Thursday, December 16, 2010

Wooden propeller repair #110

Repair wooden propeller, Tennessee 64" X 34".

The S4 was taxied into a plastic sheep netting stake, the propeller blade leading edge on one side only suffered a single severe dent impact which also radially cracked the trailing edge twice for several inches along its outer length.

A new propeller was not available in the U.K  so a DIY repair scheme was researched. One advantage of wood is relative ease of making a satisfactory & safe repair at home.

The crushed leading edge impact was cut away down to undamaged wood (about the size of a finger nail).
The trailing edge cracks inner ends were stop drilled right through. A sharp penknife was used to make a clean Vee cut on both front & rear faces side to undamaged wood.
All surfaces were check inspected in strong light with an eye glass.
Then they were all filled completely in one go with a mix (for strength) of classic i.e. slow Araldite and domestic baking powder & sticky taped over to hold the correct profile without excess & to nicely flatten the surface.

A left over sample was placed on scrap wood for later testing that it had gone off & adhered correctly.

It was left to set overnight and now carefully reshaped by knife, file and wet & dry papering.  Static rebalancing followed the recommended Rans manual method, a 1" round bar through the prop hub is rested on the open jaws of a bench vise.  Checked both ways it is surprisingly sensitive. Better could be to roll the bar on a pair of horizontal sharp edges.
Lastly it was protective painted over both ends equally to match and cover the repair. Final rebalancing only needed an easily detected lick of paint.

It's been repaired & in service 1 & 1/2 a year now without any signs of distress.

Under-carriage Return Buffers. #107

by Peter Grennrod U.K.

I pulled the under-carriage bungee off inspect the telescopic arm and decided to fit some return buffers.


This arrangement makes a nice soft landing for the 2 tubes coming back together. I'm not sure it is standard but well worth fitting I think.
Between the rubber is a alum. spacer about half the width of the rubber thickness which would stop the rubber squishing out under hard tube retraction and stops the rubber wearing away/rolling on the tube.

More fuel Tankage #102

Let's Fly Longer with our S5, Wilfrid Rouff (France).

We were complaining not to have enough fuel autonomy in our S5 and
made an extension to our wing tank starting with the original. The pictures show how.


We had to undo one wing to slide it in.  The circular hole on top is there to allow us to apply the final internal coating. A deflector was added inside to avoid too sudden a flow of fuel from one side to the other. The bigger tank holds about 40-44 litres. With the back seat tank we will have around 60 litres i.e. approx. 40 Lb or18 kg extra instead of normal 30/36 litres. 

N.B. Our pilot is a small guy so when full we can avoid exceeding max. allowed take-off weight.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Oil Level, Rotax 'B' gearbox #104

Oil Level, Rotax 'B' Type 447 Propeller Reduction GearBox.

Always fill to the lower of the two screw plugs on the side. Seen here wire-locked on the right hand side.

The gearbox is inverted on other set ups so the screw we see on top becomes their bottom one.
The oil needs replacing every 100 hrs or two years. Use the latest special type oil given in the most recent/current Rotax web manual.

Starter Cord Pulley secure ? #90

The S4/5 starter cord is turned 90 degrees by a pulley pop rivetted into the firewall. Starting loads thus generate a 45 deg. inwards to the pilot & upwards pulling hard against the firewall steel sheet.

After long use the rivets can get loose & should be replaced before the pulley block breaks out. Firewall fatigue & cracks can also occur here around the pulley's cut out.


Have close look at least every Annual inspection & deal with any latent problem before it lets you down.

Westach EGT gauge #98

The Westach EGT gauge, essential for a two stroke, stopped reading.

Waggled the wires - it remained dead. Popped the windscreen screen out 1/2 way to get easy access to the back of the panel & checked the instrument with a resistance meter to show continuity.
The in line connectors and the rear of the panel were exposed unplugged and reconnected but no change. Lighting a flame under the thermo-couple probe which I'd pulled out of the exhaust pipe position gave no reading. Likewise checking the resistance of the probe from its leads shows open circuit.

 Conrad Beale confirmed it self powers the gauge & should read about 1 ohm, so ordered a new one. Easily refitted & reads nicely again.

Elevator internal brace loose #97

Whilst washing my a/c the starboard elevator 'clanged' !

