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Thread: Building a Nieuport 11...

  1. #671

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    Double check of the prop hub after the strike showed it was way off.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  2. #672

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    Follow up answer to the "why" of the tear down. We discovered that it was the prop hub itself that had ovalized and gone off true, but the only way to truly check the crankshaft was to split the case and run a dial indicator at each bearing. It dialed true. So it was the hub, not the crankshaft, that was bent.

    However, no telling if there is a crack in it without removing it. While it looks like it's unlikely, it's one of those "would you bet your life on it" things, and since I have a brand spanking new crankshaft in a box not three feet away, might as well install it.

    Gratuitous engine pictures!

    Everything cleaned, crankshaft and camshaft put into place, time to mate the cases:



    Lots of careful fitting together, but it's looking pretty good.



    We actually had a minor mishap where the ancient ring compression tool used to put the pistons in the cylinders wasn't cooperating and we wound up breaking a ring. Sigh.

    So I got a new, better tool and a new set of rings. Pretty expensive lesson on why getting frustrated and whacking things isn't the way to go.

    But she looks pretty engine-y.



    Loads to do, of course, including mounting accessories, the prop hub, valve thingies, etc., but things are really looking up.

    Thursday the guy in Georgia with the extra brakes and wheels from his Nieuport projects, and hopefully that big gaping hole in my "repair the problem instead of just fixing it" plan for my airplane will be solved.
    Last edited by Frank Giger; 04-18-2017 at 02:58 PM.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  3. #673
    bookmaker's Avatar
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    Nov 2011
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    You will have it back in the air in no time.
    Dale Cavin
    Florida Panhandle
    Current Project: Airdrome Aeroplanes Full Size Nieuport 17

  4. #674

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    I hope so.

    Since the weather has been perfect for it, the aviation community has stooped to mocking me and my grounded bird by flying close to the house.

    I used to look for their planes and smile, but now I shake my fist at them and call them bad names.

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

  5. #675
    Dana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Giger View Post
    I used to look for their planes and smile, but now I shake my fist at them and call them bad names.

  6. #676

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    Well, gosh darned it (and other words to that effect), I went to mount the prop hub and the worst possible thing happened.

    It went on half way without a hitch and then just stopped.

    Tarnashion! Golly gee!

    Now, with a shrink hub there is only one thing one can do when this happens - tear the engine apart, pull the crankshaft, and use a puller to very carefully remove it.

    My helper gave up and went home at the "Well, frig" stage, and left the fixing to me. I love my helper - he's a good guy - and his incredible slow nature paid huge dividends, as I had absorbed what needed to be done pretty well. I had the engine apart in about an hour and a half, and an hour later managed to beg a big puller from our resident fixer guy and have the hub off.

    The woodruff key was too high, and it ramped when I went to put it on, making it even more high. Loads of precise measuring, a little work on the belt sander to bring it down a bit, and tomorrow I'll give it another go. This time I'm going to mount the hub on the crankshaft before putting it in the engine.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  7. #677
    DaleB's Avatar
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    Frank, you are a better and more patient man than I. I'm afraid there would have been an engine-shaped impression in the hangar door if that had happened to me.
    Measure twice, cut once...
    scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.

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

  8. #678

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    Re-polished the crankshaft, polished the inside of the prop hub, heated it to a tad over 400* degrees and she fell right down to the oil slinger like it was supposed to in the first place.

    While I was waiting on it to heat up on the hot plate, I also put a new big N on the tail.

    Time to put it all back together!

    * All the instructions say "heat it to where it will fall down the crankshaft freely." No numbers with that. I called Great Plains and they said "somewhere around 400 degrees." Well, 400 didn't cut it, so I took out my torch and heated her up as evenly as I could to about 475 or so and she plopped right on. The problem, I think, is that the "400" assumes an oven with the whole thing heated up equally. I don't have an oven in the hangar, so I had to make due.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  9. #679
    Danged Newps
    Name:  This is authentic. You can see the bullet holes.jpg
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  10. #680

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    That's the German copy of the Nieuport 17, the Siemens-Schuckert D.I.



    One can tell from the markings!


    Edit - I have to get back up in the air.

    Sam has gone Hun 200 miles north of me, and there's another DVII about 100 south in Prattville. With nothing but my little Bebe to keep them from taking Birmingham!
    Last edited by Frank Giger; 04-26-2017 at 06:54 PM.
    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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