Basket case Scorpion,what a bargain

animal

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Location
Deleon Springs Florida.
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Ok we have all seen adds for older Scorpions for sale. well I have had several of these bargain Scorpions projects in the past and thought I woulkd share with anyone that has had an intrest in these novel little money pits, I mean helicopters just what it is like to build a Scorpion from the frame up.

Now don't worry ya'll I still have my Falcon and plan to complete it. I just took on helping a buddy of mine build his.

My buddy Mike Sublett,who has a collection of projects that has to be seen to beleived came by to visit the other day and we got talking about his Scorpion Project that I know he has been trying to sell for awhile and I told him how I still like to mess around with the Scorpions becouse I still think they are a neat machine to play with. ( and from what I have seen playing with them is about the only thing you can do with most of them ) and he asked if I would be intrested in taking on the project.

Now what sets this one apart from most is, this one has a slick swashplate slider set up that a guy in VA. did for him, from what I see so far it looks good and operates smooth and this one is one of the Rare Turbocharged Scorpions.

So whats in it for me you may ask? well Mike told me that when I get it done if I can get signed off in it I can fly it anytime I want.

At anypoint since all the parts are with it and no money out of my pocket.I think hey what the heck could be fun and do a build thread also.

this is truely a basket case so I have a challenge ahead of me, but what the heck the bar scene around here sucks now days.so this might keep me out of trouble.

Wish me Luck as I am going to need it.... LOL

here are a few pics. now to see if i can turn and ugly duck into a swan.

or will it be lipstick on a pig. :noidea:
 

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It's a labor of love ! Get going, Tim ! It's like a free gift!

That'll keep you busy for a while !
 
Good luck with it Animal, hope to see you flying it some day.
 
yeah I hope to get it to that point if Mike don't sell it first.

It will take alot of work but since I love playing with Helicopters it will be fun. My Falcon is still the number 1 project,but untill I get the money for blades and prerotator I will soon be at a stoping point with it..

today it was to cold to do any thing to the Scorpion excpt get everything set to the side and peek at some of the parts.

Mike also told me if I decided I wanted to buy it, he would make me a great deal on it as he would like to see it stay local. Time will tell if I fall in love with it as I go along or if it will be one of those deals where ya say well it is nice but glad it is not mine sort of thing.
this one haveing a Normal swashplate might turn out to be a keeper,but at any point I think it will be fun to learn about the Turbocharged engine. one thing cool about the Scorpions is they are so small they are easy to transport and store. as you can see it is really not takeing up that much room in my shop. ya got to admit the pic of the Falcon and Scorpion does look cool.
 
Tim, Lots a hours and a few years to get it what; ready to fly?!

I dig it tho!


Cheers :)
 
Tim, Lots a hours and a few years to get it what; ready to fly?!

I dig it tho!


Cheers :)
Harry, the nice thing is my Buddy mike has money,just not the time to work on it. depending how we go at it,it could be ready by spring time. the scorpion are a very basic machine to build. they just take playing with to get them adjusted and set up right.

my Biggest concern will be that since it is a basket case and alot of spare parts. I will more then likely be assembling it first for fit and placement,then in the summer have to take it back down to paint. alot of the parts are real rough and will need alot of clean up and painting. and the body panels are together but the finish filling and sanding are to still be done.

one thing about it,if I was to buy it, I would easyily quilfy as the 51% builder thats for sure.

but like I said at this point i don't have any warm fuzzy feeling for it..lol
 
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Tim I was over at Mikes place. He lives on a old drag strip now a runway nice guy. Good luck with the project.
 
Sound like the perfect place to live. Not many can fly from their back yard.
 
Sound like the perfect place to live. Not many can fly from their back yard.

Mike , he has the place for sale, he is building a new place. I have known Mike Sublett for several years now. he is the guy that let me use his trailer to go to oklahoma with several years ago to pick up 2 Scorpion projects with.

He has all kinds of Projects,even a few Gyros.

his place is nice, it has a hanger under the house,the house is up on a hill and the hanger is below it,also beside it it has a pool and down the hill a small pond.

to me his place is the ultamate Pilots place.

I bet it won't take long to sell.

he has bought land in another area near a river and is making a longer runway and a hanger home.
 
looking for gyro builder and owners in texas

and what does that have to do with a Scorpion in N.C. ?
wrong area to post.

I know you are new, but there is a welcome mat area. post it in there and you will get a better responce.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Thanks Mike I just checked out the thread. Mike ,the guy that owns the project I am working on now,used to have a Single seater .but his was an even earlyer model that had the wheel type landing gear. they made several versions of the Single seat style.

I will be honest,if I was to get signed off to fly a Scorpion I would love to find a Nice single seater,chunk the old out board and put a newer RW-133 or 145 engine in it and do an updated Slider type swashplate and fly the heck out of it. they are so small they it would be as easy as a gyro to transport and store.
 
Thought maybe with it sitting for as long as it has and the way the economy is at this time you could pick it up for a song and dance. That $6,000 price tag probably doesn't mean much, if it's at a storage unit then it probably is costing him to keep it.
 
would not beleive it if I had not seen it

would not beleive it if I had not seen it

Ok I was told this was a complete Scorpion kit that has never been built.

Now that being said,alot of basket case Scorpions are most likely been assembled then torn back down when the owner has scared them selfs or gave up on the build. but look at this.

these are the Bolts and other small parts still in the Rotorway packages.
 

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It's probably better that way, you won't have to figure out what someone else did. What a great gift, just like new.
 
It's probably better that way, you won't have to figure out what someone else did. What a great gift, just like new.

Well it's not a gift I am just building it for him. luckily I have messed around with several Scorpions before that I pretty much know what bolts go where on these things. what i plan to do is when Mike brings the plans over. I will go thru the manuals and label the bags as to what assembly they go with. such as collective pitch bolts or tail rotor bolts and so on.

what you have to remember is the scorpion has not been sold by the factory in 30 years.
 
Tim- This will be exciting to watch your posts! Nothing like a pile of bags slowly shrinking and turning into a flying machine.

Stan
Stan this could turn into a night mare...lol there is so much surface rust and stuff to clean.

It will be intresting to say the least.

what is a trip is there are even brand new in the box factory Scorpion engine and rotor tachs. the ones that have Scorpion on the face of them.
 
I know I'd definitely feel better about it being all bagged & unused, and it's a sure lot easier than ripping one all apart to make sure it's right.
 
I know I'd definitely feel better about it being all bagged & unused, and it's a sure lot easier than ripping one all apart to make sure it's right.
This is true. it's going to be an adventure. just waiting for the manuals now and the rest of the parts he has.
 
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