I found the bracing strut loose inside it.  Consulting the Rans build book, it is only pushed into position after the fabric is on & remains wedged in position over a couple of studs.  Thus no need to remove much, but it made reassembly much easier with the elevator completely taken off the a/c.


Checking the strut was straight, not bent, and the end cut away was O.K.
I managed. A long stick aided by a bit of masking tape poked through a regular gap in the fabric got it onto the rear stud & lined up. Then with a quick blow from a handy steel rod got it popped back in position.
Then fitted the elevator back on & duplicate inspected.

Plug caps bungee restraint #97

Plug leads/caps bungee restraint, Rotax 447 by Gary Taylor BMAA.

Note. This is a standard U.K. LAA Rans S4 build requirement for the inverted Rotax 447.


I flew my CFM Shadow with inverted Rotax 447 single spark Bosch points ignition engine to Buckinghamshire returning journey later in the afternoon. I did a pre-flight check as normal, including a check of both spark plugs security – particularly important with only one per cylinder.
One hour into journey home the engine ran rough and low on power. CHT and EGT temps were considerably lower than normal. There was nowhere especially inviting close by to make a forced landing & engine was delivering just sufficient power to keep me airborne a bit further, to make a good landing on Newmarket racecourse.

The cause of my problem ?
The rear cylinder plug lead cap had popped off the plug because the cap's brass ferrule had vibrated loose. This cap had been replaced 100 hours (13 months) ago, as had the leads. The plugs changed at 25 hours with standard solid top items.
I was fortunate to get away with this and an experienced Rotax trained engineer told me that it was once standard practice to retain plug caps with a ‘strap’ of bungee material, particularly on single spark machines. Had this been in place on my aircraft, I feel it is highly likely that the only consequence would have been a reduction in rpm.











Add a retaining bungee and check your plug caps and replace regularly.

Air Filter Weakness #96






The 447 Air filter element went U/S.
It's now got a nice new Rotax one.

Hand Propping #94

Hand Propping
Get someone experienced to show you how and establish a rigid routine for your own well being. This should be a two man operation.
On a tail wheel a/c, the tip of the prop, although far away from your head at 12 o/clock comes a darned sight closer to one knees at 6 o/clock.
 Don't touch the prop for a second pull before it's come to a complete halt each time.
Do it single handed, keep your spare arm tight behind your back, ensure your whole body motion when 'swinging' moves you away from the spinning disc.

Always walk in an exaggerated outward route right to the very tip of the wing before moving back & round to the cockpit.
To be as sure as possible your reflexes will not mislead your body one day.

Never try big throttle openings without a safety pilot on the controls.
Don't ever teach yourself to take a short cut & lean past the wing, even if the engine's not fired up.  

The surface where you stand must not be slippery. Tie P1's stick back with the seat belt, use chocks & precise procedure with no distractions.

Removing Rans S4 wings, by Don Lees #89 91

Removing Rans S4 wings, by Don Lees

They're not really a foldable a/c. The wing has horizontal bolts at the root (unlike the Rans S6). The struts must be unbolted & removed too, also uncouple the ailerons, and undo the wing skins central straps.

It is a two man job best with a cradle trailer built to allow the struts to more or less stay in place so you do not need to strip the wing down completely. This helped enormously for each rig/de-rig and consequently the time required.

We put the wings in place, leaving their tips on the ground while inserting the two main root wing bolts front and aft. One man on the wing tip lifted it up to the right position to insert the bolts into the struts. We even perfected a way of doing the rig one handed with the use of a few rigging aids, such as trestles. One of us would lean on the tail planes while the other connected its cables. Originally we used a checklist we had created, but built up a routine where each of us would double check on the other's rigging after assembly. The discipline of the ‘Daily Inspection’ ensured all was well before starting the engine.
Ours was stored in its trailer to after each flight & took about 20 to 30 mins from memory, but we are used to similarly rigging and de-rigging gliders.

 

Piloting & practical handling #86

More S4 Piloting & practical handling, by Rob Slotten USA.

I have a lot of time in Cessna's 150/152's & found the S-4 to be an easy transition. It is well behaved & the flight characteristics are similar if you take into account how much lighter the plane is.

The S-4 has very positive rudder control as soon as you give it power & if you want to the tail comes up off the ground almost immediately you start to roll. I feel I have full control of it & mild application of left rudder is all you should expect. I fly from a grass strip and many times I will back taxi in calm conditions by giving it just enough power to bring the tail up and run down the runway on the mains.

