Morgan restoration

[3rd harmonic]

Against what may be considered sensible or advisable, i decided that the buying a repairable wreck of a Morgan Sierra might a challenging and satisfying project!?

 

As a brief history: The aircraft was built from kit supplied by Morgan Aeroworks and unfortunately after only a couple of flight hours, ended up suffering a loss-of-control on landing accident.
Insurance was claimed for the value of the expected repairs which were substantial and although it wasn't considered a total loss, the salvage value of the wreck was not very high compared to the cost of the original build.

 

The accident damage mostly confined to the nose of the A/C.
nose wheel folded under and snapped off
damage to the firewall and floor.
Prop strike, prop destroyed.
Engine mount cracked/bent/broken.
Very minor damage to the winglets and wing leading edges right at the tip.

The wreck was sold to a guy who trailered it to Melbourne, where it sat in a storage unit for about a year.
I brought it off him and trailered him back to SA in an epic 2 day road trip.
As pictured on a very large car trailer.

I have chosen not to identify the original builder explicitly, to be fair as i don't know the guy at all.
Of course there may be some sensitivity regarding the accident, i can only imagine it was NOT a particularly enjoyable experience.
In anycase it's really not relevant to restoration going forward.

Thing have progressed abit from here, but just an initial post to start the ball rolling...

Ab

[old man emu]

Did the prop strike the ground during the incident?

 

I think that there is a mod to make the nose wheel assembly less prone to folding.

 

Keep us posted with progress.

[kgwilson]

I built a Morgan Sierra from scratch starting in 2011 & completing the build in 2015. I have a bit over 400 hours in it now. I too bent a noseleg on about the 12th flight after a long float down the strip & then running in to soft ground. Replaced it & somehow made the new one 50mm longer. This time I almost wheelbarrowed, bounced & broke it properly including prop. There are plenty of horror stories of owners breaking nose legs but once you learn to land it, it's easy.

 

I created a build blog on this site https://www.recreationalflying.com/forums/topic/13034-sierra-100-kit-build-underway/ so if you need any help just ask.

 

What engine is in it & does it need a bulk strip?

[3rd harmonic]

Yes, Thanks KG I have had a good read through your blog and also some of the others on the Morgan page, there's a gold mine of info and pics showing how others have resolved the same design in different ways.

Good to hear that you've managed to fly it consistently, after some initial difficulties.

The engine is a UL power 260is (NOT a Jabiru, which the plans suggest)

I have had some correspondence with UL power about sending it back to the factory in Belgium to be overhauled and replacement crankshaft fitted ect

For various reasons, not the least being the paying the $$$$$, I haven't done it yet...

[3rd harmonic]

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

I think that there is a mod to make the nose wheel assembly less prone to folding.

I'm sure that might help if the plan was to fix/replace the nose wheel. But I'm hoping to side step those issues entirely 😉

[Thruster88]

Morgan tail wheel? How much will the paper work weigh?

[kgwilson]

There have been mods made to move the mains forward and this apparently makes landing easier. Garry Morgan always resisted this and I understand why now. I must have well over 600 landings (I'll check) & can just about land blindfold or asleep these days. Full flying stabilator & a low stall AofA gives the Sierra deceptively little back pressure to stall for landing. I can fly it fully stalled with no flap & only about 30 knots indicated at height. Fully stalled it won't drop a wing unless you have 30 deg of flap with about 1800-2000 rpm & give the rudder a full kick, then she'll go.

[FlyBoy1960]

The title is wrong, it should be "Morgan Rebuild"  

 

A restoration inspires thoughts of an aircraft with many years of flying, something of great historical value.

 

I must be board to even waste everyone's time by commenting.

 

I must get-a-life.

[IBob]

17 hours ago, 3rd harmonic said:

Against what may be considered sensible or advisable, i decided that the buying a repairable wreck of a Morgan Sierra might a challenging and satisfying project!?

