This piece originally ran in the December 2024 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Among EAA’s many activities is restoring vintage aircraft. This fabric comes from the rudder of the EAA Aviation Museum’s Curtiss Robin that lives at Pioneer Airport. Taken off the Robin and replaced in 1973 when EAA received the airplane, this fabric is original to its 1956 re-covering when it was owned by Norm Sten. Norm was responsible for the first restoration of the Robin, which replaced the 1935 paint scheme of a red fuselage, silver wings, and red trim with traditional Robin colors of an orange fuselage with yellow wings and tail surfaces. While removing the yellow and orange fabric, EAA volunteers discovered red paint underneath the fuselage fabric, uncovering more of this Robin’s history. When examining it up close, you can see the brush strokes denoting that the word “Curtiss” is hand-painted, while “N50H” is stenciled.
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