Friday, October 22, 2010

the oldest flying Boeing in the world






In Spokane, Washington, USA, after 8 years of repair and rebuilding, and 8,000 hours of toil, this Boeing 40C rolled out last winter as a finished airplane, but it took a few weeks for the snow to melt before it was taken out of the hangar. Project personnel received the Standard Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA and completed the engine pre-oil and fuel flow tests for the first of the taxi tests.

Facts about the Boeing 40 project:
221 1/2 gallons [838 litres] of dope/reducer and 120 yards [110 metres] of 102 ceconite fabric.
12 gallons [45 litres] of polyurethane paint for the sheet metal.
The wings have 33,000 individual parts in them.
The airplane weighs 4080 lbs [1855 kg] empty and has a gross weight of 6075 lbs [2762 kg].
It is 34 ft [10 metres] long and 13 feet [4 metres] tall with a wing span of 44 1/2 feet [13.6 metres].
Wing loading is 10 lbs per sq ft and power loading is 10 Pounds per HP. It should cruise at 115 mph [185 km/h] using 28 Gallons per Hour, and 32 GPH at 120 mph. It carries 120 gallons [9454 litres] of fuel in three tanks.

A total of 62 volunteers worked on the project to some degree, 21 of whom performed a significant amount of work and nine of them worked on the plane continuously throughout the 8-year project.

Thanks to Cliff for sending this in.

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