 

As a brief history: The aircraft was built from kit supplied by Morgan Aeroworks and unfortunately after only a couple of flight hours, ended up suffering a loss-of-control on landing accident.
Insurance was claimed for the value of the expected repairs which were substantial and although it wasn't considered a total loss, the salvage value of the wreck was not very high compared to the cost of the original build.

 

The accident damage mostly confined to the nose of the A/C.
nose wheel folded under and snapped off
damage to the firewall and floor.
Prop strike, prop destroyed.
Engine mount cracked/bent/broken.
Very minor damage to the winglets and wing leading edges right at the tip.

The wreck was sold to a guy who trailered it to Melbourne, where it sat in a storage unit for about a year.
I brought it off him and trailered him back to SA in an epic 2 day road trip.
As pictured on a very large car trailer.

 

With quad nosewheel mod???????

[old man emu]

12 hours ago, FlyBoy1960 said:

The title is wrong, it should be "Morgan Rebuild"  

The words "rebuild" and "restore" have the implication of "big, bigger, biggest". A rebuild is a bigger task than a restoration. 

 

Renovate: restore (something old) to a good state of repair.

Restore: repair or renovate so as to return it to its original condition.

Rebuild: build (something) again after it has been damaged or destroyed.

 

 

[graham brown]

After 8 years of flying mine I finally broke the nose leg on a rough down hill strip where a big wind gust got me. Wasn’t a real hard  landing but “snap” and the nose leg went. No where near the damage shown in your photos. I have a new nose leg from Ray which will never snap as it’s very thick compared to the old one. A new prop, the same as Kevin’s, a Bolly. Motor needed a full inspection and new flywheel and prop flange bolts. My nose wheel somehow missed the underneath of the plane so no damage there. I took off the bottom sheet behind the firewall to inspect and found some sheared rivets on the gussets. All riveted now and a new sheet installed. I moved the mains forward about 7 inches with extension pieces underneath the aircraft. This was done because mine only has a forward tank and no wing tanks and landing with full fuel and only the pilot was hard to keep the weight off the nose wheel. I have decided to replace the engine Mount rather than repair the old one as I have a Camit motor in mine and the original mount was a modified jabiru one which I was never happy with. The cowls are fixed with a bit of fibre glass and repainted. Just waiting for the engine Mount and it go back together. Good luck rebuilding your Sierra they are a great little plane and other than the nose leg issue I have had no issues at all.

The plans have the tail wheel version but the steel frame needs turning around which means a fair bit more pulling apart. I don’t know of any flying but I know at least 2 were built.

 

[facthunter]

Moving the mainwheels forward will alleviate the load on the nosewheel concerns. Lengthening the nosewheel would be a bad idea. The plane should sit a bit nose down on the ground or you risk wheelbarrowing. Nev

[3rd harmonic]

15 hours ago, FlyBoy1960 said:

The title is wrong, it should be "Morgan Rebuild"  

 

 

Fair point, I agree - I thought for a while and couldn't come up with anything better. Words often escape me.

I couldn't work out how to edit the thread title, if that's even possible - happy for a moderator change it.

Yes, in a sense a rebuild is a bigger deal than just fixing something up the way it was...

[facthunter]

When some excess forces are involved you have to check a lot of things other than the blinding obvious and if you didn't see it built you check the lot anyhow.   Nev

[kgwilson]

The original noseleg was .083 Chromolly Steel. The new ones are .095 so much beefier. I have landed on some really rough strips and never had any issue with the .095 chromolly noseleg. The early ones were pretty weak.

 

The first one bent when I ran  in to some (muddy) soft ground on the over run to the main strip. I'd slowed quite a bit so was probably only doing about 15-20knots when it bent. I got towed back by a bloke in a ute who was a dickhead & put his foot down & the already bent and weakend leg collapsed. Luckily there was no other damage

Edited November 12, 2023 by kgwilson

[facthunter]

Treat ALL nosewheels like they are WEAK.  Nev

[3rd harmonic]

Lots of good comments, thanks KG and GB. It has been VERY intersesting to hear first hand how they fly.

Other than talking to Ray T, I didn't have much else to go on.

Especially flight in the slow speed end of the envelope.

