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!