I just tore the ratty 20 year old solid color Monocoat off my 30 year old Magician to re-cover it for the 3rd time and the leadouts were VERY VERY RUSTY inside the wing. To the point where their strength was clearly compromised. The portion of wire extending out the tip was fine...I'm guessing due to fairly constant exposure to oil residue.

Its going to need some surgery as well as new covering.

I'm thinking I'll wipe down the new leadouts with acetone and paint'em with Rustoleum before fishing them back in.

UPDATE: pic of rebuilt Magician with new silk covering, new cloth hinges, beefed up spar, new leadouts, and fresh paint. Ready for another 20 or 30 years ;->

great tip.

Robert

Heh, on closer inspection I found a cracked main spar too. This is the 3rd cracked spar I've had on this plane. Maybe the old MAgician wasn't really designed to handle a pressurized open venturi G21 .35 Tigre ;->

And a couple of the old cloth hinges on the elevator have given way too...

The advantage of building from kit or plan as against ARF, etc., is that you did it once, so you have an idea - even years later - of how to do again what is needed.

Magician is a fine flier! Clean it up; correct what's needed, and enjoy a great model!

Have you tried a wipe, say 3-in-1 on a paper towel, on the leadouts to see how much is left usable? Might be more that you think, but if it isn't, you'll be sure you need to replace them. If that's the case, it WILL be worth the effort.

LUCK!

Oh, and yeah, mebbe a BTTW G21-35 is a bit much for a long-nose profile.

If you're in the market for a modern engine, an OS LA40, or better, LA46, is reasonable in price. The LA46 in particular is very little trouble to get working VERY nicely.

It was just that goofy capped/notched 3/32 spar the Magician has. Unless the spar and cap are pretty hard stuff, you get a heavy stress point right at the end of the sheeting. If I ever scratch build another one, that scheme is going away.

Added pic of rebuilt Magician to OP.

This is really an old post. I just recovered my Magician for the third time, looked every thing over really good before the cover. My Perfect Belcrank and solid lead outs were fine no corrosion. And the 1/4 th mount was still very solid. That Ambroad cement is really good stuff still had that amber color. I built that plane when I was furloughed from gulf Air bough it New Iberia from another furloughed pilot that claimed he would never build it. It’s always been powered with a Fox Stunt 35 bought that from the same pilot. I think I drove home with twenty bucks in my pocket. After I filled up with fuel supplied by Gulf Air. Good old days. AJ