Piper Tripacer to Pacer refurb

lot of work for not a lot of weight loss in those ribs Chris, is there a lot to come out of the fuzz and tail?

that will be a big weight loss program then.

be an interesting thread to follow.
i should be able to pick up some good tips then.

Alan i know but i have to try,

any way heres a couple of pics purely for interest

i have picked the full size aircraft i am doing the scheme of

here,s a picture of it in its 1980,s guise






and here is one of it now







how neat is that

i also have a load of detail photo,s i took at Stow Maries last year when it flew in for the vintage aircraft weekend i spoke to owner to will be neat to get the two together

chris

So as Blue Peter says, here,s on i did earlier

hmmm dont see any sticky back tape and plastic washing up bottles so you dont get the blue peter badge Mr P!

Must admit prefer as a taildragger. Seen a nice colour scheme on a tripacer on google- cream with a burgundy trim

yes i got that picture too!

the reason for the colour picked is its history, it was a tripacer, and i know the owner slightly and it fliy,s into Stow Maries where i spend a lot of time over the year

chris

lovely scheme, it does look nice as a taildragger, carry on losing weight, then start on the model

alan cantwell wrote: .....carry on losing weight, then start on the model

havin a haircut tommorrow should save a few oz,s

chris

Hi all

been and had a play with camera and will try to show the major components in its change of identity fro Tri to Pacer

first of all what has been removed.




this shows the main and nose wheel assy,s the main is made from 1/4 inch thick alluminium plate!!!! and is very heavy and has no springing other than flex in the material. obviously would have been two main wheels but binned em and can only locate one for pics.





this one is all the accompanying fittings for the nose leg to this add a servo and plywood mounts and all the box for the nose to mount on that was made from 1/4 ply.

this last shot shows where all this ply mount and nose leg used to be, now all open, fresh air is much lighter





chris

so onto the new u/c

first a shot of the complete fitted leg





next close ups of bits and pieces, this is the wheel attachment point and the joint allowing the suspension to work,



here is the other end where it fits to fus




wider angle shots of same








chris

now i can get to some components

first off the axle, turned out of a 10mm high tensile bolt,







this one shows it fitted to u/c leg, it slides in from the inside and locks into place with the thin nut,




wheel on





chris

here is the suspension rod that connects the axle to the suspension assy inside fus





its made from medium carbon 6mm steel bar,


axle joint





here is the suspension assy inside fus





the suspension is made from two short lengths of springs for each leg one soft one hard to allow for some progressive springing. the terrible finish is cheap paint blasted on to stop it rusting!!

chris

and now some close ups of various bits

first the mounting points on fus bottom, the exterior brackets bolt through the fus to a strap that goes accross fus to take the landing loads.








fus attachment/pivot point





and one of the tail wheel, cheated here its a commercial one





chris

wow is all i can say.

a few random ones now

this one shows the fus underside just to illustrate whats changed, all the underside was previously sheeted in 1/2 inch balsa now its all open frame work filled in on areas where fingers will handle it with blue foam the all the rest will be covered in lithoplate panels as the one accross at u/c mount point, the balsa at front is the last rmenant and will dissapere as the refurb continues




this one is a view of the underside of motor with standard exhaust boxes, these are fine noise wise but do not let the motor produce its best, so these will be changed for the can in the next picture, hence the large space still where the noseleg mounts were












chris