It has a steep glide when you pull the power back, sink starts to increase rapidly much below 45 MPH indicated, which is thus my speed on approach to the flare. As a tail dragger I fly it all the way to the ground. The S-4/5 are light and a cross wind gust can lift a wing quite easily, so mind your control positions while during taxi.

Full flaps landing, or less ? Yes to all.
Full gives a very short roll out, but also a bit of float in ground effect. When it is windy and gusty, that float keeps you busy until the wheels are solid on the ground. If it's windy, use no flaps or partial flaps only and keep the speed up.

Power off stall in the S-4 is more of a mush with a high sink rate unless you bring the nose up quickly. Power on stall gives clean break with good rudder control. The ailerons will lose effectiveness before the rudder.
Slotten USA

Inner tubes need inspections too #86 87

Inner tubes need inspections too.


Four years from new, and hardly ever needing top up air one main u/c tyre looked a fraction soft, so it was pumped up to the usual 18 psi & thought no more of it.  Two weeks later & it was discovered almost flat, luckily the Rans was safe inside in the hangar.
Decided it must be a sharp hedge thorn, but couldn't find evidence from the tyre's outside. To do a proper job the wheel was removed & the plastic rims parted to feel round inside the tyre. Nothing doing and tube looked whole ?

That's till it was re-inflated, when a line of perishing or cracking was discovered. It was right along the line where the wheel halves join yet not a faulty manufacturing seam. CFM Shadows with original Nylon rims apparently had similar issues of flexing & chafing the tubes, resolved by their using Ali rim halves. As inserting tape or a band underneath isn't feasible, expect your tubes to suffer similar deterioration. If you don't want to be caught out & damage your a/c on landing, put this on your inspection list.

 

Ginge is familiar with this too, on the wheels of a Thruster TST.
The solution that I came up with was to cut a strip from the bottom of the old inner tube and remove the old valve leaving a hole. This is easy to put in place with the valve stem of the new tube protruding though the hole left by the old one. It's worked well for me for a good number of years and saves that nasty sinking feeling when opening the hangar on a nice summer's evening

Cracking ASI & Fuel Pipes #84 105

Cracking ASI & Fuel Hose Pipes.


The U.K. BMAA wrote to members alerting them to rapid & premature engine side petrol pipe cracks, requiring monthly inspection or replacement. The make is Trelleborg, it may well be to spec., fire proof & all that, but looks a bit scary on the sharper bends. The pic example, marked "Hydro'K' 6WP 16bar" was found.

Stainless and Ali pop rivets checks #84.

Inspect closely to see if, after years of use, original Ali & even Stainless pop-rivets are becoming slack or quite loose. 
E.g. At the flat sheet wrapped round the 'tailcone'.

Also those diagonal fuselage cross bracings inside near the control column base.
The firewall rivets joints can weaken by the bottom corners too - on U.K. builds it comprises thin Stainless Steel over an Ali sheet & they are lightly pop-rivetted on. The Rans build book shows how & specifies the correct components.
Otherwise considering its very light construction this microlight has withstood the years exceedingly well.
An engineer's tip for drilling out rivets...."Just drill the head slightly, then knock it with punch, this should shear the head off, reducing the chance of making the hole larger."
For the S4 tail 3/16 SS pop rivets came overnight from Rans U.K. Agent 'SkyCraft', two slack ones were drilled carefully to remove, as advised and the new ones set.









The firewall itself can suffer small cracks too. A doubler plate can be rivetted on. See two pictures of left side stainless crack before and right hand side  - during a repair. [Two rivets not yet set].







Bing Carb Needle/O Ring #74

Bing Carb Needle/O Ring
My Rotax 447 was starting really badly. An inspector could only find a worn needle and advised me to buy a new needle, circlip and O-ring, after which it started first or second pull every time.....wonderful. Take off was uneventful and a full power climb to altitude 2000 feet ensued. As it was such a nice evening I decided to climb further this time a cruise climb and that's when the problem started. Vibration and then some, thinking 'carb icing' I gave it full power to clear its throat and away it went smoothly to 3000 feet; back to 4500 revs and more vibration. The mighty Rotax was smooth at full power, but rough at anything else so returned to base. Next  day it again stuttered and baulked at 5000 rpm every time. I went home a sorry and beaten man, searched the net and found that new needles with clip and o-ring should only be fitted with a new spring cap with a recess built in for the o-ring !
I took out the o-ring and it was back to its purring self. Conair sell the o-ring only with the spring cap.


