Chad, the Spad, was rather sad.

It had been a while since Jay had really done much playing. The problem? Jay was to the point where he needed to work on the landing gear mounts, etc… but his mean ol’ wife wouldn’t let him unwrap the present early that contained the landing gear.

 

Finally it was Christmas and the box was unwrapped…

This is special gear that as the gear comes out, or is brought in, the wheel rotates into place.

After unwrapping the gear I was able to witness this quite a few times.

 

And sometimes when I’m upstairs I can hear them being played with in the basement.

Jay is VERY happy with his landing gear.

 

 

 

 

 

Now he just needs the wheels…

I’ve been told that I MUST mention that these are not the actual wheels that will be used on the plane. They are just models for getting the size of the tire cavity correct, and also for propping the Spad up on his feet.

 

 

 

 

We even have the special tail wheel installed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s amazing how pricey these things are.

 

 

 

 

 

The thing that kills me is for the majority of their flight time, these parts aren’t even visible!

All of the cool kids had the best sneakers in school, though, so I guess that Chad needs the cool kid sneakers, too.

 

 

That’s really all that has been updated so far on the Spad. I did receive a request for more pictures of the nose sheeting. What follows is a series of pictures that I took in order to accommodate this request. I hope that they are what the gentleman was looking for. Let me know if there’s anything else that you would like to know. Thanks!

P.S. – The plane was laying on it’s back, three wheels to the sun, when the pictures were taken…. just to get you oriented when looking at the pictures.

Chad’s “chin” and left “cheek”

 

 

 

 

 

Inside Chad’s nose…

 

 

 

 

 

Chad’s left “cheek” and “nose”

(Remember, he’s upside down)

 

 

 

 

 

Chad’s right side

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bottom of Chad’s “chin”

 

 

 

 

 

One more picture of Chad’s left “cheek”