Update!

#2 Almost finished. Cory decided to paint the cowl and go with the new nace design. He ran on big naca versus two smaller naca's for the inter-cooler cooling. With the heat exchanger and dropping the bottom lip we are no longer concerned with water temps or oil temps. I completely have my oil cooler covered and the other day with OAT 60f I saw 205 on oil temps in the climb. Level flight was 190. Water temps and oil temps stay within 10degrees of each other so the heat exchanger seems to be pretty efficient. Now OATS are starting to warm up a bit I will start to uncover the oil cooler some.

With testing the acrylic fuel sight gauges in a mason jar filled with 91 and after 3 weeks they have become soft, so acrylic is NOT a good option.

Only thing left on #2 is the interior.

#1 Has come back to its birth place! After getting permission to land in the city park, talking to the fsdo office I decided against it. Then I decided to try the field next to my house. I actually went to the IBEX lake bed and setup a mock field with a fence to simulate landing in the feild by my house. The field by my house measured by me is 775'. I have a 5' fence to clear. I was figuring I would lose 180' landing distance having to clear the fence. So when I was at the lake bed I setup some whip flaps and streamer to see if my math was correct. I lost 175' clearing the flags and then stopping under 300' Total landing distance was 475 consistently. Its a grass field so I was going to go with a 1.6 factor, jet pilots will know what I am talking about. That gives me factored landing distance of 760'. Called and talked to the farmer and he was good with it. Well I ended up deciding against it because of my job. Decide because I would be coming in over the local school on approach, I did not want someone calling the FAA on me, not that I am doing anything wrong, but don't want any hassle. Bottom of the thread is the response from the FAA when asking about landing at the school. So I ended up just trailer it back home. With Scott's transport kit it was pretty non-eventful.

I am doing a condition inspection while I wait for the new exhaust from Edge Performance. Currently the exhaust is notorious for leaks. Thomas has resigned the exhaust that should flow better and seal better. Win win!
I have also decided to move my exhaust to exit out of the bottom of the cowl also. Like the looks better and should keep the gear leg clean. Much easier to install and remove the cowling also.

I did a leakdown check, and got an initial scare of low readings! These engines are really sensitive to TDC for accurate reading. Here are the results 83 83 83 84 PSI. Tested at 87 PSI and cold.

Last but not least upgrade is I bit the bullet and removed the baggage sack. Because we are one of the first STI's our instructions for the wings where not correct on the spacing of the flapperon control rod. They have now updated the instructions, but it caused the holes for the control rods to pass through the baggage sack to be off. So, to get by I just had to cut a slit. It looks cheap so kitfox had the triangle piece re-made for us. I was planning on just unstiching and sowing on the new piece with the baggage sack still installed but decided that would be a pain. Decided to remove the bagage sack. To re-install with the aircraft covered I am just going to install rivnuts. (Anyone reading this I would highly recommend nutplates or rivenuts so you can remove the baggage floor board if you ever need to.) With the baggage floor board out, I decided to extend the extended baggage! Really wanted to make it so a full long barrel rifle could fit in the baggage. Sowed a zipper and a 14" pocket. This is so I can sit a gun case and put the end of the barrel down in the pocket. The pocket is to make sure nothing ends up in the tail of the aircraft. Most of the time it will stayed zipped closed, unless we put some rifles in it.

I am working on getting my cowling painting, and painting the stained oratex. Aerographics is working on some decals and some stripe renderings and then it will be time to put her back together and at that point call it complete!


ALMOST READY!



Back home!






Shock Monster testing!


Inspection time!







New exhaust!




Pocket for rifle end!




Lined the pocket to make sure nothing ended up in the tail of the airplane

Last trip to Mexican Mountain before I took her apart!



Dustin,

There are too many variables for us to provide a comprehensive list of possible issues affecting a safe landing, or takeoff, in a park. Therefore, I will attempt to answer in a very general manner.

If a person lands on private property, we consider it a land use issue. If they have/have not received permission to use the land, it is a matter between the landowner, police, and town.

However, we do have safety concerns and authority over the pilot and aircraft that is used during the operation. The pilot has all the obligations and responsibility when landing as with any other flight. Therefore, all sections of the regulations apply wherever an aircraft may take-off or land.

The location is not remote, and has the potential to affect non-participants, creating a hazard to persons or property on the surface. The pilot and others should consider prior to flight, and be prepared for the armchair corner backing that will take place if there is a mishap.

A few issues of the issues would be:
How was the approach/departure path determined to be safe?
How was the landing surface determined to be suitable for the operation?
What are the performance figures for the aircraft during the operation?
Is the aircraft in a condition for safe flight?
What is the weather, and how would it affect the operation?
Is the pilot capable of performing the needed standards, and should it be performed, for the conditions?
How was the site secured to prevent non-participants from entering during the operations?
Who was authorized to be on site during the operation, and why?
When was the operation expected to take place, and why?

The list can go on-and-on.

We do not approve, accept, or endorse this type of operation. Any liability falls back on the pilot, land owner, and those who may have authorized the operation.