Building a Nieuport 11...

[wyoranch]

Frank,
i just wanted to take a minute and say thanks for letting me follow along with your build. I have been following it since almost the beginning here and look forward to seeing your progress. I always await your next post. I am really getting excited to see you finish it.
rick

[Frank Giger]

Thanks for your kind words!

Weather is amiable today for some painting this afternoon and tomorrow!

Got word the engine is going through final break-in runs this weekend and will be shipped next week! Hurray!

[Frank Giger]

Pics Monday, but the fuselage is painted. I've got to clean up some lines and adjust a few curves, but it looks okay-er enough for me.

I'll also cut the holes for the lines and the elevator rod, as well as for the step.

I pulled out the upper wings and cut the sections of sheet for the filler in the center, but ran out of time for cleaning those up and covering them.

Engine is in final break-in up at Valley Engineering and should get shipped this next week. Exciting stuff!

[Frank Giger]

Hey, just a little tweaking and some cutting to do, but she's painted!



and



The thing about painting curves is that one has to back up to look at them, which I didn't do enough of. That "clay" edge was really clever close up, but from a distance it just looks sloppy.

[Frank Giger]

Side sheeting trimmed up a bit to fit better and primed for paint, as well as the side access panels.

First friendly fire incident - I dropped one of the panels and didn't notice that the corner had curled 90 degrees inward, making a nice little knife. Repositioned the sheeting and put a one inch slice in the fabric quicker than one can say isn't that lovely, then - easy patch, but sigh.

[ssmdive]

" That "clay" edge was really clever close up, but from a distance it just looks sloppy. " Nonsense. 1. This is a war machine, they were painted for service not trying to win applause from the people they shot down. 2. Everyone is their own worst critic. It looks great!

[Frank Giger]

Thanks for your kind words. Part of the goofy look is the lack of a side panel. Sooo....

Hey, some pictures!

First, here's the sheeting trimmed up and held in place with some painter's tape. Marks are on the inside for drilling - I just hadn't got to that "breathe deep and drill" amount of intestinal fortitude yet.



So the panel there is reinforced with little clips to hold the screws:



And to tidy up the panel, I put some automotive door trim around the edges.

Looks okay to me and that panel's not coming off in flight.



One of the many things left to the builder in the kit is the gas cap. Not a mention of it anywhere in the plans, and I've seen a crapload of ways to do it.

The tube that comes out of the top of the tank is kind of a weird size (well, for all I know it might be industry standard and a regular ol' Champ gauge will fit it, but it's still an odd size), and rather than monkey around with either the usual clear-tube-through-the-panel Baslee special which would require two more holes in the fuel tank, I opted to make my own float gauge.

Fooling around in the aviation section of Lowe's, I found a coupler out of PVC, some end caps that fit tightly inside it, some copper tubing, and a brass rod that fits loosely through it.



I was all shocked and shaken on making the holes in the perfect center (which I then failed completely at) when I realized there's a little lip around the inside of the cup that fits some washers I had around perfectly, and the inner hole was a real close match to the copper tubing.

Ha! I'll let the washer do my centering for me!

A little JB Weld epoxy to hold them into the cups, and a little more to hold the first cup into the coupler.



To reinforce the center of the tube that I cut to length, I thought hard about what could I put around the tube in the coupler that would hold it in place as a reinforcement to the epoxy top and bottom, when I remembered that I did a gasoline tolerance test on the foam tubing I put around the fuel tank. Aha and voila! I did a quick test and it works wonders.

So after the epoxy sets up on the end caps and the washers, I'll seat the tube into the lower cup, epoxy it, put the foam around it, and epoxy the top cap over the top of the tube.

I'll either dig up a rubber gasket or make one for where the coupler meets the tank, and then find some cork and find out how to float the brass rod. Measure for the gas tank, put it through, clip it and bend the end that comes out of the top. And paint it red for MOGAS.

It's not often I do the clever dance around the back yard, but I'm pleased with this solution.

[Matt Gonitzke]

Frank, before you get too far with that, I would make sure the PVC parts are not going to be adversely affected by gasoline. JB Weld may claim to be, but in my experience, it is not. I have had to resolder several steel gas tanks on lawn and garden equipment that someone tried to fix with JB Weld. It worked for a little while, but eventually deteriorated.

The idea is good in principle, but if it were my airplane I would find something for the float and cap that are known to be compatible with gasoline. The last thing you want is for that to break down and clog your fuel line.

[Frank Giger]

That's a really valid point - once the epoxy sets up, I'm thinking several days immersed in gasoline will tell the tale. At most I'm out three bucks worth of material.

Btw, I did the same thing with the foam I put next to the gas tank over similar concerns.

[pittsdriver3]

How about just a cork on the end of a wire that goes through a hole in the middle of the cap ala J3. Simple and they work almost forever. Don