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The
helicopter was flying, then the previous owner suffered a roll over after
landing. This is how I received the project. |
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I got
this trailer in the deal. It had been modified with that snout on the
front so that it would fit with the blades on. It makes for a nice hanger.
I built an extra shed roof extension on the pool barn to keep it out of
the sun and rain. It's Fla. so I added an AC unit. |
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Some of
the damaged parts. The left horizontal stabilizer and the bottom of the
vertical stabilizer were bent and repaired. The lower engine mount was
bent and several body panels needed reconstruction/ repairs |
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More
reconstructing the damaged and missing pieces of fiberglass body panels.
Luckily I was able to figure out the repairs, because both sides were
broken in different places, and I was able to match the missing pieces to
the other side (backwards). |
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I made
a fixture and constructed a new tail boom from new materials. 2 of the 4
bulkheads are new. the skin was cut, rolled, unrolled, trimmed and
re-rolled a couple of times. The final roll needs to get the strings in
the center lined up. It came out pretty good. Then hundreds of rivets. |
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The
trail boom was aligned to the frame using 3 plumb bobs and a straight line
on the floor. The angle to the frame was set with a with angle levels. the
holes were drilled and the boom secured to the frame. Attachments for the
stabilizers were constructed and installed. |
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The
throttle linkage did not have the required stops. the 2 stops were
fabricated, welded and painted. These stops keep the travel from going too
far and in the wrong direction. |
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The
main shaft was bent and needed to be replaced, so the whole assembly was
removed, and the shaft was replaced with a new one. New upper and lower
bearings were used to reinstall the shaft/ assembly. The photo on the
right shows the old shaft on a granite counter top. You can see light
under the middle of the shaft. The space was about 1/8th". |
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Some of
the aligning and adjusting of the main drive system. The frame is leveled
to to get the square tubes level, and then whole drive system is leveled
the square tubes. The metal straight edge is used to get the front and
rear pulleys lined up. |
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A whole
trail rotor drive system was rebuilt with new parts. The old system was an
after market drive, and new blades are no longer available. |
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Various
other parts were found unacceptable and were changed. New fitting and
hoses were also installed. |
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The instrument
panel was repainted, and the instruments were reinstalled in a more
logical arraignment. A new overhead switch panel was fabricated and
installed along with new warning lights. The wiring harness was modified
for the new placement. |
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The
rear side windows were fabricated from a flat sheet of Plexiglas, heated
and bent to shape. A used windscreen was purchased and installed. There is
a crack under that decal in the front. |
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Here
are some photos I sent in to the FAA. The aircraft was deregistered as
destroyed and I needed to document that it was not destroyed. |
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