Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/339662
16 Vol.3 No.7 / July 2014 CHAMPION FOR A DAY "When I opened the hangar door, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Mike Haynes had already been there. He had straightened out the right gear leg that was totally trashed, so the fuselage was standing on its gear and looked like an airplane, not a pile of junk. The airplane was showing signs of life. That sight surprised me so much that it literally gave me the strength to go on with the rebuild. I can't begin to thank Mike enough for that. He'll never know how much that meant then and what it means to me now. He's what sport aviation is all about!" S TA R T ING T HE REBUIL D The fi rst move was to strip all the fabric of and spread the parts out to fi gure out what had to be done. It wasn't as bad as Ed had feared, but it was still going to be a complete rebuild. "I started with the fuselage, which hadn't been badly bent except where the step had been attached," he said. "The longeron in that area needed to be replaced. However, all of the string- ers were destroyed and their standof s were bent and twisted. Almost all of those had to be rewelded. "The sheet metal, with the exception of the cockpit comb- ing, was pretty beat up. I replaced much of it, but the bottom cowling only needed a strip of metal removed and replaced." The wings took a real beating during the cartwheeling and required considerably more TLC. "The tips were totaled six ribs in, so they had to be reconstructed," Ed said. "The aile- rons had to be rebuilt as well, and one of the rear spars was badly cracked. None of this was too bad. The nice thing about a homebuilt airplane is that if you can build it once, you can build it twice." After going through every square inch of the airframe with a fi ne-tooth comb, repairing as he went, it was time to put new clothes on the little airplane. Ed chose Ceconite with butyrate and Randolph enamel. And like the fi rst time around, the colors used were Insignia White and Lemon Yellow. The entire rebuilding process took 14 months, the shortness of which was undoubtedly due to Ed's newly retired status, although he still fl ies for the Army as a contract CFI. Ed is quick to add, "I couldn't have done it without my wife of 38 years, Arlene. Although she has never been crazy about airplanes, her attitude is 'If you're in the hangar, you're not out getting in trouble.'" Now that Ed's Acey Deucy is back in the air, it's once again in the winner's circle. Although he'd rather not repeat what he had to go through to qualify for the two Sun 'n Fun 2013 awards, he's grateful for them, anyway. He was awarded Out- standing Homebuilt Tornado Restoration and a 2013 Persever- ance Award. Somehow, we're certain his dad would approve. Budd Davisson is an aeronautical engineer, has fl own more than 300 different aircraft types, and published four books and more than 4,000 ar- ticles. He is editor-in-chief of Flight Journal magazine and a fl ight instructor primarily in Pitts/tailwheel aircraft. Visit him at www.Airbum.com. Photography by Jim Koepnick It was two years from when the tornado damaged the Acey Deucy to Sun 'n Fun 2013 where Ed's airplane was awarded its second trophy—the Outstanding Homebuilt award. He thanks his friends for helping him gain the motivation to rebuild his father's dream. E A A E X P _ J u l y 1 4 . i n d d 1 6 EAAEXP_July14.indd 16 7 / 1 / 1 4 9 : 5 4 A M 7/1/14 9:54 AM