Building a Nieuport 11...

[Dana]

Can you land in the grass alongside the paved runway? That's what I do whenever possible at my home field and others where I know the grass is in good condition. Some airports frown on it, though.

[Frank Giger]

The grass at my airfield is horrible. Absolutely horrible. I'd drive my F-150 across it, so long as everything inside was well secured.

[rwanttaja]

The grass at my airfield is horrible.
In my 30+ years on the Internet, this has got to be the greatest straight line of all time.

Ron "Up in Smoke" Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

:)

Weather was perfect today - zero gusting to one, CAVU, 65 degrees temperature - so I flew around for about an hour.

I'd of flown more but I noticed my alternator wasn't charging the battery, so I beat a hasty retreat to the airfield. I dunno, maybe when I replaced the rudder pedal hinges I knocked the positive wire to the battery or something. Either that or I let the magic smoke out of the voltage regulator when it wasn't grounded well enough and was over-charging. Since it's Halloween and we have legions of trick-or-treaters, I put her back in the hangar and drove home.

But other than that, what a little sweetie to fly in the air. She just does everything well without fuss. And with the arrival of Fall and the cold, less thermals so I wasn't getting tossed around.

Something really unusual happened, too. On my first flight's landing, I did the short Champ pattern I'd been working on, rounded it out well, hit my intended landing spot and did a pretty darned good wheel landing, slowing well short of the first turn off. Making a good landing isn't that surprising, but when I taxied up to my hangar I saw four guys standing at the maintenance hangar. They had witnessed a good landing. Normally it's like in the Bible - "whenever two or more of you shall gather, Frank will splatter the landing."

[Frank Giger]

I've really chopped down my pattern to where I'm about 3 or 400 yards to the side of the runway on downwind.

On my first flight after the rebuild, there was fog just past the other end of our 5,000 foot runway, so I used about a third of it before turning left and getting into the downwind. :)

I had to shrink it, as I was flying these huge fast patterns with a too shallow final; not every field is 100 feet wide and 5,000 feet long and I didn't want to get overly used to that. Plus it's way more efficient and effective to fly a shorter one.

[pittsdriver3]

I've really chopped down my pattern to where I'm about 3 or 400 yards to the side of the runway on downwind.

On my first flight after the rebuild, there was fog just past the other end of our 5,000 foot runway, so I used about a third of it before turning left and getting into the downwind. :)

I had to shrink it, as I was flying these huge fast patterns with a too shallow final; not every field is 100 feet wide and 5,000 feet long and I didn't want to get overly used to that. Plus it's way more efficient and effective to fly a shorter one.


That is the best approach to use with a hi drag airplane also the easiest and most predictable. Actually it works great with about any airplane. When I learned to fly that was the normal pattern not the B-52 go on a cross country that seems to be the norm these days. If you ever fly an airplane with no visibility out the front it's the only way to go. Plus they are fun. Don

[Frank Giger]

I haven't mentioned it, but a lot of my confidence in the aircraft is that she is benign in the stall; power off and it's straight ahead with no break, and on power just a little to the right, and easy to adjust for.

When Robert Baslee says he designed them to be docile with a huge fat airfoil, he wasn't kidding. True, it's a short coupled tail dragger and can bite one easily on the ground during landing, but that's the nature of the beast of the original Nieuport design.

I commented early on that the aircraft and I are learning how to talk to each other in the same language with each flight, and that's been validated in my mind. While it's still just a simple, basic aircraft with only one or two minor quirks (stick slightly rearward on takeoff, wheel landings only), to fly it really well is a conversation.

[wyoranch]

Frank,
I think you stated that a lot of your tail wheel time was in a Champ ( sorry if I got that incorrect) how does the 11 compare?
thanks
Rick

[Frank Giger]

Apart from the takeoff, pretty darned close.

The conventional wisdom is that the Champ is about as close to the handling of the Airdrome Aeroplanes as one can get, with a few caveats. In the air, I couldn't agree more (less aerobatics), as it has the same feel. On leads with the rudder in turns, and she rolls about the same. The controls feel about the same, too.

Just don't push the stick forward to bring the tail up on takeoff, and stay with wheel landings only.

This is actually kind of funny, as I almost always three pointed the Champ, only wheel landing in higher winds. In the Nieuport, though, wheel landings seem natural and almost intuitive.

[Fokker Builder]

For winter flying in Alabama
https://www.facebook.com/sothatsbuzzy/videos/1888694368017750/?hc_ref=ARSwUPO656bHv3N1k3ECYVCHpX3rVB7vrDZOVBbxtR 2nybnCojHK-Um_2yPTW

[DaleB]

"You must log in to continue."

Sorry, nope.

[Frank Giger]

It's a picture of someone wearing a knitted outfit that goes head to toe. :D

Frost on the ground today! My Mom knit me a tricolored scarf, so I have a French flag to wrap around my face below the goggles.

Voltage regulator came in yesterday, so off to the airport today or tomorrow.

[DaleB]

It's a picture of someone wearing a knitted outfit that goes head to toe. :D
Hmm. I suspect I'm glad to not be able to see it.

:)

[Saville]

In the Nieuport, though, wheel landings seem natural and almost intuitive.

Hi Frank,

On the wheelies...once you've got the mains pinned, what is your procedure with regard to the tailwheel? Do you keep it up as long as possible? Do you fly it down? Let it drop on it's own as you slow?

[Frank Giger]

Double post!

[Frank Giger]

Landings are very short, and it doesn't take much to stick the wheels - the whole airplane is an exercise in drag - the tail drops pretty quickly and the second it touches I go full stick back. Indeed, I tend to wheel land with the tail a bit low, and the stick near neutral. The habit in a Champ of pinning the wheels by moving the stick forward is a no-go in the Nieuport.

One does NOT want the tail high at below stall speeds. The rudder will lose authority, and that's far too interesting for the pilot.

So the phrase "fly it down" is very appropriate. Looking at all my video, there's not so much a flare as a rounding out in my decent landings.

I have to also say it's a work in progress. There's a language to this aircraft that we're both learning, a conversation that's ongoing in the test flight phase. Originally I was taking the safest route with these really long, shallow approaches with a lot of power, taking advantage of the huge airstrip I have to work with. That was fine for figuring out stall speeds, handling transitions, and stuff like that. It's also pretty lazy and promotes a poor set of habits for me as a pilot.

So I've really shortened the pattern, gone to a half circle instead of two corners, steepened the approach, and started actually aiming for a landing point. In other words, acting like a pilot. Results: two greaser wheel landings with a short (less than 500 foot) landing, one bouncy bouncy throttle up try again bounce now you got it landing. Naturally (and thankfully) the only one with video is the "bad" one. Oh well, that's why the gear have bungees on them.

The "anti-shake" filter makes the gun look rubbery in the video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHVmwuQfa5E

Here's a look over the tail, when I was still using the "long approach."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfaj7EDDVw0

The mail should deliver my wire, switch, and other minor goodies from AircraftSpruce in the next day or so, so I can go out and do some surgery on the charging system. As much as I hate adding complexity to the aircraft (that will raise the total number of switches, including the start button, to three on the panel), I think it's worth it. I still have to suss out why it's overcharging, of course, and solve the issue, but it will be nice to be able to deal with it in the air if it happens in flight.

[Saville]

Hi Frank,

Reason I ask about how you handle lowering the tail after the mains are pinned is that I found on my plane (RV-8) how you handle that makes the difference between a straight rollout vs some mad rudder pedal work the moment the tailwheel hits. On my plane (which I admit is radically different from yours) if I let the tailwheel touch too soon, I'm going quite fast and any deviation of the tailwheel from centered-up makes for a dash to the sidelines. If I keep the stick going forward until we've slowed down the tail drops gently of it's own accord and there's no swerving.

From wha tyou say, though, it seems you lose rudder authority before the point where the tail will lower itself. So some balance in between might be found.

[Frank Giger]

I've come to say my plane will kill me in slow motion. ;)

My cruise speed is around 65 mph, pattern speed 50, and stall is around 35.

In the rear view video, there's more rudder than wheel as the springs kick in, so it looks exaggerated. But the rudder isn't doing anything back there at those speeds but swishing left and right.

The brain trust at my EAA chapter thinks my over charging problem is a bad regulator/rectifier, and that the Harley-Davidson part used is notoriously flaky. It was actually pretty funny - normally I get eye rolls and goofy looks when talking about the VW engine, but when I said I had finally ID'd the charging system parts as HD eyes lit up.

"Oh, this is a motorcycle issue, not a VW one. Yeah, it makes sense."

So in the next couple weeks one or more motorcycle gurus will come out to the airport and help suss this out.

[Saville]

I've come to say my plane will kill me in slow motion. ;)

My cruise speed is around 65 mph, pattern speed 50, and stall is around 35.

In the rear view video, there's more rudder than wheel as the springs kick in, so it looks exaggerated. But the rudder isn't doing anything back there at those speeds but swishing left and right.



Actually I was looking at the forward view of the landing over the gun.

