Yet More Navion Files

YET MORE NAVION FILES
This page last updated August 19, 2007 at 1700 Zulu

I was fortunate to obtain a completely untouched parts catalog. It's the third Ryan Edition, dated April 1, 1950 and covers 1946 through 1950 model Navions. It even includes the original and complete price list.

Each of these files unzips into a sequence of high resolution PDF pages.
OR
You can have the whole enchilada in one giant ZIP file, which will unzip into the entire Parts Catalog, in PDF format.
Parts_Catalog (zip file; 52.482 MB)
That's right, folks. Over 52 Megabytes! Really, e-mail me for a copy of this site on CD.

PAINTING YOUR NAVION

I've been painting things for more years than I care to admit. Here's a link to an article I wrote on
How to Paint Your Navion (doc file; 0.167 MB)
One of the most difficult things to find is a decent Navion outline drawing so that you can try different paint schemes in Photoshop or the like.
Here's one that I created from the background image of my plane on the first page of this website; in my humble opinion it's vastly superior to all others.
This is good, since you shouldn't start vast projects with half-vast ideas!
Navion A Outline Drawing (jpg file; 0.149 MB)

PLACARDS
My panel has placards that grew out of the general inability (with most printers) to print white ink on a black background.
I got around the problem by designing the placards in AutoCad, and then plotting the file on a Hewlett-Packard flat bed plotter for which the felt-tip pen
had been modified with a diamond point. The placard material was a 3M material of anodized aluminum with a very aggressive adhesive backing.
Alas, that material is no longer made. After almost 100 Navion owners clamored for vent wheel placard replacements, I found something even better.
AlumaJet, by Horizons, Inc.
Horizons, Inc
AlumaJet is a sheet of aluminum coated in various colors to make it receptive to inkjet ink. It too has an aggressive adhesive on the back (made by 3M).
I make the artwork in Adobe Photoshop, and then "invert" the image so that it goes negative, and save it as a JPG file.
Using IrfanView, which is free, will open almost any graphics file, and gives you detailed control of your printer, I print the negative image on an Epson printer using black archival ink on a sheet of ivory white AlumaJet. A light overcoat of Krylon satin acrylic spray to protect the final product yields a beautiful placard that will last at least as long as the original.
IrfanView is available for download at
IrfanView
One word of caution. AlumaJet is real aluminum. The thinnest is 0.005 inch thick, much stiffer than most paper. Epson printers have a fairly straight paper path and handle it without problems, but printers like Hewlett-Packard, that force the paper to reverse direction, WILL NOT work with this material.
Printer hints: set your printer to use black ink only, and set the contrast high. Print at actual image size, and centered. And print a few tests on paper before you sacrifice your expensive AlumaJet.

WARNING!!! The placard on the Navion gear struts IS NOT a separate part, but part of the gear leg itself!!! You CANNOT arbitrarily stick a placard to your gear legs without verifying the manufacturer and part number! Early struts had issues with metal hardness, later struts had addressed that issue and were granted greater gross weights. I take NO RESPONSIBILITY for people using these placards inappropriately. It is up to the owner/operator to ensure that the aircraft is in compliance with its Type Certificate!
Given that, here are links to the placard files available so far:
Vent Wheel (jpg file; 0.130 MB)
Vent Wheel Placard Instructions (doc file; 0.049 MB)

North American Gear (jpg file; 0.643 MB)
Ryan Gear (jpg file; 0.609 MB)

L-17 Pilot's Checklist (jpg file; 0.587 MB)

CAR 3
The early Navions were certified under the Civil Air Regulations (CAR) Part 3. It's interesting to see how times, and bureaucracies, have changed:
Civil Air Regulations Part 3 ( pdf file; 0.413 MB)

Not Navion specific by any means, but this link will take you to all of the NACA reports and documents from 1917 to 1958 (when the NACA became NASA).
This is fascinating stuff. From how smooth a wing needs to be, to what fluid should be used in a compass.
The NACA files

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