Monday, 1 February 2010

Pitts Progress

On Friday the 29th January I made a quick visit into Rangiora and found that the Aerotek Pitts S-1S ZK-FRJ had just completed its compass swing and was very close to flying following its very thorough rebuild : still needing its canopy and perhaps its prop spinner fitted. I hope Morris will come aboard this blog soon and tell us more about this lovely little aircraft.
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous3 February 2010 at 23:30

    It flew on Saturday apparantly. Very large grin on Morris' face :-)

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  2. Morris Tull4 February 2010 at 06:00

    Pitts FRJ did fly twice on Saturday the 30th of January. The first test flight went well with the Aeromotive South overhauled engine running very smoothly and bedding in very nicely. The Pitts flew rock solid with no real defects and only minor roll trim adjustment required. She still loves to be upside down, it is great to be back in the sky in a Pitts.... Morris.

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  3. Dave Paull4 February 2010 at 06:37

    The real restoration work of ZK-FRJ has been carried out by Morris Tull, a licensed Engineer and Airline pilot based in Dubai as a project to master the remaining engineering experience of wood fabrication, metal tube construction and repair, fabric covering and painting of the newly approved Ranthane over Polyfiber covering.
    Many parts were built in Dubai and transported to Rangiora for assembly by Morris and Rob Ward and his son Michael. Morris and Rob completed the restoration up to a rigged skeleton of fuselage, wings and flight controls and completed most of the covering until Morris ran out of time on that trip and Paul Woodley was bought on board to continue the progress between trips. The aircraft was moved to Paul’s hanger to assist and a painting area was set up. Morris and Paul carried out the painting with Rob assisting with the massive fine line masking until Morris was satisfied he had personally mastered the painting and left Paul to continue with the painting while Morris and Rob carried on with other aspects that Morris was experienced in including new pipes, hoses, electrics, engine overhaul and installation, fibreglass work on the cowl and fairings, aluminium cowling, canopy and instrumentation. Paul and Rob continued to provide much very appreciated assistance to the final assembly details leading up to the final inspections and checks for test flying on January 30, 2010. See later blog entry for more details.
    Morris Tull.
    4 FEBRUARY 2010 5:48 AM

    This comment was posted on to an earlier blog on this aircraft & has been transferred to this current blog by Bluebus.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dave Paull4 February 2010 at 06:40

    The address for this earlier blog is:-

    http://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2009/05/zk-frj-inexcusable-extravagance.html

    ReplyDelete

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