[Frank Giger]

Oh, that's me bouncing the landing and making a general mess of things. :)

[Saville]

Oh, that's me bouncing the landing and making a general mess of things. :)

Landing was fine. I was thinking of the swerving I saw immediately after the tailwheel settled. I've experienced that :)

[rwanttaja]

Landing was fine. I was thinking of the swerving I saw immediately after the tailwheel settled. I've experienced that :)

Two things usually at play, here. First, the tail settling down takes the rudder out of the direct airflow...the slipstream/prop blast is somewhat blanked by the fuselage itself.

Second, the comparative "gearing" of the rudder control and the tailwheel control is likely different. That is to say, a ~1" displacement of the rudder pedal with the tailwheel off the ground and the rudder providing yaw control is different from what is produced when the tailwheel itself is firmly on the ground.

A good example of this is the original Fly Baby prototype, N500F. When I started flying it, I noticed the plane would tend to yaw as the tail came up on takeoff or as it settled down to the runway on landing.

Turns out this was due to a quirk in N500F's tailwheel control system. On a Fly Baby, the rudder pedals are connected directly to a flat rudder horn. At the bottom of the rudder is a second horn, which connects to the tailwheel horns via springs. Here's a rough sketch:
http://www.bowersflybaby.com/tech/tailwheel_horn.jpg

N500F had that system....but, at the time the plane had been converted to floats, the lower horn on the rudder had been extended ~2-3" per side to provide better control for the water rudder. When the plane had last been restored (about three years prior to my joining the club), the TAILWHEEL springs were connected to these extended attach points. Which gave the tailwheel more effectiveness.

I swapped the tailwheel control springs to the upper pair of holes, and it was a lot better.....

Ron Wanttaja

[Sam Buchanan]

Another factor is the location of the aircraft CG when the tailwheel is on the ground. If the CG shifts aft a considerable amount, the "heavy" tail will certainly try to wag the dog more than a more forward CG. Aircraft with relatively tall gear such as our WWI wannabes are subject to considerable CG shift when the tail hits the ground. One remedy is aggressive rudder immediately after the tail touches down before the rudder loses aerodynamic authority. I will sometimes use full rudder for a second or two to catch a swerve before it can develop.
This is a matter of pilot proficiency and acclimation to the particular aircraft and improves with practice. Fly often. :)

[Frank Giger]

Yep, it's affectionately called "The Nieuport Stomp" in our circle.

In the case of the video, that's all me. I was off line to the left, corrected right, and was slow adjusting back left...so gave it a bit too much. Then it was a matter of working the pedal to the wheel to stay on the runway and simultaneously keeping the wing tip off the pavement.

:)

The grooved pavement of my runway can be challenging, as it's very sticky and rough at the same time. Landing on smooth pavement is easier for some reason. I haven't landed on grass with her yet.

On charging, I may not have a problem at all. Digging into Harley-Davidson forums, it should be putting out 14.5 to 15 volts at RPM, which is what I'm indicating. So it's likely that my last voltage regulator wasn't working properly at all and I was running off battery most of the time! Most of my flights have been pretty short, and charging the battery was pretty common for me. I wrote it off to the plane sitting for a month, but that might not have been the case.

[rwanttaja]

On charging, I may not have a problem at all. Digging into Harley-Davidson forums, it should be putting out 14.5 to 15 volts at RPM, which is what I'm indicating. So it's likely that my last voltage regulator wasn't working properly at all and I was running off battery most of the time! Most of my flights have been pretty short, and charging the battery was pretty common for me. I wrote it off to the plane sitting for a month, but that might not have been the case.
Frank, do you have a backup power source for your ignition? I see a lot of accidents (~2 per year) caused by power issues to engine ignition/control boxes.

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

Nope. If the battery goes to zero the big fan stops.

[rwanttaja]

Nope. If the battery goes to zero the big fan stops.

Hmmm. Wonder if you could put in an emergency backup capability using alkaline batteries. Put in one of those covered switches so that the normal battery is connected in the "off" position, but the battery pack goes to the ignition system if the cover in thrown back and switch is thrown.

Might be able to get by with AA batteries; Amazon sells an 8-cell holder for $7. Don't know how much time it'll give you, but even a minute is worth it, sometimes. Test it at each Conditional inspection and replace with fresh batteries.

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

And now, in the category of "of all the dippy sh*t," I may not have a problem at all.

The previous voltage rectifier/regulator was clearly flaky, either putting out a bunch of charge or none at all. So I replaced it.

Now I'm showing between 14 and 15 volts when the engine is running, topping out about 15 at full RPM. So I got to digging around the Harley-Davidson forums (since I finally figured out the whole system is HD), and guess what? The system should be throwing around 14.5 to 15 volts, depending on RPM and battery charge. It could be doing what it was supposed to all along.

I wigged out, naturally, since I haven't seen voltage go up like that before, and the aircraft I've flown previously didn't have a voltage gauge. Plus I smoked a battery in the hangar with the old rectifier/regulator.

Since the bog standard automotive voltage gauge isn't exactly a precision instrument, I'm going out Wednesday morning with a proper volt meter to see just what it's pumping across the terminals. Any less than 15 volts at RPM's means all is well and I'm a Nervous Nelly. But I'm still glad I put a switch on it.

It also means I'm an idiot, as it means that previously I'd been flying off just the battery and not noticing the voltage go down and down. The short duration of my flights thus far were the saving grace. What I chalked up to a small battery sitting for a month and needed a charge wasn't that - it was low because I ran it down. Indeed, on the day where I saw the battery charge go down it was on the second flight - she'd already been up for a solid hour, back down and sat for another hour. And even then it didn't start noticeably dropping until I was up and had flown away from the airport.

Pretty interesting decision tree at that point.

I'm about six or seven miles (which, easy math, is about six or seven minutes) from the airport at around 2,500 feet AGL. I have a working engine at 11.5 volts indicated and slowly dropping. So point the airplane back at the airport, go into a gentle climb with a minor bump of the throttle (the coils are going to suck the same amount of juice pretty much the same between 2,500 RPM's and 2,700 RPM's), and keep a look at what's below. Reduce throttle when I'm at the glide to the airport, about two miles out, bring it close to the strip at pattern altitude, shadow it, and do the short half circle to the end to a bouncy landing (yep, that "flight after repair" was my sort of cautionary landing). If she'd of gone dead at any point I'd of made the field, though it would have been with a tail wind (oh, no, the horrors of a two mile an hour tail wind! Could I have survived?). She had a little over ten volts when I taxied up to the hangar.

One would think there'd be a manual for all this stuff, but there ain't none. Not knowing how much charge should be showing with the system running could have really hurt me - and I didn't know that I didn't know. I just assumed that the little volt meter would be nice and steady in the upright 12v position the whole time, like it does in a car (well, with a little nudge to the right).

I've got a message into Valley Engineering on what the voltage meter should read in flight and at RPM; I was too ignorant before to ask the correct (if obvious) question on the matter.

[Sam Buchanan]

Frank, the Legal Eagle guys who run total-loss systems with the 1/2 VW can usually run the battery down to about 7.5v before the distributor starts to mis-fire. They have a volt meter in the panel to monitor battery voltage ("fuel range") and can get about four hours endurance on a fully-charged battery that is probably smaller than the one you are using. The full VW will probably drain the battery quicker than the 1/2 VW but there is still a surprising amount of time available for flight. But monitoring voltage is the key. You might try some tests to see how low the voltage can drop and still get reliable spark from the coil.

[Frank Giger]

Actual volt meter shows 14.5 to 14.75 volts charging at RPM, so it's doing what it's supposed to do within the tolerance levels specified by the manufacturer.

But hey, now I know far more about electrical systems than I cared to know.

[Frank Giger]

Weather was criminally good this morning (mid fifties temps, zero wind, etc.), so I went up to the airport. One of my EAA brothers arrived at the same time for the same reason, and he whipped out his phone to take some pictures and video of my flying.

I did the typical low pass flyby stuff down the runway (he drove down to be right off of it) and really made an interesting landing. That's what I get for trying to impress for the cameras...but at least I didn't drag a wing on the pavement.

But it was all fun!

I finally got some photographs of my airplane in flight!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/in_air_m001.jpg

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/in_air_m003.jpg

Another fellow out there took some video as well, and is going to upload it for me in the next couple days, so I'll have some sexy stuff to show (after serious editing).

[Fokker Builder]

Nische pics
6782

[Frank Giger]

Next up is replacing my fuel float corks, which don't, and slowly start to think about adjusting the brakes. Right now they're more a comforting thought than actual brakes.

I'll fly around a bit and pull the lever to get the shoes wore down to the drums better and then think about tightening them up.

Here's a video of my not-so-great landing!

A few notes:

1) Still perfecting my half circle drop to the end of the runway. Throttling up there was because I was dropping like a rock!

2) Bounce doesn't look bad, but it felt like 20 feet.

3) A bit too much rudder before I dropped the tail. Swishy swish skid!

4) The tail swish after that was entirely for effect. I had the aircraft and was being funny.

5) A few folks in other forums said I had some "anti-hedral" on the top wing based on the inflight photos, which I said was an optical illusion. Note that when I come up to the camera and turn, the wings are level all the way across.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=792KjA03pRA



Everybody seems to post the good stuff and never the times they nearly screw up (other than the KC Dawn Patrol), but I take pride in being a very yeoman quality builder and pilot.

[rwanttaja]

Next up is replacing my fuel float corks, which don't...
This can be surprisingly awkward. Here's what happened to me, long ago.

