1979 Super Decathlon restoration

casperdegeus

casperdegeus

N5030P
Joined
Nov 15, 2022
Messages
15
Location
The Netherlands
Hi all, in February this year I bought the N5030P, a 1979 Super Decathlon with serial 458-79. My year of birth, I fell in love with the Super Decathlon while playing the Flight Unlimited simulator aged 17. My dream comes true.

The airplane was shipped to The Netherlands by sea container, and we've started stripping the fuselage and wings. Very exciting, and new to me. I will post some pictures on this forum, hope you'll like this. And I hope for some help with the questions I'll most definately run into.

I read the other restoration threads on this forum, great, thanks for everybody's help in advance.

I already have my first question: does anybody have a list containing all possible STC's for this type of airplane? Or is this a silly question? (this is all quite new to me).
 
Great airplane! Love it when a dream is fulfilled.

Looks like you got metal wings. That is quite a find in an aircraft from that era. And nearly identical paint scheme to mine.

I posted the parts catalog in response to your question in my thread. Let me know if you cannot download it and we'll work out another way to transfer. I also have a service manual, but it is less use than the parts manual at this stage in your project.

Judging by the brown color, that is the original primer on the frame. Recommend you look into media blasting and painting or powdercoating. If you have gone that far, might as well strip down the frame the rest of the way and get a good coating on it that will last your lifetime. See my thread on powdercoating specs.

You are going to have to plan your parts orders from the factory carefully, or you will pay a ton of shipping cost. Some things like a new windshield have to be elaborately crated, and that is going to be crazy expensive to ship across the Atlantic. I recommend you call Chad and have a long discussion about your strategy for which parts you replace vs recondition.

In general, you will want to build a good relationship with Chad and Dale at the factory. They can be very helpful.
 
Big Ed said:
Great airplane! Love it when a dream is fulfilled.

Looks like you got metal wings. That is quite a find in an aircraft from that era. And nearly identical paint scheme to mine.

I posted the parts catalog in response to your question in my thread. Let me know if you cannot download it and we'll work out another way to transfer. I also have a service manual, but it is less use than the parts manual at this stage in your project.

Judging by the brown color, that is the original primer on the frame. Recommend you look into media blasting and painting or powdercoating. If you have gone that far, might as well strip down the frame the rest of the way and get a good coating on it that will last your lifetime. See my thread on powdercoating specs.

You are going to have to plan your parts orders from the factory carefully, or you will pay a ton of shipping cost. Some things like a new windshield have to be elaborately crated, and that is going to be crazy expensive to ship across the Atlantic. I recommend you call Chad and have a long discussion about your strategy for which parts you replace vs recondition.

In general, you will want to build a good relationship with Chad and Dale at the factory. They can be very helpful.
Click to expand...
Hi Ed, thanks!! I guess I was lucky on the find of this plane with metal wings. Engine needs a top revision but the rest seems in pretty good state.

About the frame: the A&P advises not to blast the frame. Main reasons: it looks pretty well (some corrosion here and there and they'll sand/prime this), avoids the risk of too much metal being blasted away, and of course it saves time. Do you agree on this advice? What would be your motivation?
(I cannot find your thread on powder coating by the way)

And thanks for your advice on planning the parts orders with Chad. I already have some e-mail contact going on in the past months. I also have contact with Flightline Interiors for the interior. They can send things to Chad, so it can be sent combined. I might need a new engine cowling. Front window is just a few years old and looking fine, fortunately.
 
If the primer is original, I would advocate for refinishing it. That is 43 year old paint, and this is your one chance to fix it. Paint does not last forever. If the paint has failed and allowed corrosion in some areas, then more will follow. Just consider, that paint will probably be at least 65 years old the next time the fabric comes off.

That said, it does add time and expense to the project, so it just depends on your goals.
 
Here is the thread I posted on powder coating.

Powdercoating the frame

Miracle Finish, or the Devil's Coating? Just wondering. Many people on the internet are convinced it is not suitable for steel frames because it hides corrosion. But the FAA allows it, and ACA uses it for all their new aircraft. Jerry Melhalf is a pretty meticulous engineer and I doubt they...
champcitabriadecathlonforums.com champcitabriadecathlonforums.com
 
Big Ed said:
If the primer is original, I would advocate for refinishing it. That is 43 year old paint, and this is your one chance to fix it. Paint does not last forever. If the paint has failed and allowed corrosion in some areas, then more will follow. Just consider, that paint will probably be at least 65 years old the next time the fabric comes off.

