N195CL's Revamp

[Truno223]

Hi everyone I have been lurking for a bit and posted one or two questions but I feel like it's probably time to start an actual build/rebuild/revamp thread.

I am a PP who has no experience building until now, but have a strong background in welding, light machining and heavy fabrication. I have been waffling on doing a build from the ground up for about two years now and just decided to pull the trigger on a project plane. I'm currently not living at my actual house because of my better half's job situation so I am setup in a temporary shop without many of my tools (welder, lathe, etc). Which was a big part of why I decided an already flying project would be better at this point.

That's how I came across N195CL, which was originally built by another forum member who unfortunately passed away last year.

It's a Classic IV 1200 with ~1100TTAF and a fresh ~140hr Jab 2200A.

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It looks like it had a rough landing in 2012 (guessing based on replacement of grove gear without reason given in the logbook). That resulted in some tweaked tubing that I will be straightening and then replacing. I have some material onhand to add gusset reinforcements to both sides as well.

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Beyond that, there were some longstanding fuel leaks that hadn't been addressed so I have some new fuel tanks on order from KF, as well as a new Al header tank. I pulled some of the fabric off the wing yesterday from immediately behind the tank which had cracking. Then stripped the coatings and performed a pull test. Even with my terrible test rig (not applying even clamping pressure) it passed. Given that this is the worst of the fabric on the airframe I am not planning on a full recover, just the front of the fuselage and wings where the tanks will be going. The rest of the fabric looks great, no cracks, still very pliable.

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My ultimate goals are to get it all put back together by spring time (tanks are 3-4 months backordered) and to use it as a fun time builder. I plan to eventually operate out of a local strip and some hay fields so i will likely be adding some 22in tires, and upgrading the tailwheel. The panel is going to be replaced as well since I need ADSB compliance to operate out of some of the locations near me.

In any case I wanted to get this thread started as an introduction and place to post some pictures. I'm sure I will be asking plenty of questions along the way! Right now I have some wing rotisseries in the works and just got a bunch of goodies from Aircraft Spruce to start repairing the fuselage after the metal work is done.

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[avidflyer]

Looks like a nice project for you. I have about 550 hrs behind an early model solid lifter Jabiru (#903) in my Avid Flyer MK IV, and it has been good to me. What is the serial # of yours? When I rebuilt the plane, I went with an MGL e1 engine monitor, and that takes care of all the engine gauges in one 3 1/8" instrument. That frees up lots of room on the panel. A grand rapids EIS would do the same. Have fun, and keep us posted on the progress. JImChuk

[Truno223]

Thank you sir, I'm looking forward to the project! Thought fabric is new to me I think it will be satisfying to get it done. I'm hoping next weekend I can get the plane to my shop and get the welding done, otherwise I may have to bring a small welder here (power is limited in this shop).

The Jab is Serial No 22A 3814 Model No 2200A

The plane had a GRT EIS in it, a model 3 which when I called GRT is apparently an older unit. Depending on the budget I am toying with the idea of a full pannel from GRT to handle everything but that will all come down to budget and how deep I go on other things.

[bbs428]

Now there is something you can get your teeth into! Lol. Great project. Will be nice to see her flying once more.

All the best!

[avidflyer]

Maybe you have seen these pictures, I've posted them before, but here are a couple of modifications you could do while you have things apart that will make it stronger and give some more room as well. This is the fuselage for my Kitfox 4 before I sandblasted and painted it. I widened the fuselage 4" using the 1/2" tubing that goes around the door. Makes for way more room. The doors are later bent to fit the new wider openings. Have to take the windows out of them, and bottom panel if that's what you have, cause the doors wont bend otherwise. Make new windows and bottom panel later to fit the new shape. JImChuk

PS, here is my somewhat oldfashoned panel. Have room for a tablet on the right side

[Truno223]

Thank you all for the comments and insight! Avidflyer I have been reading your posts here and on backcountrypilot for some time now haha. This past weekend I was not able to get much/anything done because we were out of town. But this morning I cleaned up the fuselage some more, pulled the brake masters and tubing in preparation of removing the floor, and did cut out my templates for bracing. My plan is to do it as pictured, filling in some of the outer webbing with perforated 4130 tinwork. I'm hoping I can knock that out this weekend as well as some other small welding projects I need to do here and there assuming I can get up to my home shop with the plane.

In pulling the wing tanks... are there any tricks/tips to getting the filler out of the front seam without damaging the spar? I plan to try the wire/floss/string method to remove the silicon bond on the rear and front but didn't know about the filler itself which seems much harder.

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