Norseman from the ashes

[eric]

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

[sihinch]

Way to go Eric! Good luck. It's great to see it coming back to life....

[Wingnutz]

Hooray! We're all rooting for the Eric, Chimo Air team!

[piker]

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!

[eric]

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

[piker]

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

[bfeist]

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.

[imran13]

Good luck with the rebuild Eric! It was a beautiful plane and with some work it'll be good as new

[eric]

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

[battlestu]

looking good Eric!!

[Papa]

Way to go Eric. It's looking very good. It will encourage many others to try and repair damage.


Jack.

[Wingnutz]

Looks good Eric...any advice?

[eric]

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

[battlestu]

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

[piker]

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!