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/corker.html

Gasoline has a different specific gravity than water, so testing it in water doesn't necessarily prove anything.

In the Fly Baby world, there's always been discussion as to what (if anything) to coat the cork with. I re-coated mine with shellac this summer. Actually suspended the gas cap above the shellac can, dipped the entire cork, then slid it out and let it dry in place.


5) A few folks in other forums said I had some "anti-hedral" on the top wing based on the inflight photos, which I said was an optical illusion.

Wing sweep will do that....IIRC, the stock Nieuport had something like 5 degrees, and I believe some replica builders are up to 10.

Ron Wanttaja

[Dana]

I replaced my fuel float cork with plastic floats made for Ford Model A's. I used two of them on the wire:

http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/gauge-float-only (http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/gauge-float-only)

[Sam Buchanan]

Here is the 'double cork' float system I've used with success on two aircraft:

6784

The corks were painted with a thin coat of proseal tank sealant that had been thinned with MEK so it could be applied with an acid brush. The Model A float looks like a great solution, too.

Frank, in regard to your landing, it always feels worse than it looks. :)

The following video ends with a mid-field overhead break to a landing on the last 1/4 of the runway in the D.VII. This is a fun and efficient way to arrive if there is no conflict with traffic (can also be great practice for an unplanned landing if done at engine idle):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geF_rpS8y4U

[Frank Giger]

Thanks for the link on the corks; I had the same from Aircraft Spruce, but they were a tad bit more expensive. I made the mistake of narrowing them up a little and not shellacking them, so they're soaked through.

Sam, besides being a beautiful flight, it was very instructive.

I think I'm way too tight in my half circle, just dropping her into the runway too aggressively to where I'm not giving myself enough to round it out - your approach is a lot more gentle.

Either that or put my landing point further down from what I've been picking. ;)

Indeed, I'm doing a lot more "pilot" stuff with my Bebe, having established she's safe to fly. I think of it as the "meat" of the flight testing, now that I've established stall and best climb speeds. And figured out take-offs, which was surprisingly nuanced.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised just how well she performs in the air. Figure 8's and tight circles are crisp with very little real effort keeping her at altitude and airspeed. She's responsive to throttle inputs, which is really nice. Not the least bit twitchy, though.

I can also tell that I have a full fuel tank. Still well within the CG range, it's at the forward end of it, and I can feel the extra weight in how she climbs.

[Frank Giger]

I made an "instructive" video breaking down a good bounce landing:



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5AFfcI4uG2Q

:P

[Frank Giger]

Finally a video where the aircraft makes me look good!


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G56aQDupV6I

[Floatsflyer]

Billy Bishop goes to war!

[Frank Giger]

A few additional notes:

1) There isn't a "run-up" before takeoff. Single ignition, so to check that would be a helluva RPM drop. Carb heat is "automatic," which is Valley Engineering's euphemism for "always on." I do a control check and adjust the altimeter at start up. Normally I slow to a near standstill before the runway for a traffic check, but on this day I had spotters as well and I was all alone.

2) I usually feature screw ups, as they are both informative and entertaining. Based on some comments in other forums, I guess I should show good landings as well. But the little short coupled N11 is capable of such quality fun it's hard to resist.

[Frank Giger]

Yesterday went up for an hour during a break in the weather and greased the landing.

To my surprise, Brian (who took the other video) was on the field, saw it, and said, "I thought about recording it, but I'm glad I didn't. People would think it was faked."

;)

[Frank Giger]

With snow on the ground, temperature hovering around freezing, and a ten mile an hour wind (though going down the runway), who can resist a bit of flying?

Mike was on hand and, as become something of a hobby, drove down to the runway to catch me bounce or skid on the landing. I don't usually do those things, but when I do it's worth watching.

I couldn't tell if he was happy or disappointed to catch this:


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2g-g6cCVF1Y

The windscreen does a good job; looking around it was certainly very brisk! I was in full winter garb, though, so no chance of freezing.

[rwanttaja]

Looks good Frank! Light airplanes like ours certainly get chipper when the weather turns cold.

Called my position on the radio on a winter's day a couple of years back, and someone came back: "Fly Baby? Isn't that an open cockpit airplane?"

I replied, "Just a minute...I'll check." [wait five seconds] "Hey, you're right!"

Ron "Not a sarcastic SOB only on the forum" Wanttaja

[Sam Buchanan]

'9.8'

Nobody gets a '10'....... ;)

The VW sounds happy. :)

[Frank Giger]

She pretended that it was cold and took three tries to start!

Next up: Figuring out why my handheld Icom radio is squealing when I transmit.

It's not the antenna. Even with the rubber duck antenna on the radio and everything away from the aircraft, the darn thing squeals. I tried other headsets, same.

I think maybe the wires in the attachment to hook a headset to it have a short in them somewhere - because sometimes I can get it to not squeal, but it's random....and is in the vast minority of times.

Oh, and bundling up is an art in the winter. Thankfully I had the honor of riding in the back of the open hatch of an M113 APC in German winters, and knew just what to do:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/winter_wear.jpg

[rwanttaja]

Next up: Figuring out why my handheld Icom radio is squealing when I transmit.
There is a known squealing issue with some models of ICOM handhelds. I've encountered it on an ICOM A5, but it doesn't occur on my A14 even with the same headset.

There is a set of toroids ("chokes") that the mike cable wraps around, and it supposedly will help with the squealing. They're $5.35 from Aircraft Spruce:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/icoma6a24.php

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/cache/370-320-/catalog/graphics/11-09346.jpg
(If the link doesn't work, look up "ICOM A6 / A24 HEADSET NOISE MODIFICATION FERRITE CORE".)

Mind you, I've tried endless variations of these, and it doesn't help my A5. But buy a couple and try combinations of wraps.

One thing you MIGHT try is to reduce the sidetone volume on the radio. On my A5, you push the transmit button, then turn down the normal volume knob/button.

Folks should also understand one other key point: When you use a headset adapter on an ICOM handheld, you MUST have a separate push-to-talk switch. If you push the "transmit" button on the radio itself, it uses the built-in microphone.

Ron Wanttaja

[Dana]

Yes, the Icom has a horrible problem with RF feedback causing squealing. There are a few things you can do. One, all wires including the PTT switch should be shielded. Use the ferrite chokes as described about (I used the one that came on the AC charger, but you can buy new ones). Third, get the antenna as far away as possible from the radio. On my Kolb I used the original rubber duck antenna on the end of a cable under the plane pointing down, on my Fisher it was a wire antenna on top of the upper wing root.

[1600vw]

If you are trying to power this radio off the airplanes power supply you will get a squeal. I-com speaks about this. There is a fix and the fix is not what is mentioned here.

[1600vw]

I did have a part break on my setup and it caused a squeal. The cable needed repaired or replaced. I sent said cable to Icom and they repaired it.

[rwanttaja]

If you are trying to power this radio off the airplanes power supply you will get a squeal. I-com speaks about this. There is a fix and the fix is not what is mentioned here.
I power my ICOM A5 off the airplane power supply and did not get a squeal for almost ten years. Even now, it only squeals with a certain headset configuration. If I use an 8 ohm headset or a 300-ohm without an impedance matcher, it doesn't squeal.

For power, I used a "battery eliminator," a pack that attaches to the back of the radio like the standard battery pack and has a cable to attach to aircraft power

Ron Wanttaja

[rwanttaja]

I did have a part break on my setup and it caused a squeal. The cable needed repaired or replaced. I sent said cable to Icom and they repaired it.

Do you recall, offhand, what aspect of the cable broke? It sounds like maybe the shielding got messed up. If the mic or earphone connection broke, it shouldn't have worked at all.

Ron Wanttaja

[Dana]

If the shield separates from the BNC connector on the antenna wire it will squeal.

[Frank Giger]

Since it didn't squeal before but is now, I figure the wires got wonked somehow - and just ordered new ones along with some of the ferrite cores.

I need to come up with a way to manage all the wires - maybe a cloth sleeve for them - as right now I just put the radio next to me on the seat and inevitably wind up sitting on some of them as I get in. It's all ad hoc and sloppy. That said, the cables and wires and junk have never gotten in my way, and when I inverted the aircraft it all stayed put.

This homebuilding stuff just never ends. While that's kind of cool, there are times when I wish the ratio between Education and Recreation was a little less even, favoring the Recreation like Alabama is favored against an FCS team in football.

[Floatsflyer]

.... like Alabama is favored against an FCS team in football.

Frank, on behalf of decent, dignified, moral, respectful and righteous people everywhere on this good earth, please convey our heartfelt thanks to the people of Alabama for finally doing the right thing in this past year of living dangerously.

Perhaps sending a team of Alabamians to North Korea might fix that problem as well. Nice Airplane.

[Frank Giger]

Just wait until we are crowned national champions!

Unless you're referring to today's election. In which case, hurray, we elected a politician to a position that will last less than three years. Yay. And stuff.

[Frank Giger]

There is a known squealing issue with some models of ICOM handhelds. I've encountered it on an ICOM A5, but it doesn't occur on my A14 even with the same headset.

