planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Well, I've had this bird in my hanger for a few years, originally I bought it off a hobby shop owner built, it was his plane he flew. I decomissioned it after one fatefull night when leaving my ex-GF, I put it in the back of the mazda pickup and headed for my parents to move my stuff out of my apartment. Apon getting there I turned around and looked to see that everything else was there except the Jung,.....[X(] I sped back and retraced the route and found the jung sitting in the middle of a pretty busy route laying upsidedown on it's back like fresh road kill. Luckily no one had driven by in the 10 to 15 minutes it sat in the road, it was 2 AM when I left the apartment. So it did get damaged, the bottom of the fuslage hit the tailgate on the way out and crushed the side sheeting and broke the spruce center stringer, ripped out the wing hold down block and other various injuries to the poor bird. To add insult to injury, the ultracote covering was so old, if you just touch it it would rip and shatter in a random pattern of tears. UV damage from all those years being in the sun. So now it's time to fix the jung and get some air between the tires and smoke pouring out the exhaust again. This should be fun and easy, yeah right?! that's what it's come down to so far. But none of this has been hard, just upsetting because all the repairs I'm doing are from the building of the aircraft, poor sheeting, alignment, gluing and sanding has made this one ugly plucked chicken, so shall we take a closer look as to how to rebuild a plane? First couple of pictures are the jung as it sat for a few years, I stripped it and recovered the top wing in yellow, but lost intrest due to other projects. First thing is first wings, I stripped the wings back down to bare wood and started to rework them, I instantly noticed that the wings have a inward curve in the leading edges, at first I thought they were warped, but by looking carefully, I noticed that the leading edges were over sanded in the mid section by the builder![:@] Seeing that I really don't want to be messing with getting the wings picture perfect, I matched and straightened the leading edges with the sanding bar till all wer fairly straight and smooth, maybe someday I'll build a new set of wings for the bird. Next comes the koverall, going this route because I have recently felt that plastic film covering is a joke to me, I dispise it now. So the next few are the wings being covered in koverall. BTW, I ditched the bell crank set up in the lower wing and made new servo mounting plates to house 2 seperate servos to run the alerions more direct than the old linkage. The last picture is the new cowl obtained from fiberglass specialties, it should hide the head of the enya .80 4C in one of the blisters. So the wings are 90% complete, except for the alerions, which need to be covered too, but those I'll do later. Next up, the main culprit, the fuslage injury,....stay tuned.

sir crashallot

about time you posted this looking abit sore isnt she, still it will be the usual case with you pristine condition when you have done

