Page 94 of 109 FirstFirst ... 44849293949596104 ... LastLast
Results 931 to 940 of 1083

Thread: Building a Nieuport 11...

  1. #931

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Alabama
    Posts
    2,236
    Thanks for the kind words once again.

    A couple of weeks ago I had my second real scare in the aircraft, and the largest of the two. The first was when a bit of coaming foam jammed a rudder cable for a minute, but freed itself. That was disconcerting.*

    This latest was when I replaced the valve cover gaskets and the left one didn't seat properly and shifted on takeoff. Climbing out and diverting from the pattern early to let someone else take off, I did my usual scan of the aircraft to see a river of oil coating the left wing! I immediately told the traffic what was going on, did a nice little three quarter circle, and bounced her in for a very short landing for the first turn off.

    She still had two quarts of oil left when I shut her down, temps were fine, as was the oil pressure. No harm done to the aircraft. I replaced the valve cover gasket, making triple sure the contact cement to hold in in place was at full tackiness before installing it on the engine.** It's amazing just how much oil goes through the valve covers.

    The same day I had to do a little circle on the taxiway before the run-up area to allow a guy to land. First time I ever needed brakes, and it would have been nice to have them.

    So yesterday I went up to the airport and put the brake shoes back into the housing, adjusting them to be very light, enough to slow and stop the aircraft from taxi speed in about a third the distance of rolling with the engine off (but with the engine on).They will hold the aircraft in place at and just above idle.

    The oil leak was very annoying outside of the whole engine wrecking/forced landing possibilities. The Hobbs meter is showing 39.1 hours. While I actually have more flight time than than in the aircraft and have crossed the 40 hours to leave Test Phase, I decided long ago to use the Hobbs for that just to make the books look logical. I'm looking forward to putting the magic words in the logbooks and travelling to exotic places outside of the 25 nautical mile circle around the airfield such as Shelby County Airport, Fort Payne, etc.

    Lots still to improve on the aircraft, though:

    First, I'm going to pull the fuel level cork, dry it out completely, and put a thin film of JB Weld on it. None of the varnishes I've used on it have held up, and once again it's sodden and not floating properly. While I'm a firm believer that the only time one has too much fuel on the aircraft is when it is on fire (I generally fly with a full or near full tank), I also think it's a good idea to know how much fuel one has on board the aircraft.

    Second, I'm going to have to pad the back of the seat. While she's a fun aircraft to fly, having a sheet metal back means it gets a tad uncomfortable after an hour. I have a cushion made for cars right now, but it's not cutting the mustard.

    Third, those wheels need covering. While there were Nieuports flying around without them during the war, she'll look a lot better with them. I'm going to do them at the same time I epoxy the cork, as the plane will be down while the wheels dry.

    Fourth, the coaming is still s--t. It's minor, but irritates me to no end that I seem to lack the skill for what should be a minor task.

    Fifth, time to touch up the paint on the metal bits. I've got some Krylon flaking off here and there, owing to a poor job of priming the metal. I may resort to stripping it off, lightly etching, re-priming, and re-painting.

    All told, though, I'm pretty satisfied with the aircraft. She does everything as advertised, both good and bad, and is just enough of a handful to make things interesting without being scary. Between her German accented French and my Southern drawl, we've come up with a common language to speak to each other with.***

    Yes, there are some other minor things I want to tweak as well, but they're well down the list.

    * Flipping the aircraft wasn't scary in the least. There wasn't any time to get scared, as it happened too fast. "Wait, what's going on here? Oh, I'm upside down. Crap."

    ** This is fairly standard practice in VW engines, as the cork gaskets can move away from the valve covers to allow leaks when seating them. Applying a bit of contact cement prevents that.

    *** I figured out that while she's French, she must come from Alsace. She responds to German without question, as if it's her first language. And yes, I'm a nut who talks to his aircraft using bits of three languages.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  2. #932
    rwanttaja's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    2,948
    Good stuff again, Frank.

    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Giger View Post
    First, I'm going to pull the fuel level cork, dry it out completely, and put a thin film of JB Weld on it. None of the varnishes I've used on it have held up, and once again it's sodden and not floating properly.
    I use shellac. I set up a stand to hold the gas cap/wire/cork ten inches or so above the workbench, then set an open can of shellac under it and lower the cork into the shellac. Leave it completely immersed for ten seconds or so, then pull it out and let it hang until dry.

    Also, when I park the plane in the hangar, I pull the wire up to get the cork clear of the fuel and pin it with a plastic spring clip. That way, it doesn't spend much time actually in contact with the gas.

