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Found the Unicorn(s)!!

Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
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Well Louise has been watching me wander around the empty shop now for four or five months, and told me a couple of weeks ago that I needed a new project! Sadly, the -15 had been at the top of our list, but I think that will be awhile coming now (but it will come), so I started looking round, and quickly found not one, but TWO unicorns! An IO-540 pickled after a tear down/rebuild (with paperwork certifying it) at 270 hours since new, and an untouched F1 Rocket kit….complete! Talk about unicorns - I have seen folks searching for low-time 540’s and an F1 kit for very long times.

Both of these are now on their way from Vince Frazier’s shop in Indiana, and I hope soon to hear the happy sounds of air tools whirring away in the shop as we craft a new addition to our fleet.

(That’ll most likely lead to a deletion - or two - from the family fleet at some point, so stay tuned….)

I guess this means I might start posting in the Rocket forum as we go through the build process!

And wow - the kit is so complete that it comes with tires and tubes…so anyone want a pair of unused 22-year-old tubes? No….I don’t either…. (Can you say “roll-around-tires” for the shop?)
 
Good call Paul!
And consider yourself happy being in the US, and myself in good'ol Europe... for I would have been tempted :D

Sure looking forward to your build reports :cool:
 
Geez Paul. Had I known you were looking for a project we could have swung a sweat deal on a Fiat G46’s. ;)
They’re built just like an RV, only bigger, and metric’rer (…and arguably sexier!)
Talk about Unicorns!
 
I hear ya Paul. I thought I had a unicorn earlier this year when the hangar across from me had been auctioned off with the contents. It had been unused for several years with contents unknown. When the door finally opened, was an older F1 rocket with an early sn. It had racing decals. I keep inquiring on how to acquire it to no avail. When I returned from Oshkosh, it was gone. ��
 
Congratulations Paul, I wanted to grab that but fought the urge . . . happy we will likely see some building posts and details usually hidden.

The fleet cruise average just went waaay up.
 
Looking at photo 2 of 3. That's clearly the wing root there, with fuel tank fittings, but the fill for that tank seems to be WAAAAAAY out towards the tip? How much gas do those Rockets carry?
 
claycookiemonster said:
Looking at photo 2 of 3. That's clearly the wing root there, with fuel tank fittings, but the fill for that tank seems to be WAAAAAAY out towards the tip? How much gas do those Rockets carry?
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Yeah….52 or 54 gallons - will have to look it up! But of course you’re feeding a lot more ponies than with a four-banger.
 
iwannarv said:
Uh oh, Paul...... You're about to be ruined. At least that's what the Rocket guys will say!
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Well one of my Rocket friends wrote “be ready to 3,000 fpm climbs!”….I had to tell him we already get that with the RV-3…… :)

Of course in the -3, that’s for only one person at a time….
 
Wow! Congrats.
I've been working on my F4 for 4 yrs and it looks like you are already ahead if me. Very nice. Enjoy the build.
 
Share the secret of removing that white vinyl protectant.

A number of years ago, F1Boss gave me a piece of aluminum with the white vinyl; I swear the Czechs had baked the stuff on...
 
bjdecker said:
Share the secret of removing that white vinyl protectant.

A number of years ago, F1Boss gave me a piece of aluminum with the white vinyl; I swear the Czechs had baked the stuff on...
Click to expand...

Yeah….I’ve only seen it in the pictures so far, and it’s been on there 20 years - could be a long winter!
 
On this untouched unicorn's journey across the US it spent a few weeks in my next door neighbor's pole barn. I peeled a corner off the plastic to see if it would come off easily and it did. Nice build quality on this one.
 
rocketbob said:
On this untouched unicorn's journey across the US it spent a few weeks in my next door neighbor's pole barn. I peeled a corner off the plastic to see if it would come off easily and it did. Nice build quality on this one.
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Well, maybe SOME of it will peel off easily, but I wouldn't bet too much on it!! I tried several places and like another person said I think the CZ guys baked it on!

Nonetheless, the rest of the kit looks good! It's loading onto a Stewart Trucking truck tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. for the trip to Nevada.
 
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