It began with finding the Chief at Martha Lake Airport, literally like finding an old airplane in the back of a barn, but this one was in pretty good shape. The Ceconite was on fuselage, but the wings had a poor dope finish that needed to be taken off....So here is N3286E as I found her at Martha Lake Airport...
This was my first view of 3286E.. pretty far along already, but in need of some TLC! It was said at the time that only a months worth of work would get her flying.... well, six years later we did get some air underneath the wheels!
The Chief was apparently in a red and cream trim scheme before the covering was removed. You can almost date a Chief by the trim scheme that's used... these simple lines with the red and cream sure look like the 1960's... in the 1990's more and more Chiefs are coming out of restoration with the factory trim schemes
Here is an original instrument panel unrestored... thankfully someone didn't spray paint it with flat black like so many folks did! Those dyno labels have to go!
We'll skip ahead to July of 1998, where we have this view of 3286E's panel. That's a GPS mount on the windshield and we've just done some simple cleanup and located some ashtrays... BTW, ashtrays are hard to find because of the corrisive effect of the ashes over 50 years. The knobs are stock ash tray knobs from 1950-1960 period Cessnas if you need to find those little plastic knobs..
I think a lot of empty weight was used up in this interior. The bottom seat cushion alone was 26 lbs... we replaced it with a seat cushion that weighs only 17 lbs and is a lot more comfortable.