There is a set of toroids ("chokes") that the mike cable wraps around, and it supposedly will help with the squealing. They're $5.35 from Aircraft Spruce:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/icoma6a24.php

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/cache/370-320-/catalog/graphics/11-09346.jpg
(If the link doesn't work, look up "ICOM A6 / A24 HEADSET NOISE MODIFICATION FERRITE CORE".)

Mind you, I've tried endless variations of these, and it doesn't help my A5. But buy a couple and try combinations of wraps.

One thing you MIGHT try is to reduce the sidetone volume on the radio. On my A5, you push the transmit button, then turn down the normal volume knob/button.

Folks should also understand one other key point: When you use a headset adapter on an ICOM handheld, you MUST have a separate push-to-talk switch. If you push the "transmit" button on the radio itself, it uses the built-in microphone.

Ron Wanttaja

I grabbed some of these; I guess they just clamp around the mic cable in several spots?

[Dana]

I grabbed some of these; I guess they just clamp around the mic cable in several spots?

Loop the mic cable through it, i.e. pass it through, run it back around the outside, and back through again.

[rwanttaja]

Loop the mic cable through it, i.e. pass it through, run it back around the outside, and back through again.
If I remember, too, the cable is supposed to cross itself inside the choke as part of the loop.

Ron Wanttaja

[Dana]

The Icom tech note on the problem is here:

http://icom.custhelp.com/ci/fattach/get/1265/0/filename/A24+Headset+Noise+Modification.pdf

[Frank Giger]

Y'all rock!

After delivering my package to one of my neighbors - who was kind of enough to bring it by - I hooked up the new cables to a headset I have at the house (because A) of course I have a spare headset here, and B) I wanted to see if it was the old set of cables) and squeal squeal squeal.

Put a couple of those ferrite thingies on the cables as advertised and all gone.

Neato.

[Frank Giger]

Ferrite Cores worked wonders in the aircraft...and since there was some traffic, I actually got to talk to some folks in the air, and came over legible.

On a lighter note:

I was out at the airport today to help a friend work on his KR2 when we realized that the weather was pretty darned good for flying.

When he got to a point where he didn't need my help, down I went to pull Babette out of the hangar and into the air.

So here I am, flying a small route around the aerodrome, well away from the front, when I feel it. I'm not alone. Looking around, up, and behind me, I'm shocked to see a Folke Wulf 149D at my eight o'clock, 1500 feet above and about half a mile off, stalking.

His paint scheme pretty much just like this:

https://cdn.jetphotos.com/400/6/20507_1446521272.jpg

It's intuitive!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/meeting.jpg

A gallant salute (he had no ammo, so I spared him), and we went our separate ways.

:)

I also bought some Ferrite Cores to go around my headset cables, and they worked! No squealing when I transmit over the radio!

[rwanttaja]

A gallant salute (he had no ammo, so I spared him), and we went our separate ways.

I got bounced by an RV-4 once. Amazing how a slow, light, maneuverable aircraft can get itself out of trouble. That RV went home with lots of pipper burns on his tail.

Recently re-read Charles Lamb's "War in a Stringbag," the memoirs of a WWII Fairey Swordfish pilot. They found pretty much the same thing, that at anything near even odds, the big old biplane could keep the bad guys from drawing a bead on them. He describes how two Italian fighters lost control at low altitude and crashed, trying to keep up with him.

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

The Soviet Night Witches in their Po-2's actually scored a couple kills on Bf-109's - by flying just above stall (about 40 mph) right above the trees and doing gentle S turns. The 109's punched into the trees.

[Dana]

I got bounced by an RV-4 once. Amazing how a slow, light, maneuverable aircraft can get itself out of trouble. That RV went home with lots of pipper burns on his tail.

Hah! I got bounced by a P-51 once, as I was cruising my T-Craft at a couple hundred feet along the New Jersey shore. I heard him before I saw him, even over my own engine noise, as he roared by a little ways off my right wingtip... and then he was gone.

[Frank Giger]

My EAA brothers and I make it a regular habit to call each other before flying, even on local flights, to say when we're flying, where, and our expected return - and even "close out" afterwards. Our wives tend to get glassy-eyed when flight plans are discussed, it seems, and so confidence that they could relay that data accurately if we come up missing is doubtful.

So naturally I called Mike up and told him I was going to fly over to Pell City, up the Coosa River as far as the dam, and then backtrack to the airport. About sixty miles, so around an hour or so. He was passing by the airport on his way home from work around my anticipated return time and snuck down to the end of the runway to capture my landing. I think at this point being next to the Talladega Speedway is prescient; I suspect folks gather to watch me land for the same reason they watch NASCAR. But the joke's on them - my days of bending axles and warping wheels are past me (knock on wood). ;)

And as long as they're making video of my landings, I'm going to put them to music and force them on other people.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O8NQCM0fNE

Yes, it was butt cold. No, I didn't wear my wool pants, and my scarf end came loose and started flailing around and had to be tucked down low into my parka, so it was a chilly last third of the flight.

Next time out, no flying. I have to pull the oil pressure relief valve plug thingies, check to see why they're not relieving any oil pressure (galling, etc.), and if there are any shims putting too much pressure on the springs, remove them. Right now oil pressure is too high and it's spitting out the prop hub. Not much, but any is too much. I may see if I can dig up some stock springs for them, as I don't need the high pressure off road springs Valley Engineering put in there.

[Fokker Builder]

Hey Frank,

Nice plane and nice landing. I would check with Valley before the springs. Accountability and safety like calling peeps before flights. Have a safe New Years. Nice family pics too.

Jim

[rwanttaja]

The heck with the parka, Frank, you REALLY need to get one of these. A reproduction WWI flying coat, for just $240.

https://cdn3.bigcommerce.com/s-dsp69m71rc/products/175/images/4192/BSC24_13a__35985.1496635110.1000.1200.jpg?c=2

https://southbeachleather.com/world-war-1-r-f-c-leather-flying-long-coat/

Figuring out how to climb into the cockpit wearing a long coat like this is left as an exercise for the reader.....

Ron Wanttaja

[rwanttaja]

I think at this point being next to the Talladega Speedway is prescient; I suspect folks gather to watch me land for the same reason they watch NASCAR. But the joke's on them - my days of bending axles and warping wheels are past me (knock on wood). ;)
Speaking of that, how are the new brakes working?

I flew Saturday, 38 degrees here in Seattle. Wore my B3 flying coat (shearling) and a ski mask, the rest just ordinary wear. Very comfortable for the ~45 minute flight.

One trick I've been using is to wear a knit turtleneck shirt under a flannel shirt. Nice and toasty, and if the scarf gets dislodged, it doesn't matter as much.

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

First, I really, really want that coat. And it's in the ballpark of "finagaling the finances" range. Lord knows the flying helmet company you told me about came back aces - it's perfect in every way.

And I broke the code on mounting the aircraft in a long coat - from standing on the seat, make sure the coat is down and not hung on the back of the cockpit, getting it as forward in the back as possible. Place one's feet on the pedal runners and, with one's shoulders at the top of cockpit, push up to where one's butt isn't on the seat. Pull the back of the coat down until it's tight down the back. Sit down. Fidget around in the seat until it's how one wants it - and a fold across the back is a painful thing in flight, so if it's not right, stand back up! Buckle up and smile!

Second, I wasn't entirely dressed for flying, lacking my Army five button wool sweater or my wool pants. I really needed those wool pants! Going to have to invest in a ski mask, which isn't very common down here...but we live in the age of the Internet.

@ FB - Valley concurs the relief valves are probably stuck and are agnostic about either off road or stock springs. They put in the off road springs because that's what the engine kits come with. While I'll defend and recommend Culver Props/Valley Engineering without hesitation, they give advice on their products once delivered. I'm sure if there was a serious defect they'd make things right immediately, but there's no real warranty of any sort. That and the fact that I rebuilt the engine would pretty much absolve them of any blame.

The Great Plains guys said to pull them, check for galling of the passage (and gently run some fine emery paper up them), and if I still get over pressure, cut about a quarter inch from the rear spring (if removing any shims under them doesn't work).

[Sam Buchanan]

And to state the obvious.....confirm you have an accurate oil pressure gage before changing relief valve tension. I had to buff the plunger a couple of times on my 1/2 VW when OP got a bit erratic. Cold oil can also impact pressure.

[rwanttaja]

And I broke the code on mounting the aircraft in a long coat - from standing on the seat, make sure the coat is down and not hung on the back of the cockpit, getting it as forward in the back as possible. Place one's feet on the pedal runners and, with one's shoulders at the top of cockpit, push up to where one's butt isn't on the seat. Pull the back of the coat down until it's tight down the back. Sit down. Fidget around in the seat until it's how one wants it - and a fold across the back is a painful thing in flight, so if it's not right, stand back up! Buckle up and smile!

My worst case came on a ~35 degree day. The headrest of my airplane is a half-circle of plywood, fitting on the end of a truncated cone, covered with vinyl.

The guy who built the plane made the plywood slightly larger diameter than the metal bits. When I was sliding down into the cockpit, the edge of the plywood, under the vinyl cover, acted like a hook. It grabbed my leather jacket, it grabbed my sweater, it grabbed my shirt.

Which meant I sat down with my bare back pressed against the frozen seatback. Yeouch!

Ron "Bareback mountain" Wanttaja

[jdanneel]

How about using oil with lower viscosity during could winter period ?