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Sooo,.... now it's fuslage time, the wings I skipped over pretty fast because I was just discusted with the quality of how they were built, and spent more time fixing them and less of each step of how to repair them, otherwise the post for the wing repairs would take up an entire page of steps. The quality of the build is shown in the pic's of the fuse, this is what I'm fighting with, old sheeting, little bits of covering stuck all over, poor glue joints, some are wider than a 1/16" gap and taper to a tight fit, offset formers and over sanded sheeting and stringers. Yeah, it's a mess. Ok,.so first pictures are of the top sheeting that was removed because it was cracked and so thin from sanding it was one step away from paper, so I simply used my most valuable tool in my posession, my finger! I poked it out like moe from the three stooges, after cleaning up the egdes I decided to replace the center stringer for gluing purposes, simply took the razor saw and cut along the edges on the former right at the glue joint and pulled up to pop it out. Next I cleaned up the notches in the former and layed in a new piece with aliphatic resin and clamped it till it dried. In the mean time while that is drying, I cut 1/2" wide strips of 3/32" balsa sheet and made a backer strip along the edge of the existing sheeting below, this way I have a little more surface to glue to and it keeps the sheet flush when I glue it down. Now that it's all dry and the backer strips are installed, I layed a trimmed sheet ontop of the lower edge and marked the front and rear point of the existing sheeting along with wraping the sheet around to the top and marking the center of the new stringer, front and back, trim out and test fit till it's right. Start by glueing the lower edge to the backer sheet and make sure it's tightly seated down on the old sheeting, CA glue is fine here, but try to not get it oozing out the seam, this will be a PITA to sand if you use too much CA. Once tacked, wet the outside with a mix of warm water and rubbing alcohol, gently work the sheeting to the frame and get it in the general curvature. Now that the sheeting has a slight form to the fuse (or wing if that be the case), run a bead of thick or medium CA down the tops of the formers or use normal wood glue on the formers and center stringer. Use tape to hold it down and go do something else while the glue dries and the sheeting dries out as well. Once dry, repeat fitting of a sheet to the other side and it will turn out as new, and ready for a light sanding to contour it to the old sheeting. My general rule of thumb is if I can't grab the plane in the area of the sheeting because it's that fragile, you should replace the thin sheeting and get the structure back to what thickness it was ment to be.
Next up, the dreaded chunked out fuse side without any pieces to fit back in.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Oh, let's see here, you just dumb thumbed it into the turf and your pride and joy has the look that a pitbull went for blood on it, what do you do? First off, try not to throw it in the trash can, because if I see it, I'll fix it and sell it back to you, no,......I have way too many projects to be doing that. So here's what you do, look at it, and I really mean look good and close at it, push on the sheeting to feel for cracks through the covering you may not see, inspect all glue joints, you'd be suprised to find out how many stringers poped free and look attached. If the covering is still in OK condition, and the only damage is localized, go buy a lottery ticket, your lucky. If there are cracks all down the side and chunks of balsa and ply broken or missing, just remove the covering, your wasting time trying to work around it and the repair won't be as good or strong as it needs to be. In my case, it started to fly out of my pickup bed and the tailgate clipped the bottom just before the trailing edge of the wing, the gash and crunch is about 2" deep and 3" long, all the parts are gone, including part of the wing saddle, so lets get started. In my case, no brainer, rip the covering off and get at the whole structure. I think I was doing about 50 when it went for a ride, so I need to check all glue joints, and I'm glad I did.
First set of pictures show the section that had to be cut out, I also removed and discarded the saddle doubler, nothing left to work with on that. The same backer strips were employed, along with 1/4" tri-stock to help support the sheet and tie it into the rear former, I mainly use aliphatic resin and normal wood glue for building, because it give you time to line stuff up and clamp it in position, CA, ......not so. Make sure that all wood joints are tight fitting, do not rely on glue to fill a gap and be strong. This sheet fit so tight I had to use the clamp to pull it into the corners tightly, I left this to dry. Now there was a former in there before, but I tugged lightly on it and pop, it came out, broken glue joints were barely holding on, plus it was missing the center top of the former so I decided to make a new one. Clean up the old one best you can and take measurements of width and hieght, or if you have only 1/2 the former, lay it down and trace the 1/2 on the sheet, flip the former and draw the other half on the sheet. I simply laid the former ontop of the 1/8" balsa sheet and traced it out. Trimmed the 1/4" square slot and added the 3/32" spruce doubler to the sheeting for strength, and trimmed out the center section to match the old one. Now I set that up in the fuslage with tristock running up and down the former, locking it all together.I also grafted in a 1/4" sq spruce stringer that had gone missing in the incident, I ended up cutting the existing stringer at a 60 degree angle and matching the new stringer the same. Try to locate it on a former where the two pieces are supported and surounded by wood, I also made a lite ply doubler for the new former just behind the wing, to help secure and support the new stringer. Glue this and let it dry and set up, in the mean time I started to work on the wing saddle area. The only template I had was the other side for copying, so the chunk of balsa that replaced the missing section was copied from the other side and as far as the saddle doubler, I simply removed the good one and traced it out onto the 3/8" balsa sheet, stacked it and cut 2 new ones. Now glue the new doublers to the sides and for fun, I replaced the lower external stringer to the tail by sanding off the old one flush and gluing on a new one of the same original size. let it all dry and sand a bevel at the rear and blend the new saddles to the rear stringer by tapering the back of them.

sir crashallot

wow is that radioactive cynohat is it that yelllow solution(big word for me) gluing the parts together or is it your version off coffee to add to the coffee stains in the wing

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Yeah, I think great planes went a little overboard on the coloring in the bottle, but it's good stuff, I'm actually running out after 2 years, this stuff goes a long ways, the reason it's all over is I'm using a paintbrush to wipe up the excess, and it ends up spreading it all over the parts, but it's light weight when dry, so I'm not bothered by it. Progress is marching on, got the other stuff taken care of, need to get that turtle deck refinished with the stringers too.

sir crashallot

so what is it a form of epoxy or cyno im intreged by its colour like pink but its light greeny yellow

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Honestly, I use to use elmers wood glue, yellow outdoor formula, but I ran out or it dried out one day and I bought this stuff, it's almost the same as regular wood glue but thicker and it cures up in 30 minutes, I wish they made it white and dry clear. But you can win them all. Don't worry, my revenge is sitting in a box, yellow and pink of the super bright kind!

sir crashallot

any more pic of the work you have don yet. pics speek more words than cod ever do maty, specialy when the pics are of your work. so whats exactly wrong with the cabanes i can see that one of them has a nasty buckle in it. but straigthening it wouldnt be ery accurate