    Even when I don't use the clip, I haven't had a problem with a sodden cork. I wonder if there's a difference in the gasoline additives, between the Pacific Northwest and your Southern locale.

    Ron Wanttaja
    Last edited by rwanttaja; 02-12-2019 at 10:58 AM.

  3. #933

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Alabama
    Posts
    2,236
    I may try that instead. JB Weld is wonderful stuff, but it's not flexible in the least once dried.

    Also, pinning the cork above the fuel while it sits is so simple it's brilliant. Once again, I bow to you, sir.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  4. #934
    Sam Buchanan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    KDCU
    Posts
    567
    Frank, if you can find an RV aircraft builder nearby you might borrow some tank sealant. That stuff will hold up to gasoline for a long time (still holding gas in my RV tanks after 20 years...). Just kinda paint it onto the cork with a Popsicle stick in a thin coat and let it cure for several days.
    Last edited by Sam Buchanan; 02-12-2019 at 02:06 PM.
    Sam Buchanan
    The RV Journal RV-6 build log
    Fokker D.VII semi-replica build log

  5. #935
    Dana's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    928
    Shellac has been used for fuel corks for years and is the thing to use, if and only if you will never use mogas with ethanol.

    Or you can do what I did on my Starduster, replace the cork with a plastic Model A fuel gauge float (actually I used two of them on the wire to get enough flotation).
    Last edited by Dana; 02-12-2019 at 03:51 PM.

  6. #936
    rwanttaja's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    2,948
    Quote Originally Posted by Dana View Post
    Or you can do what I did on my Starduster, replace the cork with a plastic Model A fuel gauge float (actually I used two of them on the wire to get enough flotation).
    Oh, man...bad flashback. To about 1989.

    I was flying the original Fly Baby, N500F as part of the Chapter 26 flying club. The cork float on the old fuel cap was looking pretty tough. Decided to replace it.

    Attempt #1

    I found a nice big cork at the local hardware store, intended for closing the top of a thermos bottle. I installed it on the wire, slid it through the cap, bent the top, shellacked the cork, and let it dry. Tested it in water, took it out to the airport.

    Turned out the cork was too big to go into the fuel tank opening. It was tapered, not cylindrical like a wine cork, and the small end was small enough but the flare was too much.


    Attempt #2

    Grabbed my trusty jackknife, whittled the cork down, shellacked it again, let it dry. Tested it in the sink, then took it to the airport.

    It fit...but the cork plunged to the bottom of its travel. Worked in water, gasoline is less dense...it meant the cork didn't have enough buoyancy.

    Attempt 451

    Took it off, bought TWO corks, trimmed them down, put them inline, and shellacked them.

    By this point I was getting impatient. Didn't want another overnight wait for the shellac to dry. I grabbed my big mondo heat gun (bought at Boeing Surplus), cranked it up, and pointed it at the corks.

    A few seconds later, they caught fire. Looked like a couple of abused marshmallows at a cookout.

    Attempt #4

    So... two new corks, lather, rinse, repeat, and flew Fly Baby N500F for years with the stacked cork system.

    About ten years later, after I'd bought my own Fly Baby, I figured it needed a new cork on the fuel cap.

    I bought an off-the-shelf J-3 unit from Wag-Aero. Now I have a spare to stick in the tank while the shellac dries on the primary unit.

    Ron Wanttaja

  7. #937
    Sam Buchanan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    KDCU
    Posts
    567
    Yep, I ended up with two corks (stacked big end to big end) in the Legal Eagle. They were, however, sized to fit into the fuel tank inlet.....
    Sam Buchanan
    The RV Journal RV-6 build log
    Fokker D.VII semi-replica build log

  8. #938
    cub builder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    North Central AR
    Posts
    456
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Giger View Post
    I may try that instead. JB Weld is wonderful stuff, but it's not flexible in the least once dried.

    Also, pinning the cork above the fuel while it sits is so simple it's brilliant. Once again, I bow to you, sir.
    If you want to coat and seal the cork, I would suggest either dipping or otherwise coating it with VinylEster resin as that is impervious to all types of gasoline, including alcohol and other nasty additives.

  9. #939

    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Alabama
    Posts
    2,236
    We had a rare window of amiable weather, so up I went to fly up the Coosa and look at the flooding.

    The plane flew great, and since it was overcast it was like sitting in a chair on the front porch.

    Even better, during the post flight it turns out the Hobbs has rotated to 40.3 hours.

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

  10. #940
    cub builder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    North Central AR
    Posts
    456
    Woohoo! Phase 1 is done. Congratulations!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •