Many first! - a white glider again?

First time in the paint booth, First round of painting, and first time this glider was painted whited in over 3 years!

Last weekend, Joseph and I worked many long hours prepping the glider for priming. On Friday he did a pre-primed with Feather-fill and we spent two days sanding to end up with this!

We still have issues with the high spots on the old tail break repair.

It looks like the tail was not quite straight during the repair. But it looks OK, and I can live with it.

By 8pm Sunday. We started to cover this old bird with fresh white primer!

By 9pm, she was white again!

Joseph was having some issues with the air supply during painting, which created a few slight sags in the paint (not a problem).

The sling method for the most part worked, thou Joseph was having reach problems applying the primer on the belly.

But, he was able to finish without too much of a problem. 

So, what is next...

Robert has returned from his trip in Europe, and I'm sure he will have Joseph tied up.

I will have to work out a payment plan for the work that has been done, and with my wife out of work because of a back injury, all of my project funds have been used to keep a roof over our heads since my pay is used up.

Final paint will have to wait. 

Looks like this project is on hold again!

Sucks!

Grunt work - the refinishing has started!

After the wings were separated from the fuselage, Joseph started with the backing of the fairings.

The first steps were to fill the fairing openings with to part foam, and then shape them to fit.

 

The insides of the fairings were filled ....

.... along with the wing roots.

After the foam was sanded to the correct shape, Carbon fiber was applied over the exposed foam. This really stiffened the fairings!.

The next step , was to fair the edge of the fairing into the fuselage, apply reinforcing glass, ...

... and then sand to shape, using bondo,

.... and then feather-fill.

Also, at this time, when resin was curing, Joseph installed the gear doors.

For the most part, the installation went smoothly,

... but it was at the time to secure the hinges, there were some weirdness going on... as if the Gods were mocking us!

But the doors went on!

During this process, the fuselage started to get the sanding prep work done, First bondo,..

Then some old repair cleanup...

And then ..... more bondo!

The last step before the first coats of primer, some feather-fill is sprayed on and then sanded smooth. 

Aside from the canopy cleanup (which I haven't covered yet), this process has been going on for three weeks now!

Anyone know of a bank with poor security!

This weekend, we plan to hit the fuselage with it's coat of white primer..... the first time this plane has been white in over two years!

The Air Brake Caps! YUCK!

Here is something fellow Libelle owners should check out, if they haven't already done so!

Michael Reid, a fellow Libelle owner, and Blogger ( The Soaring Laboratory ), dropped by my home to see this project, last year. Aside from pointing out the issues he had encountered with the replacement of the wing alignment pins on his Libelle, he advised that I need to replace the springs that hold the air brake caps down against the wings when the air brakes are closed.

Once the glider was ready to be delivered to the airport, Robert ordered the replacement parts for my Libelle, the same time he ordered them for Eagle II.

Last weekend, I was able to to take the time to remove the air brake.

Here is what I found!

The canter lever arms were gooey with grease. And there was just a hint of surface rust.

.... the springs and washers were a rusty mess.

     
Notice anything odd about the springs and washers?!

On all four air caps, the size of the springs and the number of the washers used, were inconstantly installed.

So, with the replacement parts in hand, I set up a table and began removing the old springs and washers.

It's a tricky endeavor, due to the C-clips and springs.

Care must be taken when removing them, or you will be chasing them around the room as the fly out!

Here is a sample of the springs that were originally used on my air brakes.

WHAT is going on here!?!?!?

The washers were also a mix of small and medium sizes. Most were made of aluminum, but as you can see due to corrosion, some were made of steel.

The replacement parts were 32 of the large long springs (like the ones on the left side of the springs photo) and 32 small aluminum washers.

The washers were a problem. I needed 3X the quantity to do it right.

The amount of washers supplied would only act as a stop for the C-clip, but the bottom of the spring would eventually wear through the glass and fail to hold the cap down. 

I found enough of the old aluminum washers to fill the required numbers to finish the installation.

