Ralph Pettersen
Ralph Pettersen
He's Tin-Man to his friends. He's a got a whole lot of tin to play with on this baby!
Her Belly
WARNING: The following pictures are Rated PG-16 - for Mature Audiences Only
No, she didn't make a belly landing in a crash. She just looks that way.......
What happens when house movers and farmers move big airplanes
Nope! Sometimes Bondo just won't do it. It's time for some serious reskinning.
Outboard Wing Panels
From this
Ralph Pettersen
Now for the tail feathers. Hadn't planned to pull the rudders, and..... that leading edge.
Center fin leading edge - Kevin labels it "Almost impossible to repair"
Lower rudder - condition described as part aluminum, fiberglas, dacron, and bondo! (It was originally fabric.)
Skin corrosion beneath the paint is, well, it's a little scary.
A newly reskinned rudder
A rudder hinge fitting that has expoliated away to bauxite
Another rudder hinge fitting (hand held lower) was found broken - a new one was manufactured (shown installed.)
Vertical fin leading edge - loaded with bondo and not repairable - new piece manufactured.
Some of the installed fairings had been made from galvanized roof flashing or heating ducting sheets.
New fairings were manufactured.
Fiberglassing done "the right way" - vacuum bagged and with heat lamps.
"New" rudders installed
Inboard Wing Panels
Wing - Body Fairing Structure
Nacelles
The lower portion of the Number 4 nacelle was badly crushed - it appeared to have been dropped at some point in its life.
Rebuilding in progress
Repairs complete
Forward Fuselage
The reason for the torn forward pressure bulhead was revealed when the galvanized metal and bondo was removed
The nose landing gear had collapsed forward at some point, destroying all the structure on the bottom centerline
The damaged structure was removed and the area was rebuilt.
Tip Tanks
Installed on the airplane in Toronto
Removed with the outbd wing panel - and then removed from the wing
Ken Mist photo
Stored temporarily on the site.....and then stored for a year in the truck yard
Stripped and undergoing condition assessment at Empire Aero
These tanks were originally EC-121 tanks, converted during the Phillip Yull restoration
Windshield Frame Corrosion
The Number 1 (Pilot LH window) frame was a textbook picture of exfoliar corrosion
A completely new frame was fabricated
The damaged areas were removed and the new frame structure was installed
Note that while this is a non-airworthy airplane, the repairs are being accomplished to high almost-airworthy standards.
A proud Kevin Lacey and the final result
Radome
The radome was a basket case. We considered scrapping it and getting a new replacement, but in the end decided it would be cheaper to repair what we had than chase around the world looking for a new unit.
The repaired radome
Installing on the airplane
The final result
Here's Kevin Lacey - Tin Man looking for his next project, .....whoops, THIS is the real Tin Man.........
No, she didn't make a belly landing in a crash. She just looks that way.......
What happens when house movers and farmers move big airplanes
Nope! Sometimes Bondo just won't do it. It's time for some serious reskinning.
Outboard Wing Panels
From thisTo this..... 
Empennage
Ralph PettersenNow for the tail feathers. Hadn't planned to pull the rudders, and..... that leading edge.
Center fin leading edge - Kevin labels it "Almost impossible to repair"
Lower rudder - condition described as part aluminum, fiberglas, dacron, and bondo! (It was originally fabric.)
Skin corrosion beneath the paint is, well, it's a little scary.
A newly reskinned rudder
A rudder hinge fitting that has expoliated away to bauxite
Another rudder hinge fitting (hand held lower) was found broken - a new one was manufactured (shown installed.)
Vertical fin leading edge - loaded with bondo and not repairable - new piece manufactured.
Some of the installed fairings had been made from galvanized roof flashing or heating ducting sheets.
New fairings were manufactured.
Fiberglassing done "the right way" - vacuum bagged and with heat lamps.
"New" rudders installed
Inboard Wing Panels
Wing - Body Fairing Structure
Nacelles
The lower portion of the Number 4 nacelle was badly crushed - it appeared to have been dropped at some point in its life.
Rebuilding in progress
Repairs complete
Forward Fuselage
The reason for the torn forward pressure bulhead was revealed when the galvanized metal and bondo was removed
The nose landing gear had collapsed forward at some point, destroying all the structure on the bottom centerline
The damaged structure was removed and the area was rebuilt.
Tip Tanks
Installed on the airplane in Toronto
Removed with the outbd wing panel - and then removed from the wing
Ken Mist photo
Stripped and undergoing condition assessment at Empire Aero
These tanks were originally EC-121 tanks, converted during the Phillip Yull restoration
Windshield Frame Corrosion
The Number 1 (Pilot LH window) frame was a textbook picture of exfoliar corrosion
A completely new frame was fabricated
The damaged areas were removed and the new frame structure was installed
Note that while this is a non-airworthy airplane, the repairs are being accomplished to high almost-airworthy standards.
A proud Kevin Lacey and the final result
Radome
The radome was a basket case. We considered scrapping it and getting a new replacement, but in the end decided it would be cheaper to repair what we had than chase around the world looking for a new unit.
The repaired radome
Installing on the airplane
The final result
Here's Kevin Lacey - Tin Man looking for his next project, .....whoops, THIS is the real Tin Man.........
Photos courtesy of Robert Bogash, Ken Mist, Ralph Pettersen, Tom Cathcart, and Kevin Lacey, Tim Bucholz,
Dave G., and Janet Dietz of Empire Aero Center, Rome, NY.
Used with Permission
Used with Permission
Copyright 2007 - 2008 Robert Bogash. All Rights Reserved
Revised 17 Nov 2007
20 Nov 2007
11 Dec 2007
28 Dec 2007
4 Jan 2008
13 Jul 2008
18 Jul 2008