Update - Summer

Not much to report as of today.

I have been working on another project, which has cut into my time on working on this plane.

For now, I can state this; after going over the wreck of the PIK-20D, I found that it will be a total write off. The damage to the fiberglass skins were too extensive. The metal parts seem to be all that is salvageable, with the exception of the hardware in the vertical stabilizer connecting to the horizontal stabilizer, and airbrake on the right wing.

If all goes well, I will be starting the repair assessment and the mold construction in about a month.

Later!

The Strip Down

With a broken plane in front of me, I'm just dumbfounded on where to start first?

I know that I need to make room in my garage to do the repair work, and before that can happen, I need to get the good wings out! So I will need to make a set of wing dollies.

But until I can get that done, I will start cleaning out the cockpit and assess the work needed to get the "B" back into shape.

As with my previous project, I began stripping the cockpit components out, documenting everything prior to and after the parts were removed.

The control cables to the vent and water dump were corroded and need to be replaced, so I drilled out the rivets holding the panels and cut the cables. The control knob and cables were the same found at any auto supply shop. The emergency canopy release was also frozen in place. I don't know if this was due to the plane being stored outside for a year, or it was that way from the beginning.

But it makes you think if it was working in the first place, since the hinges were cut when the firemen extracted the pilot out of the trees.

I removed the rubber grips from the stick and gear retract handle. They were quite nasty. The next task was to remove the flap control crank wheel. There are three screws holding that in place, then just remove the bolts to the two control rods, crank it back, and out it comes!

Another nasty sight was the wheel well. After removing the ABS plastic covers from the top, I found that the wheel well is nothing but a couple of pieces of thin aluminum and a plastic cap riveted together.  This plane has a lot of pop rivets holding it together.

From what I can see from the inside, the push rods were free from any surface rust. It was just dirty in there. The forward wing alignment cross rod has some rust, but that can be cleaned up without much fuss.

The vinyl tubing was yellow and the connectors were a combination of plastic and metal fittings. All of this will be coming out!

The CG release was also gummy.

The ring was rusted. I spoke with Tim Mara of Wings and Wheels, and he was able to give me some core credit on a replacement.

The ABS covers were in good shape, but I thinking of replace these with fiberglass. I will make female molds and pull new covers. Over time, the ABS plastic becomes brittle.

Also that corduroy stick boot has gotta go!

The nose vent and pitot tube has no access. There is a ABS cover that is glued in. After speaking with Robert, he suggested two options.

1. Lay up a mold and make a fiberglass cover, and then cut out the old one and clean up the area to mount in the new piece. or
2. Cut an access hole and make a cover.

For the time and lack of working space, I chose option two. I was at least able to reach the butterfly valve and pitot tubing.




When I can get the fuselage up on a jig, I will then make the mold to replace the ABS cover with fiberglass.

All that is left to remove are the placards.

Then a little sanding to remove that nasty black-gray paint.

I just can't believe anyone would paint a cockpit black! It would have had to have be an oven in the sun!

The cockpit strip down went quicker than I remember when I was doing my Libelle.

Next - the damage assessment.

A New Story Begins

After nearly three years working on a restoration project with a Libelle 201B, I'm getting close to finishing the project. All that is left is the final assembly tweaks and paint. So with that plane at the airport shop to be finished by the Pro's, I have started to feel a little empty not having a plane to work on at home. Last summer, I notice in the soaring classifieds, that there were two wrecked PIK-20's available, but at the current price offered, I wasn't interested. Over the next few months, as I would check the classifieds, I notice the price on the wrecks were dropping. It's now the end of December, and again I glance through the adds, and I find that the price was dropped even lower and a "Or Best Offer" implied. With a chuckle, I mention the wrecks to my wife, and the offering price. To my surprise, she said "make him an offer!"

I have a good friend in Moriarty that is an AP-IA. Robert Mudd (of Composite Aircraft Repair)
and I were talking about projects, and he and I both mentioned the PIK-20 wrecks at the same time. He stated that he had a thought of buying them himself to rebuild, but really did not have the time. I asked him about the possibility of these being restored, and if this was a project I could tackle. His response was, yes.

