Update on GrandPa's G21

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trucker17
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Update on GrandPa's G21

Post by trucker17 »

Well everyone.....It's been a long. long road, since I got my grandfathers G-21 Goose.
Grandpa bought the Goose in 1965 from the U.S. Coast Guard, in San Diego California, and after being check out in the bird flew it back home to Pasadena California.....Grandpa would often fly to Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead, with a run once in a while to Mono lake, When grandpa retired he was always taking the bird up to Canada and Alaska, on Vacation.....
In 1979 Grandpa parked the old plane in his back yard in Pasadena. Where it remained.
In 1990 Grandpa pasted away, leaving the plane to his son, my Uncle. John never moved the plane or planed to do anything with it,
When Grandma died in 1997, the property was to be sold and every divided between his children. None of them wanted the old plane and had planed to sell it for scrap....
In late 1997 just before the house and property was sold, my uncle called and asked if I could haul the old bird off.....Naturally I said I would, but wanted to keep it, and see if I could get it back in the air...Which he agreed he would let me do..... If I would spread grandpa's ashes out of the plane when it was restored.

8 Years in the making so far and I still have a long ways to go.....

In 1997, I acquired grandpa's Grumman G-21 Goose. In 1999 I pulled it out of the weeds in my grandfathers back yard, and 3 trips later had the whole plane at my home.....
On July 3rd 2005 I pulled the old bird out braced it up on blocks and started taking her apart down to the skeleton, and started the long slow battle to bring her back to life.....
in 2011, with a new prop, and a freshly rebuilt engine , the switches were thrown and the Pratt and Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior ROARED TO LIFE......
A couple years went by testing and idling the engine working out the bugs as restoration continued on the old bird.....
July 1st 2013 the second engine was installed with a new prop, and again the Pratt and Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior number 2 roared to life.....
Late this afternoon my grandfathers Grumman G-21 Goose moved around my property under her own power......

Now for the final chapter in the restoration of this beautiful old bird.....Which is still being written everyday I complete another piece of the plane..... :D