30kts IAS is pretty slow - is that actually stalled with a significant rate of decent or just maintaining height?

The sports star that I've done some hours in has a pretty powerful and sensitive elevator which may be similar in that regard.

Compared to the cub/champ the sporty is also very responsive/light on the controls generally which is enjoyable.

[kgwilson]

The 30 knots IAS was maintaining altitude. A smidgen slower and it begins to mush losing altitude. Stall with full flaps in landing configuration is 27 knots. This depends on the aircraft as they are all different. Pretty accurate for mine though. The ASI is not accurate a low speed & is reading pretty much zero at touchdown.

[graham brown]

30knts with flaps is stalled but as Kevin says it’s still controllable. It tends to float in the landing phase so I use full flap for drag and make sure the speed is back on late final and the stick back when the mains touch. The nose needs to be up and kept up even as you taxi back.

[3rd harmonic]

I had the idea from the start to do a tailwheel conversion, it seems to good a opportunity to pass up!

I met Ray T at Camden to have a chat generally and had a look at a partially built T/W Morgan. The story was that owner is an ag pilot (with boss level TW skills) and it would have a bigger heavier Lycoming engine fitted - Ray thought it would be pretty wild.

The firewall is closer (further back) towards the wing spar to accommodate the longer heavier engine.

Essentially, I'm looking to replicate what I observed in that A/C as a guide.

Yes, dealing with the steel work that everything attaches to is the difficulty, which has made it harder initially to make much headway. Confronting these structural alterations have forced me to think long and hard about how to do it nicely and have it work out.

 

[3rd harmonic]

36 minutes ago, kgwilson said:

The 30 knots IAS was maintaining altitude. A smidgen slower and it begins to mush losing altitude. Stall with full flaps in landing configuration is 27 knots.

Yeah wow, that's not bad at all!

[kgwilson]

For me approach speed is 70 knots & about 55knots over the fence. Fly the aircraft to the ground & only flare at 1-3 feet off the deck. With full flap the speed degrades very fast. Stick movements are small until 30 knots is reached otherwise the aircraft will rise. At 30 knots the stick can progressively be pulled right back and the aircraft will grease on to the ground.

 

Ground effect will keep the aircraft floating all the way down the runway if you are too fast. The wing at the root is only about a metre off the ground.

 

I always land on the grass where possible to reduce tyre wear. I keep the stick back till on the seal & aileron in to wind if there is cross wind. A lot of people have problems taxiing in cross winds with a castoring nose wheel but it doesn't bother me. Sometimes the into wind brake is needed to keep straight in a stiff breeze.

[red750]

19 hours ago, FlyBoy1960 said:

I must be board to even waste everyone's time by commenting.

Soften up and bend a little. Then you won't be so bored.

[3rd harmonic]

50 minutes ago, kgwilson said:

I always land on the grass where possible to reduce tyre wear. I keep the stick back till on the seal & aileron in to wind if there is cross wind

definitely good SOP - if not more important in a T/W A/C . I can hear the various instructors voice(s) in my head 'Don't relax the back pressure just because you've touched down!!'

Great description of the landing too - I think I can picture what your saying...

At one point when I was doing lots of circuits learning, I went and sat at the end of the R/W 21 at Aldinga and watched someone else (similarly incompetent) landing the sports star. They, like me were tending to drop it on flat all 3 wheels at once close to the ground, rather than land with the nose higher and on the mains with the stick right back. Externally didn't look nearly as bad as it felt getting the jolt in the seat of your pants, which did make me feel better as the main landing gear flexing seemed to soak up the drop OK and the sporty N/W has an oleo. Evidence would suggest that the Morgan's are possibly less tolerant of that kind of landing style....

Edited November 12, 2023 by 3rd harmonic

[facthunter]

I started when everything was tailwheel. They are much less forgiving. Unless you fly a lot you will scare yourself now and again. Note I  still haven't groundlooped but the slower you land the less damaging it will be if you do. I favour the 3 point but when I watch others they tend to do wheelers. That means you will use more runway and touch down at higher speed...  Nev