[Frank Giger]

It was the same problem in the heat of summer, so it's not a function of oil weight.

[Saville]

Speaking of that, how are the new brakes working?

I flew Saturday, 38 degrees here in Seattle. Wore my B3 flying coat (shearling) and a ski mask, the rest just ordinary wear. Very comfortable for the ~45 minute flight.

One trick I've been using is to wear a knit turtleneck shirt under a flannel shirt. Nice and toasty, and if the scarf gets dislodged, it doesn't matter as much.

Ron Wanttaja

Neck gaiters are a great solution to the problem. You wouldn't really need the scarf with a neck gaiter.....

but you gotta wear the scarf.

[rwanttaja]

Neck gaiters are a great solution to the problem. You wouldn't really need the scarf with a neck gaiter.....

but you gotta wear the scarf.
Don't need the scarf with a turtleneck either...but like you say, one HAS to wear a scarf.

My wife even found me a replica WWII RAF scarf, dark blue, with white dots. That's what I normally wear.

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/scarves.html

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

My Mom knitted me a new scarf that is twice as wide as the one she originally made, as the thinner one won't stay up to cover my lower face.

I drove down to Birmingham and picked up new oil pressure relief valves. The pressure is still way too high, and I'm going to have to cut down the rear spring some more to allow the stopper/piston to relieve some of it.

The concern, of course, is that I wind up taking a bit too much off of the springs, and so I needed a fresh set in case I have to start over.

The rear piston thingie looks like it's the wrong one, having a set of small grooves around it horizontally. They're perfectly spaced and go all the way around, which hints that it's the wrong one for this engine. The one for the single oil pressure relief engines is made like that.

I worked some fine grit sandpaper in the tube that holds the relief valve, and didn't feel any roughness in it.

So tomorrow it's up to the airfield to once again drain the oil,* pull the oil cooler off, and go through the whole adjustment process again.

My goal is to replicate the normal oil pressure operating range of 10 pounds per 1,000 RPM, as the hot rod springs in favor are designed for high RPM's and temps. At a max RPM of 3300 and a cruise of 2500, I'm not really taxing it. Indeed, I've yet to bring the oil up to operating temperature range in flight, even with blocking off the oil cooler to just a small window. And yes, the sensor and gauge are working, as when I was adjusting timing without the prop it heated up just fine.

The joys of running a VW have me singing its praises today. Cost of two new oil pressure relief valves and springs? Five dollars and forty five cents. And the oil is bog standard 20-50 and five quarts can be had for the price of one quart of aviation oil.

* I'm pleased to report that the oil, after running two hours in the newly rebuilt engine, came out looking pretty darned good and metal free.

[Saville]

Don't need the scarf with a turtleneck either...but like you say, one HAS to wear a scarf.

My wife even found me a replica WWII RAF scarf, dark blue, with white dots. That's what I normally wear.

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/scarves.html

Ron Wanttaja

The benefit of the neck gaiter over just a turtleneck is that if you need to, you can pull it up over your nose and therefore cover your cheeks, nose and mouth.

Nothing wrong with wearing both.

[Frank Giger]

The ongoing saga:

With the improving weather, scarves and the like are proving to be nothing more than fashion accessories (knock on wood, it's still January). Springs cut, replaced, and I took her up and around the patch, leather coat, flying helmet, goggles, but no mittens and no scarf (though I did have long johns under my pants). I was comfortable the whole time.

It boggles my mind that one can't find NOS oil pressure relief springs for a Type I Bug engine, and that all that is available is after market "improved" ones that have too much tension for low RPM/low temperature use. If I could find a "pull a part" junkyard with some bugs in it I'd be crawling underneath with a screwdriver and a hammer.

Went up the day before yesterday and it was much improved. At full RPM's (around 3300) I got a little oil out of the spinner, but I'm okay with that, as it's at the full 3+ quarts (there's a about a pint or so in the oil cooler and hoses to it). Oil pressure at cruise (2500 RPM) was 40, and after an hour, on landing, it was 20 at idle. Roughly twice what it really should be, but it won't hurt anything. I may just have to keep the oil halfway or a quarter above the add line on the dipstick.*

I double checked that the venting for the engine case was clear, and it is, so no over pressure there.

A little oil on the cowl and a few drips on the bottom of the upper wing, the right wing, and right elevator, but none on the left. Easily wiped off and not a problem. The decision to use exterior house paint on the plane has really paid huge dividends.

I also learned that when a handheld radio battery gets low it will continue to receive loud and clear but won't transmit. The TX light is a lie. Having the spare battery thingie that can take six AA batteries saved me a lot of troubleshooting, as - fortunately - it was the first thing I checked. ICOM makes a fine product, but why they omitted a feature to show battery charge level is beyond me. Yes, it does have a little icon that will show up SECONDS BEFORE THE BATTERY IS COMPLETELY DEAD, but that's not exactly helpful.

It sure was nice to fly for half and hour the other day. Pretty bumpy, owing to the front having moved through and the sunshine heating everything up (Wednesday = freezing and snow, Sunday = 65 and sunny), but getting pushed around is just a function of what the airplane is. I had to keep the flight short as I had around an hour in the tank (three or so gallons) and am a bit skiddish about pushing the minimums - and both my Jerry cans were empty, so no filling her up beforehand.

I improved the engine baffling, making up some strips of leather folded over flexible cardboard and putting them along where the aluminum sheet projects to the cowl. It seems to work just fine. There's some spots along the firewall where the cowl doesn't quite sit flush against it that I'm going to mark up and fabricate some sort of soft blocking of it. It may be as simple as some duck tape folded part way over itself and attached to the firewall.

Culver is cutting me a new propeller, as the one the sent me was 60x27 instead of 62x27. It doesn't really matter - I don't think that extra inch of length on both ends will really improve anything - but when I mentioned it to them they immediately said they'd cut a new one for me and send me a shipping label for the current one when it's done. Now that's customer service! It'll be interesting to see what finish Alaina up there will put on it (I just leave it up to her with the instruction to "make it pretty.").

Next up is improving the combing around the cockpit and adjusting the gun. I did the combing in the most get-it-done manner I could, slapping some scrap faux leather over a bit of garden hose and pipe insulation and wrapping over with a long boot lace to keep it in place. It looks way better than it should, but it's not really as secure as I'd like it. So I procured some leather from a recliner someone was throwing out (they put it on the curb for the trash man and in short order the back panel of it was cut away - always, always carry a knife!), and it has a nice section on the bottom with the pile part of velcro where it attached to the bottom of the chair. That section will be used for the very rear of the cockpit, and I have industrial velcro that will hold it in place across the back.

So I'll remove what I have and either recycle it if I can, putting some eyelets in it and lacing it properly around the edge with some leather strap (okay, leather boot laces), or just make new, as I think I have enough.

My gun is too far forward and set at an angle to where the convergence would be about 15 feet in front of the prop. The latter would be funny if it didn't actually bother me, and the former is a matter of aesthetics. It just doesn't look right. I'm also hoping that moving the gun back four inches will make it more stable and I can use it as a viable camera mount. As it is now it vibrates just enough to make the camera work suspect and needing serious editing to make it worth showing.

* Checking the oil level isn't as straight forward as one would like. I have to lift the tail to bring the oil pan level, wait a little, and then check it. Since the dipstick is at the very forward edge of the engine (and thus at the high point), I don't trust whether or not there's a little daub of oil on the tip and call it good.

[Sam Buchanan]

Culver is cutting me a new propeller, as the one the sent me was 60x27 instead of 62x27. It doesn't really matter - I don't think that extra inch of length on both ends will really improve anything - but when I mentioned it to them they immediately said they'd cut a new one for me and send me a shipping label for the current one when it's done. Now that's customer service! It'll be interesting to see what finish Alaina up there will put on it (I just leave it up to her with the instruction to "make it pretty.").


Frank, just for grins can I make a guess about your new prop? :)
Two inches more diameter will result in a drop of 175 rpm, but climb performance will remain the same or improve. Alaina does build a beautiful prop!

Spring will be here soon!

[Mark Thompson]

Frank was reading your building saga. started today got up to page 45 2 am now will start again in the morning after sleep. Cant get enough of you trials and tribulations. maybe I wont get so many when i start my build. I have learned a lot. thank you for this thread.

Mark Thompson
planing stage on
Curtuss Falcon OX-1 /A-3

[Frank Giger]

Thanks for the kind words.

It's all the warts of my build, far more than when I got things just right, as I wanted folks to chime in and correct me.

But it was fun to build. Except when it wasn't. There are times when I think the "Education and Recreation" of building is tilted wayyyy too much towards Education. ;)

[rwanttaja]

Thanks for the kind words.

It's all the warts of my build, far more than when I got things just right, as I wanted folks to chime in and correct me.

But it was fun to build. Except when it wasn't. There are times when I think the "Education and Recreation" of building is tilted wayyyy too much towards Education. ;)
Not to mention the "re-creation" of parts you'd previously built.

I echo my thanks for Frank's candor.

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

* blush *

A little break in the weather today - temps in the mid 50's, winds light and variable, and so naturally up and off I went.

