Wed, Mar 01, 2017
EAA Chapter 534 Members Visited The Jim Kimball Enterprises Airport In Zellwood, FL
EAA members were shown three projects that the folks at JKE are currently working on by Kevin Kimball, President of the company.
The first one was the kit construction of a Curtis Pitts model 12 biplane. This plane was near completion and now in the painting phase. EAA members were able to see its structural frame and parts of the plane that had recently been painted. They were given statistics and information on the Russian radial engine that will power the Pitts. Jim Kimball Enterprises is the exclusive seller of this Pitts kit and to date has sold about 125 of them.
The second project is one that the EAA members have been monitoring for about 4 years. It is the rebuilding to museum standards, a 1929 Lockheed Vega. This plane belongs to Kermit Weeks of Florida’s Fantasy of Flight. The fact that this aircraft rebuild is being entrusted to the people at JKE is testimony to the fine quality of work they do. Currently the all plywood wing has been rebuilt and is awaiting its fabric covering and paint. The vertical and horizontal stabilizers along with the elevators and rudder are ready for paint. The fuselage has been deconstructed and will be rebuilt to 1929 Lockheed specifications.
Next on the list was a WWII Stearman biplane originally built by Boeing Aircraft in the 1940s. This plane had been in the Kimball family for many years and they all learned to fly in it. It had seen better days so they decided to rebuild it. Since it is a family airplane many refinements were added that Boeing never thought about or had not been invented at the time it was first built.
The EAA members always look forward to this visit as they can pick up tips from Kevin Kimball they can take back and apply to their own building projects. Kevin, a mechanical engineer, has a wealth of aeronautical knowledge and experience that he applies to the business but he also has a vast appreciation of aviation history.
EAA Chapter 534 is based at Leesburg International Airport in Leesburg, Florida. If you would like more information about the chapter or Jim Kimball Enterprises you may go to the following web sites.
(Images provided with EAA Chapter 534 news release. Top: Kevin Kimball of Jim Kimball Enterprises talks about some of the refinements added to the family 1940s Stearman. Bottom: EAA Chapter 534 member Andre Nadeau and Kevin Kimball of Jim Kimball Enterprises. Kevin points out to the group some of the flaws found in the 1929 Lockheed Vega wooden fuselage after it was deconstructed.)
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