rcuman

Here are some pictures of a H-9 P-47 that a friend of mine crashed. He told me I could have it, but I fixed it up and gave it back to him. Mainly because I already have a P-47 that I built from a TF .60 kit. I used Z-poxy to fuel proof the firewall and it had an adverse effect. It brought out the grain in the wood. I am thinking about making some furniture and using z-poxy to bring out the grain in it. Just kidding.

These are pictures of the fuselage. Sorry I do not have any crash pictures.

rcuman

Here is the wing. I do not have any pictures of the finished wing but I took a few to show what type of damage there was to it.

Sessholvlaru

Nice work there. It was very chivalrous of you to fix and then return your friend's aircraft. I am sure he was/will be very grateful.

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Louis is a "stud" when it comes to repairs. I have seen him resurrect some aircraft that I thought would never fly again. Not only that he is a really good guy and friend. I know Big Jim will appreciate the repairs he did for the P-47. Good work Louie!!
Tommy

rcuman

When I took it to him he couldn't believe that I got it back together. He really liked the firewall. He still has to monokote it, but with his skills it should not take him very long. I can monokote simple planes pretty good but not warbirds. Too many compound curves to get wrinkles.

rangerstl

Superb work, looks better and stronger than new. I fear that rebuilding aircraft will soon be a lost art. I just wish people in my area would not jump up and down on their crashes like little kids throwing a temper tantrum.

N

rcuman

It is a whole different challege than building a plane whether it is a kit, scratch build, or arf. I usually can intercept a crashed plane before it comes to the stomping phase and I can pretty much tell them within a couple of minutes if it can be salvaged. Basically if the fuse is gone all the way up to the wing saddle then there is not much hope for an ARF. In this case the top was in good condition and that gave me the thrust angle of this plane. Sometimes it is possible to repair one and give it a guesstimated thrust angle and it will fly just fine, but it is hard to repair a full front half of an ARF. This repair job only took about 15hrs. Another good little tip is to not remove the monokote until you have at least stablized the damaged area. Because it is usually the only thing that is holding the plane together.

Sneasle

I totally agree with both of you. Fortunetely, I have not been witness to many crashes. I really wish people would consider hanging onto their crashed airplanes and consider giving them to those of us who like to rebuild stuff. So many people just toss them in the trash and so many of them are repairable, sometimes with very very little effort.

If the front of the plane is totally gone, it is very hard to repair. I am working on a mini funtana that was missing the entire front bay. I had part of one fuse side, but no firewall or any of the ply that reinforced the firewall. Thankfully I was able to work off the stringers and the angles of the fuse to continue the lines out to about the point where the front used to end. I used the cowl to make a final guess (The cowl fit, I was good...).

Hopefully I will be able to adjust out and thrust issues with washers later on.

rangerstl

Yup, rebuilding is not quite as easy as building from a kit... It's a skill that unfortunately develops with practice! [&:] I know this, as my Balsa USA stick 40 went through about 10 rebuilds during my training, including new tail feathers and re-joining the wing halves after a cute little flight deviation "through" the trees.

N

flytaildragger

My Feedback: (8)

This aircraft doesn't look like an HP 1.50 size P-47. I just bought one and the wings plug into the slots in the fuselage. What Manufacture is it?

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

It is the smaller, 60 size P47. It was the one covered in the aluminum like covering with invasion strips on the wings.
TOmmy