This subject came up in another thread and is probably worthy of a discussion. The question is what do you do with an old Army repair that was badly done when restoring a WW II aircraft . The aircraft has been in storage since 1953 and there have been no records of accidents or repairs either civilian or military since 1943. Should you:
1. Leave it alone.
2. Try to improve it as best you can but leave the original repair in place.
3. Remove damages area and replace with new skin and flush rivet for factory new appearance.
We believe our O-58A has the original cowling on it because of the mulitiple layers of Olive Drab paint, the documentation of the Army Field repair in 1943. The cowling still shows evidence of it's original 1941 design vs the 1/15/1943 drawing update. Below or some photos that will aid the discussion.
Original round air filter on early serial # L-3 same as my O-58A
Wright Patterson L-3 with late design cowling
Early L-3, Pacific Theater with original round filter with either a modified cowling or replacement unit.
1. Leave it alone.
2. Try to improve it as best you can but leave the original repair in place.
3. Remove damages area and replace with new skin and flush rivet for factory new appearance.
We believe our O-58A has the original cowling on it because of the mulitiple layers of Olive Drab paint, the documentation of the Army Field repair in 1943. The cowling still shows evidence of it's original 1941 design vs the 1/15/1943 drawing update. Below or some photos that will aid the discussion.
Original round air filter on early serial # L-3 same as my O-58A
Wright Patterson L-3 with late design cowling
Early L-3, Pacific Theater with original round filter with either a modified cowling or replacement unit.
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