Jack has asked me to start a blog on the re-build of my Norseman, which took full advantage of a transmitter failure and the law of gravity. This will be the world's slowest re-build as its winter time. That used to be the accepted building season, but for me, since I belong to 2 indoor clubs, indoor building and flying is in full swing. As I go along picking through the rubble and repairing, I'll post pictures of the progress.
The fuselage is pretty much toast from the trailing edge forward with lots of broken pieces. The tail plane is perfect as happens a lot of the time. I guess as the fuse accordians the back end stops nice and softly. There are numerous broken bits under the covering; I can tell because when I pick up the fuselage and shake it a little, the whole structure moves like a wave on the ocean! Once the covering's off I'll have a better handle on what's needed. The right wing is good, but the centre section and left wing are thoroughly trashed. It went in on the left wing in a knife edge at a 45 degree downward angle, and hit so hard that when the wings broke off the servo wires yanked the servos right out of the wing. Yikes!
Here's a few pictures to show how far I've got to go. A daunting project for me for sure.
Eric
Way to go Eric! Good luck. It's great to see it coming back to life....
Hooray! :D We're all rooting for the Eric, Chimo Air team!
Hey Eric! That doesn't look too bad! :)
Plug away at it and you'll be flying it again in the Spring as if it were brand new!
Thanks for the encouraging words, guys! I realize its probably an easy job for you experienced modellers. You fellows could make a space shuttle out of a styrofoam Christmas snowman, but I'm still in the head scratching, what the ... do I do now?, stage of building prowess. I'll just consider it a challenge and work slowly away at it until its back in one piece.
Eric
You're too kind. It's actually simple. Cut the covering back to get enough exposure of the broken areas, stick the broken pieces back together, double up where needed to strengthen, sand, fill, sand, cover.
Repairing can actually be more rewarding than building in the first place as it's surprising how fast a sad looking lump of plane can come back to shape and be ready to go again... and looking fine!
Robert
Hi Eric,
As a not-experienced-builder, I can tell you that I had crashed my 13' Sailaire years ago and it was crushing. It sat in a pile in the corner of my workshop for years after the crash. Every time I came down into my workshop, it stared at me from the corner of the room. Part of the plane was a laminated, rolled plywood tailcone that was prefabbed. It had shattered and I had no idea how to fix it. The longer I let it sit there the more daunting the task of rebuilding it seemed. Eventually I pulled it onto my workbench to make a start. I fixed the easy parts first, asked Glenn for a little advice on the tail, and I had it completely reassembled and recovered in less than a week.
I know it's painful to see your beautiful build project all bruised up, but if you start working on the parts you can fix, cut away the ripped covering etc. Next thing you know it'll start going together--hopefully much more quickly than you're anticipating.
Good luck with the rebuild Eric! It was a beautiful plane and with some work it'll be good as new ;D
Well, the Norseman has been leering crookedly at me from the green garbage bag its lived in since a transmitter failure rendered it thoroughly trashed. Since its been almost a year, I guess its time to go big or go home. I've cut back the covering on the fuselage until what remains no longer does a credible imitation of a bag of Jello. That means the tail is all that's still in one piece. I've replaced a bunch of sticks, glued up others and repaired the landing gear and surrounding area. The wing attachment section was split on all 4 sides top to bottom of the fuse, so that took a lot of finessing to bring it back square. Some sheeting repair, filling and sanding and I'm ready for the wing. I can't fit top pieces without the wing as a template for the hold down attach points, windscreen, etc.. All those disappeared in the explosion. Here's what I've done so far.
Now to the wings, but I've got a secret weapon there (spelled Ken Coleman).
Eric
looking good Eric!!
Way to go Eric. It's looking very good. It will encourage many others to try and repair damage.
Jack.
Looks good Eric...any advice?
Good grief, Bill, that's the definition of re-kit if I ever saw it. I'm afraid I don't have any advice, other than maybe kindling for your fireplace. Good luck!
Eric
Ouch that is a shame. Bill in cases like these i always think of the Six Million Dollar man...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA
....just hoping it will not cost 6Mill to get it back in the air.