P.S.
When re-assembling the slide make sure it is not installed on top of the white plastic piece. It should be under the plastic piece.

U.K. LAA(PFA) Type Data extract

by F.R.Donaldson, LAA Chief Engineer, for RANS S4 / S5, B & C Wing.(mike's extracts Dec.2010)
UK Agent in Lincs contact sales@sky-craft.co.uk

Rans tailwheel S4 and nosewheel S5 high wing single seat microlights powered in the UK by a Rotax 447 were kit built in the UK in the late 1980s/early 1990s of bolted and riveted aluminium tube & covered by Dacron envelopes. Optional is an additional overhead fuel tank. Maximum Weight Authorised. Empty 398 Lb, Total 587 Lb.  CG Range B wing 58.5" to 62" aft of rear face of prop. Maximum permitted I.A.S. 80 mph, flaps extended 50 mph. and only non-aerobatic operation. Wing Span 29.5 ft. Wing Area 127 sq. ft. A set of pilot's notes are in the build manual. Noise Certification must be issued by the CAA.
They all have Rans ‘B wing’ except one UK 'C' Wing variant G-MYWV. It has 5" greater chord at 54" & 10" larger span ailerons of equal length to the flaps. The leading edge tube is attached at the same position on the fuselage, but the rear spar is moved aft 5" for the C wing. Changes to the kits since 1993: doors, fuel tanks, wing tip ribs, wing tensioning rib, tailcone side channels, lengthened engine mount and cowling.

Mandatory LAA Directives MPD: 2003-016 Revised seat attachments following a fatal accident in which seat collapsed onto elevator control rod & might have been a factor.
MPD: 1998-019-R1 Flexible Fuel Tubing - Applies to all Permit aircraft
Modifications for the UK.MOD-193-001 Fuel system mods
MOD-193-002 Fire precautions
MOD-193-003 Placards
MOD-193-004 Airframe mods after a 1980s fatal accident, compliance with Rans SB 08289-01 - rollers on the elevator push-pull rod.
MOD-193-005 Seat suspension cable (MPD 2003-006 refers) following a fatal accident in 2001.
MOD/193/006 mandatory tail bracing wires etc. tangs, inspections for cracks.
Service BulletinsSB 012390-03 Control linkage rod end connectors
SB 82091-011 Saddles – incorrect stand-off dimension
SB 061291-01 Pulley cable keepers
SB 092190-01 Lock rings on tail cable turnbuckles
SB 092090-01 Elevator hinge bolts
SB 082890-01 Elevator control – addition of rollers
SB 113 Longeron/main gear attachment point reinforcement
Assembly-Alert 135 Wing flap compression tube, incorrect bolt holes
Assembly-Alert 133 Expansion of rotationally moulded fuel tank
Assembly-Alert 125 Fuel cap venting
Assembly-Alert 109 Aft lift strut shim

Don't just rely on a/c log book entries, due to several differences. e.g disc or drum brakes, round or heavier aerofoil wing struts....

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Weighing, every 5 years #72

Weighing, every 5 years
This year Rans S4 -FW became due for a reweigh check for its PFA Permit.

There was the chance to use borrowed BMAA's digital set of three scales which became an afternoon's two man task, attempted inside the hangar due to gusty conditions. The Rans was emptied of all loose items, then blocked up under the main wheels to bring the wings horizontal & tail raised on a 'work-mate' folding table bench to flying level position, using a spirit level
These scales required careful use with no side loads: after switching on unloaded they self zero, then the plane was lifted and lowered gently wheel by wheel as the scales were inserted. Don't forget, as I did, to reduce the total weight measured for fuel in the tank.
After many permutations we finally arrived at a total close to my own bathroom scale result of 2005, but we were unhappy with a loose wiring plug & unreliable readings.

A fortnight later we had another go, obtaining stable readings by rolling onto a borrowed triple set of calibrated "Dr.'s quality" scales for a final empty weight of 336 lb. That requires the other wheel to roll onto planks or blocks exactly the same height as the scales.
N.B. Tipping the plane sideways throws a lot more weigth onto the lower wheel & reduces the scale load so isn't acceptable.