That said, it does add time and expense to the project, so it just depends on your goals.
Click to expand...
Thanks Ed, I'll reconsider, it's my dream and it should be optimal.
 
@Big Ed do you know if there are modifications in the fuselage, that should be added? Something that adds extra strength or something like that?
I don't see a service letter about this on the ACA site, but I think I have read this somewhere.
 
casperdegeus said:
@Big Ed do you know if there are modifications in the fuselage, that should be added? Something that adds extra strength or something like that?
I don't see a service letter about this on the ACA site, but I think I have read this somewhere.
Click to expand...
That is a long discussion. There are all sorts of minor tweaks to the frame that you can do to bring it up to current specs. I think there is a thread on here about it.

The only strength-related mod is a gusset on the panel clusters. But the factory told me strength had not been an issue there, they just took the opportunity to add it because it made sense.

Mods I recommend for sure are the baggage door, gear leg loops, and windshield side brackets. All are improvements in design. However, in your case, since your windshield is fairly new, I might not do the brackets.
 
See this thread about frame mods. Warning, it is a bit of a Pandora's Box. Or a can of worms, in the US vernacular.

8KCAB - Frame mods

Just pulled the trigger on all parts. I went ahead and ordered the shoulder harness truss and fuel selector bracket. My welder can take a look at them and we can decide on the spot what to do. Price was not prohibitive on either. Also going to get powdercoat specs and frame prep instructions...
champcitabriadecathlonforums.com champcitabriadecathlonforums.com
 
casperdegeus said:
Thanks Ed, I'll reconsider, it's my dream and it should be optimal.
Click to expand...
Ok, had a talk with A&P. They agree on completely stripping the frame, wanted to reduce costs for me, bad communication, I learned from it.
One question they came up with was how to assemble the woorden parts in the fuselage. There appear to be some kind of 'hollow nails' used, and the question is where can I order these (probably ACA) and is there any tool available to put them in. Do you know this Ed?
And the second: they want to go for hand sanding and primer, no powder coating. I think that would be fine, do you agree?
 
casperdegeus said:
And the second: they want to go for hand sanding and primer, no powder coating. I think that would be fine, do you agree?
Click to expand...
I would say whatever process your A&P is more comfortable with will be fine. If you hand sand, be sure to remove ALL loose paint.
You might consider spot blasting the cluster welds. Going to be very hard to strip those mechanically.
Primer is just as good as powder coat. I went with powder coating because I liked the factory frames that I saw.
The wood formers are attached with 1/4 inch brass eyelets. Takes a mix of long and short to do the job. They are commonly available in the US for crafts such as leatherwork. I would just buy them from ACA to avoid having to search. Cost and shipping are trivial.
 
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This is what eyelets look like. Outer diameter of tube is 0.25 inch. Grip length is 0.25 inch or 0.5 inch depending on whether you are fastening one former or two. AN4 bolts will also work, but are heavier.

You will need a grommet setting tool or die to roll the edge.
 

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Big Ed said:
This is what eyelets look like. Outer diameter of tube is 0.25 inch. Grip length is 0.25 inch or 0.5 inch depending on whether you are fastening one former or two. AN4 bolts will also work, but are heavier.

You will need a grommet setting tool or die to roll the edge.
Click to expand...
Great Ed, many thanks! I'll put them on my ACA order list!
 
Big Ed said:
This is what eyelets look like. Outer diameter of tube is 0.25 inch. Grip length is 0.25 inch or 0.5 inch depending on whether you are fastening one former or two. AN4 bolts will also work, but are heavier.

You will need a grommet setting tool or die to roll the edge.
Click to expand...

Ed,

Did you end up making a tool for the longer ones?

Should we send him the tools for the brass and plastic eyelets? Might not be a bad idea so long as we keep track of who has them.
 
Not yet. Still trying to find the dies. Gotta do it soon, in next week or two.

I would be happy to package the tools up and ship to Casper when done. Or someone else if they are further along.

Casper, you also need some plastic eyelets for where the trim cables pass thru metal and wood. Get those from ACA too.
 
Great Guys, thanks so much for your help!! I really appreciate it.
Currently busy further stripping the plane and creating the order list. What a lot of parts! :)
 
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