The radio thing is getting weird. I brought it home and charged the battery to the max, and was greeted with a minor squeal when transmitting. Not my problem, I decided, as I was legible. Twenty minutes into the flight and I was talking to another pilot in the air - he suggested we make the big cross country over to Pell City (ten miles away!) - and he noted the squeal was gone and I sounded great. I took his word for it, as an open cockpit isn't the best place for nuances of sound.

Coming back in an hour later, the guys in the FBO remarked that the radio was much improved, but had a sort of rushing noise with it. "That would probably be wind," I remarked.

So I'm thinking that battery use is fairly linear with a steady decline, right to the point where it is sensitive to feedback at the top and transmits garbled and then not at all on the bottom end.

I did some casual searches for what a non-TSO small panel mount radio goes for and recoiled in horror from the computer screen. Good grief, a thousand bucks? That's just insane. And we don't have a pull-a-part airplane junkyard here in Alabama, so I guess I'm stuck with the handheld.

[rwanttaja]

I did some casual searches for what a non-TSO small panel mount radio goes for and recoiled in horror from the computer screen. Good grief, a thousand bucks? That's just insane. And we don't have a pull-a-part airplane junkyard here in Alabama, so I guess I'm stuck with the handheld.
Ahem....

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/tech/velcro.html

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/tech/rad_finished.jpg

Ron Wanttaja

[Tralika]

Ron,
That's a good write up on how you installed your handheld. At the end of the article you mention that the output jacks on most handheld radios are mismatched for aviation headsets. I read your article on how to correct the mismatch in the February issue of Kitplanes magazine. Some time ago I owned an experimental glider with no electrical system. I used a little Yaesu handheld when flying and never understood whey it wouldn't work with a Telex single sided headset, now I know. I still have the handheld and use it as a back up. Sometimes I wish I still had the glider too. Anyhow thanks for sharing your knowledge.
John Nealon
Wasilla, Alaska

[Frank Giger]

Ron, you're a gem!

I think I'll generously borrow a few items you pointed out and go a slightly different way.

I intentionally built my seat wider than my butt with the intention of being able to place a handheld next to my hip on one side and something of a similar size on the other.* It's worked out really well with the handheld - even when I inverted on the ground, the handheld didn't fly up - and while I don't have space on my panel to mount like you did, I have a needless switch on it.**

So I'm thinking about putting in a cigarette lighter plug on the outside of the seat (there's just enough room), and running the wire to the switch and relabel it "radio." Then get one of those battery replacers and plug it in right there, since that's what is on the end of it.

I'll run the wires straight from the battery (interrupted by the switch) to the cigarette lighter. Will there be noise from the alternator? Dunno. The direct connect battery thingie says it has a filter.

This allows me to remove the radio and use it for other stuff, like being ground crew for my EAA brothers.

* It dawned on me yesterday when I was flying that there is no reason I can't have my super duper thermos cup with hot coffee with me in the air. Or, in the summer, my super duper thermos cup with hot coffee with me in the air. Since it has a clearly labelled OPEN CLOSE lever on it and does not leak when closed, I don't even need a cup holder.

** Read back a few pages on the charging saga. That alternator switch is nice, but unnecessary, and I'm going to delete that part of the circuit.

[rwanttaja]

I think I'll generously borrow a few items you pointed out and go a slightly different way.
Absolutely! I'm the first to admit that my solution was, probably, more complex than most people would want. But I didn't have a good spot in the cockpit to mount the handheld itself. In any case, no one MAKES a handheld as small as the A5 any more. That makes it tougher find a home for it, on a panel.

The opportunity to look at a whole new installation has me in the raised eyebrow, fingertips-tapping-together mode. Some thoughts:

1. If you want to be able to pull the radio out of the airplane to use it at fly-ins, you might not want to use the battery eliminator. That would mean you'd have to carry the battery pack with you (anyway) and switch it out when you took the radio out of the plane.

An alternative approach would be to use the NiMh battery pack, with dohickey that connects to the charging contacts on the stock battery. Connect the other end of the dohickey to a small jack on the outside of the plane, and charge the battery occasionally.

Or...get the battery pack that takes standard alkaline AA cells, and carry spares in the plane.

2. One thing that's very nice is having the jacks for the headset solidly mounted in the panel or a side panel. Beats having the floppy adaptors hanging around, and makes neat cord runs easy.

3. If you build or modify a headset to match the Icom's characteristics, it no longer needs to comply with the standard aviation 0.25"/0.206" jack format. My under-helmet headsets use standard 1/8" plugs. You can put the same size jacks in your plane and save some space...and it'd let you plug a set of standard ear buds in.

I have an adaptor cable that connects my under-helmet headsets to the standard aviation jacks, but if I ever work on the plane, I'm going to change the plane jacks to a smaller size. Probably a 1/8" and 3/32" one to keep the size difference for headphones and mikes.

4. As has been mentioned, "headset adapters" for handhelds handle the ELECTRICAL connection, but the impedances are off for the headphone portion. Most aviation headsets work, but they lose about 6 dB of sound energy. You can boost the sound volume by using a headset with 8-ohm speakers. I've got an expanded version of the Kitplanes article at:

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/tech/amplitude.html

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

I read the "convert a headset" articles and came away a bit bugeyed.

I have the 6 AA battery for the handset.

A quick rundown on my "setup:"

Basically, it's just the radio laying on the seat next to me, with a coax cable for the antenna snaking up and forward to the rubber duck antenna I mounted on the windscreen. I moved it there thinking that having it behind the seat next to the aluminum tubing was causing the squealing. It wasn't, but I'll take the hit on the WWI looks for a better antenna position.

I've got the conversion cable thingie for the headset that plugs into the handset and then the headset, with the PTT switch that goes with it. It just snakes up to the headset on that side of me without any fuss, and I just tuck the excess cable down around the handset.

The PTT switch is a bit of a compromise, as I never found a good place to put it. So I just wrap the velcro ribbon around the first two fingers of my left hand and have it pointing to the side. It's kind of make due, but is comfortable, keeps the cable away from anything important, and works.

One of the other things I'm going to have to do is crack out the book on the handset and reprogram it. I set it up when I was based out of Pell City, so Talladega isn't in the middle of the channels - or at the end. I'm going to put it and the AWOS first, and then configure the freqs based on distance from there.

So it will be Talladega AWOS, Talladega traffic, Pell City (okay, St. Clair Co) AWOS, Pell City traffic, then Anniston, then Gadsden, then Sylacauga (everything in my 25 mile test flight area). Just for fun I may put in Shelby County, Albertville, and Fort Payne.

I don't have a problem of carrying a battery with me - I'm not the fly-in type of guy, so it will be rare - and almost always wear cargo pants, so stuffing a handset in one isn't a big deal for me.

[Dana]

When I had the squealing problem with my Icom A24, I found the antenna had to be a significant distance away from the rest of the wiring, I don't think on the windshield would cut it. On my Kolb I had the antenna on the bottom of the plane pointing down, about under my knees. On my Fisher it was on top of the top wing.

[Frank Giger]

New and vexing issue - there's not enough space between the upper wing and the fuel tank to allow fueling from the truck at the airport. Not a problem at my own field, where I use a hand crank and a hose from a can, but if I'm out and about and need fuel, I'll be out of luck.

This can't be a unique problem, and I'm sure they make an adapter I could put on the end of a standard fuel nozzle, but terminology is stumping me. In the Army we referred to the flexible metal nozzles that fit into Jerry cans after the male appendage of a donkey in a universal manner. But there is no way I'm going to Google that term!

Little help?

[Dana]

New and vexing issue - there's not enough space between the upper wing and the fuel tank to allow fueling from the truck at the airport.

I have the same problem on my Starduster. The standard aircraft nozzle will just barely go in, but at an angle which makes it splash and spill if I'm not careful and go slow. An adapter would be a nice thing.

[CHICAGORANDY]

Would it be possible to cut a length of appropriately shaped auto radiator hose for the odd off home base fuel fill? Just spit-balling here.

[martymayes]

12" of rubber hose has always worked. Fits over the fueling nozzle on one end and into the fuel tank on the other.

[Dana]

Static could be a concern, though, without the metal fuel nozzle touching the metal fuel tank neck.

[bookmaker]

If the grounding cable is properly connected from the fueling truck/ station, the nozzle need not touch the rim of the tank for static suppression.

[bookmaker]

Frank, what about making a short 45 degree L out of PVC pipe and a 45 degree elbow? If you can find a size that will slip over the standard nozzle snugly, that would be best. You could carry this in the plane with you. Or the rubber tube idea, especially a piece that has a nice natural curve to it.

[Sam Buchanan]

1. If you want to be able to pull the radio out of the airplane to use it at fly-ins, you might not want to use the battery eliminator. That would mean you'd have to carry the battery pack with you (anyway) and switch it out when you took the radio out of the plane.

2. One thing that's very nice is having the jacks for the headset solidly mounted in the panel or a side panel. Beats having the floppy adaptors hanging around, and makes neat cord runs easy.

