Storch.no

News 1 January 2018

The Storch has left the “nest” and the workshop has been reorganised. Everything related to the Storch restoration has been sorted in different categories. A number of parts not needed during the restoration are offered for sale or trade. See Surplus Parts.

News 7 October 2017

The Storch flew for the first time 7 October 2017. LN-WNS (Warbirds of Norway Storch) took off from the historic Kjeller airfield almost exactly 10 years after it arrived in the workshop at Fetsund in 2007. Following 9,251 working hours it is difficult to explain the excitement when I taxied out for the first take off and the feeling of happiness when I landed after the 30 minutes flight. It flew nearly perfect. All that was needed was to adjust a tendency to turn left, hands off, adjust the elevator trim travel and clean a fouled spark plug. Further, the variometer indicated 10 m/s descend while flying level – obviously wrong. Nothing was too serious to prevent another flight the same day. The Storch has now flown perfectly another three hours with stabile engine indications. An oil filter inspection confirms that nothing wrong happens internally in the engine.

14 October, the Storch was flown to Eggemoen for winter storage. Thank you Ola for finding a place for it in the nicest hangar in Norway!

I’m looking forward to the 2018 air show season!

Winter storage in a spotless hangar

First flight. Hans Petter Fure flew chase plane with Bird Dog LN-WNO.
Photo: Erik T. Hoelsæter

Photo: Erik T. Hoelsæter

Second take-off.

News 19 September 2017

The engine has been successfully ground run for five hours. We prepared the Storch by filling 200 litres fuel in the wing fuel tanks and a couple of litres of fuel in the separate primer fuel tank. A few leaks were fixed. Further, we serviced brake fluid and filled engine oil in the oil tank. A few days later Clemens Rüb from LTB Dirk Bende GmbH in Germany came and did a few checks. Then we removed a spark plug from each cylinder and primed the engine with oil, first with an external pump, then by turning the engine by the starter.

Monday 18 September came the most exciting moment during the whole restoration project. Would the engine start? Would the fuel pump deliver? Would the magnetos make sparks? What about the oil pressure? The engine started reluctantly, but ran happily the first 10 minutes. To my great relief, Clemens gave thumbs up when he shut it down. I could not wait but touch the engine – for the first time it was hot! A slight adjustment of the idle mixture and idle speed was all that was needed. The next 4 hours and 50 minutes the engine ran without a hitch. We finished off day two with checking oil filters and changing engine oil.

Then came the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority and completed the last and final inspection before first flight. And then it’s time to wait for the permit to fly!

A few seconds with full power.

Clemens Rüb and Tor Nørstegård feel the heat from the Argus for the first time.

Clemens, Arild and Harald inspect the engine while the battery receives a top-up.

Filling fuel.

News 29 July 2017

The Storch was moved to the hangar at Kjeller during the evening of 6 June 2017. It was quite an undertaking with a big flatbed trailer. It was late night before all parts and boxes were safely offloaded in the hangar. Laid out it looked like a big Airfix model kit. Instead of glue, the use of numerous bolts, castle nuts and cotter pins has been the preferred method for assembly. Gradually, systems are completed and function checks, leak checks and adjustments are today’s tasks. We experience many smiles and a few disappointments, but nothing that can’t be fixed. This is definitely fun!

The Storch about to leave its home for the last 10 years.

The extra workforce during the relocation. Christian Svenningsen,
Nikolai Nørstegård, Joachim Hoddø and Einar Nørstegård.

The Airfix modell kit.

Eivind Svenningsen and Bjørn Ivar Aarseth connecting flight controls and brake hoses.

News 18 June 2017

This is hopefully the last update from the workshop. Next update will most probably be from the hangar during final assembly. The cowlings are near completed. Just finishing details remain. For years I have been looking forward to paint the Adler-Emblem on the cowling. Now it’s time! New seat belts have been manufactured and new tires and tubes are installed at overhauled rims.

Seats and seat belts ready for first flight.

Original rims ready for installation of new tubes and tires.

Positioning the Adler-Emblem and borderlines between RLM 70 Schwarzgrün and RLM 71 Dunkelgrün.

News 1 April 2017

Cowlings are still the main focus. The front cowling has caused all sorts of trouble, but finally its installed and painted Hellblau on the underside. The pre-formed skin for the R/H side cowling did not fit at all. First we had to make a wooden plug and beat it to correct form. Then we had to construct a roll forming machine to make the internal doubler profiles for the cowling. Parallel to this we started to make the heat shields positioned between the carburettor and exhaust system. To make this we have to master the art of forming parts with the English wheel. The learning curve is steep!

