N34KP's rebuild

[Richard Roller]

Okay everyone. N34KP is going to be rebuilt. I'll be posting interesting things as they happen. It would probably make more sense to build a new one, but I couldn't stand the thought of Ken Perkins Pietenpol not flying.

The fuselage will be pretty much new from the pilots instrument panel forward. The wing needs a new rear spar. The front spar and leading edge are damaged in the center section, so the wing will become a three piece wing. Lots of bent and broken things.

[taildrags]

Well Richard, you probably don't need any help or tips on how to stage the rebuild, but when I had to rebuild 41CC, my logic was to put the wings away for the time being, remove the engine and mount and stow them out of the way for the time being, and focus on getting a rolling fuselage back together again first. This would allow moving it around and out of the way more easily as well as providing fixed points where the rest of the parts would attach to and that I could take definite measurements for. It also provided a much-needed boost in my attitude when I could finally roll the fuselage out of the hangar again to stand back and imagine it back together. In spare moments I could work on instruments, interiors, control cables, and miscellaneous stuff on the rolling fuselage without disturbing anything else or needing another work area.

It's good to hear that you passed through the "dead zone" when the feelings of loss and despair usually run pretty high and you think about taking up golf instead of airplanes. The spirit of Ken Perkins obviously runs high in your hangar!

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

[Richard Roller]

Yes. getting a rolling fuselage makes lots of sense. I plan on hoisting the wing up to the hanger rafters, get a table built and leveled and get started cutting wood.

[Richard Roller]

I built some stands to support the wing on. It's high enough to walk under, but I can get to it for measurements. I put the wing on the stands today. Doing it all by myself turned out to a bit of a hassle!

[taildrags]

Okay! Great progress since taking the wing out of the picture gets about half the workspace freed up but as you said, still leaves the wing where you can measure and examine.

-Oscar

[Richard Roller]

I've had a pair of work tables from a local Piet owner donated to me to set the fuselage on.

[taildrags]

Richard; perfect! Getting the fuselage up onto a bench or table at waist height will provide just about the best working condition until you need to start fitting the landing gear and the plane needs to be just a bit higher (top longerons at about chest height). My Piet was on a table and sawhorse for about a year as I reworked this and that, while my welder worked on fabricating or repairing metal parts. When it got to the landing gear, the fuselage had to be elevated to get the geometry correct. and with it up a little higher, I then moved to the fuel tank and firewall to work on stuff up there.

The reward? The plane will fly again

-Oscar

[Richard Roller]

I know there's been no updates to the repair. Life gets in the way. First horrible weather at the airport. Then a trip to Oklahoma for my mom's 95th birthday (she still lives in her home!). Now I've been stuck in Madison Wisconsin since the 3rd of November. My wife, Lisa, and I came for a concert and she went into the hospital the night we arrived. She's been there ever since. No, we didn't get to see the concert.

[taildrags]

Sorry to hear about your wife, Richard. Hate when that happens... hope she gets better and can go home.

This is our first November 15th without my mother-in-law. It was her birthday today and she would have been 94. She, too, lived independently in the same house she had lived in since about 1950. She was a real sweetie.

-Oscar