Greeting From Atlanta

[Oraclejacket]

I'm currently working on the restoration of an old Aeronca aircraft. I came to this forum to explore possibilities for how to reproduce cowling parts which have not been commercially available in decades.

The two pieces I'm particularly interested in are the nose bowl, which is a deep drawn shape in aluminum, and the bottom cowl, which is a very large convex shape.

Here's a link to a picture of a completed airplane like I'm restoring.

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/422668.html

Any thoughts you have on the nosebowl or bottom cowl would be appreciated.

Kyle

[Kerry Pinkerton]

Hi Kyle, welcome to AllMetalShaping.

The nose shouldn't be that difficult. A few years back I set up at SunNFun and a guy came by and talked about his Aeronca which apparently had some fairly serious warts and dings. The next year he brought the nose and wheel pants by the booth and I spent a few hours wheeling out some dents.

There is a really good airplane metalshaper in Atlanta by the name of Casey Hill. I have his phone number if you want it. PM me.

[Joe Hartson]

Kyle, welcome and thanks for the introduction. Hope that the site will help you with your Aeronca project. My dad had a couple of Aeronca Champions in his flying school. Later he put one on floats. Thanks for joining us.

[Peter Tommasini]

HI and welcome to the forum Kyle
Peter

[Botijo]

I have a 1938 Aeronca Chief and need to fix the bottom bowl (15 patches) and to make the top side cowlings. Will post some pics to get some ideas in how to make the later
Rafael