The first 182 Cessna restorations are making progress.  During this last month, Reed Lamb and Dave Cano have spent hours and in some cases days and weeks tracking down parts. For example, the cowling Reed found last week could be the last of its kind. It was found sitting on a shelf in surplus Cessna parts. The task of finding these parts in good condition makes it difficult since 95% of the exposed surface will be polished aluminum. During this past month all of the rigging cables, pulleys, rudder peddles, manual flap controls and front nose gear have been disassembled cleaned and rebuilt. Some of the past repair work that has been done over the years was done poorly and has caused us lots of extra work. Reed is very conscientious in making sure that even down to the smallest detail everything is being rebuilt to specifications. These small details now have become one of our major tasks and expenses. It wasn’t totally planned it has just evolved but when finished every mechanical assembly will have been disassembled, rebuilt and inspected by Reed. The other task, which at times seems daunting, is the hand sanding and polishing of the aluminum. It is a very slow process. Dave Cano supervises every step making sure that the “weekend sanders” apply just the right amount of pressure and that all the smallest of scratches are removed before it moves to the polishing stage. This means using 400, 600, 1500, and some cases 2000 grit sand paper before Dave says “Good Job”.  Dave’s twenty plus years of polishing aluminum is a true asset to the restoration of this first 182 Cessna.