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Thread: Building a Nieuport 11...

  1. #701

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    Aug 2011
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    Sam, it's hard to tell from the photos, but I'm really close to 90 degrees, and a bit of inefficiency is a-okay with me!

    Here she is as I left her yesterday, wings on and ready for rigging.



    Next up after rigging:

    Touch up the center wing over-wrap section, repair and mount the gun, patch the access holes I had to cut for installing wires, touch up paint, re-time the engine, and it's on to taxi tests.

    I'm not going to cover the wheels until I know everything is good with the brakes.

    Sam, I received a letter in the mail from the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, VA inviting my aircraft and myself to their airshow, which will feature WWI aircraft. They did an FAA search for all WWI sounding planes to gain participation. I'm sure you got one, too.

    Sure, it's a kind of form letter and they got my first name wrong, but I was pretty jazzed by it.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  2. #702

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    Aug 2011
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    Well, that went over like a fart in church.

    Turns out that when I originally cut my inter-plane struts, the front left one was a bit shorter than the other, which means the top wing wouldn't go into rig.

    Why not now when it did before? Beats the hell outta me! But best to repair it and replace with the proper length. And yes, even with the lower wing having a higher incidence than the one on the other side she flew hands off in level flight at cruise. Weird.

    So talk to Robert Baslee and he said he'd send one out on Tuesday.

    It's Saturday and still no tube....I guess USPS is running a bit slow.

    I went out to the airport with a long bit of wood measure out the new strut, as it's a lot easier and cheaper to cut down and whittle a bit of lumber than a flattened tube.

    I also had a bit of a flashback. I pulled out the plans to see what the length there called for and laughed. "As Required," is the dimension listed.

    So using the other one as a starting point, I matched it and fussed a little to get the measurements just right:



    It's just held in with clamps, but the wing is level with a little tension.

    Speaking of which, with the strut longer than the one I had originally installed, my wires are too short. At least too short to tighten without leaving threads exposed. So I get to cut and swag new cables. Hurray!

    I guess my deep desire to drive my swagging tool (unaffectionately known as the M'Fer to me) to the Tennessee River and throwing it as far in as I could was a good thing to have repressed.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  3. #703
    cub builder's Avatar
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    Nov 2011
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    Heck Frank, it's looking good. Just don't wreck it again before I get a chance to come look it over next spring. :o)

    -Cub Builder

  4. #704

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    Aug 2011
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    LOL.

    Went out to the airport today and tightened the wires on that left wing (wing strut replaced, of course), as they were too loose for my liking. Now they'll sing rather than thrum.

    Center section is on, and I'm repairing the gun to go over the wing.

    I am in the taxi portion again, as the aircraft is in all ways ready for flight, excepting the validation of the brakes. A LOT of taxi stuff, dialing in the brakes to ensure they won't get hot and lock up. My EAA brothers were out there and we think we have them dialed in....they stop the aircraft from taxi speed on pavement in about 15 feet when fully applied, and will hold the aircraft in place when started. It took some explaining to do on why I want "weak" brakes, but I don't need anything more than that (I don't have a run-up, for example), and it's just to slow down on a taxi way or to slow down a tad to make a turn off.

    Plus every single mechanical problem I've had with this aircraft has been related to brakes. Every. Single. One. If I were operating off of grass, I'd omit them entirely.

    The other thing I'm working up is a mechanical airspeed indicator, which is a blade attached to some music wire that bends against wind resistance to indicate the airspeed. My crappy Falcon ASI is ten MPH fast, and I'm too cheap to replace it or have it serviced, as it's firmly in the "nice to have" instruments. I stole Rick Bennet's plans for it off of the KC Dawn Patrol's website and we'll see how that goes.

    Wife is getting a little nervous, particularly since I'm coming back from the airport with the "airplane gleam" in my eye. Such a lovely woman, she worries for the both of us - and has no idea that on the scale of "risky sh*t" I've done in my life, this is about a three. I promised her I won't fly until I'm fully satisfied it's a-okay and have a full ground crew (which I'd have anyway).
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  5. #705

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    Jul 2011
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    Frank,
    i just wanted to wish you the best. Please be safe (and yes I did read the above post that you are taking every step necessary for your safety , but I felt compelled to say it anyway)
    Rick

  6. #706

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    Yep.

    I was thinking about the darned novel I'm going to have to write up for the logbooks (yes, I know, but I'm going to fully document in them anyway), and it occurred to me I'm close to needing the Conditional Inspection done. Since I've gone over the entire aircraft up close - including removing the wings, repairing them, rebuilding the engine, replacing a gear strut, putting on a new prop, etc., I think I can safely sign off on that, too.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  7. #707
    Dana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Giger View Post
    My crappy Falcon ASI is ten MPH fast, and I'm too cheap to replace it or have it serviced, as it's firmly in the "nice to have" instruments.
    Is it the gauge, or is it the static source? I put a Falcon ASI in my Fisher, and it was dead on when checked with a manometer. Getting static air from behind the panel it too was ten MPH fast, but once I put static ports in the aft fuselage it was accurate.

  8. #708

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    I suppose I could move the static line a third time; but I'm not optimistic.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  9. #709
    Sam Buchanan's Avatar
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    Nov 2011
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    If there is no dedicated static source I suspect the airspeed error is static-related instead of an instrument problem. On the Legal Eagle I tried various schemes for getting static within the cabin and couldn't eliminate significant error. The final solution ended up being an easily fabricated pitot-static mast mounted on the wing:

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    It is simply two lengths of 1/4" copper tubing secured to a plate that attaches to the bottom of the wing. The same scheme could be used for pitot-static probes attached to a wing strut. The upper tube is plugged but drilled with several tiny holes and supplies static. The lower tube is the ram pitot source. This contraption worked so well on the Legal Eagle I duplicated it for the Fokker D.VII and the airspeed is dead on with a cheap Falcon airspeed indicator.
    Last edited by Sam Buchanan; 09-04-2017 at 11:16 AM.
    Sam Buchanan
    The RV Journal RV-6 build log
    Fokker D.VII semi-replica build log

  10. #710
    DaleB's Avatar
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    Sep 2015
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    OK, that's pretty slick. I had seen pictures of several planes with dual pitot tubes like that and wondered why there were two. Now I guess I know. I'll have to remember that when I get to that stage on my own bipland.
    Measure twice, cut once...
    scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.

    Flying an RV-12. I am building a Fisher Celebrity, slowly.

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