Four out of five engine cowling panels in place. The R/H panel is the trickiest.

Producing the heat shields with the help of an English wheel.

The first piece of aluminium tested in the home made roll forming machine. Just a few minor adjustments are needed before we can start to make stiffeners for the R/H cowling.

News 21 January 2017

The cowling seems to be the most challenging part of the restoration project. This is probably no surprise to people used to restore aircraft. We are lucky enough to have three original cowling details in good condition (top, L/H side and bottom) but there are much more to it. The cowling on the Storch is of “shrink fit” and do not accept the slightest deviation. Two millimetres out of position one place can lead to a 5 millimetre gap another place. The challenge is to find good references and adjust accordingly. Can you trust original parts or is it the newly made parts that cause the problem is a frequent asked question. I wish we had a few more original blueprints of the cowling

Trial and error in progress.

Air inlet louvers for installation on the top cowling. Some aircraft had no inlets and the French cowlings had two big scoops. We make the version with three small forward facing inlets in a row on the left side. Arild Tveit with tools and the production results.

Eivind Svenningens about to install new fasteners on the bottom cowling.

News 26 November 2016

So far the list of remaining work tasks has been too long to put on paper. Now, I have started to make a list of remaining to-do items. We have to make a plan for how to finish each task. Many tasks have been delayed because we didn’t know exactly how to do it or because we were missing parts. We know that the Storch don’t fly before all items are finished. The last flap, the landing gear, brakes, cowlings and the fuel priming system has been in focus lately.

The missing R/H flap (see News 3 June 2015) has arrived and has been repaired. Time to put on the fabric.

Harald Holm giving scale to a nearly complete landing gear leg.

The Sola Aviation Museum kindly accepted an exchange deal. They got a restored non-airworthy top cowling (left) while we got an as-new cowling (right).

Brake master cylinders installed inside the rudder pedals.
Fuel primer pump (yellow knob) in place below the instrument panel.

News 17 September 2016

We move on with a lot of details like cowlings, hoses, and the landing gear.

Engine with exhaust system installed.

New hoses ready for installation. Brown for oil and yellow for fuel.

Dirk Bende kindly let us copy one of his aft cowling supports. The parts for new supports ready for heat treatment at Aerospace Industrial Maintenance (AIM). The wooden blocks are tools needed when forming the parts.


	Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 News 1 January 2018 The Storch has left the “nest” and the workshop has been reorganised. Everything related to the Storch restoration has been sorted in different categories. A number of parts not needed during the restoration are offered for sale or trade. See Surplus Parts. News 7 October 2017 The Storch flew for the first time 7 October 2017. LN-WNS (Warbirds of Norway Storch) took off from the historic Kjeller airfield almost exactly 10 years after it arrived in the workshop at Fetsund in 2007. Following 9,251 working hours it is difficult to explain the excitement when I taxied out for the first take off and the feeling of happiness when I landed after the 30 minutes flight. It flew nearly perfect. All that was needed was to adjust a tendency to turn left, hands off, adjust the elevator trim travel and clean a fouled spark plug. Further, the variometer indicated 10 m/s descend while flying level – obviously wrong. Nothing was too serious to prevent another flight the same day. The Storch has now flown perfectly another three hours with stabile engine indications. An oil filter inspection confirms that nothing wrong happens internally in the engine. 14 October, the Storch was flown to Eggemoen for winter storage. Thank you Ola for finding a place for it in the nicest hangar in Norway! I’m looking forward to the 2018 air show season! Winter storage in a spotless hangar First flight. Hans Petter Fure flew chase plane with Bird Dog LN-WNO. Photo: Erik T. Hoelsæter Photo: Erik T. Hoelsæter Second take-off. News 19 September 2017 The engine has been successfully ground run for five hours. We prepared the Storch by filling 200 litres fuel in the wing fuel tanks and a couple of litres of fuel in the separate primer fuel tank. A few leaks were fixed. Further, we serviced brake fluid and filled engine oil in the oil tank. A few days later Clemens Rüb from LTB Dirk Bende GmbH in Germany came and did a few checks. Then we removed a spark plug from each cylinder and primed the engine with oil, first with an external pump, then by turning the engine by the starter. Monday 18 September came the most exciting moment during the whole restoration project. Would the engine start? Would the fuel pump deliver? Would the magnetos make sparks? What about the oil pressure? The engine started reluctantly, but ran happily the first 10 minutes. To my great relief, Clemens gave thumbs up when he shut it down. I could not wait but touch the engine – for the first time it was hot! A slight adjustment of the idle mixture and idle speed was all that was needed. The next 4 hours and 50 minutes the engine ran without a hitch. We finished off day two with checking oil filters and changing engine oil. Then came the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority and completed the last and final inspection before first flight. And then it’s time to wait for the permit to fly! A few seconds with full power. Clemens Rüb and Tor Nørstegård feel the heat from the Argus for the first time. Clemens, Arild and Harald inspect the engine while the battery receives a top-up. Filling fuel. News 29 July 2017 The Storch was moved to the hangar at Kjeller during the evening of 6 June 2017. It was quite an undertaking with a big flatbed trailer. It was late night before all parts and boxes were safely offloaded in the hangar. Laid out it looked like a big Airfix model kit. Instead of glue, the use of numerous bolts, castle nuts and cotter pins has been the preferred method for assembly. Gradually, systems are completed and function checks, leak checks and adjustments are today’s tasks. We experience many smiles and a few disappointments, but nothing that can’t be fixed. This is definitely fun! The Storch about to leave its home for the last 10 years. The extra workforce during the relocation. Christian Svenningsen, Nikolai Nørstegård, Joachim Hoddø and Einar Nørstegård. The Airfix modell kit. Eivind Svenningsen and Bjørn Ivar Aarseth connecting flight controls and brake hoses. News 18 June 2017 This is hopefully the last update from the workshop. Next update will most probably be from the hangar during final assembly. The cowlings are near completed. Just finishing details remain. For years I have been looking forward to paint the Adler-Emblem on the cowling. Now it’s time! New seat belts have been manufactured and new tires and tubes are installed at overhauled rims. Seats and seat belts ready for first flight. Original rims ready for installation of new tubes and tires. Positioning the Adler-Emblem and borderlines between RLM 70 Schwarzgrün and RLM 71 Dunkelgrün. News 1 April 2017 Cowlings are still the main focus. The front cowling has caused all sorts of trouble, but finally its installed and painted Hellblau on the underside. The pre-formed skin for the R/H side cowling did not fit at all. First we had to make a wooden plug and beat it to correct form. Then we had to construct a roll forming machine to make the internal doubler profiles for the cowling. Parallel to this we started to make the heat shields positioned between the carburettor and exhaust system. To make this we have to master the art of forming parts with the English wheel. The learning curve is steep! Four out of five engine cowling panels in place. The R/H panel is the trickiest. Producing the heat shields with the help of an English wheel. The first piece of aluminium tested in the home made roll forming machine. Just a few minor adjustments are needed before we can start to make stiffeners for the R/H cowling. News 21 January 2017 The cowling seems to be the most challenging part of the restoration project. This is probably no surprise to people used to restore aircraft. We are lucky enough to have three original cowling details in good condition (top, L/H side and bottom) but there are much more to it. The cowling on the Storch is of “shrink fit” and do not accept the slightest deviation. Two millimetres out of position one place can lead to a 5 millimetre gap another place. The challenge is to find good references and adjust accordingly. Can you trust original parts or is it the newly made parts that cause the problem is a frequent asked question. I wish we had a few more original blueprints of the cowling Trial and error in progress. Air inlet louvers for installation on the top cowling. Some aircraft had no inlets and the French cowlings had two big scoops. We make the version with three small forward facing inlets in a row on the left side. Arild Tveit with tools and the production results. Eivind Svenningens about to install new fasteners on the bottom cowling. News 26 November 2016 So far the list of remaining work tasks has been too long to put on paper. Now, I have started to make a list of remaining to-do items. We have to make a plan for how to finish each task. Many tasks have been delayed because we didn’t know exactly how to do it or because we were missing parts. We know that the Storch don’t fly before all items are finished. The last flap, the landing gear, brakes, cowlings and the fuel priming system has been in focus lately. The missing R/H flap (see News 3 June 2015) has arrived and has been repaired. Time to put on the fabric. Harald Holm giving scale to a nearly complete landing gear leg. The Sola Aviation Museum kindly accepted an exchange deal. They got a restored non-airworthy top cowling (left) while we got an as-new cowling (right). Brake master cylinders installed inside the rudder pedals. Fuel primer pump (yellow knob) in place below the instrument panel. News 17 September 2016 We move on with a lot of details like cowlings, hoses, and the landing gear. Engine with exhaust system installed. New hoses ready for installation. Brown for oil and yellow for fuel. Dirk Bende kindly let us copy one of his aft cowling supports. The parts for new supports ready for heat treatment at Aerospace Industrial Maintenance (AIM). The wooden blocks are tools needed when forming the parts. Top of page Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4