Back to work

I can't believe I left it so long, but at last I've started aligning the ribs on the spar prior to gluing. You'd think I could have done that ages ago, but no. Got cold feet. Thought the worst might happen. Too busy etc etc. Meanwhile back at the fuselage I'm still stuck on the Jabiru firewall dimensions.

outboard ribs mounted

 
Taking far longer than I ever c ould have imagined. I imagined - finish spar, slot ribs on. Not what? Doesn't fit. Smidge to wide. Sand here, and here and here, and oh a bit more and oh my goodness three, no four, no five months later!
Now to get them accurately aligned and glued in. Then make ailerons. Etc etc

fuselage

such as it is..

wing spar finished

Aint she a beauty? Only took me $2000 and two years to complete. Unbelievable. Now to put the ribs on. Ailerons. Leading edge ply. trailing edges. Rig and cover.

Spar stories

Getting almost to the end of the trimming of that most important aeroplane part, the wing spar. In this case the one-piece aerobatic heavy duty modded wing spar. I am sanding down to the mm tolerance now before mounting it in a new jig to thread the ribs and ailerons on.

 
Finally have gotten around to building this. Already have the 1/2 inch ply laid on top and marking it out for the sides to bend and glue onto the spacer / bulkheads inside the fuselage. I'm working again on this thing!

Reciprocal saw for the wing spar

I've been cutting that spar by hand for what? seven or eight months? A year? I cant remember. And only half way through it. So over it. Then someone said, why dont you get a reciprocal saw? What's that I said. Never heard of one! THat's it lying on the spar. Like one of those electric knives for carving meat. Anyway, it's not that much quicker than by hand! Actually I measured it and it's abotu ten time quicker! But the blasted spruce is that hard that it still seems slow. I should finish within a month now at this rate. Instead of about another year!

Fuselage jig

This is the base for the fuselage jig. I have already put on the 1/2" ply top and drawn the fuse outline on it. I already have the fuse sides. Now, to jig up and cut out, then join.

Checked out in the Victa Airtourer

160hp constant speed prop flaperons sliding canopy with centre-stick. What's not to like about this Aussie veteran which is the club's replacement aero mount from the Robin. Good radio stack. K took me up over the bombing range for an upper air check out. THere was lots of traffic and one of my headset's phones was shot, so I was only hearinf out of one ear, which wasnt helping me concentrate on all the calls as well as what K wanted me to do. Steep turns and wing overs were fun as was stalls and then we glided back over the field for a PFL. Gliding into two helicopters, an incoming 150 followed by an Airbus and I mucked the approach by waiting my turn in the pattern. On climb out from the second botch after putting on too much flap we notice the Manifold Pressure gauge was sticking again, this time for good. We had done three perfect landings so we packed up and K checked with the engineering and maintenance people for the club about it. Get her to Cessnock where R was waiting to fix her up. But how, I wasnt checked out in the Archer, our only other aircraft and K and I were the only pilots on the ground.Fine, I'll fly the ATourer with the broken MP guage. Just set the prop by ear. It's the second time I'd flown it! Kerry will follow in the Archer.

Airborne and set in the cruise at 1500 ft K formates on my left wing as he said he would. Holy shit! I'd never been so close to another aircraft so close even on the ground! Dont look at it, look ahead and fly smooth. K is the formation instructor. He pulls back and underneath and formates on my right then comes up. I ease away a little to the left opening up a space between us. Is he looking at my MP gauge?!

He adds speed and I follow him about 150 metres, and keep bouncing in his wake! Ease right takes care of it. I hear C call into Cessnock in his helo. "Hi C" "G'day mate" He thought I was someone else.

K is 2/3 a mile ahead of me into the pattern and I am on final as he is pulling off the runway. Another fine landing and I taki to R's hangar our repairer and C's dad. We chat and then head back. K gives checks me out in the Archer on the way back. It is easy to fly. Just a big old Warrior. The check out is part of the Tourer ferry, so it pays to be at the right place at the right time. Three flights for the price of one. And two checks. Did I say the weather was wonderful flying weather.. ? Ahh Hunter Valley flying. It's the best!

Fuse jig table

 
Finished the 1/2" ply top and drawing the dimensions on it now.

Fuselage sides jigged and done

First pic is of the second side just popped outof the jig resting on the jig table. Second is of both sides. There are battens glued on to help hold together for travel before gluing together with ply insert bulkheads.

Fuselage longerons

 

cut guide set up

 
I sterted off with out a cut guide thinking I could control the cut ok, which I did for about 12 inches before the cut went inside the line! luckily I have more wood than I need and can flip over after one mistake. The guide can actually be a little rough on the saw but the cost of the saw over the cost of the spar makes it a worthwhile control measure.

