I've sort of decided that I have a whole stable of planes, most with various problems. Some fixable, some not so much. So for the lost causes, I plan to salvage them and get them out of the rack. For the fixable stuff, I am (gasp!) going to fix them. First up is a refinish of my 3rd Slider. It was a very straight, very light airframe that fell victim to both a local rodent and my heavy finger on the paint trigger. So, I plan to strip it back down to bare wood, fix a couple of things and refinish it. Same for another plane I have (a USA-1 variant). Another plane I have needs new flaps and a home. I may look for a suitable recipient (Perhaps Shultzie).

So, no new planes, but some fixes in the works. This will all be after I fix the Avenger.

HI Brother Randy,

With the present state I am in, I have thought about doing the same thing.  Some say it is just easier to build a new plane, but I don't think so.  With "Dad's Stripper", the old finish comes off easily!  So I have a couple of models in line for stripping and repairs (will even lighten a few up by doing this!).  One is a Sterling Spitfire that is well built but 40 years old.  Never got too many flights on it, but will look over the controls, make the tank removable, add adj. LOs, tip weight box, etc..  The other is the Spacehound which needs new covering for sure.  Just looking at the silkspan makes it rip........  Also I can take some more weight out of it by hollowing the blocks more, etc., and the Spitfire will get the same.  Plus I am going to shed the hard plastic wheels on the Spacehound, never heard a model make so much noise on landing! ROTFLMBO!!!
Then it is on to modifying a '59 Ares to take an OS .25VF and a pipe!  (won't use it anymore in Classic)

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

 More interesting stuff from the "Powellworks". I'm definitely interested in watching some of this work.

before salvage operations begin, we should talk, I need something to fly locally that I wont hurt   everything locally to fly on is pretty rough,,, Though I am working on Gordon's suggestion as well,, ( he garauntees it will get my bottoms down,, )
of course there are others who may benefit more from your "cast offs " LOL,,
hey it was a good week despite your struggles,, I hope your overall vibe was positive from the week....

what is it set up for power wise?

What's the advantage of stripping all the way to bare wood? If the plane had a decent finish on it to begin with, why not just get down to the covering and filler coats? Obviously, if the open bay areas are full of holes already it would be easier to recover than to patch. But the solid surfaces should be good to go once you get under the old primer, right?

HI Clint,

In my case, I can now apply a lighter, better looking finish from the bare wood up.  If it is one of "newer" models, I would not go to the bare wood.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

I have two old birds I would like to strip down, so I will be watching & learning!

Ok, change of plan. I got the Shoestring down and looked it over. I'm just convinced that the problem is the stab. It's got to be misaligned. so I pulled the control surfaces and took it apart and I'm going to strip it, put in a new stab and refinish it, checking the incidence and alignment as I go. It was a cool looking plane and worth trying to save. This should be fun.

I'll post pics as I go along if anyone is interested.

Hi Will,

Well, here's a couple of pictures. I used Jasco 15 minute stripper. Only got the outboard wing done, but that only took about 20 minutes. Will still need some sanding to prep it for a new finish and I still have to cut the stab out and build a new one.

Oh the one liners I could get outta this,, "Dads stripper," no she was to old and wanted to much money,, 

15 minute stripper that took 20 minutes, hmmm ok

but all kidding aside, I have always loved this plane Randy, I am jacked to see you rework it,, Though the repairs on the Avenger still need be made,,
keep us posted,,

sorry to hear the frustration is winning out Randy,, but I have no doubt you will get reenergized and figure out a way to correct the headrest issue,, Still a really cool plane,,

HI Randy,

I have total faith in your abilities, so the models you are working on will come out better than before.  Again, I think that redoing a model is easier than building a new one, at least if it was built correctly.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

I wonder if that is why Linda keeps turning the lights out whenever she leaves a room with me in it,, hoping I will mellow with age,,
I dont think its working though,,

If you notice her ordering a great big oaken barrel -- worry.