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Yes, but I need to get to a certain point to post enough progress to see a difference, out of 60 pic's, only 6 make it to the final cut, those 6 describe each process very well, so alot of time is spent fixing and taking multipule pic's and then 1/2 hour writing it up and trying to explain how to go about the next few steps and keeping the pic's in order. The mains on the cabanes are OK, but the cross bracing is gone now, for 2 reasons, 1 they are made per plan which is fine, but the rear lower needs to be mounted closer to the base of where they come out, and #2, I need to slip the koverall over the cabanes to cover it in 1 top piece instead of 3 seperate pieces. I'll see if I get up enough to post tonight, the bird looks much better and is structurally better now, with a dab of filler here and there, but to just smooth out some sheeting lines.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

I want to post but the camera cable went MIA in the shop cleaning I did about 2 days ago, let's just say I'm almost ready to cover the fuse in koverall and prep it for paint. I had to clear a ton of pic's from my camera so I didn't have to wait 3 minutes for the laptop to download them all, but then again, that was 2 days ago when I cleaned the bench and shop up, now I can't find the cable anywhere.[:@] I ended up rebuilding a new tail and even though I have the plans, I decided to rebuild it as if I didn't, just to show how to go about making new parts from old broken or damaged pieces.

sir crashallot

well im on the edge of my seat itching to see the next lot of pictures. will there be a video of her 2nd lease of lifes maiden flight

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Yeah, I have to break her of that hangar queen lifestyle she's had for a while, time to kick her outside to get her tires dirty and the grass stains on her prop. I just need to mout the hinges and she's real close to covering. But I will post tomorrow, not today, too tired and been at work for a while and plugging at the jung for sometime too.

sir crashallot

well i think this has been the quietist night yet regarding pm's forward and back, good job really because my net is playing up bad, took me 4 minutes to try get from my inbox to here. had to refresh the page 5 times for it to let me reed the convos.[:@] talk about crap service from my broadband provider wait till there customer servicer center is open tomorow there going to get the royal english bashing down the phone

NorfolkSouthern

My DSL connection ain't the best either. It seems to get the worst in the early evenings, probably because of interference from voice use. Nice work on the Jungmeister so far, planebuilder66. But what else can I expect from someone who builds kits? I'm not sure if either you or Sir Crashallot were even born when I attempted my last tissue and dope covered Sterling Super Cruiser.

NorfolkSouthern

sir crashallot

haha well im only 22 23 in june[:@], yeah his work is probably some of the best work iv actualy seen, by the time the jungs done it will be perfect to put in a glass case for display as the work and effort definatly goes into his builds. im stuborn when it comes to learning from people i like to learn by my own mistakes, but i definatly listen to his advise probably because hiw work is better than mine but there ya go. if anything over the years anyone can give advise and be crap builders but someone giving advise thats a great builder well then its worth taking. well to top this evening off i got that bored iv just orderd 30 pounds worth of bits and bobs for the planes. 2 sanwa switches, a new tank for the miss edge as i need to get the front end done and covered so then i can wrap it up and put her in storage ontop of my wardrobe. a long pile of stuff really all small bits but should have a few models more towards the completed stage. better spent on them than smashed up airframes though luckily i came out ok with the spit as the engines fine just tight due to old dried up glow fuel with castr oil that acts like superglue that reminds me whats best thing to deglue an engine thats becoming siezed due to the oil going like glue.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks NorfolkSouthern, about 2 or 3 weeks ago, I finished up my Quickie in the 1/2A size, made a post in the 1/2A fourm on the build from RCM plans, here it is all finished in dope ove .75oz epoxyglass. Turned out pretty good, I would like to have a few things done better on it, but it'll fly just fine. Funny, I actually have tower catalogs where sterling is in them and being sold, along with royal and ohio r/c. I'll scan the page for ya. I think my next build will be a hostetler kit, not saying which one, and I'm looking at the vaily aviation FW-190 as well, but those will be started after my TF P-47 is refinished as well, that one's up next after the jung.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

ATF fluid, put some down the intake and the exhaust port, put it in a plastic bag and let it sit for a few days, it will degum and free it up, if you really want to clean it up like new, try this, but don't do it unsupervised around kids and pets. Get some automotive antifreeze, put it in an old pot big enough for the engine, drop the motor in the pot and outside on the fire pit's you make, boil the antifreeze with the motor in it. Keep checking it till it's virtually new, I don't recommend this to many people because it's toxic to animals and most people try to do it inside, but the vapors and fumes are not good for you as well. It will clean any varnish, dirt and gumm off engines. It has to do with the detergency and metal protectants in engine coolant that does a fantastic job at it, but the trick is heat.

sir crashallot

i just realised, will there be a scale cockpit going in this along with pilot and instruments?
ps found the origional plans for this on net. free too. im a bugger i find alsorts on net just a case of pushing and searching till you find it as it is out there no matter what

