Repairing a Skyfox Gazelle

[Guest Wigg]

Hi we took our Skyfox to Avalon for the Air show where we had it on display and on Saturday at 6.30 a microburst came through and turned it upside down now we have to repair it and I am looking for any one who would have some information on repairing the Aileron hangers as both sides were broken off.

 

 

 

[dunlopdangler]

Gidday Wigg,

 

Sorry to see your Gazelle looking a little worse for wear and appreciate how you would be feeling right now.. If your aileron hangers are broken chances are some of the ribs may be damaged as well as the hangers are an extension of those ribs and you won't know until you inspect each one accordingly. I am not sure where you are based and who would be able to repair your wings locally for you but I do know that if you contact Gympie Aircraft Maintenance and speak to Tao, He should be able to point you in the right direction..(Tao used to work at the Skyfox factory in Caloundra and has rebuilt many since) It may be the case of chucking your gazelle on a trailer and driving up to the Sunshine Coast for some R & R (remove and repair).

 

 

[pylon500]

There was a standard repair for broken hangers which involved opening the trailing edge fabric and splicing new rear sections onto the ribs, typical repair after a Skyfox groundloop.

 

Please note, if you have bent either of the spar tubes, your wing is basically a writeoff.

 

Arthur.

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Hi Dunlopdangler

 

Thanks for the information a frend and I are going to repair it ourselfs and we will be looking for as much advise as we can get so we will keep everyone informed as we go then when we finish we hope to show it off.

 

Thanks John

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Hi Pylon

 

We opened the wing a little bit yesterday and had a quick look and there is a little bit more damage than we thought, I have to wait until I can get the area that we are going to work on it cleaned up before we can take the wings off and start to work on them at the moment we are trying to get as much information as we can before we start. We will be asking a lot more questions before we finish and we will be very appriciative of any help.

 

Many thanks John

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Looks like you'r in for some major work on those wings, unfortunatly. Suggest you should have an L2 advise you if you'r not one yourself. It appears to be a bit more than a L1 can legally attack. Tony Kerr at Gympie has parts and can carry out the mods. Is that a Lightwing on it's back in the background ?.

 

 

[Guest drizzt1978]

Little bit off topic, but I wonder what percentage of high wings got flipped compared to low wings...Maybe a stupid observation, But perhaps high wings need more tie downs....

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Speaking of tiedowns.......I'm of the opionion that 'Screw its' are absolutly useless in anything but a light breeze, and not worth carrying. If you bother tieing down at all, it must be for the worst case scenero, or your wasting your time.

 

That would mean to a well planted steel stake, with suitable rope or chain, or to a supplied, anchored, steel cable.

 

I would be interested in finding out what the tiedown situation was on the aircraft that were damaged. If they happened to be tied to steel cables, then I will surely stand corrected........................

 

 

[bushcaddy105]

Just to add a counter opinion!

 

My BushCaddy (168 square feet of wing) was tied down 1 metre from Wigg's Gazelle, using 3 screwits and water ski rope. The only movement evident was that the tailwheel had moved sideways to the limit of its rope. The screwits were just as hard to get out as they were to screw in - no evidence of loosening in the ground. As I remember seeing when the Gazelle was tied down next to me, it was with star pickets hammered into the ground at a good angle.

 

I can only put the difference down to the fickle nature of the wind - it was sufficient to fly the Gazelle, but perhaps not as strong a few metres away. No, I haven't bought any lottery tickets - my luck has all been used!

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

Having tied down many things - not just a/c - with star pickets, I'm firmly of the view that you are wasting your time if you don't use two pickets at each spot and have them hammered in to form at least a 90 degree angle to each other and 180 degrees apart. Then you tie to the apex of the two pickets.

 

Of course you need a GA8 following you to carry your tiedown kit...but then...

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Guest brentc]

I have used screw-its for quite some time without an issue in many a blizzard (we are in Vic here). The trick is to put them in all the way. Most people only put them in half way and they can pull out.

 

One of the most worrying things about the Avalon damage to one of the aircraft is that the tiedowns pulled out from the wings themselves, not the ground, so almost unavoidable. You also need to ensure the tail is tied down appropriately and the controls locked towards the prevailing wind.

 

I was told by someone on the weekend that when they were in Canada years ago they would tie down the aircraft and if it was a STOL type machine, like the Foxbat and Savannah they would tie a tube on top of the wing with a basic net type structure to break the airflow over the wing so it has no lift.

 

Worth considering.

 

 

[poteroo]

I saw a useful 'lift-breaker' in Canada a few years back. It comprised 2 pieces of square section PVC tube, each 1.3m long, (2 per wing), with felt glued to the down face. Each section had 2 screw type 'eyehooks' with enough strong cord to tie ompletely around the wing.

