Trainer Trash resurection
 

here are some pictures of a bobcat 40 2 that i am rebuilding , i crashed it a few years ago before i could fly properly , since then i have learned to fly and decided to dig this out the loft and get it back in the sky , its over 3 years since i last touched it . i am documenting everything i have to do to get it back in the sky - i dont really know if the way im repairing it is correct or what i am geussing there is no science - have a look .


http://www.ricksrestoration.741.com/

contact me at [email protected] if you have any suggestions or comments

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

So just a way to get people to look at you're pop up filled site? If yopu like popups galore, click on his link.

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

I clicked on the link to see if my pop up blocker was working. Worked like a charm...

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

Guys no , im sorry its just my free webspace provider put them they , they are not a part of my code , i apologise completly . i dont know what i can do about it bar post the images here ? sorry again.

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

yet again i apologise if the popups offended anybody , they are not my doing only part and parcel of my free webspace , if you guys can forgive me and take a look at my trainer restoration , perhaps even give me some advice that would be great

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

Relax... You can't have free web space and no popups...

Grumpy buggers like above should go and install a pop up blocker... Or change their browser settings to prevent pop-ups...

Pretty easy and common these days...

The rebuild looks cool... You must be keen to rebuild a Trainer though :D

Make sure you post the finished photo's

Matt

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

im rebuilding a trainer for a couple of reasons

first , i learned to fly using the FSM simulator , and although i can control an airplane , they usually only last me about 3 weeks worth of flying days , ive trashed two planes already , the first one was a bubbles converted to IC a kind of large trainer type plane i found free plans for , the second was a piper cub i built from scratch , i did fly both for a fair few hours but , flying around the feild in the opposite direction is still a challenge if you know what i mean.
anyway i got kindof ahead of myself and started building an ultimate bi plane , i dont know what i was thinking but i got it about 80% finished wings , tail surfaces and the fus almost and then realised i might be streching my limits a little . so i pulled this old trainer out . so i think i will get a few more hours out of this before i try the bi plane , i geuss it was taking me so long to build that i didnt fancy trashing it just yet i will post here whenever i update the restoration site

Rick

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

So I'm a grumpy Bugger? Listen you rancid, steaming pile of ....

Just kidding.:)

I just got hammered by pop ups and flipped that in. I wasn't trying to give anyone too much guff...

The re-build looks good, you are doing things right the first time it seems. Good luck!

Tom

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

Man youve got far more patience than I do!!! Ive already scraped 2 planes this year with less damage than that!!
and where do you get the free space from? whats your size limit on it?

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

My friend , just post the pics on here or buy some more space . :) I hit the link and was told the site exceeded the megabyte limit. Please if you may post the pics in here people don't realize how much money can be saved by rebuilding crashed planes and you and I showing these rebuilds can change there minds about throwing away money. I have already saved $270.00 by rebuilding my model-tech extra 300 .28 three times. ;)

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

Here are some of the damage pictures posted here because of the server problems , i will follow with the repair pictures

you see the front engine mount bulkhead has been totally ripped out , and the second and third bulkhead , also the roof of the fuel tank bay , and the top of the area to the rear of the wings , also the vertical stab assembly is missing

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

here are some of the repair pictures so far , you can see that i have cut new front peices for the fus , these are epoxied in place and supported with 1/64 ply doubles and also the upper and lower peices i have fitted are ply to add extra strength to this joint , you can see where i have re created the servo tray , this was one from another wreck that i cut to size , also you can see the new vertical stab assembly i have created , some of the repairs to the wing , i still need to replace six ribs , and my simple adjustable engine mount design , incase i have the posistion of the front bulkhead slightly wrong


this is 2 days of work . more to follow

as to the qeustion of rebuilding , well .i built my last 2 planes from scratch using only plans i downloaded , and depending how bad it is , it seemed quicker to rebuild this than start from nothing

Rick

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

groovy, ;) keep us posted for the maiden flight.

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

I know... If I found the person who invented pop ups I would... well anyway...

My comment was tounge in cheek and nice to see you took it that way...

:D

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

I did not read the thread but thats not the point-

I just think "Trainer Trash" has a funny ring to it!!! I now wan't a logo on my trainer testbed that shows a trainer being chased by a tornado!!



OK back to work for me...!

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

Looking good! Do you plan to re- cover the plane as well, or just patch as needed?

