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Thread: Building a Nieuport 11...

  1. #681

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
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    Alabama
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    Spoke to Robert Baslee from Airdrome about my brake woes, and he is sending me a set of drum brakes to use instead of the band ones.

    I'll have to make custom backing plates, etc., but I've been down that road and have the templates for it.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  2. #682

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
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    Alabama
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    Hmmm, let's try this again.

    Prop hub on the crankshaft? Yep.



    Everything all lined up and the case put back together? Yep.



    After torquing the case nuts I stopped for the day. I was getting all scatter brained and started setting things down and forgetting where I put it and not finding things that were right in the open.

    Not a good way to be when I had the task of positioning piston rings and putting the pistons in the cylinders. Better to call it a day, drink some water, and get something to eat.

    I borrowed a bit from the instructions on the circle thingie that goes between the flat oil slinger and the prop hub. With it on the crankshaft I couldn't get a good view if the prop hub was fully seated or not when mounting it. It said that it could be split and the join rotated horizontally in the case once joined, so I did that.
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  3. #683

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
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    Clarklake, MI
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    is that a Force 1 hub from GPAC?

    Great engine pics!

  4. #684

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    Aug 2011
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    Alabama
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    It's not a Force One, but it is a shrink fit hub from Great Plains.

    They really are great. They went above and beyond in answering my questions, even in areas not covered by my purchase of a prop hub, crankshaft, bearings, and gasket set.

    A huge plus for a guy like me is that they speak do-hickey.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  5. #685

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Alabama
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    I need a pinion removal tool to back out and re-align the distributor gear...I was off a tooth when I put the darned thing back together. It's on its way and should be here Tuesday or Wednesday.

    Then it's a matter of putting the bolt into the prop hub (Dave has it to drill a hole for the cotter pin), putting the Diehl case and starter on the back of it, putting the spark plugs in, mounting it on the engine, filling it with oil, and seeing if she'll start and adjust the timing.

    Getting closer....

    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  6. #686
    Sam Buchanan's Avatar
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    Nov 2011
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    KDCU
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    567
    Frank, good to see your engine coming back together...it has been quite the journey!

    I see one item that you might want to consider. With "aviation engines" it is standard practice to NOT have any pressure senders mounted to the engine block. The concern is engine vibration might crack the threaded portion of the sender due to the weight of the sender fatiguing the brass threaded portion. This concern is alleviated by mounting the sender on the firewall and connecting it to the engine with a flexible hose. You may never have a problem with the sender as installed, but if it cracks you may be going through this overhaul thing again. The flexible hose is good insurance and easily installed.

    Here are the fuel and oil pressure senders mounted on the firewall of my RV-6:

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    I would also drill a small hole in the oil filler cap so it can be safety wired. More cheap insurance.

    Best wishes for a successful engine break-in!
    Last edited by Sam Buchanan; 05-19-2017 at 11:36 AM.
    Sam Buchanan
    The RV Journal RV-6 build log
    Fokker D.VII semi-replica build log

  7. #687

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    Aug 2011
    Location
    Alabama
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    So engine is pretty much done. Just have to put on the valve covers, torque the spark plugs and hook them up, and mount the engine and prop.

    Just to show how my "bad luck/good luck" life works, there's a little spring that goes between the cam gear for the distributor and the distributor. Once everything is lined up as it should be, one simply drops it into a hole on the gear and puts the distributor on top of it.

    There is a cut in the side of the well where the distributor fits in to meet the gear, no doubt to allow oil in and out, and is about a third the way up from the cam gear. It is horizontal. The spring goes in vertically.

    I know that it is the perfect size - not one bit bigger or smaller than absolutely necessary for a zero tolerance fit - for the spring to fit through. The spring fell to its side and I used my little wooden skewer to pick it up and it simply vanished. Gone. Not popped out, just gone.

    The spring is in the engine. The tiny half inch long three eighths inch wide spring Is. In. The. Engine.

    Breathe.

    Flashlight down the hole. Can't see it. Start undoing the bolts to the plate where the mechanical fuel pump would go.

    Have my two Pros From Dover gently step in and volunteer, suggesting I sit in a chair and let them do it. Apparently I looked like I was about to rip the whole thing apart with my bare hands while producing a stream of profanities that would probably take the paint off the cars parked outside the hangar.

