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Thread: The Barn Find Build

  1. #71
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Page View Post
    No, Debra didn't tell me what the other changes were, but I'm very tempted to give them a call again and see if I can find out. As you say, if it's something the welder can fix, it'd be well worth the extra expense. That said, I'll be surprised if it doesn't take new wing struts.

    Yeah, I'm pretty happy about the state of the wings. They're going to take quite a bit of sanding to get the leftover adhesive knocked down to a smooth surface for re-covering, but the bones are definitely healthy. I knocked one false rib loose while removing the fabric, but I tagged it with a zip tie so I'll remember to re-glue it when I break out the Hysol.

    Speaking of sanding, today I made the mistake of being cheap by buying a triangular rubber hook-and-loop sanding pad for this tool, along with a package of six assorted pieces of sandpaper for it. It took about 60 seconds for the heat generated by the oscillations to melt the tip of the rubber pad (which I discovered when I blistered my index finger on it!), and under an hour to destroy all six pieces of sandpaper. It's a fantastic cutting tool, but not a great sander. I guess I'll have to break down and buy an R.O. sander, because I'm sure as heck not doing it all by hand and I don't think my Grandpa's old belt sander is the right tool either!
    That's strange about the sander pad getting hot. The triangle head (detail sander) for my HF unit is basically thick foam rubber and I have never experienced it getting too hot.

    It's great you got that wing covering off without damaging wood.

    Regarding fuselage differences between 1400 and 1550, you can always drag your fuselage up here and we can compare them side by side. I think since we met Nate we know where to look.
    Kitfox 5 (under construction)
    Commercial SE/ME, CFII

  2. #72
    Senior Member Eric Page's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    Quote Originally Posted by alexM View Post
    That's strange about the sander pad getting hot. The triangle head (detail sander) for my HF unit is basically thick foam rubber and I have never experienced it getting too hot.
    I think there must be a significant difference in the action of a tool designed to be a sander -vs- the oscillating cutter I was using. Even before the cutting tool melted the pad, it wasn't doing a very good job of sanding. The RO sander I borrowed from my neighbor did a much better job.
    Eric Page
    Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
    Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
    ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
    Map of Landings

  3. #73
    Senior Member Eric Page's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    A couple of days ago I finished sanding the first wing, then swapped them between the cradle and rotisserie again and got about 1/3 of one side sanded on the other wing.

    Yesterday was a big day -- finally a step forward on the project! But first...

    I spent all day Friday thinking it was Thursday, so I made no preparations for the events scheduled to happen on Saturday. I woke up Saturday morning, my phone reminded me that I was supposed to be taking my plane to the welder that day, then I realized that I had made no arrangements to get it there! Fortunately I have great neighbors and one of them loaned me his flatbed trailer and his pickup, for most of the day, on zero notice.

    With help from another neighbor, I got the fuselage loaded up and strapped down, then I hauled it ~20 miles to Experimental Aircraft Metal Fabrication. The owner, Steve Furjesi [fur-jessy], has a modestly sized shop that's stuffed with everything from a 1940's punch press to modern CNC machining centers. He's a salt-of-the-earth guy and judging by the work I saw, a very talented fabricator and welder. His shop produces (probably all of the) weldments for Van's Aircraft, as well as some machined parts, and he's in the middle of restoring his own Stinson 108-3.

    Anyway, we got my fuselage off the trailer and into the shop, then got started on the tail post base reinforcement. I showed Steve a photo of a new Kitfox tail post, and he was off to the races. He found a perfect little hank of 4130 sheet in the scrap bin, shaped it, gave it a 90° bend, welded it on, and within 30 minutes the first job was done.

    Tail Post Fit Up.jpg Tail Post Rear.jpg
    Tail Post L.jpg Tail Post R.jpg

    Next up were the rudder pedal torque tube gussets. Forum member alexM generously gave me a set of gussets, but on two of the four tubes they would have interfered with existing rivet holes that I would like to re-use. I showed Steve the SkyStar service bulletin, and he came up with a way to reinforce my tubes that's very similar to the SB procedure, except welded instead of bonded and riveted.

    First, he cut a strip of thin 4130 into four pieces about 1" wide by 5" long, rounded the ends, then used an absurdly oversized press to form a 1" diameter, ~120° bend in the middle of each piece. This was the result (please ignore the misaligned rivet hole -- not my work!).

    Rudder Tube Strap.jpg

    Next he centered the straps on the tubes and tacked them in place.

    Rudder Tube Welding.jpg Rudder Tube Tacked.jpg

    Next step was to peen the edges of the straps so that they conformed to the shape of the tubes.

    Rudder Tube Peened.jpg

    And to finish them up, they were fully welded. I don't think Godzilla could break them now.

    Rudder Tube Welded.jpg

    Steve thought it likely that the parts didn't warp, since they were equally welded on all four quadrants of the upright tube. I'll find out for sure when it comes to reassembly. Fingers crossed for now.

    Finally, Steve plug welded eleven holes in the forward fuselage, on the plates where the rudder torque tube brackets are mounted.

