Kurki landing gear under restorationTorstai 7.7.2016 - Member of Tuesday Club VL K.1 Kurki’s maiden flight started from sea ice near Suomenlinna, south of Helsinki, on 20th of March 1927. Most of trial flights were made with ski under gear but wheels were also tried. Kurki was found to be an inferior airplane and it was stored soon after trial flights the same year.
As the first step, the whole landing gear was removed from Kurki’s fuselage. Then it was dismantled to make restoration of various parts easier. It was decided to clean rusty metal parts by mechanical sanding. We did not aim to reach clean metal surface but to remove most of rust before priming with clear Isotrol Klarlack Grund lacquer. This primer is covered with glossy black Isotrol Finish lacquer to get a finish which looks like the original black finish of landing gear’s metal parts. Isotrol system is designed to penetrate rust and form a barrier against further rusting process.
When primer had dried, we went on with painting metal parts with black Isotrol Finish. Wooden skis are still waiting to be covered with tar. |
Avainsanat: aviation history, restoring, old aircraft, VL Kurki |