Grandpa's G-21 the day he bought it from the Coast Guard.
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The old girl in the weeds in grandpa's back yard.
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Picture taken in 2009 at Nanaimo airport.
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UPDATE, on work completed so far.....
Since their is so much interest in the restoration of this old bird. I thought I would fill everyone in on the work from day one.....
So here goes. Note. These are from my computer notes when work first started.
Day one started with pulling the plane out of the storage barn I have on the property, ( Sadly I scratched and dented the front fender of my 1941 Chrysler doing so, But I do have a parts car.)
After getting the bird into the sun light, I opened the door and climbed inside. ( About what you expect to see from any vehicle left to sit for decades..... So the work began....First out was the seats from the passenger area, then the cabinetry was removed, and inside walls and ceilings. All the lines, wires and switches on the cockpit wall were removed labeled and stored for later reference and reinstallation, the front wall then came down, exposing the cockpit, after the removal of the seats and cockpit floor equipment, I started to tackle the wheels and yokes, once these were out, I started on the dash. Working until way after dark I finally removed every guage in the dash......
Day 2.
Now for all the switches come out and are labeled for replacement.....Now for the fun part, removal of the dash panel, after removing 12 screws and about a half dozen rivets, and a little coaxing the dash was out.....(What a mess....Note. Rodents did a real good job on the electrical......)
I removed all the wiring from the cockpit and the fuselage, now to start on the cables, Rodents started on them as well, but everything was labeled and stored so they can be replaced later......Back to the cockpit now....Removing the floor and front bulkhead wall, ( Nice little access to the nose compartment and topside nose door.( Looks like either new bushings or new hinges will be needed). I'll attempt to restore the door handle since it still looks good ( Maybe some new chroming on it).
Floor and walls removed and marked for location in nose, as well as the cockpit, and passenger area and tail section.
Calling it an early night, taking Mandy out to see a movie she has been bugging me to see.....( Damn Teenagers.)
Day 3.
The start on the exterior of the plane. Removing the worst part first, the lower hull structural part of the fuselage, more rivets and screws, most all the skin will not be salvageable due to tears and rot getting to the metal, so I should probably need to check the ribs for structural integrity as well....
Made it just about half way up the port side of the fuselage, wheelwell caused a number of problems removing. Ribs look ok so far, But they will need to be stressed tested.....
Day 4.
Started on the starboard side, again the wheelwell didn't want to come off. But with some coaxing and sweet talking off it came. ( Looks like some damage to the lower ribs.) Completed the removal of all the skin on the Starboard side, and part of the port side.
Day 5.
Time to finish removing the skin form the goose. Fuselage removed of all the skin.
Called Jerry about doing a stress test on the ribs of the Fuselage, he wont be able to do it till next week.
Day 5, ,mid afternoon.
Starting on the wings elevators and rudder. 1 PM started removing skin from the rudder, everything is marked for replacement, ribs look ok, but will have Jerry check them. 4PM Rudder ribs look ok, but some missing screws and rivets inside.
Day 6.
Start on elevators. Port elevator don't look to worse for wear, a few screws missing, probably from when they were removed and stored.... Attachment point has damage and a bent rib. Rib will need replacing. Now for the starboard elevator. Don't see any outside damage, maybe this one will be good.
Skin removed, ribs are in good shape, so maybe just place new skin over it, and call it done....
And on to the wings, Starboard wing first, Removing skin around the engine shows wear, have to wait to see what the stress test shows. Outer wing area looks ok except for some dents in the skin....All wiring removed as well as lights, looks like new bulbs and housings and covers will be needed. will start lower skin in the morning.
Day 7.
Start removal of lower skin and fuel tank on starboard wing, Tank will be cleaned and pressure tested for leaks at a later date. Starboard tank marked with ST for location.
Afternoon. Start on the port wing, about 2/3s of the upper and lower wing skin will need to be replaced and looks like maybe the tank as well.....Will know more once tank is out.....
2 ribs will need to be replaced in the port wing for sure. The tank has a small hole in it, so I will replace it.....
New aluminum arrived to day, that will be stored in the barn until I need it. 36 sheets in total so far.
A week in a half has past since I stopped work on the plane.
Day 8.
Jerry is here to do the stress test on the ribs....so this will be an all day job if not longer.....
End of the day and about 3/4 the plans rib have been checked, so far 14 need to be replaced plus the damaged ones.....See how tomorrows testing goes.
Day 9.
Jerry is back to finish the stress testing.
In all 4 more ribs need to be replaced, and in total another 26 should be replaced....
Called Mike, about locating new or replacement ribs. he'll get back with me when he knows more.....

3 Weeks have gone by and just got the call from mike, He has yet to find any useable ribs.....
Put in a call to Edward, he'll come out this weekend to take a look at what I have....
Saturday morning Ed called to let me know he was on his way, to look at the ribs.....
7:45 AM Ed is here, taking measurements of the bad ribs. Ed has a PBY Catalina and knows these old float planes. And has the ability to remake the ribs if needed, he also has many connections in the float plane community, so maybe he can find what I need......

2 weeks gone since Ed came over, so I called him to see whats up.
No one knows where to find these for the old bird, so I am at a stand still for now.....

Ed called today, he has an idea.... :?
Instead of trying to find replacement ribs, he wants to refabricate the ribs, in his shop at the airport.....
So everything is going to be loaded up on a truck and moved to Nanaimo airport for now.
Morning day 10. 7:30 Ed is here with his tractor and flatbed. To load the plane.....I guess its time to get the old Studebaker out and hook my trl to it so I can get the wings loaded......
Afternoon back at home from dropping off the plane, Ed has a lot of metal sheets at the shop, and all the tools needed to refabricate the ribs. He wants me to meet him their in the morning so we can get started.....Will be good experience in fabrication.....