One thing kind of caught my eye and concerns me though, how rigid and attached to the fuselage is the vertical stab and rudder? IMO, it looks like it needs a little more structure to keep from twisting, bending, and possibly fluttering( all bad things ).

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

cwrr5 , i am going to completely re cover the plane so unfortunatly i will lose the fancy graphics , and as i know nothing about those fancy finishes it will probably be one solid colour for the wings and another for the fus , makes repairs easy too i geuss . as for the vertical stab , the bottom of it extends down into the fus to mount on top of the horizontal stab with epoxy etc , sometimes i drill two holes to insert coat hanger wire into and ca in place , that way when i epoxy the stab in posistion and ca the wire stubs it will hold it in the perfect posistion while the epoxy sets and i can bend it into place while i use my squre to get it perfect , i also measure the posistion for the holes i drill to get it dead central etc.. . anyway , i was thinking that it may not be quite secure enough also , what with only that bottom frame holding it all so i was thinking about adding another brace that is level with the top skin of the fus and glue that in place.

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

or did you mean the actual construction of the framework may be a little flimsy? it is 3 layers of 2.5 balsa laminated and layered correctly on the corners to form the strongest joint .. you think more braces? if this is what you meant

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

No, that part should be ok, I was just talking about the joint from the fin to the fuselage.... The tail can(and will) absorb some pretty amazing side forces - more if you use your rudder like you should. Most people use triangle stock at the joint to strengthen the fin. If you ever flip(ground loop) your plane on the ground during taxi, the tail is gonna hit hard. A little extra strength may pay off. Hard to tell just from pictures.

Talking of color schemes, adding trim really isn't difficult at all, it just takes some patience. I suggest make the bottom of the wing a different color(preferably darker) than the top. The fuselage doesn't matter much, because most of the surface area you see will be the bottom of the wing (unless you fly from a sky-scaper! :D ) There's tons of posts out there with color schemes and covering tips.

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

Right i have nearly finished with this project , i will post new pictures tommorow of my progress so far , i have all the covering done , i only need to re attatch the horizontal and vertical stab and control surfaces , do some work on the aileron linkages ,, fule lines , engine bay and under carrige , oh and ca the hinges then standard pre flight checks , pictures tommorow ,what i ask now , for you guys out there with some time to spare , is what all should i check to make sure this flight goes smoothly , i dont mean things like , wings are held on right ,, hinges are secure and surfaces travel in the right way , remember this aircraft has just been rebuilt i mean things like... wing incidence on each wing to make sure no twists ,, di hedral at each end ,,, horizontal and vertical stab 90 degres , horizontal stab horizontal with wing ,.... that kind of thing... anyone who has a minute to spare to offer some input...


Rick

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

As far as a trainer goes, I would check the normal things. If you post pics we could offer a better opinion. I would have someone who has good reflexes test it, but other than that I can't think of anything except fly it when there aren't many people around.

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

here are the pictures guys , what do you think , turned out alright?? i still need to glue the tail assembly in place , sort the aileron linkages and the nosewheel steering linkages and ca the hinges and im ready to go

Check it out

i am thinking about using some of the left over black solar film to make a rising sun pattarn on the top of the wings , or some stripes or somthing

i only wish i had been able to find a pink or black nosecone


Rick

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

Right , Today i flew this plane for a short while , everything seemed ok but then again i am not exactly an excellent pilot , the only problem i did notice is that elevator is a little lacking , i was having to give it full to keep the nose up in turns , and a couple times this got a bit scary with me having to put more throttle on to stop a wingtip hitting the ground , lol i told you im not such a good pilot yet , but it was partly because it was a little gusty , anyway , i landed it , and although it lands a little faster than im used too , this is probably also because of the elevator i managed to bring it home with no damage whatsoever , so , now i either need a larger control surface or more throw , the throw is where i will start first all the other controls are ok, so now i will wait for a less gusty day

Rick

RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

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RE: Trainer Trash resurection
 

FRIG!!!! , i just nipped out for another flight ( i fly within walking distance of my house on some waste land) having sorted out the elevator issues . and noooooo another crash , luckily only a small one with minimal damage , the hinges on the rudder came loose , causing the rudder to be pulled sideways by the control horn , i was holding full up elevator and full right aileron but it kindoff spiralled down to the ground , , the damage??? a busted prop and a couple holes in the leading edge of the right wing caused ( i think) by the busted prop peice flying off

back to the model shop for another prop.......... oh yeah , and some more hinges


RicK