Ironwing

Now its off to the other side. Hopefully it will go more easily and then it can be shipped off to John in the UK. I hope everyone is well..be safe. Best Geoff

I should note that the nose ends at the aft surface of STA-0. The extra length is just there to prevent the curve that occurs where the vacform bends around the front from ending up as part of the nose.

I decided to do one side thru to the end to see how it would go. I used way too much Basswood filler which only increased the amount of time it took to sand it all down. Its fortunate that the belt sander is long enough to span STA-1 thru STA-4 and from STA-4 to STA-8. Had it not been long enough, It probably would have been difficult to keep countours consistent dictating a return to the long block and hand sanding. Close attention to thickness removal is needed constantly. The most delicate part of the operation (if you can believe delicate with a belt sander) occurs at the aft surface

The base and formers were cut from .250" Birch Plywood using a small bandsaw. A little extra material was left on each for matching, then the formers were placed on each base plate respectively. The edges of the baseplate and formers were then hand sanded to shape while on the base plate with a long block wrapped in 180 paper. Trying to sand each former to shape individualy would give too much opportunity for size and shape discrepensies to creap in. Plywood is hard to sand so it took quite a lot of time to sand and match. The hard plywood edges also serve as a good stop once the basswood fill

Greetings All, A bit of progress on the Ryan. While there are lots of photos on the web of ST-As, finding detail information is proving problematic but it will show up someplace eventually. I decided to start with the fuselage. Being of monocoque construction, there isnt much on the inside to support the center section of the model. I was concencernd that it would be too weak to support itself. Hence, I thought it best to vacform the whole thing. I wasnt having any success finding a supplier of vacform services until Johm Wilkes jumped in and saved the day. So work is goi

Chuck Its good to be back! Ive always enjoyed your work and your encouraging comments. For that I thank you. Stay tuned Bud Best Geoff

Peter From long ago to now, Im always glad to see youve looked in. This project might be better served in your capable hands. That said, Thank you for visiting and I hope youll continue to do so... Best, Geoff

Hi Craig I hope I can live up to expectations. The ST-A is, IMHO, a gorgeious airplane from an often ignored time. Stay tuned... Geoff

Jay Its always good to hear from you. Id been secretly following along with your Corsair build from afar. Youre getting too good for me ole man. Im glad you looked in. I know its een a long time, I hope to be able to continue. Thanks Bud... Geoff

Andy I couldnt agree more with your sentimennt. The ST-A is a real beauty and aside from the old Hawk kit, Ive never seen one represented in this genre. Ive had these plans for at least forty years, including the plans from the old MAN article on Maxy Hester's(Sig) rendition of Gosney's original. I hope you stay tuned... Geoff

Zac Thanks for looking in..stay tuned Geoff

Kev Thank you for looking in as well as your encouragment. I didt see a way to posy multiple images but Ill surely look for it this time. Geoff

I cant comment on this level of work and workmanship. Will it leak oil too? As always..simply stellar Geoff

That about raps it up for the first installment. Lots of preliminary work to do. Hope everyone is well..be safe Geoff

So, the main formers have been done. Theyll be retained for future use. The fuselage plug will be done in Bass and plywood. Ive been in touch with John Wilkes and hes on board to pull the fuselage vacform.

The Matt Drawings...