Repair Skyfox Gazelle

[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]

If anyone is interested we have pulled the wings apart on our Skyfox Gazelle as we are doing the repairs ourselves. It is an open invitation if anyone wants to come & have a look while we have it all open. We are alos putting in aluminium hangers which we already have & just waiting to get one installed for the level2 to give us the ok to go ahead to do the rest of them. John's email is in the above post if anyone wants to come & check it out please feel free to give us a call. John's mobile 0417 032 528

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

We are almost up to recovering of the plane, as this is our first time at doing this would welcome any advice on how to go about it. Have read the book on it, but experience is always a lot better. Cheers John

 

 

[deadstick]

Good luck Wigg, hope it comes up good...

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Thanks I will need all the luck we can get.

 

 

[djpacro]

... as this is our first time at doing this would welcome any advice on how to go about it

Wigg, you are not far from the gliding museum workshop - in the basement of Bridgestone Tyres on Burwood Hwy near the corner of Ferntree Gully Rd. From memory Wednesday morning is one of the times they are there. They may be happy to show you what they do except they probably wouldn't be using any of the newer finishes.(Been a few years since I've done any work with fabric and dope)

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Hi Derek

 

if you want a copy of the maintenance manual & the operator manual we have it all on one disc. There is no charge for it as it is our pleasure to pass on all the info we have, as to help other aviators. All I require is your name & address & my wife will take care of sending you a copy. No we didn't receive any funds from RAA it was mentioned but that was the last we heard of it. We have a level 2 his name is Stan he comes from Upwey about 10 mins from us , hehas been a great help. Send me a msg & we will send back the disc for you. Cheers John

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Dj Thankyou for that , it maybe a worthwhile trip about 10 mins from here thanks for that will let you know how we go. Cheers John

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Had the level 2 in today has passed everything we have done thus far. Next is the fabrication then put it all back together. Hopefully be flying by the end of November early December.

 

Cheers John

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Well the fabric is done, everything is up to painting stage, John & Rod started the painting today. Our patio has now become a spray booth. Winched the Gazelle up onto the patio have covered the sides of patio in tarps to keep the spray from travelling over the neighbours fences. My rear lounge area is now home to 2 wings & 2 outdoor tables live in the diningroom with the dining room table very cosy, looks like a storage locker at Storage King. Rod purchased a new 3 bladed prop at Natfly so all is progressing really well.

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

John is up to reassembling the gazelle. It is a slow process as bits & pieces have been moved around to make room for yet another section of the project to be fixed /repainted etc. The tail assembly was put together today only to figure out it wasn't going to work the way John had put it on. (BIG MISTAKE for me to come outside & make suggestion) maybe take the pieces out & do the nut up that hooks the wiring up for the rudder. Already taken 1.5 hours to get the thing done up in the first place another hour to undo this. The air become very blue, I went to visit my 97yo dad in hosp until the air had cleared only to find my father in the same sort of mood. I am sure somedays it pays to stay in bed. The tail has been completed. When I figure out how to put pics on here we will post some on. Sue

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Thanks Mat will do so soon at present tied up with helping my brother look after our 97yo dad who had a fall 3.5 months ago broke the tibia & is at present bed ridden through some muck up in the hosp., but will try to do it this week sometime. Cheers Sue

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Getting pretty excited the guys are going to service the engine tomorrow and that is the final thing to do to the Gazelle. Then it is just a case ofgetting the L2 to clear it & test flying it. John has to do his bi annual first though. This has been a really great experience & one I would recommend to anyone who wants to give restoring a plane a go. I think it has been just that extra bit special to John & I as it has been something we have done together & even better our friend Rod has helped us also. When I can work out how to put the pics (Well maybe not all 450 of them on here) I will get it all together & try to have a go at getting it on here. Cheers Sue

 

 

[planedriver]

Well done John and Sue, it's great to hear of you both working succesfully as a team.

 

There'd be many guys on here John, that wished they had the support that you've got.

 

As you'd no doubt realise mate, thats very special.

 

Good luck, bet you can't wait to it airborne again.

 

Kind Regards

 

Planey

 

 

[facthunter]

ready to Fly again.

 

Good work Sue & John. Happy Flying... Nev

 

 

[Admin]

...well done guys and you will be back in the air in a masterpiece real soon

[dazza 38]

As the other guys have already mentioned.Well done John and Sue.

 

 

[Neil_S]

Hi John & Sue! Good to hear the big moment is now so close.....Good luck with it, and hope to hear you are successfully airborne once more in your Gazelle very soon!

 

Cheers

 

Neil

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

Thanks everyone for your kind words & encouragement. Just a little hic-cup this afternoon the guys put some fuel in the tank to turn the engine over Oppppppps!!!!!!!!!! have discovered a leak in the LH tank. So John will now remove the first section of fabric on top of the wing & take out the fuel tank. Can anyone tell me do we have to put in a new fuel tank or can we just refibre glass this one. Sue

 

 

[Guest mickandfi]

Hi John and Sue

 

Sorry to hear about the fuel leak. As you know I've spent the last couple of weeks chasing a leak on a RV7. Got the little bugger in the end.

 

You should be able to repair it as long as fuel has not soaked into the glass and resin. you will need to remove any soaked areas and then sand the glass and resin back so the new glass and resin has something to key into.

 

I have read that a few composite aircraft builders have used a sloshing compound and ended up with a right mess. Apparently after a couple of years it can become loose and breakaway from the inside of the tank, I know of one aircraft that was lost due to the sloshing compound blocking the fuel filter. May be it was caused from the inside of the tank not being completely clean before the sloshing compound was used?.

 

Mick H

 

 

[Guest Wigg]

The crack is almost on the seam bottom RH corner looking at it face on.

 

about a 3-5cm split

 

 

[Adrian Lewer]

Hi all,

 

Just a quick note to say hi & to let you know that John & Rod were working on replacing the fuel lines in the Gazelle yesterday from the fuel tanks to the catch can. John noticed that the brass valve was leaking.

 

Rod came over & was replacing the hoses & on taking the brass valve apart found the rubber one-way valve had disintegrated. This allows the fuel to flow both ways. Maybe a good idea to check them out, Michael can you tell Neil about this also please. I will enclose some pics to show you what I am on about. Steve Bell told John on phone this morning could be caused through ethanol in fuel.

 

Regards

 

Sue & John Wiggett

 

 

 

 

 

How She Looks Now

 

 

 

[planedriver]

Hi John and Sue.

 

Your Gazelle is looking really great.

 

You'll soon be heading off in the blue yonder, but you have to realise that the "blue yonder" was created partly from Johns necessary blaspheming when things did't go go quite as planned.

 

You both are to be congratulated for your combined efforts.

 

Kind Regards

 

Planey.

 

(I met you both in Ians tent at Narromine last year during a bit of precitipation, when John nicked the last of the biscuits, which I'd had my eye on)

 

 

[Neil_S]

Hi John & Sue,

 

Thanks for the heads-up on the one-way filter - will check it out shortly. We recently had to replace a snapped throttle cable on our Gazelle, and now need to replace the exhaust - always something to do!

 

Your Gazelle is looking really good - hope everything else is still going well and that first flight is really close!!

 

Cheers

 

Neil

 

 

[Guest mickandfi]

Hi John, Sue

 

I had A look at mine tonight. Looks in good shape so if you need it to get going drop us a line. Looking at the pictures of yours it would appear it may only be the sealing washer that is damaged and not the valve it self.

 

The plane is looking fantastic. How did the tank repair go?

 

Cheers

 

Michael H