thanks for your support guys,, it makes me all warm and tingly,,

or not,,

One of the problems is that I usually cover planes then put on the fillets. This eats the paint, loosens the paper so it can be peeled off (I peeled the bottom of this wing in one sheet. That was weird). It doesn't really effect the fillets, but it loosens the paper under them and allows you to just pull the fillet up with the paper. But any areas where the filler (in this case, SuperFil) is attached directly to the balsa, well, it just doesn't go anywhere. So you have to get a block out when all the paper is off and go after those areas. I will do the other wing tonight and hopefully the fuse will take up the rest of the week. Then I can block the whole thing down, cut the stab out and get the new one built, get it aligned (checking about a million times) then build new control surfaces. I suspect I will be ready to start putting the new finish on in a couple of weeks, maybe sooner.

So, I have it about half done. Getting the fillets off is fun. Cut the stab out and that went pretty well. Should be able to finish the stripping tomorrow and I can start sanding and building the new stab and control surfaces.

HI Randy,

Hopefully a new stab with proper alignment will solve the issue!

Bill

Wayne,

Couple of hours.

It's all sanded down now and I made a new slider (split slider for independent adjustment). Figured I'd correct a couple of things while I'm at it. The new parts are cut out and the stab is almost ready to go in. I should be ready to start finishing (or refinishing) in a few days.

Wow, that's pretty quick. Makes it kind of tempting to re-do a couple of my own.

I am often amazed at how much less time a repair takes than a rebuild from scratch.  I've taken some models that looked like they were good for nothing but shoving into the nearest garbage can, and rebuilt them in significantly less time than it would have taken to build from scratch.

Unless large parts of the model are just flat out pulverized, a repair is usually quicker than toss-and-rebuild.

  RANDY!
That beautiful SHOE' truly was one of the most tasty n' beautiful CLPA models that this old BADBOY (another name that I was thinkin; bout before virtually total burnout!

Donnie,

yea, that's me looking down at the thing trying to figure out what was wrong with it. At least I can take my time and get it right this time.

Matt,

There's about a million words written somewhere here about it's issues. The thing refused to track. It wandered around like a drunken sailor (no, not Ty). I finally dialed in enough down thrust and down elevator to get it to track in level flight but then it wouldn't turn inside.

It's an alignment issue. After talking to a bunch of guys and having some very sharp stunt minds look at it in flight, it was decided (mostly by me) that the stab is just flat out of alignment, twisted or has demons. So that stab is now gone (here's a tip, don't use a triangular airfoiled stab no matter what the plans say) and the new one will have minor airfoil at the front and that's it and I will use 4 different incidence meters when I put the new on in.

Tonight I spent the evening car shopping. Man, I hate that.

I will use 4 different incidence meters when I put the new on in.

That sounds like fun.  I would suggest you set up a simple test fixture to see if the 4 meters all agree.
Do you remember where you set the incidence on the old stab, and what incidence will you be shooting for with the new stab ? 

I suspect that I managed to get negative incidence in originally partially due to the triangular airfoil stab.

I had a triangular shaped stab on my RMD, no tracking issues.  To help with getting the incidence set right I made a rectangle shaped saddle around the center section for mounting in the fuse.  Posted some pictures during the build on BOR site, lost in the crash.  I still have the pics if you want to see again.

Allan,

With a triangular airfoil stab, the margin of error as pertains to alignment is somewhat smaller than, say, a flat stab. I suspect that the stab on the Shoe was both out of alignment and twisted. Besides, it's incorrect in reference to the original. I built the first plane according to the Flying Models plan which I discovered was radically incorrect. The second used a Skylark wing (which the original used) but I foolishly used the tail from the Flying Models plan. I have since found out that the original had a flat stab. So a flat stab goes in this time.

Tim,

I suppose if you are talking major assemblies. Seems to me there are only 3. Wing, empennage and fuselage. You replaced much of two out of three.