wrongway john
Well Known Member
I remember reading with great interest from a old Sport Aviation magazine the steps that Bruce Whitteg took with his Midget Mustang many years back to win Grand Champion. I was amazed. I think this was back in 1983. Here are some of the steps he did.
When painting, he put his wings, fuselage, etc, up on a revolving stand that would rotate to where he could always paint at a 90 degree angle. After painting, he would spend hours baby sitting the part. He would rotate the part one way or another if he ever so slightly noticed a run may be getting ready to start.
One of the most ingenious things he did was hide his brake lines inside the metal landing gear. No fiberglass fairings were required until one got to the wheel for the brake itself. I?m relying on memory, but I remember the article saying he machined notched out enough in the back of the landing gear, to where he could fit the line in. The roundness of the line fit nicely in the groove, and I think he might have used a little epoxy to shape some parts of it to keep it hidden, along with possible some chrome paint for the entire thing. My memory is foggy on some of this, maybe others know the details better.
He also hid all of his rivets well, by taking lightweight micro-balloons, and a mixture of some kind of fiberglass resin that he was able to determine would go well with contracting and expanding with aluminum that was supposed to not crack out. He did this on all rivets to allow him a glass like finish. I?d be curious today to know if that panned out as well as he envisioned it.
He also used real gold to plate his valve covers.
These are a few things I remember of what a Grand Champion was made of. Don?t see many staying with shiny aluminum much these days. If painted, I take it that a flawless paint job is a pretty much a given if any consideration at all is going to get the Grand Champion status.
What do you recall some of the things others did, or if you?ve built one for yourself what separated yours from the others to get Grand Champion?
When painting, he put his wings, fuselage, etc, up on a revolving stand that would rotate to where he could always paint at a 90 degree angle. After painting, he would spend hours baby sitting the part. He would rotate the part one way or another if he ever so slightly noticed a run may be getting ready to start.
One of the most ingenious things he did was hide his brake lines inside the metal landing gear. No fiberglass fairings were required until one got to the wheel for the brake itself. I?m relying on memory, but I remember the article saying he machined notched out enough in the back of the landing gear, to where he could fit the line in. The roundness of the line fit nicely in the groove, and I think he might have used a little epoxy to shape some parts of it to keep it hidden, along with possible some chrome paint for the entire thing. My memory is foggy on some of this, maybe others know the details better.
He also hid all of his rivets well, by taking lightweight micro-balloons, and a mixture of some kind of fiberglass resin that he was able to determine would go well with contracting and expanding with aluminum that was supposed to not crack out. He did this on all rivets to allow him a glass like finish. I?d be curious today to know if that panned out as well as he envisioned it.
He also used real gold to plate his valve covers.
These are a few things I remember of what a Grand Champion was made of. Don?t see many staying with shiny aluminum much these days. If painted, I take it that a flawless paint job is a pretty much a given if any consideration at all is going to get the Grand Champion status.
What do you recall some of the things others did, or if you?ve built one for yourself what separated yours from the others to get Grand Champion?
