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Thread: The Barn Find Build

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    Senior Member Eric Page's Avatar
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    Jun 2020
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    Default The Barn Find Build

    OK, it was in a semi trailer, not a barn, but I figure that I'm allowed a little creative license!

    I'll start with thanks to each of you who responded to my threads about evaluating the project before I bought it, and finding the serial number once I did. I'm grateful for your help, and I'm excited to see what else I'll learn from everyone here.

    So, once I got the project home, I started by putting a 2x6 spine and some caster wheels under the wing cradles so I could move them around easily by myself. With that done, I rearranged my garage extensively. I was able to get everything in there, including my car, but I've decided that I need a garden shed, so that's near the top of my to-do list. The shed will swallow most of the contents of my garage that aren't airplane related, so I'll have a lot more room to work. My garage is insulated, so it will be livable year-round; today's high was 95°, but the garage never got over 80°!

    Last week, after removing the shoulder harnesses to find the serial number, I completed removing the belts. The anchor bolts were grossly over-torqued (I almost needed a pipe on the wrench!), so they'll be scrapped and replaced. I soaked the belts in a bucket of hot water and car wash soap. They came out looking great, apart from a tiny bit of rust pitting on the chromed anchors. I'll clean that and apply a coat of clear to prevent any more rust.

    I removed the fiberglass seat pan, gave it a good scrubbing and set it aside in a corner of the spare bedroom, along with the windscreen.

    Next to come off was the engine mount (for a Rotax 912). That was only loosely held in place, but the hardware has some surface corrosion and will also be replaced. I also removed the coolant catch can bracket. Its tiny little fasteners were so tight that the head popped off one of the screws when I tried to loosen the nut (are you seeing a theme developing?). Finally, I disconnected the brake lines and removed the brake fluid reservoir. This left the firewall held in place by two clecos and the brake lines that were held captive by their compression fittings.

    A couple of days ago a neighbor who's an experienced builder (he's currently scratch-building a heavily modified PA-12 clone) came by to look at the Kitfox. As I expected, he told me he didn't think the covering job was airworthy, and he agreed with me that everything should be stripped and the fuselage should be completely disassembled (the wings were factory quick-build).

    Somehow it seems like a REALLY big step to cut the fabric off of the plane, but the longer I wait, the later my first flight will be. So, this evening I'm headed to the garage with a razor blade.

    I've attached some photos that show what kind of shape my poor plane was in when I received it. I don't have a photo of the firewall, but it's also a mess. The upper right corner is bent, there are tool marks from someone trying to straighten it, and it has several holes in odd places (some of them patched with blobs of Hysol!). Also, the elevator control is very tight; it's obviously binding somewhere.

    Most worrisome is the damage to the flaperon skins (last two photos). Any opinions on the repairability of this damage would be welcome.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    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

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