Who doesn’t want a big glider?!?!
I recently picked up a Phoenix Model Ka-8b SLS glider that needed some repairs. I’ll be posting more pictures as I make progress, but my goal is to have it finished by the summer of ’24.
Click on the pictures below to make them bigger and see the whole photo.
It’s a big airplane with lots of holes.
I got a lot of flack from some of my friends since I wanted to strip the entire airframe, especially since my original plan was to recover it in the same color scheme. Not only did I want to see what shape the structure was in, but I also didn’t want an airplane that had a ton of patches all over it. I’m glad I did, because there were a few surprises along the way.
After I brought it inside, I couldn’t help but set all the pieces together in my basement to see how big of an airplane this is. At a little over 21′, the wingspan looks pretty wide when it’s inside the house.
There were some obvious things wrong with it, but nothing that’s too scary to tackle… a few holes in the covering and some balsa, but no structural damage. Oh, and no wing tubes or fuselage tubes. I’ll tackle that when I have to.
These control horns are new to me. I’ve never had an airplane that used this style. I kind of like them!
I started to see all of the problems once the covering started coming off. Not only did I find some joints that need to be re-glued, but I even found an old mouse nest!
Everything, except the canopy, is stripped and ready for repair and covering!
My first repair is simple. It looks like someone picked up the rudder with a little too much force and broke part of the balsa. When I pulled the covering, the broken pieces came right out. I ended up adding a 1/16″ balsa backer to the break so the pieces would have some extra support when they were glued back in. I had a piece of balsa that was split, so it was the perfect piece to cut down. After the glue dried, a couple of swipes with the sanding bar cleaned it all up and it looked good as new.
I decided to work on the rudder/vertical stab first since it didn’t have much work that needed to be done. I had originally planned on covering it in the same scheme that it was originally, but once I got to the time to start I changed my mind. I still don’t have a plan for how it will turn out, but I really like the carbon fiber look covering, so I’m going to use it on the rudder, and who knows where else on the plane. Time will tell!
I used a piece of paper to mark where the slots for new hinges needed to go. This originally had CA hinges, so I figured I’d replace it with the same. The bottom of the vertical stab wasn’t covered originally, but I think it looks a lot better for only a few extra minutes of work. I always have difficulty covering around tight curves, but I found it easier to use a lot of extra covering so there’s something to pull on to get the wrinkles out. After both pieces were covered, I used a permanent marker to mark where I needed to cut the slots for the hinges. After I cut the slots with the slot machine, I cut my own hinges out of the hinge material. I used rubbing alcohol on a paper towel to get rid of all of the permanent marker ink before I glued the hinges in. Then I sealed the gaps and finally had a finished vertical tail!