 

The sections were located on top of each wing about 1/4 to 1/3rd chord, and tied over/under the wing with strong cord. This completely killed lift and proved very effective on high wings - particularly taildraggers such as Cubs, C180's.

 

Not so much a weight difficulty as a stowage one with such long sections. Also - they are very easily 'borrowed' by other needy parties.

 

happy days,

 

 

[Deskpilot]

The simplest ideas are usually the best.

 

 

[Guest Decca]

John I'm sorry I've been 8 days responding to this thread. I was wanting to get back to you with something positive.

 

Ballarat Aero Club has a Gazelle Maintenance Manual, but the airframe section looks a bit light on for information. Maybe there's an overhaul manual - anyone know??

 

As it turns out the club gets very sociable Sunday arvo and I kept getting side-tracked.

 

The RAAus may hold publications (just a thought) but the tech people there may have some personal experience or knowledge regarding your particular situation. They may be worth contacting.

 

Regards, Decca.

 

PS will have another go at the MM by Wednesday, see if I get any further.

 

 

[foxworker]

Hi Wigg,

 

There is nothing wrong with the original timber Skyfox factory approved repair. As I read all the comments about the hangers, I sense some people think that the material ie. the timber, birch 11 ply (from memory) is the problem. It's not and in my opinion never has been. I do have the original repair drawing, sorry a photocopy of, and if the repair is carried out by a skilled hand, and also done with a emphassis on attention to detail , then a successful long life repair can be made. It is not a particularly difficult repair, just needs to be done well. The final process in the structural side of the repair of sealing is no less important than the actual repair itself. This is where alot of the earlier wings lacked.

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Hi John,

 

Thank you for the CD which arrived in the post this morning. Great photography, I really appreciate the thoughtfulness in you sending the pics to me. It will be added into the folder of events on the Gazelles repairs. I would like to catch up with you one day. Regards John Wiggett

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Thanks to everyone who has replied to my original request for information on the Gazelle. I will take all information & suggestions on board. Wigg

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Mine was tied down with 18" steel posts (like star pickets) on a 45 degree angle hammered in as far as they would go with metal mallet, with ratchet straps attached,no slack.

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Hi every one

 

I would like to let you know how we are going with the job of repairing our Skyfox Gazelle after the accident at the air show. Well we got the wings off with a little bit of difficulty the pivot bolt at the top on the right side was rusted in and we had to drill it out. We took the wing strut off first then I held the wing about half way down and Rod my mate who is helping me with all the repairs drilled the centre of the bolt out but it was still stuck so we encouraged it with a bit of a hit, when it came free the end of the wing dropped and punched a hole in the horizontal stabilizer but it was off. Then we took the other one off as well, it came off with out any trouble then we put them on a bench that we made and took off the wing tips and uncovered the top of the wings to see what damaged had been done to the ribs, and to our surprise apart from the aileron hangers there was only a light timber support that holds the wing shape ribs that broke when the wing came down on a star post, we had to buy a piece of timber 4 meters long and reduce it to get it to fit and it worked great. We have also had the aileron hangers made of aluminium and we are about to fit one to one and get a level 2 engineer to check and make sure if it is all right, if he signs it off we will install the rest of them, we also straitened the tip of the vertical stabilizer a little bit then we have to work on the ailerons and then re-fabric it all back again. Buy a new prop and we are in the air again. I have taken a lot of photos and if anyone is interested I will be glad to send them to you. I also have a Skyfox Gazelle Manual if you are interested. [email protected]

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Update on repairs to wing. We have replaced the broken timber (support spar) under the ribs on one wing, and have put in the first aluminium hanger (which we lined up with a laser beam). We checked out the beam along the trailing edge of wing to make sure it wasn't twisted. Once the hanger was on we checked with the beam again through the hole of the remaining wooden hanger through the hole in the new one to make sure it was straight. John

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

Hi Wigg,There is nothing wrong with the original timber Skyfox factory approved repair. As I read all the comments about the hangers, I sense some people think that the material ie. the timber, birch 11 ply (from memory) is the problem. It's not and in my opinion never has been. I do have the original repair drawing, sorry a photocopy of, and if the repair is carried out by a skilled hand, and also done with a emphassis on attention to detail , then a successful long life repair can be made. It is not a particularly difficult repair, just needs to be done well. The final process in the structural side of the repair of sealing is no less important than the actual repair itself. This is where alot of the earlier wings lacked.

hiya, someone gave me your name and told me you are an expert on Skyfox Gazelles. I don't know if I have already spoken with you ( this site confuses me a bit, still new) but I love my Skyfox Gazelle and want to know as much as I can. Would you please write back and I will give you my contact details so that we maybe can talk on the phone sometime. I am an L1 but that means nothing. I know a fair bit but need to know so much more.

