ST1/LSA55 wing(s) needed!

[Oscar]

Hi all.

 

I'm part of a 2-person syndicate that acquired the original ST1 - serial number #0001 - as a damaged aircraft which we want to get back in the air. It had an EFATO and ended up, like some Jabs, with the wheels pointing skywards.

 

ST1 #o001. 1 has a bit of Jab history: not only the first VH-reg Jab, but also a test mule for the 2200 engine development. Her wings were damaged; we acquired her with two replacement wings BUT one is an original series wing, the other a later wing that has different aileron (longer) and flap (shorter) lengths and a different fuselage attachment set-up . We can use either but we need a matching wing to the one we use.

 

So we're looking for solid-foam core wing(s). We need either: an early-series (1/4", low mount wing attachment points on the root rib) starboard wing OR a later-series (5/16", high-mount wing attachment points) port wing.

 

The spacing between the fuselage attachment points needs to be 570mm centre-to-centre.

 

Lightly-damaged wings (e.g. hail damage, hangar rash, attack by fence-post) are acceptable provided the mainspar and lift-strut attachment point is not damaged - subject to inspection. Such wings may have been an insurance write-off - we expect to have to undertake some repair / restoration work.

 

If anyone knows of any early wings sitting forlornly in someone's hangar or shed, we'd dearly love to hear about them. If you could call Richard on: 02 4889 8116, I'll pass on an email contact so we can converse further.

 

We are determined that good 'ol #0001 will fly again - any help would be very, very welcome!

 

 

[biggles]

Hi all.I'm part of a 2-person syndicate that acquired the original ST1 - serial number #0001 - as a damaged aircraft which we want to get back in the air. It had an EFATO and ended up, like some Jabs, with the wheels pointing skywards.

 

ST1 #o001. 1 has a bit of Jab history: not only the first VH-reg Jab, but also a test mule for the 2200 engine development. Her wings were damaged; we acquired her with two replacement wings BUT one is an original series wing, the other a later wing that has different aileron (longer) and flap (shorter) lengths and a different fuselage attachment set-up . We can use either but we need a matching wing to the one we use.

 

So we're looking for solid-foam core wing(s). We need either: an early-series (1/4", low mount wing attachment points on the root rib) starboard wing OR a later-series (5/16", high-mount wing attachment points) port wing.

 

The spacing between the fuselage attachment points needs to be 570mm centre-to-centre.

 

Lightly-damaged wings (e.g. hail damage, hangar rash, attack by fence-post) are acceptable provided the mainspar and lift-strut attachment point is not damaged - subject to inspection. Such wings may have been an insurance write-off - we expect to have to undertake some repair / restoration work.

 

If anyone knows of any early wings sitting forlornly in someone's hangar or shed, we'd dearly love to hear about them. If you could call Richard on: 02 4889 8116, I'll pass on an email contact so we can converse further.

 

We are determined that good 'ol #0001 will fly again - any help would be very, very welcome!

Have you contacted the factory . I imagine they would be very interested in getting her back in the air again !

 

Bob

 

 

[Oscar]

Bob, hi - yes, Rod Stiff has taken a personal interest in her resuscitation and has already provided a new (J120) fin and rudder (at a most generous price, I must add - for which we thank him) for the project - he believes she will be a better machine with the larger tail area. I've also had some very useful conversations with various members of Jabiru central staff, who have helped with shaping our preferred course for the wing work, and sticking with original wings has MTOW vs useable load benefit. Many people don't realise how much development work Jaubiru have done over the years on their airframes! - yet the original was really a remarkably good device straight out of the box and can still hold its head high amongst the fancy-pants imports.

 

 

[biggles]

Bob, hi - yes, Rod Stiff has taken a personal interest in her resuscitation and has already provided a new (J120) fin and rudder (at a most generous price, I must add - for which we thank him) for the project - he believes she will be a better machine with the larger tail area. I've also had some very useful conversations with various members of Jabiru central staff, who have helped with shaping our preferred course for the wing work, and sticking with original wings has MTOW vs useable load benefit. Many people don't realise how much development work Jaubiru have done over the years on their airframes! - yet the original was really a remarkably good device straight out of the box and can still hold its head high amongst the fancy-pants imports.

Good luck and glad to hear Jabiru are looking after you . Your post may still dredge something up !

 

Bob

 

 

[Oscar]

Well - we got a pair of wings - from the ST1 that went down in WA alongside a dam and tripped into a ditch, ripping the front off the fuselage. I'm afraid that old girl will never fly again, but PART of her will, on ours. I suspect that was the last Jab. still flying with the original 1600 motor anywhere! Thanks to her owner, it was a remarkably painless exercise including the transport from Perth to Sydney (and if you need to transport Jab wings, we'll recommend Watsons Freight - great to deal with and a very good price!)

 

Firstly - for early model Jab owners - an observation. The port rear attachment point ripped out on both our aircraft in the overturn AND this one in a very, very sudden stop. Coincidence perhaps - but in both cases one would not be very impressed with the attachment of the rear stub spar pick-up. Extreme loads, certainly - but we're going to be looking for an upgrade path for the rear attachment stub-spars - more to come later on that one. From what we've seen, however, I'd be most STRONGLY recommending that anybody who has had an unusually harsh stop should look at those attachment points very, very hard before flying again..

 

Now for a cautionary tale, though a bit of a laugh.

 

Within a couple of days of me putting in a 'wanted' ad on the Jabiru 'For Sale' page, I received an email from a chap in the UK, offering me some wings, for - wait for it - GBP1000 including freight to Australia! IN this case, one Nelly Abraham, from Lancashire - though as it turned out, there are LOTS of people over there with spare Jab wings (it's a joke, Joyce..) All I needed to do was send him the money via Western Union cash transfer and they were on their way!

 

Yep, right.

 

Still, I was curious and asked him what aircraft they were off, because as far as I knew no LSA55's every went to the UK, let alone ST1's, because they didn't fit in with the UK weight categories. Lo and behold: they were off ST #0001 - see my first post! Since the original wings from my aircraft were sitting in my shed, rather sadly bearing matching production numbers to the rest of the airframe (and anyway, as any Jab owner will recognise, that isn't the correct form of the Serial number..) I wasn't about to part with our money - even after a number of phone calls from Nelly, who sounded decidedly sub-continental. Not even via MoneyGram - his second choice.

 

Short story from about 10 days of email playing around - I provided a great deal of information to the UK police about 'Mr Abraham',and then shut off all further communication with him - only to get emails from a number of other people in the UK starting out with the same introductory lines!

 

So, it's obvious that 'Mr Abraham', in his various incarnations, not only reads the Jabiru site 'For Sale' page, but Rec Flying threads, looking for people to scam out of their money. He uses gmail. Be warned!