A Stitch in Time

A STITCH e gIN TIME

Sometimes a great plan comes together. Sometimes it has to be dismantled, stitched, glued, ironed, painted, adorned and reassembled first. Such is the story of Baby Lakes. In 2016, local pilot Bill Walker recognized an opportunity to rescue a classic aircraft and give it a new home. As a member of the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Museum of Aviation, he had knowledge of the museum’s collection of vintage planes. One model, a 1960 Oldfield

Baby Great Lakes biplane, was in decline, but he recognized its potential right away. As a co-owner of Golden Isles Aviation, the fixed base operator (FBO) at McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport, Walker had the facility, (continues)

Above and opposite page: Today, Baby Lakes, resplendent in its new cherry-red paint job and vibrant black and white livery, flies above visitors at the St. Simons Island airport with Barney Oldfield forever in the cockpit.

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the skills and the vision to propose a restoration project to his fellow members of local Chapter 905 of the Experimental Aircraft Association. When the group agreed to take the project on, the plane was put on permanent loan from the museum and brought to Walker’s hangar at the island airport.

The plan was to repair the damage from the plane’s years of hard use and storage, then hang it from the ceiling in the airport FBO’s beautiful new passenger terminal. The aircraft, which was designed by renowned barnstormer ace Barney Oldfield, is a scaled-down model of a Great Lakes Sports Trainer. It was designed to be a small, fast and agile home-built kit airplane, ideal for aerobatic flying. The tube and spruce frame might seem rather insubstantial for an airplane, as it was made of wood strips and thin metal tubes wired together and covered by canvas fabric. However, this method had long been an aircraft manufacturing standard procedure that produced an extremely lightweight, strong plane capable of withstanding the demands of daring airshow maneuvers. The restoration took months of hard, painstaking work by 37 dedicated volunteers.

The first step was removing the outer fabric “skin” of the plane to repair damage to the frame. The restorers were delighted to find Oldfield’s signature on the wing’s interior and the serial number 2 on the registration plate which meant it was the second of its kind ever built. The wings, propellers and other external parts were removed at this stage. The next phase of the challenge for the team was replacing the fabric skin. The multi-step procedure called for precise measuring and fitting the material for each part of the aircraft. A modern Poly Fiber material that looks like the original cotton and linen canvas fabric was used to fashion the strong outer covering of the plane. Bob Schreiber and Ed Strickland taught the other 35 volunteers on the project how to ribstitch the seams of the Poly Fiber pieces, painstakingly sewing the material onto the frame with precise, uniform stitches. A thin, strong (continues)

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1. The plane was in admittedly rough shape when it arrived in the Golden Isles. 2. The first step was removing the outer fabric “skin” of the plane to repair damage to its frame. 3. Working on the tube and spruce frame required some uncomfortable contact with the floor of the hangar, as Joe Jurskis realized. Gary Livesey managed this step from topside. 4. Ed Strickland and Bob Schreiber show Joe McDonough and project manager Steve Gray the technique of ironing the fabric to activate a glue layer that would shrink the fabric to tightly cover the frame. 5. A carefully applied coat of sealant was brushed over each seam. Attention to detail will pay off by creating a smooth layer for the multiple layers of primer and paint later. 6. Tom McConnell began the tedious process of applying layers upon layers of specialized coatings.

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7. Paint scheme designer Gary Livesey shared his plans with the group and undertook the nerve-wracking process of applying the final decals to the glassy-smooth wings and fuselage of the restored plane. 8. The restored aircraft was escorted to its new location at the Golden Isles Aviation terminal. The wings were permanently attached, the propeller was replaced, and a soft-sculpture “Barney” was reverently placed in the pilot’s seat. 9. From left, restoration volunteers Gary Livesey, Rod Foutch, Steve Gray, Bill Walker, Ralph Bennett, Phillip Beeson and Tom McConnell gathered for a brief celebration before moving Baby Lakes to the terminal

tape was then ironed over all of the seams to secure and hide them. Precise heat and pressure was required to avoid the tape buckling and ruining the seam. After that, layers of specialized coatings were applied: three applications of clear penetrating sealer strengthened the fabric exterior, followed by three coats of ultraviolet light blocking silver coating. Once the coatings cured, the plane parts were ready for the paint booth! Fourteen coats of high-gloss red paint were applied before Baby Lakes was ready for its final embellishments. Decals were painstakingly applied and Baby Lakes was successfully assembled –and then disassembled one last time for the final move to her new home at the Golden Isles Aviation terminal, where her wings were permanently attached, her propeller was replaced, and a soft-sculpture “Barney” was reverently placed in the pilot’s seat. Today, the biplane, resplendent in its new cherry-red paint job and vibrant black and white livery, flies above visitors at the St. Simons Island airport with Barney Oldfield forever in the cockpit. The lobby is open to the public, and is a must-see for anyone who admires beautiful airplanes.