Re: Project 5 build thread
Many of us had to twist those tubes for proper alignment-no problem.
I agree, keeping a spare cap in the plane is a good idea. Once after refueling I took off without replacing one cap. Within 10-15 min. I noticed that tank fuel level going down much faster than the other. In a half hour flight I lost maybe 5 gallons out of that tank-not good. When I landed to refuel again I had no spare cap, but the FBO gave me some duct tape which sort of worked. I had to poke a small hole thru it to vent the tank and on the flight home the fuel loss thru that hole was much reduced but still was puking some fuel. When I got home the missing cap was laying in the grass near where I had refueled in the morning.
Re: Project 5 build thread
Back in my phase 1, I had stopped at a pump on the field and found the pump not working. I repositioned to another pump on the other side of the field and found that I had lost my fuel cap. I found it and now I always put my caps in the front seat when I get fuel.
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Re: Project 5 build thread
Well I managed to drag out my fitting/installation of jury struts over two days. It wasn't so much about the drilling and much as it was about being meticulous in my alignment and checking everything over several times before reaching for that drill.
My most recent shipment from Kitfox included new fittings for the lift strut/jury strut attachment and the prefabricated one piece brackets used at the wing spar/jury strut end. Those one piece brackets are the way to go for sure.
I decided to fit the skinny (light) round tube jury struts instead of the aero tube ones I have. Once I got the left side where I was happy I realized that I should fit the right side before making any chips. I was glad that I did that because the right side seemed like it was going to be off a ways. That, and it also looked like I would need to grind away so much material on the tab which attaches to the upper end of the front jury strut that the bolt would be up inside the fabric covering. That right side jury strut also seemed like it would be more inboard than the left.
Needless to say the drill stayed on the bench until I figured it out. My youngest son showed up about that time. Being a model airplane builder himself he's got a very good eye for straightness. After about 15 minutes he came to the conclusion that my right side jury strut was twisted a bit. He fudged things around until it everything was symmetrical and had established that it was the front leg of the jury strut which needed some love.
I decided to call it a night at that point and return the next day. I started all over again and confirmed exactly what my son had found. At the start of yesterday's build session I created 3 more red neck plumb bobs and spent quite a while staring at everything, and having all four strings hanging made it super obvious where that twist was in the right jury strut.
Super happy to say that by yesterday afternoon my jury struts were perfectly rigged, symmetrical from side to side and that they are now bonded/riveted to the spars. I had hoped to pull the wings off and have them back home in my one car garage for varnishing but that didn't happen. I'm hoping to get that done this evening.
Attachment 28388
Fitted and Cleco'd but not yet bonded.
As a side note, once I had my brackets located perfectly I pulled off the round tube jury struts to see if it would be possible to use the aero tube struts in the same location. That is a big "no", so that experiment is over.
In other news
I've been spending some time with my EAA Solidworks seat and have come pretty close to working out a forward boot cowl. It will take up the space from the firewall to the back of the engine. Still very much a work in progress, I need to split this piece in two so it can be installed/removed with the engine in place (duh) and add an access door for the oil filler/dipstick.
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Re: Project 5 build thread
Alex, good job with the use of solidworks. So I take it that when you receive your engine you will be making your fine adjustments with the forward and vertical positioning of the engine or do you already pretty much have that finalized?? I'm just wondering how close your final measurements will be to my mockup I did on my model IV.
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Re: Project 5 build thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Freedom2
Alex, good job with the use of solidworks. So I take it that when you receive your engine you will be making your fine adjustments with the forward and vertical positioning of the engine or do you already pretty much have that finalized?? I'm just wondering how close your final measurements will be to my mockup I did on my model IV.
Robin,
My engine mount design is pretty solid in terms of vertical height and distance from the firewall. I'll send you some dimensions.
Attachment 28448
Today I got my first coat of epoxy varnish on the wings. I was concerned that I bit off more than I could chew in terms of the quantity of epoxy varnish I mixed up, and that it would start to gel before I could get everything coated. In the end I had sufficient varnish to coat all the ribs, false ribs and butt ribs on both wings. I even had time to go back over everything for any spots I missed and to add some where it had soaked in and looked dry.
Attachment 28449
After that it was time to prep the aluminum flaperon attach brackets which get bonded/riveted into the tail end of the wing ribs. Here they are with Alodine completed.
Re: Project 5 build thread
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Re: Project 5 build thread
Well my planetary impact detector arrived yesterday. I also got some hardware and some more epoxy varnish but those aren't as exciting.
Attachment 28450
I now have two coats of varnish on the wing ribs. I'm away from the garage for a day but when I get back to it I'll look everything over carefully for missed spots and decide if I'm going full boat with sanding and a 3rd coat.
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Re: Project 5 build thread
Hi Alex, you may already know about this guy, but in my travels at OSH, I ran into this guy with a verner radial on his kitfox , and thought you may want to know about him. Apparently he recently did this install to relace a Rotec with the verner. Might be a helpful resource during your upcoming engine install. Bruce N199CL
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Re: Project 5 build thread
Re: Project 5 build thread
Bruce,
Thanks for taking those pics and posting them. I've talked to Ted on the phone for over an hour and exchanged several emails with him. The plane belongs to a customer of his and it was in the Rotec booth a couple of years ago. His installation is the Scarlett 9 cylinder which is pretty awesome. I was stoked to see a video of his first engine run and first flight a few months back. They were having vibration issues with the old 3 blade Ivoprop and had a 2 blade Culver on order. He told me the lead time for the Culver was several months so that must be a borrowed example installed for Oshkosh.
Kicking myself a bit for not making more effort to get to OSH this year. Pretty much everyone I know made it including all three US reps for Verner, and of course the whole Kitfox crew, my warbird friends, fellow instructors, former students, yadda, yadda.
My excuse is that I had ribs to varnish and fuel tanks to bond in. Next year for sure...