Thread: Plane Crash
View Single Post
Old 06-30-2015, 06:02 AM   #5
NN5I
Carl, nn5i
 
NN5I's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 1,441
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by electricflyer View Post
From the looks of the wreck it appears to be totaled.
Oh, I don't know. It takes a lot to total a UPF-7. The engine (a 300 HP Jacobs R755 "Shaky Jake") will need to be torn down and inspected, of course, but if it wasn't making power when it hit the engine damage won't be too bad, maybe even none; and these engines are still manufactured and can be overhauled for about $30K. The propeller too, maybe another $30K. That still leaves plenty of money to restore this very valuable ($200K to $300K or more) airplane. The fuselage looks mostly undamaged, as is the empennage; but the wings will need a lot of work, and maybe $10,000 worth of aircraft-grade spruce. A friend of mine, Al Fitzgerald of Panacea, FL, rebuilt a closed-cabin Waco Gullwing (a closed-cabin biplane, probably a model UIC), that was about that bad. Al's a genius at rebuilding old wood-and-fabric biplanes; it took him several years.

I'll bet it gets restored. And I hope the owner gets totally restored too.
__________________
-- Carl
NN5I is offline   Reply With Quote