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Thread: Converting Aeronca Chief to C-85-12

  1. #21
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Byron J. Covey View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Wanttaja
    ...cannibalizing my current Fly Baby for the important bits. It'd be cheaper than implementing ADS-B out.
    Spinner through rudder trim tab, excepting the alternator and a few switches?BJC
    Close, if you're just looking at a straight line.

    Idea is to build a new fuselage with more cockpit room. 2" wider fuselage, incline the seat-back bulkhead and add gaposis to allow the seat to move back ~2-4" and recline. Extend the forward part of the fuselage to gain more leg room and compensate for the seat movement.

    Should be able to completely re-use:
    - Wings
    - Horizontal stabilizer and elevator
    - Landing gear and struts, tailwheel and spring
    - Everything forward of the firewall, including the cowling and engine mount (the plans show how to incorporate the same mount on a wider fuselage). Remove the generator, block off the opening. Leave the starter.

    Strip fabric for all re-used components for IRAN. Want a new paint job, anyway.

    Partial re-use includes:
    - Control hardware
    - Turnbuckles (will upgrade some)
    - Instruments, radio
    - Welded metal brackets (strip and repaint)
    - Electrical system components (except generator and regulator)

    With the above, I figure the wood to build a new fuselage will be $1000-$1500. Covering, with a latex paint job, may be another $2000-$3000. So it's probably slightly more expensive than ADS-B out*, but on the upside I get a brand-new Fly Baby with a larger cockpit, no two-year transponder re-checks, and a Repairman Certificate that lets me do my own inspections.

    Ron Wanttaja

    * Everybody TALKS about low-cost ADS-B units, but no one is actually selling one yet. Those that claim to be require that the airplane already have a compatible transponder.

  2. #22
    Derswede's Avatar
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    Ron, why not look for a 35-45 Watt solar panel and a charge controller to keep the battery up? I think the panel I have is a pound or so, and will keep my battery up with fairly constant use. Yes, it will take sunlight to keep it charged, but it will top up while in flight (unless you're night flying). If I had been able to get the T-craft I was looking at, I would have mounted it either on the dash or on the wing over the cockpit. The one I have is flat, no metal frame on it.

    Derswede

  3. #23
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Derswede View Post
    Ron, why not look for a 35-45 Watt solar panel and a charge controller to keep the battery up? I think the panel I have is a pound or so, and will keep my battery up with fairly constant use. Yes, it will take sunlight to keep it charged, but it will top up while in flight (unless you're night flying). If I had been able to get the T-craft I was looking at, I would have mounted it either on the dash or on the wing over the cockpit. The one I have is flat, no metal frame on it.
    Airplane's in a closed hangar facing North. And look to the left for my location. As you can see, I already live where the sun doesn't shine. :-)

    I had a bad generator one year, and got by perfectly fine with an occasional top-off with a car charger.

    Ron Wanttaja

  4. #24
    Derswede's Avatar
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    Oops, Seattle, the place where Brits feel the most at home. Was in England for a year, the rain stopped for two days and they proclaimed a Drought in Kent.

    Derswede

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