Greg
Lookin' good, Eric. You'll have it back together before you know it. As challenging as a repair can be, it's almost always faster and easier than building new.
And Bill, I bet you could repair that!
With Ken Coleman's expert assistance the wing is now in one piece and stronger than when it was first built. Just some cap strips, sheeting, filling and sanding to complete. I'll use the wing as a template to rebuild the top of the fuselage (the front pegs and rear hold down attach holes are already on the wing) and then it'll be recover time.
Eric
Looking better than ever.
Jack.
Hi Eric, I'd like to be at ROGO when Chimo Air flies again. Unless you like to maiden in private, please let us know.
Once that pesky re-maiden is out of the way, it'd be fun to fly the Norsemen ( Norsemans?) together in celebration of and tribute to your determination to re-build!
I took your advice on the DH-2 and have ordered a replacement and will pick it up from a US PO box in Lewiston when I'm visiting my friend in Welland. I'm tired of US advertised prices that double by the time they reach my door.
Hi Bill;
I agree; it seems ludicrous that you can order goods from HK in China and get them cheaper to your door than ordering from the US.
The wing is now completely repaired, sheeted and final sanded and I'm ready to re-build the fuselage top. By tomorrow night the airframe should be ready for recover. That's a job as most of the frame is bare sticks. After that, its fit the cowl, re-cut and fit the windshield and then add all the electronics. Still a loooong way to go. I rather doubt it will be ready to fly this year as I have a lot on my plate, but we'll see.
It would indeed be fun to have a Norseman group flight.
Eric
This re-building stuff takes a lot longer than expected, at least for me anyway. The fuselage top is now strengthened and a major mod done to the wing saddle. I was not happy with the way the Norseman flew, way too fast and very twitchy longitudinally. When I checked the incidence of the main wing, it was minus 2 degrees compared to the horizontal stab - no wonder it flew poorly. Sloping pieces have been installed and incidence is now a few degrees positive.
The front wing hold down structure is installed with bracing underneath so now its just the rear hold down plate for completion of the top fuse. Windshield re-build is next which just about completes the airframe and then its cover time.
Eric
Great stuff Eric. Keep going at it.....
After a complete re-cover of the right wing and patching of the left, I repaired/replaced all flap and aileron surfaces. After re-hinging, installing the pushrods and running the wiring - surprise, surprise, everything works flawlessly. The wing is now 100% complete.
On to fuselage re-cover, windshield area re-build and making new wing struts.
Eric
Looks like brand new.
Excellent job.
Jack.
Go Eric!. The Norseman-build participants are proud of your achievements.
This shows you that if you build a model from scratch, you can re-build it when scratched.
Frank
Well, its time to push on towards the finish. The fuselage was OK at the rear so I mated up to that with new covering in the white/yellow scheme, then laid the blue stripe over the join. The first picture shows the beginning stages with wrinkly covering all over the place. Next up was re-building the bottom loading battery hatch and re-installing the re-built landing gear assembly. Last, but not least, the windscreen frame and imitation glass was installed. If anyone is looking for a cheap and cheerful way to install windshields, I've developed what I think is a good system. I use a laminate of transparent overhead projector sheet and that tinted plastic material used to make car windows darker. Slosh both pieces liberally (don't stint or you'll get bubbles) in Windex and mate together. Use a soft piece of cardboard and, working from the middle out in all directions, squeegee the excess liquid out to remove all air bubbles. Quick and looks good!
All that's left before the maiden is to install the remainder of the electronics and programme all controls, flaps, etc..
I'll leave the graphics until I'm sure she'll fly. It takes hours to put on the windows, doors and lettering, so if I stuff it on its first flight I don't want to have wasted an entire evening making it purty. Now its wait for this cursed wind to knock it off and then sneak out for a quick flight - fingers and toes crossed!
Eric
Oops, forgot to add this. To attach the windshield, I cut strips of covering material 5/16" wide. With a trim iron on high, CAREFULLY iron half the strip onto the edge of the windshield. Don't leave the iron on one place for long and be very careful not to touch the windshield with the hot iron or you'll melt or distort it quickly. Attach the other half to the fuselage or window frame in the same manner. Its way easier than it sounds.
