Caudron's wing struts are cleaned

Perjantai 30.8.2019 - Member of Tuesday Club


Suomeksi

Caudron’s eight wing struts were brought from Päijänne-Tavastia Aviation Museum in Vesivehmaa to the Tuesday Club to be restored. The struts are made of wood and have a lacquered surface. The front struts are slightly heavier than the rear ones. All struts are in surprisingly good condition.

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Each strut has a fabric covering at the ends, covering about 10 cm and painted using black lacquer. There are also metal insets at the ends, with hinged metal bayonets for fastening the struts on the wings. The struts are fastened by pushing the metal bayonets through the wings and locking the bars into place using castle nuts on the other side of the wing.

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The restoration of the wing struts was started by cleaning the lacquered wooden surfaces and black end parts using mild dishwashing liquid. The work was finalized by wiping the surfaces with cloths dipped in clean water.

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The metal insets and fastening bayonets were cleaned of dirt and rust. The hinged bayonets were unfastened to make cleaning easier.

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The screw thread at the ends of the bayonets were in poor condition because of rust. The diameter of the bayonet and the thread pitch were measured, the bayonet is 8 mm in diameter and the pitch is 1,5. The thread was opened using a suitable thread cutter from the cutter die.

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There is still some work ahead before all 16 strut fastener bayonets have been cleaned. One of the original castle nuts is available, the other 15 will have to be bought.

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A historical photo from the Finnish Aviation Museum's photo archive shows what kind of aircraft Caudron C.59 is.

Other photos: Lassi Karivalo.

Translation from Finnish to English: Erja Reinikainen.

Avainsanat: aviation history, restoring, old aircraft, Caudron C.59, CA-50