Ron Gray Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Just under 2 years ago I was flying my DLE55 powered 2m ish SU26 but made a right mess of some (too) low level aeros which resulted in a coming together between 'plane and terra firma (tarmac runway). The damage was quite severe, the following photo shows some of the damage. I gathered up the bits and took them back to the hangar where they stood in the corner gathering dust. About 6 weeks ago I decided to get rid of the bits but before I did I had a closer inspection of the damage. Here is a list of what I found: 1. Top of rudder missing - ground off upon contact. 2. Bottom of rudder smashed as a result of tailwheel assembly being pushed up into it - C/F tailwheel assembly smashed. 3. Port wing forced into fuse crushing inboard section of wing and breaking fuse structure around wing mounting. Initially I thought the rest of the wing was OK but it was the film holding most of it together! 4. Starboard wingtip ground off upon contact with tarmac. 5. Canopy front section smashed as a result of cowl being pushed back into it. 6. Main fuse side rails crushed back to fuel tank as a result of engine being pushed back. 7. Bulkhead split. 8. Engine mounting box in several pieces. 9. Cowl mounting ring in many pieces. 10. F/Glass cowl - underside crushed. 11. DLE 55 - several cylinder fins ground off from contact with tarmac. 11. CLE 55 - flexi header pipe crushed. 12. Underside of fuse U/C mounting plate and supports snapped ripped out and crushed. 13. Underside of fuse around exhaust can crushed. Now the surprising thing is that with the exception of the underside of the fuse all other fuse damage had left most of etc covering film intact so I decided to have a go repairing the damage. Fortunately I had a spare wing for it otherwise I may not have bothered with the repair as the port wing was well and truly a lost cause. Anyway without boring you with the details of the rebuilding works this is what it looks like now with just the cowl to sort out. Which just goes to show that even 'lost causes' are worth a second look and can be rather enjoyable. Hopefully it will be up in the air again next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levanter Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Congratulations Ron It show what can be done with care and patience. Levanter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Stunning work , mine would have been in landfill. will you be flying that close to the ground again ? Edited By cymaz on 12/03/2019 06:39:50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 That is truly raising the dead. and a good job. Edited By J D 8 on 12/03/2019 08:58:02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 A truly stunning repair job there, Ron. Any thoughts how you will approach the cowl repair, if indeed it's possible? Watching with interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 We have a chap in our club who used to regularly reduce ARTFs and beautifully built kits to little more than matchwood (he's much better at the flying lark now, thankfully), and would diligently put all the bits back together very much as Ron has done. On one occasion, I refused to believe that a model that was smithereens a few weeks ago, was not a brand new item, until he showed me the patchwork of gluelines in the fuz. One has to take one's hat off to such determination and handiwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Vrandecic -Mes Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 I congratulate Ron ... this is really: "Flight of Phoenix"..... Cheers Jos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Collinson Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Ron, You're a credit to our hobby. I have broadly similar potential projects in binliners scowling at the back of the mancave. Happy to share with you if you're at a loose end? BTC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Laughton Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Really impressed with that rebuild! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted March 12, 2019 Author Share Posted March 12, 2019 Thanks for all your comments but to be honest it does look better from a distance! I'll take some close up shots of it to show some of the work I've done to get it to the state it's in now and you'll see what I mean. Regarding the cowl, I've got 2 choices, I can repair the damaged one by re-glassing from the inside and rebuilding the mounting ring or I could use a spare one that I have - guess which option I'll be using?!!! Soon after I bought the plane I was fortunate enough to be able to get a spare wing (the port one as luck would have it) a spare cowl and spare elevators. As I've described above, the wing that took the brunt of the damage was the port one so I was in luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Nice job Ron! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Cracking job Ron. I shall know where to come the next time I have a pile of bits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Walby Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 Very nice job Ron, lucky you didn't damage the starboard wing and have to use your spare ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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