Earthstar Forums

Does anyone have info on the JT2 listed on Barnstormers? The owners
name is Mike Bewley. Bird is damaged on the left leading edge and nose
structure etc. My questions are, can these be repaired successfully? I
would assume that the steel cage is easily repaired but not to sure
about the wing. I've been looking long and hard for a used, even if not
perfect J2, Odesy or 2000 for quite some time now and am willing to do
whatever is necessary repair wise. I asked the owner if he had any pics
of the damage but got no reply. Anyone familiar with this aircraft?
Thanks for any help,

BV

For the group¡Çs information: Dave Richards, a BFI located in Sandy River,
Oregon is considering selling his Odyssey. He can be reached at
503.407.8531.

-Alan Cossitt

Hi Bill,

I do not have any information about the plane in question, but I
just finished building a ThunderGull wing in my garage, so I can
offer some comments about the wing. The leading edge of the wing is
a D-cell structure that is supplied pre-built by EarthStar. I
visited EarthStar and saw the setup that they use to build the D-
cell, and it is not something that you are likely to be able to
easily duplicate just for a repair job. So, it would seem to be that
the answer to your question would have to be that repairing the
leading edge would depend on the extent of the damage. A lot of the
wing's strength comes from that D-cell, so damage that included
bending the main spar may not really be repairable, in my opinion.
If the damage is just a dents in the aluminum skin, you probably
could repair that with normal auto body tecniques. I think that you
could get an indication if the main spar was damaged by looking at
the skins aft of the D-cell, because they would have to buckle some
if the main spr was deformed. If you can get the seller to provide
photos of the damage, you could probably forward copies of the
photos to Mark Beierle at EarthStar, and ask him about the
feasability of the repairs? If you decide to do that, I would
reccomend "snail mail", because he does not seem to read email very
much. He is really pretty.good about telephone discussions though.

--Dave

I'm not even sure what the difference is, but I believe Dave's plane is a JT-2, not a Odyssey.

Ron Carroll

FWIW - A member of the Sandy River Ultralight Club
near Portland Oregon bent his Thunder Gull up about
a year ago. The major damage was to the leading edge
and the cage. The cage was sent to Earthstar to be
repaired in a jig, while the wing was repaired in
the field under Mark's supervision.

The best bet would be to discuss it with Mark, and
probably send him some good digital pictures of the
damaged areas. With his experience he can tell you
what and how the fix should be done.

Ron Carroll

Ron,

JT-2 = Tandem 2 seater
Odyssey = Side by side 2 seater

--Dave [ not the Dave selling the Odyssey/JT2 :-) ]

Hi Ron,

Dave's plane is an Odyssey. 2-seater, side-by-side.

Hope all is well down in Independence.

-Alan

Thank you very much for the insights. It is what I expected however,
not an easy repair, but I have the time right now.

BV

Thanks, I will be in touch with Mark.

BV

msbelton wrote:
>
> I talked to Mike regarding the JT2 and it is sold.
>
> The wing is in pretty good shape but I would have Mark at Earthstar
> take a look at it. The Frame needs to be straightened out and the
> front gear needs a bit of work but reparable. He alluminum skins
> around the fusage was damage and taken off so it needed to be
> replaced.
>
> Mark

Thats bad news for me.