<snip>

4. As has been mentioned, "headset adapters" for handhelds handle the ELECTRICAL connection, but the impedances are off for the headphone portion. Most aviation headsets work, but they lose about 6 dB of sound energy. You can boost the sound volume by using a headset with 8-ohm speakers. I've got an expanded version of the Kitplanes article at:

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/tech/amplitude.html

Ron Wanttaja

I have a Yaesu handheld in the Fokker D.VII wannabe. It clips to a simple bracket via the belt clip on the back of the radio and feeds an external 1/4 wave antenna on the belly of the plane. I rigged up an audio transformer per Ron's article to drastically increase headset volume. The transformer is wired to hard-mounted jacks that take all the stress off the Yaesu headset adapter. While wiring the audio adapter I pulled out the transmit lead and put a push-to-talk switch on the control stick.

I still use the radio rechargeable battery because it will go an entire summer on 2-3 charges. I routinely hear traffic pattern chatter at an airport 100 miles away and the locals say the radio transmits nicely.

Please excuse the low-quality phone photo...

6948

[Frank Giger]

Very sleek!

I suppose that my Icom batteries may not be up to snuff, as they go dead very much on their own over a couple of weeks.

[rwanttaja]

I suppose that my Icom batteries may not be up to snuff, as they go dead very much on their own over a couple of weeks.
What's the chemistry of the batteries? Older Icoms came with nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries, which tend to not retain their charge. Nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) is better. The Icom I got a couple years back has Lithium-Ion. It *really* holds a charge.

The chemistry will be noted on the battery pack, though you'll have to remove it from the radio to see it.

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

New prop came in!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/neu_prop002.jpg

She put stickers on the new one, which I was very apathetic towards either way. One can't see them when the engine is turning it and I'm at 1,000 feet AGL.


Naturally I idiot proofed the torque order:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/neu_prop005.jpg

Why all the fuss? Culver cut the replacement prop at 60" instead of 62".

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/neu_prop003.jpg

I'm building up the gumption to do the wiring stuff, but the weather is just crap.

[Frank Giger]

Today was a 50% day.

I moved the master switch over to the right side, and routed the wires for the starter switch - well, one of them - back around the firewall to where no wires cross under my compass.

Why only one of the wires? Because I was a bit, um, creative when I ran the wires and one of them, the one that goes to the starter itself, was already going down the left side. The other crossed behind the panel mostly because all the other wires to the gauges ran on the right and I just did the same with it. But it was plenty long enough and not a problem.

On the radio switch I got a bit of the stupids.

Cutting the switch out of the alternator to where it just goes straight to the battery was simplicity itself.

I had plenty of heavy gauge wire left over, so I connected one end to the ground terminal, one to the positive, and then put one on a side of the switch, one on the other, then did the same with the cigarette lighter plug in thingie.

Flip the switch on and the wires instantly became hot. Switch it off. Hmmm, that's not good.

By this time the sun was going down, so I left the switch off, buttoned up the hangar, and drove home, musing about what I had done.

Fifteen minutes later it dawned on me - I had just wired up a short between terminals, no different than just running a wire between them directly. Gaaahh!

"Positive in on one side of the switch, positive to the plug in accessory on the other, ground wire independent and running to a ground, you dipsh*t," I exclaimed.

So off to the airport tomorrow to fix it.

:)

[Frank Giger]

So here's my mighty fine radio power connector!

First, the wiring job:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/Radio001.jpg

All the connectors were taped up, and one can see the in-line fuse on the far left. Yesterday's learning curve experience showed me just how important it is.

The plugger in thingie also has two USB outlets, so that if I need to I can charge my phone or tablet.

I had thought about running it through the master power bus, but ruled that out on the basis that I usually listen to the weather and stuff before cranking the engine, and it might be better to have this on a unique circuit.

I like the fact that it has a light on it showing power is being applied. It's a warning that I need to turn it off if I've been using it during maintenance or something.

Second, the installation itself:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/Radio002.jpg

I feel all fancy having a switch labelled RADIO (Mike says it should have been labelled AVIONICS to reach full hubris), that's for sure.

Yes, that is indeed yet another appearance of industrial Velcro holding it in place. The stuff is incredibly solid. I hooked the radio's power connector to it and pulled mightily. The plug came out of the thingie rather than give loose of the Velcro.

So now, with the battery replacer on the radio, I don't have to worry about not having enough juice to transmit on it. I'll still carry a battery pack (one with the AA batteries in it to be sure it's fully charged) with me in the aircraft, though.

I also moved the antenna from the windscreen back as far as I could into the fuselage and still reach it. I need to find a spare rubber duck antenna, as in order to use the radio as a handheld I have to remove it from the extension cable on the aircraft...a real pain in the tail end.

From inside the hangar I could send and receive to the FBO. What I haven't done is pulled the airplane out, cranked it, and see if there is any electrical interference. I may try that today.

[Frank Giger]

So the mad geniuses of this forum are in fact geniuses.

While slightly different in application, my radio configuration worked a treat! Everyone said my radio was loud and clear* and there was zero squealing all day.

Moving the radio into the fuselage as far back as I could get it (Yet again, industrial velcro to the rescue!) also improved my reception to the point I had to adjust the squelch to get rid of some very distant folks hissing at me. But that one guy waayyy up in Fort Payne was sounding smooth as he did touch and goes.

The mental additions to the checklist were pretty much automatic. Starting up - Radio switch on, radio on, check weather and adjust altimeter, radio off, radio switch off, Master on, pump the throttle a couple times, press starter, when RPMs settled, radio switch on, radio on. Shutting down - Radio off, radio switch off, master off.

No weird noises from the charging system, either.

I did clip a battery pack (the one that uses AA batteries) to the outside of the seat out of the way as a backup, though.

The new prop performed wonderfully. While an extra two inches in total length isn't much and I wasn't looking for huge differences, in fact it just felt better. It could be that I trained myself to it, as the original was a 62x27 and the replacement was a 60x27 - and when Culver heard they shorted me (literally), they replaced it gratis, or the fact that it was such a great day and I was in an outrageously good mood, but I pretty much greased every landing - and using different profiles on landing.

With the shorter prop it seemed like I was always too fast by a tad, but the extra drag of the larger prop put me right where I need to be.

The nice thing about piloting an aircraft who's design is dedicated to putting as much drag as possible by throwing wires all over it is that one need never slip to drop altitude. Just reduce the throttle to idle and ride the down elevator. The fast one. :)

* A friend's KR2 has an odd antenna arrangement and can't receive over anything but mid range distance and handhelds not at all, and one fellow said it sounded like I had my head stuck out of the window. ;)

[cub builder]

So the mad geniuses of this forum are in fact geniuses.

* A friend's KR2 has an odd antenna arrangement and can't receive over anything but mid range distance and handhelds not at all, and one fellow said it sounded like I had my head stuck out of the window. ;)

Your friend's radio came out of my KR and went to his. It was removed from mine for good reason and may need a trip through the radio shop for some TLC. However, when I removed it for replacement, I did find a problem with the antenna coax, so assuming that may have been my problem, I sent it to him to use. When I talked to him on the radio in September, it sounded good on my end.

If he has the Dipole antenna arrangement, that is awesome. I've always been able to transmit and receive very long distances with that arrangement in my KR.

[Frank Giger]

He does not, in fact, have a dipole antenna arrangement, something we discussed at length late in the day.

Mike's issue is that when he flew with you in loose formation is that he could hear and transmit to you without problem, but you were talking to folks he couldn't even receive.

This is one of the very cool parts of the home building community - we get to learn about stuff not just on our planes, but other's. Indeed, many is the time that someone will go out to the airport to work on something on their plane and spend all of the time helping someone else out on theirs!

It could be a combination of issues, of course, but that's where the real fun begins!

[Frank Giger]

One of the things that has kind of bugged me about my build was the combing around the cockpit. To be honest, at that stage I was just about sick of building and just wanted to fly, and threw together the most inelegant solution possible.

My neighbor was throwing out this sort of toybox thing covered with faux leather and I claimed it as my own, carrying it up to the hangar and skinning it like a catfish.

Weather was impossible for flying, so I decided to start tackling it. Things were going pretty good until a parade of "helpers" started showing up to ask questions, make random observations, and generally slowing things down - with the exception of one of my EAA brothers who was up there and dove in to actually help.

The material is big enough to double over and reach around, so no sewing! I just ironed a seam in it, threw in the eyelets every two inches on one side, spray painted the inside black (the inner cloth backing was silver), put some 90 spray adhesive on it, and folded it back.

I didn't put eyelets all the way through because the only decent size I could find were still fairly large, and I wanted to disguise the holes where the leather boot lace went in and out of the sheet metal.

The weather was turning to total crap and I was beginning to flag, so here's where I left off with the initial fitting of one side:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/comb002.jpg

The top around the cockpit isn't smooth, as one can see, and I have some ideas on how to make it so....but then again, I kind of like the folds, too.

The join is now at the front, and the piece is big enough to go all the way around. The center piece at the back is held in place with - what else - industrial velcro.

[Frank Giger]

Gasp in amazement at the conservative take off!
Tap your feet to the sounds of Bill Monroe!
Marvel in the application of both a GPS and a paper sectional map on a knee board!
Swoon at the affection and emotions as only a man wearing a leather flying helmet can feel!
Try and contain yourself through the thrills of a gentle left turn!
Witness the changing of a radio frequency!
Watch as the flying machine descends to the Earth with majestic grace!
Hear the grinding action of grooved asphalt onto a solid rubber tail wheel!


https://youtu.be/2AQ9sUgBo6M

Pretty thrilling stuff, if I say so myself.