I used two washers between the spring and the C-clip to create the amount of force to hold the cap down on the wing when the air brake is closed.

Here is what the replacement spring install looks like.

The air brake push rods will require a final adjustment when the glider is reassembled.

This weekend, I will clean up the canter lever arms and remount the air brakes on the wings.

The work continues.

It has been a busy week!

Over the past two weeks, the restoration of the Libelle has picked up!

Robert trimmed the canopy plexi and glued it in place.

Before the epoxy cures, the plexi was taped down, and the excess resin squeeze out was removed.

The canopy was cured in a warm room for a day before the clean up could be started.

The following day, Joseph began the clean up on the frame by sanding down the remaining epoxy along the frame and plexi line.

The edge for the frame was sanded smooth in preparation of the fairing install.

On Thursday, I was on site to help with the assembly of the airframe and wings

It has been three years since I have seen this glider assembled. The last time was when I was in Washington to do my pre-purchase walk through.

Just as we began working on the mounting of the fairings, I pointed out to Robert that I had not checked the airbrake mechanism in the wings and I was waiting to get the plane here for him to inspect them before we began to seal it up.

This was a good thing, upon the inspection, we found that the parts and bearings wear gummed up with old grease, some surface rust, and the over center blocks were breaking apart.

The airbrake mechanism, and bearings on both wings were cleaned up, painted and regreased. The inspection covers were cemented in place, and we were back on track.

 

Based on the instructions from Streifeneder,

Robert began mounting the lower fairings first.

The wing and fuselage surfaces were prepped, and the lower fairings were held in place with Clecos while the epoxy set.  Both lower fairings were given a day to cure.

On Thursday and Friday, the top fairings were glued into position.

Robert ground away the step near the canopy frame, allowing an easier clean up on the canopy.

The leading, and .....

......  trailing edge of the fairings.

Saturday! .. The big moment has arrived, it was time to cut the fairing separation lines between the canopy, wings and fuselage. 

After carefully measuring, we determined the correct curve and lines that would allow the wings and fuselage to fit inside my modified trailer.

The fairings were cut with a fine cutting disk.

For the most part, the cutting process went without a hitch, although the curve on the leading edge near the canopy separation line on the frame was a bit rough.

It was difficult to determine where the excess epoxy squeeze out was binding to the canopy frame and the wing. But after a little bit of fine grinding, the canopy was freed.

The canopy with the faired edge.

After the canopy was removed, I used the wing assembly tool to see if the wings would separate correctly. With the typical Libelle "clunk", the wings separated from the fuselage.

The next process will be to fill the backings on the fairings and to begin the process of blending them into the airframe.



New view, New Canopy! Part 3 - The Finishing work has started!

After waiting a few months, my glider is next in line for Robert to work on.

Today I received an email from Robert stating that the work has begun on finishing the Glider.







The photos he sent were of the canopy being mounted to the frame.

Yahoo! It's actually happening!

The weeks to follow, I hope to see the canopy finished, and the fairings mounted.

Robert plans to be on vacation over the month of May, and if that part of the plane is finished, then Joseph will be able to start with the filling, sanding, and painting.

Winter 2013 update

Howdy all

Well the plane has been at the shop at the airport since the first of December. There were a few project jobs ahead of mine.

Currently there are only two left, before they can start work. Believe it or not, there is a Libelle ahead of mine, and this one once belonged to Neil Armstrong.
That's right, Eagle II has landed, and is sitting in the same hanger as mine.

Moriarty NM has become a haven for Libelles.

I believe there are at least 6 on site.


Stay tuned  .... the finishing work will be starting soon!

201B or not 201B, that is the question

Happy New Year and I hope it will be a good one!

So lets start off with a little history lesson, and a little mystery.

What makes a Libelle 201 a 201B?  That has been a question posted on the Libelle forum a few times.

