Restoration of ZS-UAD, Tipsy Nipper T66 mk 1

[G-ARBG]

Dave,

I was informed by telephone tonight that your drawings were despatched by Nipper Kits & Components last week.

R.

David

[Tipsy Flyer]

Today there was ACTION !!!
I plucked up the courage to cut out the offending bits of tubing in the frame.
The tube that you bolt the tail skid to is horrrribly corroded from the inside. Water and dirt has been gathering in this tube as the open end faces up. I will definately seal the new tube after installation. Now i will order lenghts of 4130 on Monday and begin the task of filing and fitting the new tubing. I fired up my TIG welder and practised on some of the old tubes as i intend to tack weld all the tubes into position and the final weld by a coded welder.

Tail skid tube

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Inside tail skid tube

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Inside tail skid tube

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The offending badly repaired tube

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Out with all this offending repairs!!

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Out with all this offending repairs!!

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[Tipsy Flyer]

How to make your Nipper very light in weight, just cut out all the tubing
Should go like a bomb now...hey

Nipper on a serious diet

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[Tipsy Flyer]

Right, today i gave the airframe a light sanding with fine dry emery paper. Moved fuse outside the workshop and sprayed two light coats of etch primer. I decided to do this because i do not like leaving the airframe tubing bear with no protection, even though the new tubes need to be welded in. I will redo the areas around the welds. Collected all the alumimium "washers" that are used on the control hinges and lightly wire wheeled them till nice and shiny, etch primered with a small brush.
Well another weekend gone with the wind

Etched airframe

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Etched airframe

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Etched "washers"

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[Tipsy Flyer]

ZIP done today, besides sand down curtain rails and respray
Been a nice warm summers day here but becames fury hot late in the afternoon and cools down in the evening, thankgoodness!!
Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive Nipper wise

Early evening shoot over W/S roof

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[Tipsy Flyer]

Congrats to the "old girls" on their 40th birthdays, namely G-AVXD and G-NIPR.
Thanks to the owners for looking after you so well!!
Hope to get my old girl up and running as next year is her 50th
Unfortunately i do not know the exact date, therefore will be forced to celebrate for the whole year....yes

Posted here not to bump your posts!

[Tipsy Flyer]

Thought i must post an update before everyone thinks i'v gone AWOL
Been busy making new engine baffling and in between that, i'v stripped the undercart and rims down to bear metal. I applied two coats of etch primer this afternoon.

Undercart mains

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Rim

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Nose gear steering bell crank

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[Neil Spooner]

Hi Glen,

Good to see you are still progressing............on the subject of u/c I thought you may be interested to see this: it is my u/c leg being magnaflux tested. As you can see the weld is cracked almost through 50% of the leg, it may be worth you having yours checked.

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Well done and keep up the good work, a little and often!!

Neil

[Neil Spooner]

Hi Glen again!

What I meant to say also, is that I haven't seen drum brakes on a Nipper before.

Neil

[Tipsy Flyer]

Hi Neil,
Thanks for the kind words
UAD had the original 3 1/2 inch rims and for the love of money, i could not get new tyres to fit this odd size rim. The present tyres and rims are used in industrial (of some sort) and are
4.00x4 inch. the rims are pressed steel, little heavy but strong and have dual bearings.
I turned nice little break drums and a friend tig'ed them onto the inner rim. Place rim in lathe and trued up drum after welding. The braking is done via small motorcycle brake shoes via a one piece cable via the original Nipper control stick mounted brake handle.
I can run up the engine to 2000 rpm and UAD will not wander off

Out of interest, i can post photos of the above if anyone is interested.

Neil, i have taken close up photos of the(very good) welds on UAD's legs, will post tomorrow

[Tipsy Flyer]

Hi Neil,
Photos of UAD's welds around the axles

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Rebuilt undercart leg

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[baasjeff]

Hi Glen
Going back many years March 29th 1969 I flew ZS-UAD for the first time and have 2hrs 20 minutes flying her.
I rebuilt ZS-UAU and test flew her on 5th October 1969 and flew her for many fun filled hours
I sold UAU to Erick Stockenstrom, who in turn sold it to Phil Geers,do you have any idea what might have happened to it.
I was only aware of two Nippers that where imported into SA by Don Lindsay UAD and UAU
However I see that ZS-UEO is being rebuilt !!
After building my 4th RV I would like to get back into the Nipper Family, do you know of any Nipper projects that I could get involved with, can one find plans and build one from scratch ?.
I was at the Margate airshow some ten yrs ago and saw UAD did you own it then?
Regards Jeff Sharman

[Neil Spooner]

Hi Glen,

I have just been reviewing your photos, and I can't see the engine lugs welded on the front of the frame. What engine are you using?

The rest looks fabulous, well done.

Neil

[Tipsy Flyer]

Hi Jeff,
Pleased to "meet" you, thanks for taking the time to write to me.
Besides myself, you are the first person that has contacted me that has flown UAD !
UAU is a sad story, it was stolen !!!!! from Phil Geers and to this day he has not seen it again.
He ran up to me at Margate when he saw UAD, and wanted to know if i had any clue or info where UAU might be. To this day, it is still missing.
There are in fact 3 Nippers in SA, UAD mine, UEO Dave Taylor(Pmburg) and UDT Tom Heaslip
There is a nipper somewhere in Zimbabwe that belonged to the Puzy (spelling?) family.
The Nipper you saw at Margate was mine, i walked away with many trophies etc at the prize giving that year
Jeff, you will be able to source plans from the member of this forum, if i might add, are very willing to help. Dave Taylor (UEO) got a set of plans for the wings and tailplane from one of the members here. Check out his progress on this forum, he has been under strain lately, so the update are a little behind.
I have an article in an old EAA Sport Aviation mag of a Nipper in the USA, i can dig it out and see if there is any useful info to be had.
As i have came to notice, Nippers are "hens teeth" these days, but if you keep a regular eye on this site, one will pop up now and again, saying that, they get snapped up very quickly
"Going back many years March 29th 1969" UAD was a young 10 year old lass, now a stately 50 this year. She is olded than me, so i show her the necessary respect

Check this site, loads of info on the Nipper family, http://www.tipsy-histories.com/

Here's my mail address: gcrae@telkomsa.net
Regards
Glen

[Tipsy Flyer]

Hi Neil,
Have not done much on the Nipper lately, work pressures etc.
Have eventually sourced the correct ply to replace the leading edges of the wings.
The old ply has been removed and the woodwork prepared.
Remember, this is a Mk1 frame, where the mountings were simply a small tube through the frame with a flat piece fore and aft. I still intend to make new mountings(Mk3) and have them welded into place but an battling to find the right materials.
My engine will be a vw with the "slip in" 1700cc barrels, no machining etc. I have all new components to build a new engine, which includes a new crankcase with a built in oil filter and hydraulic valve lifters, new cylinder heads with valves, new cam, new piston and barrel kit etc
The inlet manifold is a basic copy of the Rollison design with a automotive carb. I know this setup works because a friend has the same setup and he did over a 1000 hours with no problems
Thanks for the vids on youtube, helps when one is loses motivation!
Regards
Glen