Robbins
Team WTFO (Watch The Fun Occur)
So i found this airframe a guy was going to throw away. It was pretty well worn with some covering issues and busted up cowl and gear. Also had structural damage to rudder, stabs, and wings from a minor crash. I just couldnt bear to see it go to the dump so i took it in as an orphan.
first and foremost the covering had to be removed. It was dirty, holes in it, faded, scratched up etc. This thing was bad. I will look for 9hotos and post them if i can find them.
next, the stabs were epoxied to the fuselage and stab tube. Removing them was a good amount of work. There was a lot of swaering at this point but with the covering gone there was a small seam around the root of each stab. I torqued and cut at the epoxy with a razor saw and an exacto a little at a time starting at the leading edge then to the tube. Had to cut through the anti rotation pins. They were aluminum. It wasnt easy and was time consuming but using wedges i was able to keep going. Heat also seemed to help soften the epoxy so i used plenty. Once i had both roots free i had to do something about the stab tube. Heres the funny part. So i figured at this point i was screwed. I did have a back up plan. I had a pair of the origonal EF Edge 88" stabs to use if removal became distruction. So i figured i was just going to use brute force to remove the stabs from the tube.so, i began with a rocking motion and heard some separation. Rocked a little more in every direction and gave each stab a twist in opposing directions and she broke free on one side. Next, with one stab off i pulled hard with a twist and was able to pull the other stab and tube from the fuse. At this point i heated up the aluminum stab tube til it started to smoke my leather workgloves. Another tug and twist and it popped free. Absolutely blew my mind. The fact that the tube was not sanded is the only reason it came apart. I did have some cracks and dents/dings to repair and did so before covering.
Decided to cover it all blackin monokote. I had a few partial rolls to use up and only had to buy one new roll for the fuselage. Found a new cowl for it a while back on the cheap. I have a scheme in mind and will show the results of it later as build progresses. For now, im back at arf readiness. Need to paint a cowl black though!
deciding on what motor tu use. Would like to buy a 40 twin but dont have one. I may put a gp61 on the firewall.
first and foremost the covering had to be removed. It was dirty, holes in it, faded, scratched up etc. This thing was bad. I will look for 9hotos and post them if i can find them.
next, the stabs were epoxied to the fuselage and stab tube. Removing them was a good amount of work. There was a lot of swaering at this point but with the covering gone there was a small seam around the root of each stab. I torqued and cut at the epoxy with a razor saw and an exacto a little at a time starting at the leading edge then to the tube. Had to cut through the anti rotation pins. They were aluminum. It wasnt easy and was time consuming but using wedges i was able to keep going. Heat also seemed to help soften the epoxy so i used plenty. Once i had both roots free i had to do something about the stab tube. Heres the funny part. So i figured at this point i was screwed. I did have a back up plan. I had a pair of the origonal EF Edge 88" stabs to use if removal became distruction. So i figured i was just going to use brute force to remove the stabs from the tube.so, i began with a rocking motion and heard some separation. Rocked a little more in every direction and gave each stab a twist in opposing directions and she broke free on one side. Next, with one stab off i pulled hard with a twist and was able to pull the other stab and tube from the fuse. At this point i heated up the aluminum stab tube til it started to smoke my leather workgloves. Another tug and twist and it popped free. Absolutely blew my mind. The fact that the tube was not sanded is the only reason it came apart. I did have some cracks and dents/dings to repair and did so before covering.
Decided to cover it all blackin monokote. I had a few partial rolls to use up and only had to buy one new roll for the fuselage. Found a new cowl for it a while back on the cheap. I have a scheme in mind and will show the results of it later as build progresses. For now, im back at arf readiness. Need to paint a cowl black though!
deciding on what motor tu use. Would like to buy a 40 twin but dont have one. I may put a gp61 on the firewall.
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