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May 11, 2013: Wild Mama has her new engine, MT prop and EI MVP50. Click
HERE for reports and photos.
Paint Shop Progress
Now that the 2011 Air Race Classic is a recent memory,
Wild Mama is due for her long needed repairs from the hail damage she suffered at the hands of the 2011 Sun-n-Fun
tornado. July 5th is her official start date for restoration and Vern will be pulling her in the hangar to start stripping
all of the stuff out of the wings, starting with the fuel. We are documenting her transformation with the before and after
pictures so, please, follow along to watch her transform back into the shining beauty she was.
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Wild Mama's last picture before restoration. July 3, 2011 |
Her paint is peeling off of her right wing. |
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We have flown the paint off of her numbers. |
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Paint was tornado blasted off trailing edges. |
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Paint is coming off of her struts. |
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Paint is peeling off at the seams. |
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Phase I - Damage Repair and Reconstruction: Vern has been taking care of Wild Mama since her adoption into the family. But now he has
the extra burden of taking her wings off and getting them back together in perfect flight condition. The first step in getting the wings off is getting
the fuel out. We had flown out as much fuel as possible so the draining process would be a bit shorter but drain Vern did.
Following the fuel, all of the servos, wires, probes, vents, fuel bladders and EVERYTHING had to come out of the wings
and the flaps and ailerons had to come off of the wings. Vern could accomplish most of this himself with the help of Tad;
but the final part of the wing removal will take an army of men. The wing bolds have to be removed; the strut bolts have to
be removed and the wings have to be lifted off and pulled out and placed into the wing box for shipping out to the wing re-skinner
in Indiana.
July 15th was the day that all gathered to pull off the wings. Vern constructed
a huge wing box to put the wing in for shipping. It took 4 men to hold the wings while the bolts and struts were removed. They laid them across the saw horses - specially constructed for the job - then stood them up and packed
them in the shipping crate. Monday morning, July 17th, they were loaded
onto a truck. Vern, Vince and Mike got together to coordinate the process using Mike's forklift. The box weighted over 750
pounds with the wings packed inside. We will await the call from Indiana that the have arrived safely.
Thursday
afternoon, July 21st we got a call from the wing shop that the crate had arrived. A sick feeling overcame us when we heard
the news that it appears that either the truck hit a bad bump or dropped the box and the wings sustained damage. The rear
spar on the left wing and the tip on the right wing need to be replaced in addition to the hail damage from Sun-n-Fun. The
wing shop said that, fortunately, it was relatively minor and that most of the labor was already going to happen with the ordered repairs so the additional parts should not cost "that much extra". I am waiting
on the estimate to see if our definitions of "that much extra" coincide. My worst nightmare is that my baby gets
hurt any more than she already has been... August 10th:
With all of the damages repaired, we got the call today that the wings are ready to be shipped back. All of the other parts
and pieces are in for the upgrades so as soon as the wings arrive, Vern will start the re-construction process, then off to
the paint shop!!!
August 22nd: The wings have arrived back at Vern's hangar. They were uncrated and are safe and
sound and in excellent condition. The repair work is supurb!
Wing Removal Photos
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