This is Ash in France (on the border with Switzerland where ultra-lights are not permitted) with the second "bad" Airbike frame.
I have been in contact with Nigel frequently in the past week and so I took my frame to a welding instructor at the School of metal construction in Geneva, Switzerland. With typical Swiss reserve he suggested it "needed review and improvement".
Weld by weld we concluded that the frame welds could be repaired - grinding away old welds and repeating the welds with CO2 gas (not argon) welding using my wire feed mig-mag equipment. Clearly I should repair the welds one by one to preserve the basic alignment of the frame. I counted approximately 20 welds I would like to do again at this point but firstly I shall need to take the frame to a professional sand-blaster to remove the paint and expose the different weld joints so that I can get a better understanding of all the work to be done. I suddenly added 50 hours to my build schedule which has never been rapid at the best of times. I am building the Airbike slowly in my spare time so I am not unduly concerned as I enjoy the work to get my mind off my day to day work.
As to shipping from the US, this could be pricey and slow. I once shipped a quad frame from Florida and it took a very long time (5 months) and almost cost as much as the frame. That doesn't mean it can't be done. If you find a good Airbike frame, I would ask the seller to look at local businesses that occasionally ship a container of merchandise to the United Kingdom and see if the frame couldn't be added to the global delivery. Certainly I have done this frequently between Switzerland and the UK. If you are looking to buy another airplane kit in the US, try and bundle it with this frame.
Otherwise, Nigel, as you show signs of being interested yourself, take a welding course. Its fun and very useful knowledge to have and you could use your existing frame as a guide while you build your new frame. You may not need to buy all the equipment because you are surely able to find someone who will let you occupy a corner of their metal shop or body shop and rent you the equipment (and oversee your work) as you build or rebuild it.
All easier said than done but in the final analysis, you will be turning this unfortunate discovery into a positive and constructive experience as you learn a new skill. Certainly I am grateful to you Nigel for announcing this problem as it has enabled me to anticipate remedying this problem on my Airbike.
Oh, concerning international phone bills, try using WhatsApp or Skype to communicate - it will cut your costs down practically to zero.
Bob Hoskins, I talked with Jimbo yesterday, and gave him your message about the donuts. Ash, Thanks for posting. When I talked with Nigel Tuesday he told me about your fuselage. After seeing the pictures of the broken joints on Nigel's landing gear I came to the conclusion that his fuselage wasn't salvageable. I'm probably wrong, but from the appearance of the tubing, I'm not sure it is even 4130 steel? I've contacted a couple of friends who have experience shipping stuff overseas, and they are trying to help direct me toward a reasonably priced solution.
Puff. We examined all the possibilities, and decided it wasn't cost effective. The combination of the cost of modifying the fuselage to accommodate his parts, plus shipping ruled it out. As far as I know Jimbo R. still has the fuselage. I've seen it, and it is pristine.
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