Drifter sail/skin fitting by Wayne Fisher

[M61A1]

I have permission from Fisher's Daughters to post these videos.

 

Firstly the wing video.

 

Others to follow.

 

 

 

[M61A1]

Aileron skins

 

 

 

[M61A1]

I seem to be having a bit of trouble with the stabilizer one, it's the longest, youtube says it's "processing".

 

 

[Tex]

Here is your last one ... thanks so much for uploading these and to the Fisher girls as well!!

 

 

 

[M61A1]

Thanks for that Tex, I had it uploading while I was at work.

 

 

[howe]

Have just done my Bantam skins, not quite the same, but similar.

 

Used talc powder on the leading and trailing tube which really reduces the friction and makes it very easy.

 

 

[seb7701]

So, has anyone fittd any of Emah's new drifter skins lately and how did it go?

 

Thankfully should be right for a while on my a/c, but would love to see it done if anyone is re-skinning sometime!

 

 

[Acky]

Is there any more videos that belong to this set? They're quite an informative bunch of videos for anyone working on or contemplating buying a drifter.

 

Cheers,

 

Acky.

 

 

[M61A1]

Is there any more videos that belong to this set? They're quite an informative bunch of videos for anyone working on or contemplating buying a drifter.Cheers,

 

Acky.

Not that I'm aware of, when I bought a set of sails, Wayne gave me the videos , just the wings, tailplane an ailerons.

[seb7701]

Have watched them a few times now. I could be easily mistaken, but is doesnt appear to be the diabolical job I imagined?

 

 

[M61A1]

Have watched them a few times now. I could be easily mistaken, but is doesnt appear to be the diabolical job I imagined?

I didn't find it difficult, a little fiddly perhaps especially the tail feathers , but not difficult.

 

 

[seb7701]

Glad to hear. The wings don't look too bad, as the tension is obviously right when you can close the top velcro!

 

Are the battens delicate or fairly unlikely to be broken.

 

Any idea why Wayne used a soldering iron to cut some holes and a blowtorch-heated spike for others?

 

 

[M61A1]

Glad to hear. The wings don't look too bad, as the tension is obviously right when you can close the top velcro!Are the battens delicate or fairly unlikely to be broken.

Any idea why Wayne used a soldering iron to cut some holes and a blowtorch-heated spike for others?

I would hazard a guess that it was just convenient, I did my tail feathers in the shed where I had power, but still ran a lead outside for the soldering iron for the wings. I also converted an old soldering tip into a knife blade for use as a hot knife.

According to Wayne, he had a profile to reset all the battens to the same shape, you will find that the upper battens become deformed (usually flatter), but if you pick the one with the biggest bow in it, and gently make them all (the top ones) match that one, you can't go too far wrong. The plastic tips are often broken. The technique for that was to use a small gas torch, and gently heat it just enough to make the plastic soft enough to remove and just hot enough for the new one to form to the batten where the centre punch mark is that holds the plastic. I hope that makes sense.

 

 

[seb7701]

Thanks- sounds very logical. The hot knife idea was a ripper too!

 

The batten tips sound like something I would break a heap of...

 

I recall the Fisher girls having a heap, but I think someone did buy them all. I perhaps heard that Lockwoods had them?

 

So, did I read that you remove and replace them with a little heat?

 

I reckon my issue (if I ever do them) would be finding somewhere big enough with a nice floor to lay both wings out flat on some carpet! Did you do the vice-grip thing with the tail feathers? Was talking to a bloke last week who told me a bout a a special tool or setup that the factory used for tensioning. Apparently they had a lady doing skins for them etc too?

 

 

[M61A1]

Thanks- sounds very logical. The hot knife idea was a ripper too!The batten tips sound like something I would break a heap of...

I recall the Fisher girls having a heap, but I think someone did buy them all. I perhaps heard that Lockwoods had them?

 

So, did I read that you remove and replace them with a little heat?

 

I reckon my issue (if I ever do them) would be finding somewhere big enough with a nice floor to lay both wings out flat on some carpet! Did you do the vice-grip thing with the tail feathers? Was talking to a bloke last week who told me a bout a a special tool or setup that the factory used for tensioning. Apparently they had a lady doing skins for them etc too?that

The batten tips are held in place with a centre punch mark that pushes the aluminium batten into the plastic. To remove the broken ones you may be able to use pliers or drill a hole up the middle and drive a screw into it to pull it out. You need to be gentle in your application of heat, not enough to damage to alloy, but just enough to soften the plastic , the same goes for fitting them, just enough to get the plastic to take the form of the alloy. Make sure that the tip is correctly aligned on installation. Most of the broken ones will be from age, they are quite flexible, mine aircraft was 20 years old, and I found most of the leading edge tips broken on disassembly. They are available from Lockwood's quite cheaply.