MK111 found in Australia

[Wayne]

Hello Lazair people. I found a Mk 111 with wide gear wheels pants, toe disc brakes, tillotston carb 185 HD cranked macting no's 1302-1303, caster wheel (rear) and folding tail. I t has never been assembled complete or flown, it was imported in 1983-4 by Peter Docker he started 1 wing and stopped when he was lifted on take off in his Mk1 and dumped by a large thermal and broke the tip off. He then found out his mountain is one of the largest signifcant land features in the aera and is trigger for weather changes, so he gave up on the idea. Then 25 yrs later I said yes I will take those two planes off your hands thankyou. THe Mk1 went to Tony Lahey at Tamworth when I got married and the Mk 111 was stored for a couple of years. Now its on the stands and is being assembled. All parts are new and still have the stickers on them. The manual is 1983 with news letters tech upgrades, flight instruction etc. . I will need new tapes/foam tapes and Tedlar as I don't know if the original tedlar is going to last very long so I would prefer to use new stuff and save me job of a recover in a few mths? . its peace of mind too i think.
Wayne From Australia, the luckiest guy on earth.

[Shannon]

Hi Wayne,

Congratulations ! You have yourself an almost complete brand new Lazair. That's quite the find by any stretch of the imagination. If you look in the back of your manual you may find a couple of orange pages. Your kit number may be on one of those pages. You probably have a kit in the #900's as you have a "late produced model" Series III with "large" ruddervator pushrods, folding tail option (which was not done to your tail), and improved motor mount (nacelle) and muffler configuration. SUPER FIND !

You are in a unique position with this plane in that you can make a small number of minor upgrades that will make the plane rock solid for many years to come. In theory this plane could easily be flying 25+ years from now and actually be 50 years old !

You need to work closely with the guys on this site to learn what minor modifications can and need to be made on the plane. For example if this plane has the original "small 4-bolt" engine mounting system then you may want to add the later supplied "compression tube" "long through bolt" engine mounting configuration. Minor mods like strengthening the R-3 ribs, wing attach fittings, box sections, jury struts, ect... will be easy to do with the plane in its current stage of completion.

If you have the original roll of Tedlar supplied from the factory then I'd say don't hesitate for a minute with using it. As long as it was stored dry and clean there is absolutely no reason to not use that original film. Super quailty 3M VHB doubled sided and foam tapes you will need are available from Uline tape company. You also hit it just right as George Curtis can supply you right now with 2.6 inch Tedlar seam/capping tape made from factory spec TUT20BG3 Tedlar (exact Lazair factory spec).

All in all very lucky ! Welcome aboard !

[Wayne]

Gidday shannon,
I cannot find the serial no ? the manual states on the mail out label? there are no orange pages only white with blue covers. The folding tail parts are there, I was not sure about the tail folding whilst in flight so havn;t done the mod yet. The tail wheels are sping/casters. I am putting the T24/25 on at present and the r3's/ASI are on both wings, so I' m not sure about that mod, I will place an order with someone regards tape/foam tape/double sided tape as soon as I can find them and I will endevour to get the upgrades/modification parts as well. I will post pics as I go and make some comments as to how the Mk111 is going.
Many thanks wayne.

[Wayne]

Just another pic. also the manual staes that the upgrades that my MK111 has were not avaiable till mid January 1984. so that would make mine more than likley a 84 model, where is that in the history of Lazair ? will post a few more pics as I go. if you or anyone else notices the stage of building I am at please offer a comment as to upgrades or suggestions ie. tricks to getting a better fit or neater finish, or how do I polish/clean those grayed parts ? Oh yeh, I speak australian! and we talk metric however I was educated in imperial measures then in 5th grade Australia went metric so i get the basic of feet, inches, pounds, gallons, quarts, but not so good with Ounses , and 17/64 ths , there are so many subtle differences in each provance so please stipulate a metric measure/imperial as a back up where possible.
regards wayne

[Shannon]

Yes, more than likely the kit was made in 84. Here's an example of the "Orange Pages" that were found in late Series III, Elite, and Two Seat manuals. The warranty card and tech update request orange sheets included in the manuals came pre-printed with the kit number.

There is a huge amount of information that you are going to need to go over to get fully up to speed on your plane. I'm sure as time goes on a whole host of things will get pointed out and explained. I suggest posting lots of pictures of the plane and start asking lots of questions.

Right now to get started I'll tell you to not use those prop spinner mounting flanges. The original factory flanges are defective and will eventually crack. Most guys who want to have spinners have had new plates made by a machinist using the old plates as a pattern. Your plastic spinners and wheels must be painted or the sun will eat the plastic and bleach them white. Your engines are equipped with rubber sparkplug caps that were well known back in the 80's for popping off in flight. Much better sparkplug caps to use are the NGK LB05EZ resistor caps. I do not see velocity stacks mounted on your carburetors. George can supply you with new ones if you do not have any. Your engines will undoubtably need attention to get them running. Provided the engines were stored in a dry place they may only need points-condensers and carb overhaul to get them running. Building a test stand is highly advised.

[Wayne]

I do not have that yellow page ? the only numbers are I can find are on the motors, 1302-1303. unfortunatley I have no serial no. !

[Shannon]

Hi Wayne, not big deal it's just neat to know your kit number. Guys often refer to their Lazair by kit number. My Lazair for example is kit number 883.

I see you have a left wing to assemble. Not a big deal and in fact you are lucky in that it will be easy on that D-cell to drill out the rivets, open up the D-cells and re-glue all the foam noseribs. There is absolutely no way I'd skip opening up the D-cells on your wings. If you skip this step you will forever regret it. I'm enclosing a picture of a D-cell I re-worked a few years back. You can see that all the glue used to affix the noseribs inside the D-cell was totally degraded and falling to crumbling hard pieces.

As I mentioned earlier you have a ton of things to learn and the information is going to come in fast. As Russell mentioned to someone get a notebook out and start writing down a checklist of things that need to be done and/or considered. Ask questions on anything that confuses you and don't skip or skim past any advice that is given here.

For you to get this plane built, built properly, upgraded, and actually flying is going to take HUGE HUGE HUGE effort on your part. There is much to learn. If you are not up to the task we'll figure that out shortly. Often times guys will just disappear without a word or trace when they figure out building or rebuilding a Lazair takes a huge effort, lots of time, and much money. I often think people get too caught up in all the dreamy wonderful stuff about owning and flying a Lazair without initially realizing the effort, determination, patience, and thinking that goes into it. Flying is a thinking mans game to be sure. All the dreamy wonder stuff you can experience will be the result of the serious hard work and developed skill you put into the whole idea of being a Lazair owner and pilot.

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[Shannon]

Wayne in order to help your project along there are a couple of things I'd construct. One being some padded saw horses to work off of. You will be doing a huge amount of wing handling and shuffling throughout the project.

Here's what my old padded horses look like. They have been around for 25 years and have themselves been rebuilt several times...Haa Haa !

In the picture you will see one of the wings that I refurbished years back. This particular wing which was already assembled was completely torn apart so I could rework the foam noseribs inside the D-cells and add upgrade mods to the wing.

[Shannon]

Next I'd make 4 spare wing saddle holders and add castering wheels to the bottom like seen here:

You wouldn't believe how handy it is to be able to move a wing around easily in your shop. You can move a wing around and out of your way without any help. Very Handy !

[Shannon]

Here's a shot of the castering wing saddles in action in my shop. I forget what was going on in this shot but I think I'd just painted the D-cells. That's the reason for the garbage bags over the top of the wing holders. I didn't want "scuffing action" of the carpet lining the holders rubbing on the soft new paint.