Some weeks don’t have a single, overarching theme—just a steady accumulation of small steps on multiple fronts. It’s not always exciting, and it doesn’t always feel like progress, but those small steps add up. This has been one of those weeks.
Learning Through Doing
At the restoration shop, I’ve been sanding between coats on the B-17 flight controls, learning how each stroke influences the final finish. It felt good to be working on a project again. The restorer kept saying, anything can be fixed, so I sanded in multiple directions as I was shown, ensuring the best possible surface for the next layer of paint.
Between this and helping to remove the wings from the Howard DGA-11 for its restoration, I’m gaining a better understanding of how wood, fabric, and metal come together to form an airplane. The restorer has used aircraft in various stages of disassembly to illustrate crucial areas I need to understand. One of those lessons? The importance of properly aligned landing gear. A straight, uniform stance makes an airplane easier to control on the ground, reducing the risk of a ground loop—something that can cause serious damage if not prevented.
Mama’s Chief: A Work in Progress
Meanwhile, there was a voicemail waiting on the restorer’s phone from the welder—an update on the metal needed for Mama’s Chief. Both the restorer and the welder had expected minimal repairs, but there was still going to be something. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting—other than more.
As I was writing, the metal arrived. The boxes were surprisingly small. Granted, the Chief isn’t a large airplane, but still, I expected more. Maybe it’s a lesson in efficiency—sometimes, small pieces can make a big impact.
The restorer mentioned that the Chief has a lot of areas that need correction. That’s likely why it has remained a project in pieces for so long. Correcting takes time and effort. There’s no skipping ahead—just methodical, step-by-step work.
The Hangar and the Importance of Small Steps
While the Chief is at the welder, we’ve been working on hangar projects before diving into the annual inspection on Sis, our 1947 Bonanza. Warmer temperatures gave us the chance to paint the joists below the loft, though with no way to move the Cub or my toy car out of the way, using a spray gun wasn’t an option. Instead, we relied on small rollers and brushes, making slow but steady progress.
One of our friends from the restoration shop came down to help with the first part. He and the restorer got halfway done before we called it a night. The welder even stopped by to check on our progress while picking up the metal for the Chief. A second coat will likely be needed, but already, the fresh paint is making the dark space brighter.
The goal is to finish painting by the end of the weekend. It’s not a big, flashy project, just one of those necessary tasks that, once completed, will make the space more functional.
The Power of Small Steps
Large projects—whether restoring an airplane, painting a hangar, or learning a new skill—aren’t completed in dramatic leaps. They come together through steady, sometimes unremarkable, effort.
Do something each day, even if it’s small. Small, daily progress yields better results than waiting for the perfect moment to make a giant leap.
It’s not always easy to see the progress when you’re in the middle of it. But looking back, it becomes clear—those small steps were never small at all.
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