Stradawhovious
"That guy"
About a year ago (almost exactly) I got a great deal on an Eflite Taylorcraft 450. How great of a deal?
Glad you asked.
I traded 2 50ct boxes of .45 personal protection ammo for it.
This was during the height of the ammunition shortage, and this stuff was worth it's weight in gold. Well, that and the taylorcraft needed a little TLC.
Here it was when I first brought it home.
Doesn't look that bad... right? The wing was solid, and there was no apparent damage to the vertical or horizonatal stabilizers, but the fuse was in pretty rough shape.
The firewall and motor mount were destroyed, and there was substantial structural damage to the landing gear section and area where the fuse meets the wing. The areas shaded in color above needed to be removed and/or replaced with new material and I needed to replace the firewall and motor mount. On the fuse I needed to replace many splintered and mushy sections of balsa on the fuse.
Now I've worked with wood before, and have build a couple of balsa models, but I've never taken on a repair job like this before. It was a blast!
Here are the during shots with some of the repairs I made... (don't be too hard on me... )
I also made a little pilot for this one. I found a rubber Ducky at the dollar store, grabbed an old Russian Ammo pouch from WWII to make the "helmet" a small wood dowel for the cigar and a twist tie and some aluminum tubing to make the goggles.
The resemblence to me with this guy is uncanny.
Feel free to critique, but remember this is my first repair job.
Here is a shot of the bird assembled, and ready to rock and roll. I hope to not only get her in the air this weekend, but also to bring her home in one piece.
Glad you asked.
I traded 2 50ct boxes of .45 personal protection ammo for it.
This was during the height of the ammunition shortage, and this stuff was worth it's weight in gold. Well, that and the taylorcraft needed a little TLC.
Here it was when I first brought it home.
Doesn't look that bad... right? The wing was solid, and there was no apparent damage to the vertical or horizonatal stabilizers, but the fuse was in pretty rough shape.
The firewall and motor mount were destroyed, and there was substantial structural damage to the landing gear section and area where the fuse meets the wing. The areas shaded in color above needed to be removed and/or replaced with new material and I needed to replace the firewall and motor mount. On the fuse I needed to replace many splintered and mushy sections of balsa on the fuse.
Now I've worked with wood before, and have build a couple of balsa models, but I've never taken on a repair job like this before. It was a blast!
Here are the during shots with some of the repairs I made... (don't be too hard on me...
)
I also made a little pilot for this one. I found a rubber Ducky at the dollar store, grabbed an old Russian Ammo pouch from WWII to make the "helmet" a small wood dowel for the cigar and a twist tie and some aluminum tubing to make the goggles.
The resemblence to me with this guy is uncanny.
Feel free to critique, but remember this is my first repair job.
Here is a shot of the bird assembled, and ready to rock and roll. I hope to not only get her in the air this weekend, but also to bring her home in one piece.
