Stinson L-1 / O-49 request

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 4:26 pm

From what I can tell, there are only two intact L-1s around these days - one at Weeks' place and one in Alaska. Do any fellow WIXers regularly go to those places and have a decent camera so I could get some good walkaround and interior photos?

Ryan

Ztex · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 4:43 pm

Ryan,

I've got a few exterior photos from many years ago...

http://www.airport-data.com/photographers/Zane+Adams;1461/L-1;17304;1.html

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 4:55 pm

Ztex wrote:

Ryan,

I've got a few exterior photos from many years ago...

http://www.airport-data.com/photographers/Zane+Adams;1461/L-1;17304;1.html

Yeah, I've already snagged those. That's our old ALS bird before it left. Wish it was still around and I'd take my own pictures.

Here's our old bird when it was still here in TX.

Ryan

mike furline · **Joined:** Wed May 05, 2004 3:45 pm **Posts:** 2635

Weeks has 3 airframes. One that is semi-close to being done.
Not sure if the other 2 are complete or just used for parts.
Pics taken 5-12-09

retroaviation · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 7:18 pm

Ryan, at 13 seconds into this little You Tube clip, you'll see one performing a pretty darn short takeoff for such a big ol' pig. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuE2cW8NMx8

Gary

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 7:19 pm

Wow! Thanks. I may have to ask for some more later if I can get the designer I'd like to commission to have one built. I just got a set of drawings in the mail today. Anyone have a lead on original plans or manuals (not just the 1/72 stuff I got today)?

Ryan

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 7:22 pm

retroaviation wrote:

Ryan, at 13 seconds into this little You Tube clip, you'll see one performing a pretty darn short takeoff for such a big ol' pig. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuE2cW8NMx8

Gary

You sure that's not a Stinson L-13?

Ryan

retroaviation · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 7:24 pm

RyanShort1 wrote:

You sure that's not a Stinson L-13?

Ryan

No, I'm not sure. :oops:

Gary

N3Njeff · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 7:37 pm

Wish I had a camera to take pics of kermit rotating throught the poles with his L-1 to pick up a banner in Hollywood Fla.................talk about a beast.

John Kerr · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2009 9:21 pm

There is another L-1 on display at the Air Force Museum in Ohio

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

RyanShort1 wrote:

You sure that's not a Stinson L-13?

Yup, sho is! With a 985 replacing the stock Franklin.

stetz · **Posted:** Fri May 29, 2009 7:43 am

There are actually seven surviving L-1's that we know of out of 352 that were produced. We have three aircraft in our collection which all saw service in Alaska during the war one at Adak in the Aleutians ! We recently sold the two spare aircraft as a project since there were not enough components to build two complete aircraft, we are rebuilding the wings for this project also. The other four aircraft belong to the Alaska Aviation Museum[ the only flyer] Air Force Museum, Army Aviation Museum [ dissassembled in storage] and Mr. Turner in England who has the remains of a project that used to belong to Charles Darby. As far as building a L-1 replica you couldn't have chosen a more difficult Liason aircraft to reproduce. What looks like a over grown L-4 is actually one of the most complicated and largest observation aircraft produced by the United States during this time frame. The wing design is straight forward but consists of a front spare with special extruded cabs which hold a wire that secures the fabric to the wing. The rear spar is a nightmare machined from a solid 23 foot long piece of aluminum which gets thinner from the butt of the wing to the tip. The wing also has slats composed of cast magnesium ribs with aluminum skin. The best part of the L-1 are the control surfaces,including the horizontal stabilizers and vertical fin, constructed out of .015 thin spot welded stainless steel ! These components were original constructed by Fleetwing Aircraft in Bristol Pa. This has been one of the most difficult projects I have been involved in consuming close to 10,000 man hours . You can obtain a full set of drawings from the Air and Space Museum archives which are helpful but maintenance manual is a joke and there is no illustrated parts book for the aircraft !

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Fri May 29, 2009 7:47 am

Well, one of the surviving L-1s was originally restored by our group here (see photo above). One day we might be interested in having it or another back...

Any chance we could see restoration pictures?

Ryan

Forgotten Field · **Posted:** Fri May 29, 2009 9:15 am

Stetz,
Ahh, Fleetwings! I always wondered where they got the stainless surfaces made, and it should have been obvious!

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Stinson L-1 / O-49 request

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