    Pump plate removed. Flashlight. No spring seen.

    Oil filler plate removed. Flashlight. Silence. More flashlight. "Hand me that magnet," Rusty says, and expertly removes it from the bottom of the engine.

    So fantastically terrible luck in having the spring go into the engine, but also wondrous good luck that it could be spotted and fished out.

    From there things went pretty quickly, and we moved the engine onto a stand over by the aircraft, hooking up various electrical things and turning it over to set the timing. It was off initially, but thanks to the flashy flash gun and an allen wrench, we soon got things right.

    I'd of mounted the engine on the plane, but it seems it's a bit bent. I don't know if I can true it up with a jury rigged press or have to make a new one, but I'm not too upset with that. It's just four pieces of square steel stock and some welds. Not to throw shade at Robert, but I can throw a bead of the same quality as is presented on the part from his how without much difficulty.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  8. #688

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Alabama
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    So a few pics to show that I'm not just malingering.

    First, let's back up a bit and talk about the tail wheel mod I did. The Airdrome method is to take some .020 aluminum sheet, bend it into a box shaped U, and secure with some 1/8" rivets to give a flat surface for the horn to rest on.

    This works okay for most, as they fly from grass.

    This is the state of the grass at my airport as of yesterday afternoon, and the reason for my flip:



    So I took some nice thick square aluminum stock that fit snugly around the tube, cut it to fit, and over sleeved the tail wheel tube:



    There's an AN3 bolt that runs horizontal behind the vertical to take some of the stress off of the bolt that holds on the tail wheel.



    Engine is mounted to the aircraft!



    Naturally there's a comedy of errors to go with the mounting, but not too many and I managed to get it on okay.

    I was getting a bit frustrated putting the mount on the engine, as I'd line stuff up, move a bit and have something move or a washer fall off or something (I put the mount on the engine and then pick the whole thing up and mate it to the aircraft).

    Fortunately, my builder's log is at the hangar and I flipped to the relevant page. There, with pictures, is a little line that said "I found it much easier to line up the bottom two mounts first and then the top."

    Ah. Smart man. I did it that way and it went right on with no further trouble.

    I did some work on the brakes as well, mostly just lining things up to see how they'll shake out.

    I might have gotten more done, but Mike was putting the finishing touches on his KR2, having rebuilt and mounted his newly refurbished engine.



    I told him his baffling needs to look more crappy to meet my standards.

    Back up this afternoon for re-timing and possibly firing up the engine.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  9. #689
    Frank, Glad you are going to be back in the wind again. What tail wheel assembly is that?

    Jim

  10. #690

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Alabama
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    2,236
    That's an Airdrome Airplanes tail wheel assembly, Giger Modification.

    Robert just uses a 1" steel tube that's been bent that has a bungee around it in the front, an AN3 bolt through some gussets about 2/3rds down, a flat horn, and a square bit of stock below it holding the wheel. The horn and the wheel holder are joined to the tube by means of an AN3 bolt.

    The smaller hard rubber wheel supplied fell apart on the grooved pavement I fly off of, so I used a larger wheel gifted by one of my EAA brothers and made a mount for it out of a bit of square roll bar.

    Making the square fitting around the tube should help beef it up against any lateral loads and end the bending of vertical bolts.

    A little more progress done yesterday.



    My camera had crapped out, so Mike, a fellow EAA'r with a lovely KR2, took this photo. Sunlight on the tip makes it look candy corned.

    A few other things done:

    Brake handle mounted; I need to get some more cable to fit the new location, but I like the routing paths. They aren't going to interfere with anything.

    Engine was re-timed and ran well!

    And more stuff to do:

    In all the shuffling of stuff around my hangar, I mislaid two of my 10mm bolts needed to mount the oil cooler. Simple enough to replace, but it's disconcerting.

    Go on a bug hunt. Paper wasps are in full swing, and industrious suckers. On the other side of the aircraft from me, right about where the prop tip is on the back side of the firewall one had started a nest.

    I know this because I put my hand there without looking and got stung for my effort. Just three cells, so she had clearly just begun her work. But that means I've got to seriously look at each piece of the aircraft to ensure I don't have more.
    Last edited by Frank Giger; 07-03-2017 at 09:05 AM.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

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