Hi,

will soon start the restoration project of a M5, needless to say I'll follow the experimental way.

plane was flipped on landing, and suffered some damages on the fuselage and one aileron. the welding job doesn't scare me. regarding the aileron, it was forced beyond it's travel limit and the bracket got broken, going for the worst case scenario and the rear spar and a couple of ribs got damaged. How much are we looking into to buy factory replacement? do they still have on stock spars and ribs for the the M5 model, or will I have to buy 2 brand new wings?

any apart from the damaged areas the plane looks clean, anything common to this model to pay attention?

thanks

Experimental is of course possible, but definitely not a slam dunk. Maule Factory can supply the spar and ribs but may take a while. I replaced an M5 front spar and ribs and the spar rivet holes were perfectly aligned, very impressive. There are also used wings available but you don't always know what you are getting. Good luck with the project.

There are wings available. Probably several sets up here if you need them. There is even a set on ebay!

JLB, do you remember more or less how much for the spar and ribs?

it's hard to find pricing on line unless you ask directly to the factory.

I would scratch build a set of super cub wings and use the fuselage as a guide to build a fine E-AB (51%) airplane.

I am out of town so can't check my records right now but I think the spar was less than $1,000 and all the leading edge ribs with the leading edge skin was even less.

finally the plane got it to my garage.
now the journey starts.

My planned workflow is first to attack the wings, replace fuel lines and aux tanks pumps, replace/check flight controls pulleys and cables. Then repaint.
Only after this, to start with the fuselage, since we are still not sure which engine is it going to receive I prefer to delay the fuselage till it's all a bit more clear.

apart from the stock engines, any recommendation?
is there anyone here running a IO-540 with electronic ignition?
what's the real fuel saving compared to magnetos?

thanks

If going with your original idea of experimental, i imagine you would need to clarify what you intend to change, with whoever you will use to approve the work and end product, before mounting wings etc.

Yes, what Jeremy said!! Do your homework before you try to pass the test. Also, best of luck and send us some pictures!!!!

I'm conscious there are millions of things which will develop while working on the beast, but I've a very good picture of what needs to be restored and what needs to be modified and how.
The only open item is the engine. Since we didn't buy it with the plane, we are quite flexible on the project. The regulatory agency isn't too strict and we are quite free to use what we what.

What regulatory agency isn't too strict??? That doesn't sound like our begrudged FAA. What agency are you speaking of ?

It's gonna be registered in Italy, the rules are from what I heard a copy and paste from the FAA experimental regulations.
They are not going to approve crap, but showing the right papers from engine manufacturers signed off by an aeronautical engineer will do the job.

So coming back to my question, any valid alternative to the 540 I could consider? I'll be fine with more or less anything above 200cv that can run on mogas. Avgas in Italy is out of my pocket.

If the cost isn't prohibitive, the Titan IOX 540 @ 270 continuous HP & 93 octane, looks pretty Damn good and it will fit the engine mount too .

VA Maule wrote:If the cost isn't prohibitive, the Titan IOX 540 @ 270 continuous HP & 93 octane, looks pretty Damn good and it will fit the engine mount too .

That sounds like a viable option

http://www.ace-performance.com/wp-conte ... pdated.pdf

I would go for the ace engine