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Back in the age of RCAerotowing.com, I had a thread going on this beautiful Salto. I acquired it from Kevin Kavaney at the JR Aerotow. It was originally owned by Dan Troxell in California.
Some years ago I got caught in the magic disappearing slope lift sink bad mojo at Cumberland. The sort that brings down all the planes at once. The smaller stuff made it back fine coming downwind, but this beast without flaps kept on going into the hollow and landed with a thud that put a large crack across the nose (I subsequently learned the nose had previous damage) and shocked loose one aileron. The ailerons are knuckle-hinged, so they're a bit tricky. I quickly repaired the aileron and patched the fuse, delivering it to be painted. It sat for a year but was never painted. I got it back and it has sat for two more years waiting for me to get around to it.
I recently decided against the simple approach of just getting back in service and instead a total gut-rehab is in order.
You see, this Salto has a back story. It hit the runway landing lights at Monticello, site of the JR Aerotow, before it came into Kevin's possession. Result was two big hunks, one out of each leading edge. They had been repaired with great strength and the wing recovered, but both showed through with darker wood, some exposed carbon and a slight indentation on the top, bottom and leading edge. I almost didn't buy it for this reason. After I did, people would walk up to the plane's wings, look them over and find the spots with a bit of pride. "This is the one that hit the lights, right?" Ugh.
So, I've now totally stripped the fuselage paint (my what a good bit of filler there was hiding under there!) and totally stripped the wings. The wings had that fun covering that the clear comes off and leaves the color layer behind. BTW, the wings are white foam, carbon and then Obechi.
Here's some "before" shots at Lacolle, Canada after I detailed the cockpit an removed all of the previous graphics...
Some years ago I got caught in the magic disappearing slope lift sink bad mojo at Cumberland. The sort that brings down all the planes at once. The smaller stuff made it back fine coming downwind, but this beast without flaps kept on going into the hollow and landed with a thud that put a large crack across the nose (I subsequently learned the nose had previous damage) and shocked loose one aileron. The ailerons are knuckle-hinged, so they're a bit tricky. I quickly repaired the aileron and patched the fuse, delivering it to be painted. It sat for a year but was never painted. I got it back and it has sat for two more years waiting for me to get around to it.
I recently decided against the simple approach of just getting back in service and instead a total gut-rehab is in order.
You see, this Salto has a back story. It hit the runway landing lights at Monticello, site of the JR Aerotow, before it came into Kevin's possession. Result was two big hunks, one out of each leading edge. They had been repaired with great strength and the wing recovered, but both showed through with darker wood, some exposed carbon and a slight indentation on the top, bottom and leading edge. I almost didn't buy it for this reason. After I did, people would walk up to the plane's wings, look them over and find the spots with a bit of pride. "This is the one that hit the lights, right?" Ugh.
So, I've now totally stripped the fuselage paint (my what a good bit of filler there was hiding under there!) and totally stripped the wings. The wings had that fun covering that the clear comes off and leaves the color layer behind. BTW, the wings are white foam, carbon and then Obechi.
Here's some "before" shots at Lacolle, Canada after I detailed the cockpit an removed all of the previous graphics...
Trim Steve!!
The Salto cut through those weeping willow branches like a hot knife through butter. Well, it did take some foliage with it. If you look closely at the top of the tree, there is a nice flat spot from the cut! 
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