PIK20 (another one)
Posted: 04 Jan 2021, 09:47
My (somewhat tatty) PT PIK20 suffered a jammed spoiler over the summer, so I have been refurbing the wing. The original covering appears to be 40 year old gloss house paint, direct to the wood skin... It was yellowed and lacking in shine anyway, then I had to go hunting for the Bowden to see where the jam was.
Turns out it was a break in the spoiler mechanism, not the Bowden, but surgery was required either way. Here's a few pics of the process.
Playing "hunt the Bowden" - It isn't under the wing
Ah, here it is, on the top of the wing...
Spoiler removed and disassembled, ready to rebuild. I suspected the Bowden had detached or broken, but it was actually he clevis (old and plastic).
A new metal one was soldered to the cable and the spoiler removed for a refit - its nice and tight (as in free of play, rather than full of friction!), ready for another 20 years of action.
Lower damage caused playing "hunt the Bowden" refilled with foam, ready to be reskinned.
Original covering has the appearance of old gloss paint!
100g of covering removed.
Replacing the glass reinforcement at the root - well wetted glass
..and "dried" via the "Kitchen paper" method...
Top surface glassed
The spoilers have since been freed from their glassing and retract to a nice smooth surface.
Next steps will be to lightly smooth and then spray fill, knock back / 2 pack top coat / seal etc.
Then I guess I should do the other wing!
Turns out it was a break in the spoiler mechanism, not the Bowden, but surgery was required either way. Here's a few pics of the process.
Playing "hunt the Bowden" - It isn't under the wing
Ah, here it is, on the top of the wing...
Spoiler removed and disassembled, ready to rebuild. I suspected the Bowden had detached or broken, but it was actually he clevis (old and plastic).
A new metal one was soldered to the cable and the spoiler removed for a refit - its nice and tight (as in free of play, rather than full of friction!), ready for another 20 years of action.
Lower damage caused playing "hunt the Bowden" refilled with foam, ready to be reskinned.
Original covering has the appearance of old gloss paint!
100g of covering removed.
Replacing the glass reinforcement at the root - well wetted glass
..and "dried" via the "Kitchen paper" method...
Top surface glassed
The spoilers have since been freed from their glassing and retract to a nice smooth surface.
Next steps will be to lightly smooth and then spray fill, knock back / 2 pack top coat / seal etc.
Then I guess I should do the other wing!