I've posted a few times about NC55100 and the terrible shape that it was flying around in. A couple of folks have asked about the kinds of things that I found that were bad. It would be good for cub buyers new to the activity to know just what they might find under the covering, so here goes:
1220 lb gross registered 1946 J3C with a 37 hour millenium rebuilt C65.
Fuselage was made up of various pieces of cubs from the era of lower gross weights. None of which were legal for the 1220 certification data.
Nothing was square, plumb, or proper dimension because the fuselage had been pieced together not using a jig. Counted 12 bad and or cracked welds on structural tubing. Significant rust on about 25% of the structure. Several bent and crushed tubes that had been cold straightened. Upper door hanging from broken hinges, but had been flown that way many hours. Incorrect control cables by FAA standards had single crimps on cable ends rather than double crimps. Missing the rudder pedal return springs. Major rust on the "two tab" horizontal stabilizer brace lower mount on the fuselage. (The new fuse uses a single continuous strap across the bottom of the fuse for that lower brace.) Forward horizontal stab cross bar through the trim yoke was frozen so it would not turn in the yoke. The jack screw and the yoke were extremely sloppy. The holes on the yoke that hold the cross bar assembly were very oversized and oval shaped. Very sloppy repair of gear attach points on the fuselage. They were the wrong size for the certified gross weight and had strange finger patches here and there. Strange hand made brackets held in place by cable clamps substituting for welded in bracketry for the front rudder pedals. Landing gear severely rusted to the point of imminent failure on landing. Brakes were bad. shock struts were rusted out and full of water when I took them apart. No leather end stops in the struts. Bungees very bad condition. Many bad cracks in the boot cowl disguised with bondo and heavy paint. Many different coats of paint of different chemistry. Final coats were automotive urethane. Cracks with slightest bump. Interior cover very bad, no protective tunnel for the throttle. No aluminum formers for the upper cover aft of the forward spar attach points. Rear spar attach points on fuselage rusted, cracked and worn oversize and oval shaped. Floor boards rotted underneath. U bracket for tail wheel cracked and missing one of the two screws. Lots of bronze brazing done on various smaller control pieces to "fix cracks". Painted over cracks couldn't be seen until I sandblasted every blasted part. Engine cowlings cracked with multiple rivited patches that were also cracked. Windows cracked in corners and hazed. Boot cowl backing frames were missing on one side, and cracked on other side. 4 Screws left intact holding boot cowl sides. Rear sling seat held up by two tube clamps. Sling bottom was sitting on the control tube that runs underneath. The seat bottom was worn from the control tube rubbing.
I could go on, but the tailwheel is pretty good, the instruments were pristeen as was the panel. The tail feathers are serviceable and the ailerons and possibly the wings. Time will tell there. It has the piper sealed struts with the smaller forks, so that is okay. The tires and tubes are like new, the prop is new, the engine new. Most of the bits and pieces of the controls were in good shape under the paint and after sandblasting except for a few issues with bronze brazeing of some cracked areas.
Now the bottom line is that this airplane looked good on the original pictures sent to the privious owner by that previous owner. And, it didn't look all that bad when I got it after the prior owners mechanic failed everything on the airplane. But, once the cover started coming off, it was pretty clear that the cub was a bad accident waiting to happen. I have develped a real respect for the original designers of the J3. This thing has flown for decades with poor maintenance and repair, and no one has died. Pretty amazing. There must be a lot of margin in the design.
Also, I love my "new" cub as it is coming together. I've been able to use enough of the old parts to retain its identity as an old cub, but It'll be pretty much zero time when I'm done. Not by choice, but by necessity. In any case, it will be a legal bird for the first time in decades.
Any body beat that story for anything other than a non-flying basket case???
1220 lb gross registered 1946 J3C with a 37 hour millenium rebuilt C65.
Fuselage was made up of various pieces of cubs from the era of lower gross weights. None of which were legal for the 1220 certification data.
Nothing was square, plumb, or proper dimension because the fuselage had been pieced together not using a jig. Counted 12 bad and or cracked welds on structural tubing. Significant rust on about 25% of the structure. Several bent and crushed tubes that had been cold straightened. Upper door hanging from broken hinges, but had been flown that way many hours. Incorrect control cables by FAA standards had single crimps on cable ends rather than double crimps. Missing the rudder pedal return springs. Major rust on the "two tab" horizontal stabilizer brace lower mount on the fuselage. (The new fuse uses a single continuous strap across the bottom of the fuse for that lower brace.) Forward horizontal stab cross bar through the trim yoke was frozen so it would not turn in the yoke. The jack screw and the yoke were extremely sloppy. The holes on the yoke that hold the cross bar assembly were very oversized and oval shaped. Very sloppy repair of gear attach points on the fuselage. They were the wrong size for the certified gross weight and had strange finger patches here and there. Strange hand made brackets held in place by cable clamps substituting for welded in bracketry for the front rudder pedals. Landing gear severely rusted to the point of imminent failure on landing. Brakes were bad. shock struts were rusted out and full of water when I took them apart. No leather end stops in the struts. Bungees very bad condition. Many bad cracks in the boot cowl disguised with bondo and heavy paint. Many different coats of paint of different chemistry. Final coats were automotive urethane. Cracks with slightest bump. Interior cover very bad, no protective tunnel for the throttle. No aluminum formers for the upper cover aft of the forward spar attach points. Rear spar attach points on fuselage rusted, cracked and worn oversize and oval shaped. Floor boards rotted underneath. U bracket for tail wheel cracked and missing one of the two screws. Lots of bronze brazing done on various smaller control pieces to "fix cracks". Painted over cracks couldn't be seen until I sandblasted every blasted part. Engine cowlings cracked with multiple rivited patches that were also cracked. Windows cracked in corners and hazed. Boot cowl backing frames were missing on one side, and cracked on other side. 4 Screws left intact holding boot cowl sides. Rear sling seat held up by two tube clamps. Sling bottom was sitting on the control tube that runs underneath. The seat bottom was worn from the control tube rubbing.
I could go on, but the tailwheel is pretty good, the instruments were pristeen as was the panel. The tail feathers are serviceable and the ailerons and possibly the wings. Time will tell there. It has the piper sealed struts with the smaller forks, so that is okay. The tires and tubes are like new, the prop is new, the engine new. Most of the bits and pieces of the controls were in good shape under the paint and after sandblasting except for a few issues with bronze brazeing of some cracked areas.
Now the bottom line is that this airplane looked good on the original pictures sent to the privious owner by that previous owner. And, it didn't look all that bad when I got it after the prior owners mechanic failed everything on the airplane. But, once the cover started coming off, it was pretty clear that the cub was a bad accident waiting to happen. I have develped a real respect for the original designers of the J3. This thing has flown for decades with poor maintenance and repair, and no one has died. Pretty amazing. There must be a lot of margin in the design.
Also, I love my "new" cub as it is coming together. I've been able to use enough of the old parts to retain its identity as an old cub, but It'll be pretty much zero time when I'm done. Not by choice, but by necessity. In any case, it will be a legal bird for the first time in decades.
Any body beat that story for anything other than a non-flying basket case???