Spar thickness cut layout

 
This is how the spar is not set up to cut the tapered thickness (smallest dimension 18ft(l) x 6.5in (w) x 2in (t))
where is tapers from 0.5in at the tips to in the middle. Note the aluminiaaum cut guides clamped on about a quarter of the way in with the saw through the cut. Long hard slog that cut is I can tell you.

Aeros

0.6 hrs solo yesterday in the Robin. Broken nimbo-stratus between 2500-4000 feet but clear over the coast so did some lazy eights, rolls and steep turns over Stockton beach. Couple of touch and goes

Port Stephens from the Robin

 

Maitland and back

I ducked into the club to get checked out in the 150 so I could get a little bit of cheap scenic flying in. I hadn't flown since January!!! so according to club rules I needed a quick check ride. Would I take P over to Maitland for the check and he could then pick up the Robin? Sure.

Nice takeoff when 100 ft off the deck my window blows open. No big deal. Check airspeed, balance, climb. Slowly reach out and grab it. I dont like my watch hanging out there. And bring it in. And shut it properly this time. Seemed closed on the checks. Oh well.

P had just set up a student for a solo nav into the Upper Hunter so the lifting of the fog was of vital interest. Willy was clear but west there was lots of low cumulus embedded in fog. It didnt look good from here, but as we reached East Maitland you could see that it was transparent enough for VFR and was dissipating in the very slight breeze from the west.

And at East Maitland, just over the top of the Model Aircraft field, P shouts look, two o'clock, model aircraft. What? Sure enough, perspective and distance making it look like a real low wing aircraft about 200 ft below our 1500 ft, a green radio controlled aeroplane. Flying straight and level parallel to our track about 200 m away. We are outrunning it (at 85kts!!) so I turn a little towards it to keep it in my view. It does a half roll then loops into a rolling hammerhead, then drops out of sight below us. We turn back towards YMND.

Nice approach into an empty circuit for 23 YMND and dropped of P while I fuelled up the Cessna. P wanted to wait to make sure the Robin started. It did after the usual pre0flight checks. By that stage all the fog-back-logged lessons and joy flights were starting up and I jsut managed to race to the head of the queue. Because of all the rain the grass taxiway was a big puddle so everyone backtracked to the detents and the 23 threshold. By the time they all arrived I completed my checks, and blasted off. The Robin two behind me.

Beautiful Saturday morning, traffic, coal trains, shopping centres, parks, sports, rivers and mountains. A lovely hour in the air.

Spar Trimming

It's taken a lot longer than I thought to get this spar done. Having finished the laminations and ending up with a spar sized "blank", worked a reasonable compromise between the plans' dimensions and the unexplained "750 lb mod" (enabling an extra 100lbs wt to be carried on the aircraft) drawing a (slightly) curved taper from the centre to the wingtips, I had to cut it down to size. By hand. Slow but safer. After an hour's cutting with handsaw, over a couple of days I think evilly what about the power saw? It's a hand drawn circular saw. Freak me out. I draw a parallel line 1/4" outside the actual dimension to allow for blade error and try to keep the cut outside that line. I test and am able to hold it parallel. Stop the saw to assess. But before the blade slows I relax my grip, it catches and propels back along the direction of cut. Yipes! The teeth cut outside the line perilously close to the actual line. In fact right on it. I could have trashed it. Finish the job with the hand saw. Use the electric planer to smooth the rest of the cut and bring the cut right up to the line with the belt sander. Success. But will not use the circular saw again. Too dangerous. That's cut one of four on the vertical plane. Three more then rotate the spar through 90 degrees to cut two cuts on the horizontal plane.

Fuselage Jig

 

Transferred the drawing onto the jig base thanks to the Corby Starlet Newsletter I bought from the editor Vic Boyce - handy builders notes. Gluing guide blocks onto it tonight. Does both sides.

Laminations complete. Let the trimming begin!

I finished the final laminate layer before Easter. Since then I've been sanding front and back faces flat and having chosen a most flat face, I went to the least flat face and practiced the precision drawing onto the spar blank - of The Cut. Having got that largely wrong (the plans says the spar has a straight taper, but that doesn't explain the 750lb mod to the top centre of the spar which distorts the calcs). I tried again on the other side and decided to compromise the straightness with a more even curve top and bottom. There's already a warp and washout built into the rib angles so a minor extra curve should be ok, (Wait for covering problems!).

 

Now I am read for The Cut. But how?

Hand saw. Slowly and carefully. I'm not taking it to a professional. If the they bugger it up there would be serious trouble.

I thought optimistically this could be done by the End of January! Anyway, I am building my fuse jig too.