As many of you know I had an accident on May 6, 2011. It has changed the way I look at life every day. I was very fortunate to get out as well as I did. I'll post pictures at a later date of how close I really got. As I was told as a young child, "You never realize how lucky you have it, until it's all gone," I now realize how much I really miss my cub.
I'm building a blog so the world can watch me rebuild her, yet again. I'm looking for comments and hints as I go. Also looking for motivation... its tough to do after I just got done rebuilding her less than half a year ago. I plan on updating this blog every day I work on the plane. For now, "Lady Alpha" is sitting in pieces in my shed, and my dad's garage. He's going to be thrilled to see it back in his garage yet again. I've tore her old skin off the damaged ailerons and flaps and started using a donor aileron a new friend donated to me to rebuild both flaps and an aileron.
Another thing I learned as a young child, "Something good always comes from something bad." I think this crash will make me a better pilot once I'm able to get back "in the saddle." My ankles are healing quite nicely, and hip is giving me very little feedback these days. I'm hoping with physical therapy and spending time out at Lake Hood when I can, to be back flying by the middle of June. I also have met a few new friends out of this crash.
While Tommy, my brother, was down dismantling the cub, two guys landed on the beach and offered to help him. They stayed with Tommy for 3 days and helped fly pieces out and dismantle the cub and eventually flew him out. I owe these guys greatly and they have been very fun to talk with. Jerry, one of the fellows, also owns a few cubs and a Cessna 185. He dropped off some spare parts from his collection to help me with my rebuild process. I owe him big time. I hope to help him this fall with some hunting trips he has planned. Jerry's brother Trace was also there to help with my wreck on the beach. He's new to Alaska and seems to enjoy all these adventures his brother has been bringing him on.
Back to the main purpose of this blog, the cub. I've dug through the shed this weekend to figure out what I have and what I'll need. Tommy did a good job tearing Lady Alpha apart, don't let him know this though, I don't want it going to his head. He saved me quite a bit of money on all the little parts and what not. I originally figured I'd be spending in neighborhood of $8000 to put the wings back together, but now with an accurate list of parts I have, I'm in the neighborhood $5500, minus a few mods I want to do to improve her the second go around. My goal is to have the wings and the control surfaces together minus their finishing coat of paint by January 2012. I think this is a fairly achievable goal with work and all. I'll post pictures tomorrow of what I'm dealing with.
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