2 1/2 weeks in Fabrication so far, and it been a great experience in the different types of metals.... we decided to use titanium for the ribs, and about 88 percent of the ribs for the entire aircraft are being replaced. This should be lighter in weight for the plane, while still keeping the strength of the ribs where they should be.....Other ribs which are for the nose and tail sections are being kept and balanced to keep the same weight in the nose and tail, all the wing ribs are being replaced with the remanufactured ribs as well as the elevators and rudder....
Last edited by trucker17 on 05 Jul 2013, 14:33, edited 3 times in total.
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Lewis - A2A
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by Lewis - A2A »

Awesome awesome awesome. Lovely little aircraft and great work so far!

Do you have any more recent images to share, would be very much interested to see those and add them to the story from the old photo to the yard to the developments as you go. Kinda like a picture diary hehe :)
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Fedex B17Pilot
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by Fedex B17Pilot »

excellent story and aircraft, you obviously have a long way to go by the looks of it but have you decided on a paint scheme? how it was in the coast guard or how you remember it?
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svaughn01
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by svaughn01 »

Fantastic!
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Scott - A2A
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by Scott - A2A »

Yes Trucker, please share some photos. Scott.
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CAPFlyer
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by CAPFlyer »

What a great project! Hope you share some more pictures of your efforts!
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pilottj
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by pilottj »

That is a beautiful plane there Craig. Can't wait to see her come to life. That's another plane that would look so good in the Accusim fleet...or any of the Grumman waterfowl series for that matter. I bet the Accu boys would have a real fun time 'recording' the plane, especially the water handling, I know I would :D But only so many hours in the day and too many wonderful planes to choose from out there, on top of the already great projects underway.



Cheers
TJ
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trucker17
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by trucker17 »

I will be posting more pictures of it as work is completed....It may take a while, as each one is posted, As many of you here know the expense of replacing parts on an aircraft, and one the age of this old girl is even more, when and if you can find them....
The engines alone can cost 5,000.00 and up, and then theirs the props which can also run a high price, not to mention everything else. Weather its available or has to be refabricated or salvaged from other aircraft....
In all this plane is a labor of love....For both the plane and my grandfather and his memory....
the paint for the plane will be done in the scheme he liked best, that's the one from Cutters Goose in Tales of the gold monkey.
When the plane was new in 1943 it was bought by the U.S Navy's Search and Rescue, and served in the pacific until acquired by the Coast Guard where it remained in service till grandpa got it.....
To this day I still remember the first water landing riding with him to Big Bear lake, and how he used the engines to help steer the plane in the water.....
Yeah the old plane hold many memories for me as well, and hopefully it will for my daughter when it becomes hers.....
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andrew737
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by andrew737 »

I have to beleive 'grandpa' watches over you with 'Great Pleasure'

This is legendary stuff

With the most respect

Andrew
Kind Regards and Thanks

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Chunk
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Grand Pa's G21

Post by Chunk »

This is a phenomenal story Trucker. I can't wait to see this story continue, and I guarantee your Grandpa is looking down and smiling at you!
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n421nj
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by n421nj »

Once you restore that beautiful plane maybe you'll let the boys at a2a do their thing to bring her to life in fsx so we all can live vicariously through you.
Andrew

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trucker17
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by trucker17 »

n421nj wrote:Once you restore that beautiful plane maybe you'll let the boys at a2a do their thing to bring her to life in fsx so we all can live vicariously through you.
That will always be an open offer to Scott, Lewis and the rest of the team.... :mrgreen:
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Michal - A2A
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by Michal - A2A »

Wonderful project. Goose is special, beautiful vintage plane.

robert41
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Re: Grand Pa's G21

Post by robert41 »

Great restoration Craig. Keep the pictures comming.

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Jacques
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Grand Pa's G21

Post by Jacques »

Trucker,
You ARE full of surprises! :) Heck yes, please share more photos.

JP

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