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Yes, a scale cocpit is going in it, I'm thinking of cutting out the floor and putting a full pilot in there with a control stick and all, but let's see if I don't get anxious and skip that detail just to put it in the air. I really have to post the progress, work sux's but now I have a little more free tim, the place I'm at has almost no overtime avalible due to the plant operators want to get out in 8 hours from start, so I can't stay late and work on the job to get a little further ahead, like last place. I'll see if I can draft up 2 or 3 more segments tonight and pull the monkey out of my butt and get it done.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Well, let's see,.... I found my camera cable and have been busy at work too much, but now I've moved on to pfizer chiller plant and there is less OT available there, so the good news is, I can work on planes more. I was getting a little burned out working 10-16 hrs ot a week to get finished to move onto another place. But I still found time to work on the jungmeister, even though it's been only 2 or 3 days a week, so on to the tail. About 2 weeks ago, I got a call from my dad, as I sat there trying to work on the tail and hold the cell phone between my ear and shoulder I tried to salvage the tail feathers, but in the process of being handycapped, I managed to over sand an area, partly because I was distracted and the other reason is I had a few too many beers![:@] Mental note, don't build and drink at the same time, so I had to fix that area again, mean while, still talking to my dad, I just snapped and said F this, and decided it would be easier and faster to build new horizontal and vertical stabs with surfaces. So out came the razor saw and choppity-chop,....gone! So the first pic is the tail cut off in discust of my poor judgement and anoyance of being distracted with my dad's trivial problems around his house. the second is of the old tail section with the ribs removed so I can trace them out as a template on the new wood. The easisest way to remove the ribs and stock that's so firmly attached with CA glue is using a small razor planner, just break most of the ribs off and level the surface with it, sand and it's flat again, I could have reused these pieces, but I'm installing robart hinge points and scale hinging it, so they are goners because the old pinned plastic hinges are inbedded in the wood still. Simply trace out the parts onto the sheet and transfer the rib lines and you'll have an identical copy, but not so here, the previous builder didn't match tip curves, so I found the plans and traced out the tip that matched, then flipped the part and did the other tip. Cut it out and add the trailing edge and ribs, sand to shape and done, easy, huh? All in all, it took me about 20 minutes to build a new horizontal stab less elevator surfaces, with elevators, about 1 hour including the new music wire joiner, and on top of that another 20 minutes to hinge and sand the edges to shape. Well worth the effort seing that it's lighter and not a grafted pile of wood that needs filler and sanding to blend into eachother. Now 1 little thing changed about the tail, the inner 1/4" balsa pieces now act as an interlock to align the tail feathers, instead of just filling the void between the tail and fuse. So it helps me assemble it in position with little or no fear of misalignment of the tail. The only piece I reused was the rudder sheet, I just trimmed off the portion of hinge burried wood and replaced it with new, then I added new ribs and lower blocks to fair in the shape. Here's the pic's to this stage.

sir crashallot

promisses promisses, be honnest you sit there all night with tranny in ur hand sat in the chair making noises and imagining the thing flying round the sky. excellent work the new tail does look healthier than the old. it shows the intrument pannel on the plan dosnt it... scan it enlarge it get a piece of thin ply cut it to the outline of the control pannel drill holes where the dials are and slip a piece of fine clear plastic in between the ply and the paper and glue it together, trim down the plastic and bobs ya aunty and rias ya uncle you have a fairly decent looking control pannel, cheap way of doing it but if your good which you are it can be made to look amazing with a coat is epoxy to the wood and a syringe with fin needle on and drops of epoxy round the dials to make it look like screwws and so forth, but heck you know that trick i dare say but anyone reading this may now know how to do it, so there my ten peneth as they say

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

I have some mahogany sheet, it will be used to make the panel, with the same process, rivets will be made from pins, with the heads removed, I might even add the tubing along the sides of the cockpit, a leather headrest and a good old pilot with a scarf to round it out. I just got done covering the entine top and sides with 1 piece of koverall, but be carefull, it has so much power when shrunk, it actually seperated epoxy glue joints, so I had to reclamp the joints with new adheasive, not very fun, seeing that the lower rear covering had to come off to do so.[&o]

virutas

Hello planebuilder66!
Good news to know that sombody rebuild a pica jungmeister. Actually i build this plane and your photos are very helpfull for me.

Thanks a lot and sorry for my poor english!

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

Don't worry about the english, just glad people are taking intrest in the "how to's" of repairing a plane. I actually have a ton of step by step pictures, but this is a rough go over of rebuilding, kinda like the nickel tour of rebuilding. The jung is actually fully covered right now, just finding the time to explain all the work to rebuild from the ground up and show easier ways of doing things or just things to look for in general. Building is the easy part, tearing into a plane to make it correct again is alot tougher than most people think, but step by step it is doable.I'll be on again tonight, last night I spent more time rebuilding it more than typing a post. Thanks for the comments and hope you enjoy the post.