Eric
That is just fantastic, Eric!
I know how badly damaged the Norseman was and how you had determined that it wasn't worth repairing, so to see it back and looking really nice is very satisfying. That's a great example of approaching a repair, bit by bit, and getting 'er done. And as much work as it was, I bet it was a LOT less work than building a new one from scratch.
Excellent work!
And it looks brand new! Well done, Eric.
she looks great.... can't wait for the maiden report
if you need pictures i can be there as well
There was nothing on TV tonight that I wanted to see and the Norseman with its barren sides was staring pitieously at me from the bench, so I decided to bite the bullet and spend the evening putting on the graphics and applying the finishing touches. Its 11:50pm and its finally ready to fly.
It was quite a difficult journey for me, with a lot of head scratching, but also extremely rewarding to take a pile of wreckage and turn it back into something that's recognizable as an airplane.
Thanks to everybody for their encouragement, especially Ken Coleman who walked me through the wing re-build and other difficult parts. I'd never have gotten the strengthening done properly myself and the wing is surely stronger than it was when I originally built it.
Nothing left to do now but commit aviation when there's a break in the weather and see what happens.
Eric
Awesome!
While you're waiting for Spring, build some floats for it ;D
Why did I know you'd say that?
That is inspiring Eric. Its so easy to just give up but you have a beautiful model with even more personal significance.
Jack.
You have done a great repair job.
After seeing this, I am inspired now to get onto to repairing my clipped wing cub which has experienced similar damage. (Another winter project to add to my list.)
Bruce
Well, I guess this is the last post. The sun came out this afternoon, the winds were calm and it was -4 degrees, so I high tailed it down to TEMAC and got the maiden in. It jumped off the ground in no time at all and, after a quick landing to change battery position to get the CG right, off it went on a totally non-eventful flight. Sorry, Bill, I know you wanted to get a Norseman formation going after the maiden, but at this time of year, you have to take any weather window of opportunity that comes along. When the weather's warmer I love your idea of a mass Norseman fly happening. That will be fun.
For those of you who have the Norseman and may be experiencing flight problems, I might have stumbled on the answer. I mentioned in an earlier post that when I went to re-build the top of the fuselage, it was found that the wing to tail plane incidence was minus 3 degrees. I believe this what the made the beast very unstable longitudinally and that short coupled fuselage sure didn't add anything positive to the mix. The incidence was changed from minus 3 degrees to about the same amount positive and its made all the difference in the world. It immediately went from being a little swine to a real ***** cat. Its rock solid and stable in the air now. Its still a rudder airplane big time, though. It demands a fair amount of rudder input for co-ordinated turns, so I'm wimping out and adding some aileron/rudder mix; not a lot, just enough to take the edge off.
The landing gear, though, is a joke. I made 2 landings today, both gentle, but by the time the plane came to a stop on the ripply, frozen runway surface the wheels had splayed out to about a 60 degree angle. Any more and the prop might have hit. I'm going to build up the underside of the gear with fibreglass, layer by layer, until the correct ratio of flex to stiffness is achieved.
Anyway, its done, it flies and all I can say is - hooray!
Eric
Something amusing here. I just re-read my post to make sure there were no spelling errors and I noticed the programme censored one word. It was a synonym for kitty cat. Wow, talk about big brother - hilarious.
Eric
Nice ashes. :) Great job Eric. Thanks for hanging in there and rebuilding it. The Norseman Build Guild is proud of you.
Frank
ps: my landing gear splays out as well but the biggest problem is the axle flex. The wheel almost tucks under.
Yikes! When I read "Last Post" and test flight I got worried!
I'm SO happy the rebuild has become a huge success. I seem to recall saying that planes always fly better after the first crash ;D
Congratulations, Eric, on a great flight and a great repair job. :D
BTW, I thought it was weird that they sensor ***** (let's see if that sticks)
Yes, it seems silly to censor that. i mean, if they're that touchy, why aren't we all flying DHC-2 ******s?
Eric
Brilliant work on the rebuild and maiden, Eric!
I look forward to seeing your smile at the pilot's meeting.
Congrats,
Graham