 

I have a mechanic who helps me occasionally but there are very few qualified L2's down here in Tassie and it makes it all very hard. I would love to do a course but there are none of those available either, so I am really stuck.

 

All the help I can get, I need. I have just asked a question on the general forum about completing an hours lesson with 3 out of 4 tappet cover gaskets leaking ( tiny little bit). I intend to fix them this week but the lesson is tomorrow. Should I wait and fix them first? Please help me, thankyou so much, Debbie.

 

 

[Downunder]

Send him a PM, that way he will get an email. Otherwise your just waiting for him to log on and look.

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

Send him a PM, that way he will get an email. Otherwise your just waiting for him to log on and look.

how do I do that? Debb

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

..... I have just asked a question on the general forum about completing an hours lesson with 3 out of 4 tappet cover gaskets leaking ( tiny little bit). I intend to fix them this week but the lesson is tomorrow. Should I wait and fix them first? Please help me, thankyou so much, Debbie.

I can't advise you to do one thing or another, this being such a ridiculously litigious world these days, but I can tell you that people (myself included) who used to operate planes and helicopters in the remoter parts of the country didn't always have the luxury of getting mechanical problems fixed as soon as they came about. Consequently we would often have to fly for days or weeks with oil leaks and it all came down to assessing whether the leak was going to get bad enough to lose a critical amount of oil during the next flight.

 

The only sorts of things that would cause that to happen would be cracked crankcases or oil drain plugs with stripped threads, for examples. An oil filter with the O ring damaged could do that too.

 

Otherwise, things like tappet/rocker cover gasket leaks just had to wait until the next 100 hourly service . On some engine types you could nip up the rocker cover bolts a bit and stop the leak altogether, other types, like VW engines, have a spring clamp which can't be adjusted, so replacing the gasket is the only option, but I did have a VW beetle with rocker cover gaskets that leaked quite copiously for a year or so before I did anything about it.

 

Not to say it couldn't happen but I've never seen a rocker cover gasket leak on a car engine or a plane that became suddenly drastic, usually the leak just gets very gradually worse until you get sick of the mess and replace the gasket.

 

EDIT - to send a PM (Personal Message) just click on the name of the person you want to talk to, on one of their posts, and follow the prompts i.e. if I sent you one I would click on debra stewart and then click 'start a conversation'. The person will then get an email telling them someone has sent them a message.

 

 

[Guest debra stewart]

I can't advise you to do one thing or another, this being such a ridiculously litigious world these days, but I can tell you that people (myself included) who used to operate planes and helicopters in the remoter parts of the country didn't always have the luxury of getting mechanical problems fixed as soon as they came about. Consequently we would often have to fly for days or weeks with oil leaks and it all came down to assessing whether the leak was going to get bad enough to lose a critical amount of oil during the next flight.The only sorts of things that would cause that to happen would be cracked crankcases or oil drain plugs with stripped threads, for examples. An oil filter with the O ring damaged could do that too.

 

Otherwise, things like tappet/rocker cover gasket leaks just had to wait until the next 100 hourly service . On some engine types you could nip up the rocker cover bolts a bit and stop the leak altogether, other types, like VW engines, have a spring clamp which can't be adjusted, so replacing the gasket is the only option, but I did have a VW beetle with rocker cover gaskets that leaked quite copiously for a year or so before I did anything about it.

 

Not to say it couldn't happen but I've never seen a rocker cover gasket leak on a car engine or a plane that became suddenly drastic, usually the leak just gets very gradually worse until you get sick of the mess and replace the gasket.

 

EDIT - to send a PM (Personal Message) just click on the name of the person you want to talk to, on one of their posts, and follow the prompts i.e. if I sent you one I would click on debra stewart and then click 'start a conversation'. The person will then get an email telling them someone has sent them a message.

firstly, I would never sue anyone, I'm not from that sort of generation. Secondly I appreciate any and all help and take what I think is the best advice. I know that the plane is Ok, and I can fly, but I guess I just wanted a second opinion. I am a panel beaters daughter ( spray painter and mechanic) so I am much more wise about the ways of engines than most females, but still I like to ask, just in case.

 

I need so much help because I don't have access to level 2's often. Thankyou very much and I will probably not fly and just wait. That would be best I think. I am a worrier and if anything happened I'd never forgive myself. maybe that's why I've been incident free for so long. I hope !!! ha ha.

 

Thanks again, Debb Hope I can call on you again.