1939 Beechcraft Staggerwing Aircraft Interior Restoration

- Do you want to do stock factory configuration or what the factory might have done for a high end customer? Stock can look a bit tacky (vinyl), while accepting that custom interiors were common gives you freedom.
- Most certified leathers look bad in an antique. Too smooth and shiny. We used leather with some texture and a slightly rough surface that worked out well. Very natural. If you develop your own build for coverings, make sure to follow the FAA specs for fire testing, etc. Not too hard to do and failing to do it has resulted in the feds requiring removal of an interior later. You probably know that.
- Focus on an appearance that could have been produced by the factory. Don't obsess about the actual materials. For example, our flooring and cabinetry is made of an aluminum honeycomb used by Boeing, but the coverings completely hide that. If done right, it looks absolutely period and the Oshkosh judges loved it.

Seats and Ceiling - Aristocrat Parma Blue #9725
Sidewalls - Lackawanna Leather Blue HC 307
Carpet - Laidlaw # C-2300

An airplane will have no different materials than a car or a house from the same vintage (and boats are the same too). The leather is referring to a grain (ex smooth or textured) and the color (which I would guess a medium to a dark blue as you rarely see light colored leathers in anything but tan, the carpet will be a Wilton Wool (dense pile), a mosstread (like a heavy velvet fabric), or perhaps a box weave such as you would find in a 50's Porsche - think what today is industrial carpet for office buildings, and the seats and ceiling are going to be a cloth or by 1939 they could be a vinyl. I believe the problem is that FAA requires you to use certain types of materials with from flame redundancy and/or for weight. And, most people I know doing planes never really get a really good "period look" to their planes - materials look too modern for the time period. My best advice is when posting these questions to also provide the best "factory" photographs that you can find and letting people take a crack at this from that point. Sidenote: you do have the brand names of the products, so perhaps keep an eye out on ebay for some sample books and ..... And, you do not want to be looking at the best restored planes - you want to be looking at all the unrestored planes (which I assume there are few, but I have seen the occasional WACO that still has its mothy interior from the 30's).

About 10 years ago I sold some 34-36 Auburn interior accouterments to a fellow restoring a 30's aircraft.
You might want to visit my website: auburnsmidwest.com there are pictures of some handles there . If you find something, do a contact us on the home page.

We are currently attempting to authentically restore a 1939 Beech Staggerwing and have been referred to your club as a possible resource. We have information that during that period, there was an overlap between auto manufacturers and aircraft manufacturers with regard to interior upholstery, leathers and carpets. Specifically our airplane used,

Seats and Ceiling - Aristocrat Parma Blue #9725
Sidewalls - Lackawanna Leather Blue HC 307
Carpet - Laidlaw # C-2300

We have reached a (hopefully temporary) dead end with the Beechcraft archives and are attempting to tap the knowledge base of some of the car clubs. We are trying to present the airplane just as it left the factory in 1939 and any help or direction you could point us in would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much,

Mark Holmquist