Two sessions did Vince's own S4 5 yearly check. We used one bathroom scale first 'calibrated' by getting me accurately weighed first at his local Dr's surgery.  on The tail & fin was poked just outside the hangar doors so it could be lifted high enough to exactly level the fuselage top. Wind made for variable readings, but in between gusts we got similar totals to my Rans & settled for that. His inspector was happy with the new straightforward weight & balance sheet e-mailed to him.

RANS S-5 weight and balance sheet:Airplane's fuselage root tube should be level (horizontal), either block up under the scales under the mains or "dig a hole" for the nose wheel.
   Item              Weight         Arm         Moment.

1 Nose Gear ______ ________21.25"____________
2 Wing Fuel _______________ 66.5" ____________
3 Pilot ____________________66.5" ____________
4 Mains ______ ____________72.5"  ____________
Total Weight= ______          Total Moment= ______

Total Moment divided by Total Weight = C.G.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Typical All up Weight C of G Calculation for Rans S4 G-MWFW
Item                    Lb. Weight         Arm Inches             Moment inchLb.

Empty plane           336.1                 56.05                      18840
Pilot                      194                    61                           11834
Wing Fuel              19.3                   61                             1177
Fuselage Fuel         30                      84                             2520
Pilot’s equipment     7.6                    61                               464
Total                    587                               Total Moment 34835

C of G  = 34835/587 = 59.35 inches Aft of Datum (limits 58.5 – 61 inches)

Dihedral on tail-plane ? #72 75

Dihedral.
Is this deliberately rigged on the Rans tail-plane ?
The rigging wires firmly hold the outer ends above centre & presumably inhibit them from trying to vibrate above and below neutral. [which could possibly happen if rigged 'dead level'].
A straight edge showed -FW's tail-plane ends ~2 inches higher than at their centre. With a clinometer it read 3 degrees included angle, but not equal side to side, they were uneven.
Repositioning one stay wire tang connection several bolt holes adjustment was tried to try & make both sides rise the same, but the range within the 4 holes was limiting. Tightening and loosening the underside turnbuckles either side didn't help much, so settled for the best compromise with reasonable tensions. Afterwards in a full PFA flight test, 80 vne etc. she felt the same as usual, i.e. perfect. At times in cruise attitude she was holding over 60 in straight & level.

S4 builder Ricky confirms they do have dihedral, the horizontal stabilisers are set 2 degrees off the horizontal
And, yes, as this tailplane isn't quite in line with the wings !

 

Fitting new u/c bungee #71


Fitting new u/c bungee, (using lever with slider, based on a John Whiting design sketch).

Jacked up S4 to remove worn u/c leg unit. (the pivot bolt holes were a rattling good fit plus an inherited slight leg bend & a new bungee made sense).

Back on the work bench, using a stout steel rod as a lever (see pix) note the large diameter slider bush which I found essential to ease eye of bungee over its lug whilst tightly stretched. A vise held the leg through a thick roll of protective cloth, with a stop block under the leg's lower end to counter leverage, plus a strong screwdriver poked in the open tube for pushing down on & resist the leg tube bending up whilst simultaneously pulling the lever up and over really hard.
Quite a tough job, even though I've done it once before. Got everything else done prepared to take to the airfield.

 


Reamed out holes to 1/4" in new Ali front brace tube. When examined found the 'usual' small crack in the existing Ali 'U' bracket connecting the rear going Ali stay. Skycraft, the UK Rans agent, had one in stock & "would post it today", cost was reasonable.
The replacement spare bracket arrived by post next morning. Reamed its base hole to 1/4" & down to the hangar to re-assemble everything with new bolts: carefully double checked.

