The Trailer! Part 10 - Damn that cradle!

Back last fall, I loaded the trailer with the glider after two years, and I found that after I corrected the cradle, it was just a bit too wide and the wings were resting too close to the sides of it.. Also, I found out the all of that expensive welding to modify the frame for the cradle was totally unnecessary.

Robert showed me how to make cart trucks for the cradle, which lowered the storage profile of the glider in the trailer. This was a design used back in the day, and today, with the all metal cradles.

Here is a sample of the simple caster wheel cradle truck.

....  verses my over worked metal one.

This design might correct the problem of the short nosecone holder that was screwed up when the frame was shortened against my instruction by the welder.

After a bit of rework to the cradle, here is the finished product!

 New caster wheels,









 ......   shortened sides, plenty of room on the side to keep the wings from hitting them.

Let's compare .

........ the old style

........and the new style ...

I know that I will be discarding the original rail, which will need to be refabricated to accommodate the narrow wheel base. But I also found that I needed to get the glider further out of the trailer.

Why is it that I get help after I did the work?

I hope those reading this are learning from my mistakes!  ;-)

This could save you from wasting a lot of time and money..

So!,... what's next... Oh yeah, time to bob the top of the trailer.

The Trailer! Part 9 - Those pesky mid-wing supports!

Like a bad penny, I just cannot get this trailer thing done and done right.... the first time.

With the trailer back home, I was able to work on replacing the mid wing supports.

The original supports were nasty.

The fiberglass had holes drilled in them for no reason.

The carpet padding was cruddy. 

I tried to cleanup the old ones, but the carpet could not be separated from the glass.

So I made a pattern from foam, and made replacements wing supports.

The foam was covered with foil tape, 

waxed, and then glassed up.

After the glass layers were finished, I mounted matching new caster wheel hardware.

I cleaned up the shape, and prepped it for painting and new carpet padding.

After I painted the supports with DCC Red paint, I glued the carpet in and trimmed off the excess.

They are now being used on the wings.

Back to another modification..... the fuselage cradle.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

What's wrong with this picture! My home is looking like a glider repair station!

So, for the last month, the glider is back home, pending a break in the work schedule at the airport so mine can get back on  to be completed.

While the trailer has been sitting here, I decided to continue with the trailer work based on some issues I discovered since the glide has been able to be stored in it again.

The first problem discovered was when we tried loading the glider back in the trailer. The tongue Jockey wheel jack cannot be adjusted to lower the tail of the trailer. I bought a Jockey wheel from the UK and get the old one off. This turned out to be a waste of money with all of the welding and placing and replacing of this part.

Next, After the fairings were finally mated to the plane, I found the the trailer top was about 8 inches higher than I needed to be. Due to the extreme height issue, making wing supports for the top would end up being too long. Screw it, I will just cut the top down to lower the profile.

I know they will be a need to re-weld the steel hoops, more waste, more expense... Jeez!

So, stay tuned for more of my loony tunes!

BTW.

The trailer on the left is a broken PIK-20B project I bought. The trailer is a prototype, but better than the other one. The only down side is that it is really low for the profile of the PIK. The trailer on the right (hidden in the tree) is Roberts PIK-20B that I will be using to make molds for to repair mine

Damn, I'm one sick puppy!

Finishing update

Well, the final finishing on the glider has taken a side line turn-around.

Upon Robert's return from Europe, he stated that he has a number of Gliders that will be coming in for service, and a rep from Slovenia will be arriving to help over-see the repairs. This means that he will need the shop for all of these planes.

So, last week, we loaded up the sailplane in the trailer, and Wednesday, I brought it back home.

I was not expecting the glider to be back home so soon without being finished.

To my surprise, Joseph came up to me last Saturday, and stated that he does not want this project to flounder. He asked me if I had room in the garage to work on the wings! The answer, if not, I'll make room!

The garage is now being readied to work on the wings! I hope we will be working on them next week!

Thank you Joseph for you enthusiasm, your fine eye for detail and dedicated work ethic!

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.