looking to bite, especially in humid Florida, but here we deal with extreme humid summers to desert-dry winters. We would receive 2 by 6's studs on the worksite and 2 days later some would be unusebly twisted. We called them 'Hamilton Standards', because regularly changed their pitch!
So when the Vega is done, will it be time to bring the Mosquito into the shop as promised Kermit?
You're the Jay Leno of aviation,I like that you bring in experts for your aircraft.Thank you for what you do,Hope one day I will go down for a visit.
Seems Like you could get into the “New Vega” building boom.
Kevin is the best! Tons of skills and an unbelivable nice human beeing - thanks for the footage and spending all the money to keep history alive Kermit!
This was fantastic, thanks.
If anyone has ever built a cedar strip canoe you will recognize the method Kevin used to make the fuselage mold. Great video!
Amazing professional skills!
This will all be worth it just to see her fly again.
Wood the original composite, every guitar owner knows that temperature and humidity affect tuning. Amazing work you are doing, thanks for the update.
Absolutely fascinating, excellent description of the process!
Nothing but the best for Kermit
Amazing and incredibly complex work - the mold is brilliant.
Incredible work of engineering and artistry combined.
Very interesting, beautiful work! Aircraft restoration is fantastic, keeping history alive!
WoW - really incredible !
I love the bulkhead frames hanging off of the roof trusses at 21:44.
Excelant update video , can't wait for part 2 and to see more of Kevins excelant craftsmanship..
This was nutz. Start to finish. Mad skilz! Thank you. It was so appreciated...and you betcha this got shared!
This will be virtually a new aircraft off of the paten of the original one. It will be a sight to behold.
This is amazing, thank you for sharing this.
This shows amazing craftmanship and patience, I watched the video and it reminded me of the plywood fuselage on the Mosquito? Great job keep up the good work it's really important for us to keep these amazing old aircraft flying. Stay safe best wishes to everyone from NZ.
Excellent presentation! Good hands.
That's a beautiful aircraft!
Simply, Amazing!
This was fascinating !
Such nice people!
And I thought glueing the balsa wood models of my youth together was hard. Beautiful patience requiring work by pros.
The journey is similar, although I start with a box full of new parts, rather than having to restore or fabricate parts from scratch.
I like my hobby right where it's at.
And I love all things made out of wood!
I learned a lot. Great video.
Beautiful work. Who would have thought anyone would ever mold another Vega shell. Maybe a new Orian some day.
Guys, this is not ANY Vega!!! This is Wiley Post’s Vega!!!! It has flown around the world twice, once by Post, one of THE most famous names in aviation...Solo... in 1933!!!!! This is HISTORY and not just an old plane!!!! Thank you Kermit for saving the plane from being just a “Hangar Queen” and then some day to fly it again!!!! The woodworking alone is Fascinating!!!!
Sorry to disappoint you, but the Wiley Post Winnie Mae Vega is in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. This is another original Vega from 1929 that David Jameson restored to stock condition in the 1960s and painted in the markings of the “Winnie Mae. I acquired the aircraft in the early 1990s and we're currently restoring it, again in the Winnie Mae markings, to a more original and airworthy condition.
I wish my Dad was here to see this
OMG. You could make carbon fiber Vegas with that fixturing!!! Don't let @MikePatey see this!
Very interesting. Bet there's very few that can do this today.
It would be more correct to say - can afford to do it, the job itself is not complicated at all, the issue is that it is time consuming - which makes it expensive, the technology itself is very similar to modern composites, with the added difficulty of working with "live" material like wood (moisture induced dimensional changes and how to deal with it), so there are quite a few places this could be done, it is all about the time and money
This is the invaluable charity part of what Mr Weeks is doing - giving this work out to people and then documenting the process for future generations, there are small jewels all across his restoration videos, things that are not written down in educational books or on blueprints, because they were passed down from master to apprentice in workshops, small details that you can learn only when doing this stuff...
I love these build video's!!!...👍👍👍🗽🇺🇸
Love these videos.
So iconic beautiful plane.
Thinking of the restoration of this aircraft reminds me of my favorite film that I'll have to re-watch tonight
"Angels have wings" 1939 Howard Hawks
fascinating...
É trabalho maravilhoso !
Thank you so much
I like to build (not in this scale) so for me, this was a fantastic video! Thanks for sharing Kermit.
Very helpful; I learned a lot.
AMAZING.
Amazing
The Vega, sweet
Very cool man now I know how it's made that is cool thanks for sharing wow...
Enjoyed seeing the Stearman and Bonanza in the background. Mr. Weeks should pay to have that hanger retrofitted as a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment. The camera (probably an iPhone) should have had Notifications silenced before filming started. Good narration from an expert -- not too technical, just right. Like many other restorations, the amount of work needed grows as the teardown exposes more of the inner structure. Looks like this Vega had a hard life and will end up with mostly new innards. Would be interested to know the percentage of original versus new materials used, after the project is complete. As always, I offer my gratitude to Mr. Weeks for sharing this fascinating inside look at an increasingly uncommon example of craftsmanship.
Wow so much work lol. Crazy they were able to crank out 1 of these in 2 weeks.