From what I can gather, and I might be wrong, I recall some first thought it was the introduction of the the retractable main wheel, but that was an option offered after the first 20 or so Libelle 201's  manufactured. Many say it's the install of the wing tanks and the replacement of the the old limitations placards with the new 201B limitations.

I know that the true, pure, 201B manufactured started at serial number 322. 

There are a list of changes to the H201 that made it a H201B

Such standard items on the H-201B after SN 322, were:

1. Correct Water ballast installation.
2. New horizontal stabilizer to improve the elevator authority at slow speeds.
3. Reinforced tail boom.
4. New tail plane attachment fitting.
5. Larger diameter tubing for rudder pedals for the steel cables.
.... you get the picture.


But all of these changes to the aircraft needed to be done per the specification of Glasflügel or Streifeneder.

I found that with the installation of the water ballast system, per Glasflügel, made it a H-201B.

And as we know from my previous posts, not everything on my bird was upgraded per the manufacturers specification.

Currently, my glider is registered as a 201B, and I from what I found, many of the listed items were not done. The only sure thing that made my bird a H201B was the water ballast system, and it was not done per anyone's specification. It looked like a homemade modification.

I will need to make sure that the 201B modifications will be completed per the manufacturers guidelines, but the problem I have found is, where can I find the proper parts?.

I removed the questionably installed water ballast parts when I started the initial strip down of the glider (May of 2010).  I had no intention of re-using these, since they appeared to be made from an old tarp.





At that time I found an old web page from Eastern Sailplane, where they were selling replacement ballast tanks. The next day, I contacted Eastern Sailplane to see if they had replacement tanks for the Libelle.,







In June of 2010, I was traveling to the airport to train my replacement after getting laid off, when I received a call from John Murray of Eastern Sailplane. He called to tell me that he had found a replacement ballast bag set for the Libelle.

Now I had water bags, but I need the rest of the parts to satisfy the requirements of a properly installed water ballast system!


So the quest for the parts continues.

Early 2011, I emailed Streifeneder to find out what I needed to do the proper water ballast installation.

After waiting a few months, I received a response with a 3 page list of parts and a list of blueprint drawings needed to install the system. I ordered the set drawings first to see if I could find any of the parts here in the US. When I received the drawings, I found that there were many custom Libelle parts. The prospects of re-installing the water ballast system was looking grim.

So, the question now, Tanks or no Tanks?

Again, I emailed Streifeneder and asked them if the water ballast system parts were still available, a mod-kit would be great too! Several months went by, and I received a reply. Hansjorg wrote me a replay stating that he would have to look around to see if any parts were still available.

November of 2011, I receive another reply stating that the Teleflex cable used for the valve control was no longer available in a 3' length and he was still working on finding parts.

Using the information from the drawings, I went to a local marine shop and showed them the drawings. They identified the Teleflex cable used for controlling the throttle on motor boats, but again, that length was not available, nor can it be made to order.

The following weekend, I went to the airport to do some soaring. After our flight, I walking into the FBO and noticed a throttle cable on the counter. It looked just like the Teleflex cable at the marine shop, but it did not have the full cable covering. The cable had a stainless steel mesh cover.

I was able to order the throttle cable from Aircraft Spruce.

The year is 2012!

May, I received an email from Streifeneder telling me that they might have a set of parts to rebuild the water ballast system. The parts were coming from a unrepairable Libelle.

June, Streifeneder emails me a list of the parts they were able to recover, and a few that they will need to remake. I authorized the purchase of the parts.

The first week of September, a miracle happened. I received an email from Streifeneder with a bill for the parts, and within ten days, a box of parts arrived.  To my surprise this included the old, original tanks!





Since the wheel well was painted, There will need to be some cleanup to glue the fiberglass water dump parts in place.

I believe I now have the parts to do a proper water ballast install.

The next question will be, which tanks do I use, and what modifications will be needed for the interior of the wing cells to support the water bags.  Roberts knowledge of glider ballast systems will be called in to solve this question.

So, on to the task at hand, finishing the glider!