Glide Landings ['Dead Stick'] #70

Glide Landings ['Dead Stick'] - or what does happen if the engine stops ? [by Vince]
I`ve got so used to trying to make my landings as gentle as possible that the last 100 have nearly all relied on a bit of power to sort things out at or before the flare. Anyway now that I have occasional access to 300 yds elsewhere instead of my own 150 I`ve decided I really ought to practise my forced landings.
This means fully throttled back, glide and flare. Well I've only done two that I can justify as such and despite my wealth of experience they were not brilliant. Having set it up at 800 feet I soon found that I was falling very short of the chosen threshold and had to apply power to pull forward then glide again [This happened on the 2nd approach too] It was not enough to get the hedge just below the nose then nose down and glide, speed fell away from 50 mph and I had to start again, eventually getting about 52-53 mph with throttle off and zero flap. It felt steep and I had to press on maintaining just about the same until flaring at the last moment, the ground was gentle upslope calling for an attitude change of maybe 45 or 60 degrees. Without the propwash over the elevators, or the inertia from mass to overcome the rapid drag increase it fell out of the air about a foot up,--an Arrival !
I taxied round and went off for another try. This time after a bit more adjusting I set the glide at 60, it felt like a 45 degree dive, the flare still happened very quickly, although taking more distance it rolled on a bit better and I opened up to go around and went home for a skippety 5mph X wind. So there, despite the best climb speed of ~47 mph, I need much more than 50 for the glide, so can't use flap. I didn't see the VSI so don't know what that said, probably in excess of 900fpm descent and & landing happened so quickly I didn't have time to pop the flaps to 1/3 as the speed fell below 50. Better luck next time. Vince.

Tail Bracing Wires fixing MPD #69

PFA/LAA issued Mod/193/006 for all Rans S4 & S5.
After finding cracks on the tailplane bracing wires fixing tangs on the bigger S6ESD, a mandatory notice (MPD) was issued.
S4 & S5 must also be inspected within 5 hours, then at every Annual.
The 8 flat stainless steel tangs are fixed by 3/16 bolts through a choice of holes to allow tension adjustment when built. The wire end tangs are in 4 pairs at easily accessible places each side fore & aft of the tailplane at half span. They need cleaning, exposing and closely inspecting with a X10 magnifying glass. The PFA example showed a crack from a hole to the plate edge. These multi bolt hole end tangs designed to provide a choice in small increments for bracing wire tension setting.
N.B.If you undo & remove the bolt completely you risk forgetting which hole was in use.
The notice requires inspection of similar tangs, especially flying control cables, elsewhere.



Throttle Friction Nut #67

Throttle Friction Nut.
An Essential Extra for hand 
adjustment.
The preset friction often gets either too loose or too stiff in flight.
A scap plastic knob was modified to suit - extra weight 20 grams - with the original Rans nut pressed into a counterbored hole at one end of tight fitting Ali insert turned in a lathe to suit the knob core.

To avoid withdrawing the existing securing through bolt [to put on a 'non turn' tab washer] & risk losing all the bits threaded on it, its head end it’s trial secured in situ with a spot of superglue.

Carb. Needle 'O' Ring Fix

Carb. Needle 'O' Ring Fix.
A long time ago, long before Bing started selling a one cent 'O' ring for twenty bucks, I had a (still) better solution. Take the needle and the clip. Place a small dab of black RTV under the clip against the needle. Wipe it evenly around. The bead thickness should be about 1/8 max. Then place the needle/clip in the slide, assemble the top, spring and plastic thingy. Do not set it aside but directly into a carb with a needle jet and main jet installed. Allow it time to set, maybe a couple hours.
This will do a couple things. One, it will hold the needle from spinning/cutting into the clip. It will keep the needle from erasing the needle marking which lies partially inside the slide. It will also center the needle in the slide at all RPM/slide positions. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Just my fix

Bent U/c replaced #64



Rans spares came & were unpacked.
Two months after bending the S4 u/c, we are back up & running, being fortunate to obtain good quality original Rans spares for a 16 year old machine.Down at the hangar we discovered the parts though nicely 'finished' actually needed drilling and reaming in a few places from 3/16" to the correct 1/4". Had to do that first, finishing with an imperial 1/4" parallel reamer.






It was easier to hang the Rans up from the hangar roof on ropes tied to the engine bearer firewall fittings, rather than trestles underneath. This alllowed a clear working space underneath, nor could it slide or topple off. A bit awkward & needed two peoplewhen we had to uncouple the strut bottom pin, as lifting the wing merely rolled the suspended fuselage. But with my knee braced sideways against the longeron and supporting the wing strut at the bottom by hand, Graham removed the bent Ali fuselage mounted channel to put in the new one.
Afterwards we re-laced the fuselage fabric neater than it was before.