And So it Begins......T-41B Restoration

[L-4Pilot]

Refinished right yoke installed today with new union joint and new teflon guide in order to insure wire bundle and hose clearance with final assembly.

installed a new battery cable.

[L-4Pilot]

Glass installation

[Roger Cain]

Looking good, thanks for the updates.

[flightsimer]

Not that it matters, but what tint is the glass? Is it the old Cessna blue or isit the newer brown tint or is it just clear?

[L-4Pilot]

Not that it matters, but what tint is the glass? Is it the old Cessna blue or isit the newer brown tint or is it just clear?

The tint is very light green, the protective plastic sheet (both sides of glass) and green interior make it look darker and more opaque. My wife and I have had several skin cancer surgeries mainly from flying around in L-4 Cubs and L-19 Bird Dogs for thirty years and being exposed to too much sun. The UV blocker in the tinted glass helps a little.

[L-4Pilot]

While we are waiting for the balance of the glass to be delivered we began installing the mil spec fire retardent insulation in the cargo area. The Rear area will be finished in insulation only while the cabin doors and first bay just aft of the doors will be the original Army Green vinyl upholstery. The floor will be covered with a rubber mat as delivered from the factory.

[L-4Pilot]

The aircraft had been "civilianized
" but we are slowly getting the correct green interior panels fitted and installed.

[L-4Pilot]

My beautiful wife of 42 years helping install the glass, she is pretty good with a rivet gun. We are working pretty long days his week to take advantage of the warm weather to get all of the glass installed.

[L-4Pilot]

Now that the windshield is in we can permanently install the panel. We had great 70 degree weather this past week to install glass.

[K5DH]

Great progress! Pretty soon you're gonna have to change your WIX handle from "L-4Pilot" to "T-41Pilot"!

[L-4Pilot]

Great progress! Pretty soon you're gonna have to change your WIX handle from "L-4Pilot" to "T-41Pilot"!

Thanks, looking forward to flying the aircraft again.


Got the rear glass fitted today. The photo from the outside makes it look a lot darker green than it is.

[DH82EH]

Looking really good!
This is gonna be one sweet Cessna!

Andy

[StangStung]

Beauty. You're gonna have one heck of a nice bird when you're done. It will definitely be a head turner.

[Stephan Wilkinson]

Please let me know when you're approaching the finish. I would like to do a "Briefing" on the resto for Aviation History magazine, of which I'm a contributing editor. I'm at stephwilkinson@verizon.net

[L-4Pilot]

Please let me know when you're approaching the finish. I would like to do a "Briefing" on the resto for Aviation History magazine, of which I'm a contributing editor. I'm at stephwilkinson@verizon.net

Thanks for your interest in the restoration. We will continue to post every step of the way to the test flight, trip to paint shop, avionics shop etc. At this point not sure which will come first, paint or avionics, will try and remember to give you a heads up when she rolls out of paint.

Be advised that we have no military history on this aircraft. We were unable to get anything out of the various contacts we had and everything ended in a dead end. The only history we have for 67-15084 is the history with the DEA and Flying Club.

The final paint will be the same as the three T41-B aircraft taken by the Air Force and shipped to Laos 1970-1972 during the "Secret War". Those serial numbers were 67-15066, 67-15067 and 67-15163. Some records show them classified as T41-D aircraft. These aircraft were flown as trainers, area orientation flights, and general utility by RLAF and US Personnel.