The next task, was to get better photos of the wrecks to determine the extent of the damage.

I contacted the current owner of the wrecks, Gary Davis. He sent me a number of photos, which I then sent to Robert. Robert reviewed the photos and confirmed that the PIK-20B was a better candidate to be repaired,

 

and the PIK-20D looked like it was destined to be reduced to parts. 

Out of morbid curiosity, I asked Gary for the tail numbers and the history of the crashes.

I also looked up the NTSB reports on the crashes.

The PIK-20B was a sad accident, since the pilot did not have enough experience, and on his first flight with this plane, he crashed it. No injuries, other than a bruised ego.

The Pik-20D was a bit more serious. The pilot was a co-owner of the plane with Gary, and on final, he passed out. The glider stalled, hitting trees, and skidding in the grass to a stop inverted. He had suffered head injuries, and was release from the hospital on the same day.

This PIK-20D must have some bad Juju, since it was wreck back in 1980, also due to pilot error.

After all was said and done, and with a price in mind, I contacted Gary to make him an offer.

Gary accepted my offer, but then came the next obstacle, how to get them from Tennessee to New Mexico.

After again speaking with Robert, he told me that he had a trailer that I could borrow that would fit two gliders, but it would not be until March before I could use it.

So, again, I contacted Gary and told him of my arrangements and plans on when I could pick up the gliders.

To my surprise, Gary informed me that he not only had trailers, but he just started to manufacture glider trailers.

This sparked my interest, you manufacture glider trailers!?! So he sent me some photos!

Gary told my that he is still developing the process, but he could sell me one. (more about of Garys trailers can be seen at http://glidertrailers.net/ )

I asked if he thought we might be able to fit both gliders in the trailer, and some of the parts in my truck. Gary thought it possible to do.  After asking the price of the trailer, I offered a bundle price for both the gliders and the trailer,.... We had a deal

So off to the bank to get a few bucks to complete the financial deal, and then to plan the trip.

I planned a four day weekend, took the time off last week and drove to Tennessee. I met Gary and his friend John and found them to be great and hospitable gentlemen. They had the trailer loaded when I arrive, and all that was left was to load the forward fuselages and the tail sections with the vertical stabilizers.

We managed to get everything loaded, and I was ready to make the trip back to New Mexico.

With the return trip being uneventful, I had the task of unloading and making an assessment of the damaged airframes.  

The first thing I can say is, DAMN!, these gliders are heavy. Both of my Libelle wings together don't weigh as much as one of these wings!

The B fuselage was easy to remove. I moved it on a mechanics auto crawler and into the safety of the garage.

The B Tail was moved into the garage as well.

I had to put the wing dolly back together and I was able to move the B wings in as well.

Now, let's look at the D airframe.  I would really like to get this one put back together, but due to the extensive damage, it doesn't look hopeful. 

The aircraft was left outside after the accident, and there is a lot of surface rust on the metal parts (which can be cleaned up), but the shell is split open down the seam, with multiple cracks in the nose.

The instrument console was damaged beyond repair, and will need to be fabricated. The instruments were lost too.

The wings were damaged. An airbrake torn out on the good wing, the other wing was split in two. I just set them up against the outside with the tail until I can figure out what we are going to do with this mess. I will wait for the New Mexican air  to dry them out, and then I will tape up the open areas and cocoon them up.

As for the horizontal tailplane, both had minor damage, but the elevators are a different story. The B elevator has a missing center section where the attachment pin was located, and the D elevator is broken in several places.





The next phase of this project is to get the trailer set up with tracks and dollys so I can move the B wings out ofthe garage and into the trailer. I will also begin to clean out the cockpit of the B and plan on repairing the fuselage.

Over the next several months (or years :-p ),  I will be documenting the repair of the PIK-20B, So stay tuned!