    Hole Plugs.jpg

    With all of that done we put the plane back on the trailer, strapped it down again, and I headed for home.
    Eric Page
    Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
    Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
    ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
    Map of Landings

  4. #74
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    Wow that is some beautiful welding. Looking forward to doing business with him on my engine mount. His method of reinforcement on those rudder pedal torque tubes echoes what any skilled welder says about the design, so you did good.

    I only "lost" two holes by going with the triangle gussets (the ones between the triangles and nearest the upright tube) and drilled new ones after.

    I've been going to the annual fly in BBQ events at Curtis for the past three years (excluding 2020 of course) and one year I did a double take by his shop when I saw a Lamborghini Diablo in among the machinery and projects.
    Kitfox 5 (under construction)
    Commercial SE/ME, CFII

  5. #75
    Senior Member bbs428's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    Elegant solution on the rudder pedal reinforcement. Tail wheel as well. Nice looking work.
    Somebody said that carrier pilots were the best in the world, and they must be or there wouldn't be any of them left alive. — Ernie Pyle

    Brett Butler
    Flying: 1998 Model 5 Outback, 912ul Zipper 110hp, G3x avionics, ss7 upgrades

  6. #76
    Senior Member Eric Page's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    Quote Originally Posted by alexM View Post
    I did a double take by his shop when I saw a Lamborghini Diablo in among the machinery and projects.
    Yikes, I didn't see anything like that!
    Eric Page
    Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
    Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
    ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
    Map of Landings

  7. #77
    Senior Member Eric Page's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    Had to take another couple of days off from the Kitfox to install a check valve in the footing drain pipe from my house, and install a sump pump in the crawl space. Sadly, the pump had to go at the opposite end of the house from the crawl space entrance, and the soil under my house is sticky, wet clay. Not a fun project!

    Over the last couple of days, I finished sanding the adhesive and fabric coatings off of the wing skeletons. After finishing the first wing without any damage, I managed to break the tip off of one false rib (in my defense, it had already been broken and glued once before), as well as breaking loose the adhesive bond where three false ribs attach to the front spar. No pictures today; just imagine two clean, smooth wings!
    Eric Page
    Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
    Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
    ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
    Map of Landings

  8. #78
    Senior Member Eric Page's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    Hard to believe it's been more than a month. The delay involved a failed sump pump (during a rainstorm, of course) and badly rat-damaged HVAC ducting and insulation in my parents' home. My advice: if you have seed feeders in your yard to attract birds, get rid of them. They're rat-magnets.

    Anyway, you might disagree, but I'm calling this progress:

    Today I removed a false rib that was broken by the first builder, then sanded the mounting spots smooth in preparation for fitting a replacement (which I have three of thanks to forum member "Porky" -- thanks!). There will be two more to replace on the other wing, eventually.

    Then I changed the oil/filter on the lawn tractor, completely rearranged the garage to make room to park it out of my way, stacked all the other yard tools in a corner, swept out the garage, and turned the shipping crate from my new S7 elevator frame into a 10 ft x 3-1/2 ft work table.

    With that done, I cleaned the rudder torque tube parts with acetone in preparation for primer. That will have to wait for my next session; since I had the garage doors open, it was far too cold in there to spray primer this evening.

    The last few weeks haven't been a total loss. I spent an alarming amount of money on airplane parts and hardware from Kitfox and Spruce, as well as a big, long box from Germany with my Oratex in it. Hopefully I can get at least one part covered before my glue goes bad. It didn't occur to me that I might be ordering it too soon. I'm storing it in a warm spot, shaking the bottles weekly and keeping my fingers crossed.

    I also bought a bore scope camera with the intent of inspecting the inside of anything it will fit into, including the wing spars, wing struts and fuel tanks. More to come on the results of that.
    Eric Page
    Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
    Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
    ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
    Map of Landings

  9. #79
    Senior Member Kitfox Pilot's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    Eric, Nice to see you getting a little work done. I'm covering right now with oratex and I was surprised at the short shelf life on the glue too.
    Harlan and Susan Payne
    Sold Piper Archer
    Flying FarmFox STI Kitfox N61HP
    Rotax 915is, Airmaster prop
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  10. #80
    Senior Member bbs428's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Barn Find Build

    "I also bought a bore scope camera with the intent of inspecting the inside of anything it will fit into, including the wing spars, wing struts and fuel tanks. More to come on the results of that."

    ​Which system did you go with Eric? It might be prudent to do the same here. In my case, the lift struts. My spars cleaned up nicely with vinegar followed by the alodine treatment. It was a low weight option compared to the two part epoxy coating.

    Depending on the results of your tank inspections, maybe two new resin formula tanks from Kitfox might be the way to go?

    "Hard to believe it's been more than a month. The delay involved a failed sump pump (during a rainstorm, of course) and badly rat-damaged HVAC ducting and insulation in my parents' home."

    Lol. I'm chuckling at what life throws at all of us on our
    journey. In my case a roof repair - found some rotten plywood while cleaning the gutters and a bathroom remodel - the last one thankfully! Looking forward to a day of nothing but Kitfox!


    Somebody said that carrier pilots were the best in the world, and they must be or there wouldn't be any of them left alive. — Ernie Pyle

    Brett Butler
    Flying: 1998 Model 5 Outback, 912ul Zipper 110hp, G3x avionics, ss7 upgrades

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