Latrobe Valley Airframes and Welding Pty Ltd
A family run business specializing in restoration of vintage and antique aircraft. Also we have a casa approved welding authority.
We are a casa approved organisation that specializes in the restoration of wood/fabric and steel tubular vintage and antique aircraft. We currently have 3 restoration projects on the go. A 1939 Mk 1 Percival Proctor, a 1928 Westland Widgeon III and a 1942 DH-82A Tiger Moth.
This is how we like ply to separate from old structures. Steve’s Moth Minor front spar ply offers almost no resistance when peeling back. Requires only a light going over with a scraper to produce a clean spar boom.Good result!
10/04/2024
The Staggerwing roof area is rib stitched al the way back to the baggage bulkhead.Can do the first few ribs solo but the aft sections will require another pair of hands. Tedious but necessary!
04/04/2024
We had a Corby Starlet day at the hangar today to celebrate the 40th birthday of VH-BCS. 4th April 84’ I did the maiden flight.
A round up of all the local Starlets made it a fun day and of course the mandatory fly past!
25/03/2024
Work is well underway on Moth Minor VH-AIB. This is the Starb mainplane front spar. The original ply as seen in the 3rd pic peeled away easily, the old Casein not doing a lot. The spar booms are in great condition and only required scraping of the glue and varnish residue before the new Birch skins were scarfed and glued on. Minor dressing along the edges and on to the Port front spar. The rear spars are not in great shape and will require further assessment.
06/03/2024
Never ending tapes on the Staggerwing!
21/02/2024
Port side
21/02/2024
The fabric is tightened and first brush coat on. Now she is taking shape!
13/02/2024
The starboard side fabric is now on with with the first prime coat . Repeat for port side then LOTS of tapes!
04/02/2024
The Staggerwing has been moved into the fabric shop to complete the covering. She is starting to display her curvaceous lines!
19/01/2024
Our new project for the year is Moth Minor VH-AIB. She is here for the rebuild of the outer wings.
Owner Steve Jenkins has operated her for many years at Goolwa. SA.
But the time has come to give her
a birthday. We have dismantled the Starb wing into components and it is a good comparison with our own Moth Minor… all looks very familiar!
19/01/2024
Happy New Year to all our followers.
2024 should see some good progress on the Staggerwing. The belly fabric is on and most of the stitching is done. The first couple of bays require stitching due to the concave nature of the stringers.
24/11/2023
The Staggerwing is coming along at a steady pace. Lots of small detail jobs for not a lot of visual progress. The fuselage is almost ready for covering.
18/11/2023
The F24 vertical stab received the same treatment as the horiz stab a few weeks ago.
18/11/2023
The Fairchild 24R project has also had some attention recently. This is the horiz stab. The original ply has been removed from one side and very little internal work was required.. mainly split corner blocks and crushed hinge packers. Once the first side is glued on then the other side ply will be removed to repeat the process. By doing it this way it eliminates the need for jigging. This is all genuine GL1 Birch ply.. pretty much impossible to obtain now.
18/11/2023
The final lower skins are now glued on the Moth Minor RH wing.
Leading edge ribs and skins next.
03/10/2023
The Staggerwing is progressing at a steady pace. The second wing is being covered and the fuselage has had a fit up of all the alum panels to determine which ones require repair or remanufacture. Many small complex jobs have been carried out which , as is typical does not show up as visual progress !
28/08/2023
The upper skins are now glued on the Starb wing on the Moth Minor. Also final assembly of the Steen Skybolt at last. This has been a long term project for the owners and now awaiting a prop to complete.
28/07/2023
Some progress on the Moth Minor this week with all the main ribs glued in place. Wing levelled and ready for gluing the first inboard skin.
30/06/2023
The Auster finally wheeled out of the paint shop
17/05/2023
The ‘G’ applied to the rudder as it was back in 1927/28
21/04/2023
Some good visual progress on the Widgeon. After discussing with the owners we felt that stickers were not going to cut it on a pre thirties aircraft. So lots of marking out and masking. The end result we feel was worth it. Still to go is the ‘G’ on the rudder and some other markings. Wings will be dealt with soon.
We were able to obtain permission from the UK CAA and Casa to display the original markings as displayed before Australia went to the VH reg in 1928(?)
12/04/2023
The Auster J5G has been on the back burner for a while but we are now keen to finish off the fuselage fabric.
Side tapes are almost done…still a lot more to go but making progress
20/12/2022
Merry Christmas to all of our followers. Thankyou for the support during 2022 🎄🎄
30/11/2022
The Proctor is back in our hangar getting some love and an Annual. It has been almost three years since the initial inspection and of course no flying due Covid. Hopefully this will change in the next few weeks with the owners Paul and Liz arriving from the UK. Will be great to see the old girl back in the air!
19/11/2022
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