Very good job explaining the process 👍 I couldn't help think that you could get some ceader and make yourself a nice sailboat after ! Lol
More of these videos plz!
Cool
Fabulous... Maybe Mike Patey could do a carbon fiber skin....
Thank you for the video, Eastern washington is very dry, I would suggest if you end up making more skins, a desert facility would be easier for layup.
Great project Kermit. Could the tooling be used again... there might one day be a flight of amazing Vega's... imagine that!
Just ordered a bottle of your Rum.
Good God The Knowledge,,, and The Craftsmanship,,,, This Guy Would Make "Michelangelo",,, Look Like a "Rank Beginner",,,
Fascinating. Where do y'all get the tech data for these - you must have for the comments "return to original" and "inconsistent with the drawings" ?
Probably the relative humidity didn't vary so much in Burbank compared to Florida!
any cabinet maker knows how to do these things, wood always expands exponentially more in width than length so by manufacturing your own ply wood alternating orientation you cancel out the expansion of the alternating layers. All this wood should be kept at a 10% to 15% moisture content to stabilize it before laminating, unfortunately they didn't do this because they are not in a climate controlled room. So they just waited until the afternoon when the moisture content matched that of the pattern cutting.
So cool. And so much work. Starting from scratch migh be cheaper but I guess the romance is gone?
Thanks Kevin for correcting my False Conclusion that the Mosquito was the first aircraft to use a Laminate Skin. No it was the Vega!! Just to think today that variations of those laminates are still being used to construct aircraft coming out of the Skunk Works. (At which point Kermit starts spitting venom at me)! :) TRUE CRAFTSMEN, WELL DONE GUYS!! ;)
Some first world war air craft used this if not in full, in part of there construction.
SOME ALBATROSS FIGHTERS IN WW1
World War I Albatros D. I, D. II and D. III used plywood fuselages
The De-Havillan Commet used this technology.
It's the twin engine red airplane that's featured in FSX .
It won some world competitions at the time.
That's how Jeffrey De-Havilland learned the tricks he later applied to the Mosquito.
The glues used then, are no longer approved for aircrafts construction, so I estimate they are using epoxy or something.
Excellent video, explanation of the work required, and the thought process. Truly artisans at work. I was curious about the glue-up phase, did you worry about the woods moisture content and how that may impact the glue-up? Thanks!
the spruce veneers expand a lot when the glue is applied to them. This expansion is a big part of the challenge in getting all the plies to lay down smoothly.
I live in Northwest Wisconsin. Wooden musical instruments that have been in this area for any length of time all have cracked pine or spruce tops. The only answer for this is to have an instrument made in this area or keep the thing humidified in the winter. 40 to 50 percent is ideal. When it's a lot below zero and you have 40 percent humidity in your house you gave puddles on your window sill. Keep your airplane in FL or the Southern US.
Florida here. You have to worry about mildew. And insects. And hurricanes.
I wonder if those same molds could be used to make a carbon fiber fuselage? Imagine, an all carbon fiber. Lockheed Vega. All the grace with half the work.
I know the Kimball’s nice family!
Thank you Mr. Kimball, I am wondering if it was difficult to find a company willing to supply the veneer in the lengths and thicknesses required for this job?
We had to locate and purchase the proper sitka spruce rough lumber and send it to a veneer cutter to have it shaved into the 2 thicknesses the job required. Still places out there that can slice vertical grain veneers.
What an undertaking! It's no wonder why the old Lockheeds weren't rebuilt after accidents. It's obvious it's in very capable hands. He makes it look easy, it's not. Working with wood is very difficult. So excited to see the next video. Was this the Vega that belonged to Dave Jamison of Oshkosh? Dave let me sit in the airplane one year. What a tremendous airplane!
They were rebuilt by mixing and matching parts from wrecks. Lockheed did the same thing with a few Constellations.
👍👍👍
Finally get to see a beautiful Stearman on Kermie's channels! But wait... it's not his😢
👀 When you change the head and handle of a broom over and over is it still the original broom 🤔
I don't care, you're doing a great job of saving aviation history, thank you.
Does the Lockheed Vega become Theseus' Ship?
Mark Collyer As long you don’t change the nameplate, she’s the same ship!
Metalcrafters restored a basket case Chevy Chevelle with matching numbers. The only original part of the body on the finished car was the VIN plate.
There is way more than enough original wood in there to consider this a fuselage restoration rather than a scratch build. Skins were routinely repaired back in the day too, so no big deal here either.
Mark Collyer I have the “original “ axe George Washington used to cut down that cherry tree. The head has been changed twice and the handle changed only three times!
I have repaired many an Radio Control model airplane. Use old one for reference and build a NEW fueslage. It will be as fast and a lot better than repairing the old. Keep old feuse for reference and proof of justification
Kermit -- what are they using for an adhesive to bond the layers together and is it something period correct or a modern adhesive? (Thank you for having them document the process itself!)
Gotta be new ones. Why would you use old inferior adhesives instead of benefitting from decades of progress? Especially when your or others lives may be on the line. This isn't an old painting or something.
Probably American Gorilla Glue.😅
@@kennysherrill6542 And Flex Seal.
I have heard the older glues actually breath better when bonded, at least in antique furniture that is the way they go.