Okay, seriously, this is from a week or so ago when we had a rare break in weather. While the wind wasn't too bad, it was bumpy as all get out - but I was going through pilot withdrawal.

And sense I can't remember if I shared this one or not...

[rwanttaja]

Gasp in amazement at the conservative take off!
Tap your feet to the sounds of Bill Monroe!
Marvel in the application of both a GPS and a paper sectional map on a knee board!
Swoon at the affection and emotions as only a man wearing a leather flying helmet can feel!
Try and contain yourself through the thrills of a gentle left turn!
Witness the changing of a radio frequency!
Watch as the flying machine descends to the Earth with majestic grace!
Hear the grinding action of grooved asphalt onto a solid rubber tail wheel!
Whimper because the embedded Youtube says, "This video is unavailable....."

Ron "keeping us in suspense" Wanttaja

[Dana]

"This video is unavailable." and "This video has been removed by the user."

Edit, I see Ron beat me to it.

[Frank Giger]

It appears that Bill Monroe's estate is very jealously - and with supreme quickness - protecting his Bluegrass sound, and banned the video in about two minutes from publishing.

Video and links updated to something royalty-free.


https://youtu.be/2AQ9sUgBo6M

[rwanttaja]

Neat video, Frank.

They sell key fob cameras very cheap... one of these with a bit of double-faced tape can get some neat footage.

https://youtu.be/vgcoU6lFxAc
Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

Oh, that's full of awesome!

And I am delighted to see I'm not the only one that keeps his head on a swivel, particularly around the pattern!

[Frank Giger]

Second attempt at the coaming around the cockpit and I decided to back up and re-think it right before the "throw rubber mallet across the hangar" stage of building.

[Frank Giger]

I'll try and remember my camera to show the progress on the coaming next time.

Meanwhile...


https://youtu.be/3shJVxtlnB4

[Frank Giger]

So, coaming then.

Well, I started out throwing away the old foam core and installing a new one that went all the way around:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/coam001.jpg

It actually made me a little sad that the aviation grade pipe insulation wouldn't hold up to the stresses of use, as it looks fantastic just as it is.

I did a LOT of trial and error on this whole coaming thing, ruining a lot of old sheets and stuff trying to make templates. I finally just dove in with the leather itself. For the center I just TLAR'd it with an Xacto knife.

I went to work with a zillion little stick pins and, to keep it from buckling as it went around, simply cut slits on the inside to relieve the pressure.

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/coam002.jpg

The big question was how I would line it back up after removing it to put in the eyelets. Aha! Measure and cut the holes for the eyelets in situ, mark the locations, drill the holes, and then just line them back up! Super Genius, if you ask me.

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/coam003.jpg

Look at the precision of those Sharpie markings!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/coam004.jpg

Slather the inside of the leather(ish) material with Weldwood contact cement along with some 3M 90 to help saturate the fabric side of the leather(ish), put it back on, lace it up, and pin in place to let it dry.

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/coam005.jpg

I had to close the hangar doors as it was starting to rain right though it, so no picture of the front of the cockpit coaming. I cut it in the center, as I wanted room to work with the leather on the rest of it - the piece looked much like a commercial toilet bowl seat when I got done - and since there isn't a grand curve there got away with a small piece with an eyelet on each corner to sew into the main piece and just glued it down.

It's definately a case of "better enough" over the "gooder enough" coaming I had before. I may come back at some point and fabricate a single piece to go around the inside to cover up the saw toothed leather on the foam, but this will work for right now.

Oh, and y'all experienced builders: please tell me there's a point when I can stop the Education part and just get on with the Recreation of an E-AB.

[pittsdriver3]

Frank, I have been building and restoring airplanes for 40 years and you never stop learning.

[Frank Giger]

Nothing broken on the aircraft!

Today was definitely a day of education in piloting Babette.

Winds were calm, sky was clear, and up-uppity-up I went. A couple minor burbles as I climbed all the way up to 2,000 feet (AGL, too!), but then it was hands free flying! I even did a little dance in the cockpit as I sang (fortunately over the wind and distance nobody was endangered). On the way back to the field I descended and performed an okay-er enough turn about a point using a cell tower, ascended again, and headed back to the field.

A check of the AWOS brought no surprises. 190 at three, it said. Okay, runway 22 it is.

With the sun coming out and warming things up, it was getting a little bouncy, but nothing too impressive, but as I turn base something just feels wrong. I'm going to have to do some minor pilot type stuff to get lined up properly for final - usually I can hit the mark in a smooth half circle.

Hmmm, I'm crabbing to keep the line. Okay, so it's a tad more than a gentle crosswind. Add a touch of power, fly her down, kiss the wheel, bring the other down, then the tail and done. Except it wasn't a tad. I catch a glimpse of the windsock in the middle of the field and it's 90 degrees to the runway and sticking straight out. Three knots my tail dragging end!

Touch a wheel a bit more firmly than I wanted, tiny bounce, but it's a bounce, so let's adjust and go with it. Down again, smaller bounce, other main touches, gust, up in the air, and I'm on the right third of the runway.

Oh, heck no. Firewall and go around.

Well okay, then. 90 degree crosswind at seven or ten gusting to whatever, I reckon. I'll give it a shot, and if it doesn't work out bail from the pattern and land differently.*

Air is getting pretty dang yucky, and I was not liking it very much. I wrestle her back around the pattern, widening it up, determined to use every bit of the 5,000 feet of runway if I have to. The Nieuport is just whipping across the ground and I'm lining up on final when the windsock snaps 90 degrees. Oh, good not a crosswind. Now it's a tailwind. Ah.

Easy as punch. Pick her back up, go into the downwind leg which is amiable since the other end is a right hand pattern. Radio tell the lonely ether around the field what I was doing, line up again - mindful that the winds are being tricksie today - pick up a slight crosswind, put her down, and taxi off.

Turn over to AWOS. Winds 190 at three. I guess it hadn't caught up to the news of the day.

Naturally, like all things aviation, I putter up to the grass and pull off to holler at some folks out to their hangars for the day and the wind just dies down. I climb out, we all laugh, and I get to hear great stories about shifting winds and stuff.

I'm debating about making the video, as it's kind of more of the same. Then again, we don't get a lot of go-arounds and switching ends of the field. I had the camera on the wrong side to get the windsock, though.

* The Talledega Speeway was built on a WWII airstrip used for training bomber pilots, on one of the remnants on our side of the fence is 1,800 feet of perfect pavement that is away from everything and at a 90 degree angle to the new one NASCAR built. I would not be the first to ever use it.

[Kyle Boatright]

Nothing broken on the aircraft!.

I'm based about 50 miles NE of Talladega. The late morning certainly did get a bit squirrelly.

I'd called the FSS to get the <most> local terminal forecast, which was something like 5 knots from the SE. Braving those winds, I flew down to Falcon Field (50 miles South of here) to grab a $100 cotter pin from Aircraft Spruce and things were windier down there than expected. On final for 13, you're over a lake and the lake was not smooth at all - a fair amount of wind down there, but aligned with the runway. On landing, I had it nicely on the ground and caught a gust that ballooned me 5-8' high. Bumpy recovery, but nothing scary.

On return to VPC, the AWOS claimed direct 8 knots, gusting 15. We have a really awful setup for mechanical turbulence (river, tree line, large slope up to the runway) if you're landing to the South and the wind is from the East. So, I flew 2,000' feet down the field to avoid most of that, and made a rather squirrelly landing in a G12-15 <est> moment. Again, nothing scary, but I did have the ailerons to the stop on rollout... I'd have been in the weeds with a broken wheel and a damaged lower wing if I'd been in a Nieuport.

Then I changed the oil on the RV-6 without making a huge mess, which is an accomplishment for me.

By the way, the highlight of the day was an encounter with a pair of hawks on my walk over to Aircraft Spruce from the FBO at Falcon Field. They were chasing each other and making hawk noises. I'm pretty sure they were mating, but they could have been fighting. <It is sometimes hard to tell at my house too.>

Anyway, one did a split ess from above the treeline into the open area above the road. The other one did a split ess too, but entirely folded its wings and did an extended vertical dive. Before he pulled out, he was close enough and fast enough that I could hear the sound of him ripping through the air. Very impressive.

[Frank Giger]

Naw, you're an Ace!

But thanks for validating it was goofy air today! I don't mind a crosswind. I can deal with gusts. But when it is fairly moving along and swapping directions I tend to show consternation.

[cub builder]

Your buddy Mike says the AWOS wasn't updating the data properly, so you were getting old AWOS data. Caught him by surprise as well.

-Cub Builder

[Frank Giger]

Oh yes, "190 at three" is a lie burned into my memory for life!

[Frank Giger]

Here's a video of the landing portion of that flight.

I carry a GoPro so that I can pick out things I do wrong - and there are huge areas of improvement as a pilot I can make - but in this case the decision to go around (and around) was the right one.


https://youtu.be/2cAMM9-_x6w

[Floatsflyer]

Here's a video of the landing portion of that flight.

I carry a GoPro so that I can pick out things I do wrong - and there are huge areas of improvement as a pilot I can make - but in this case the decision to go around (and around) was the right one.


https://youtu.be/2cAMM9-_x6w

And the joint was a rockin', goin' round and round...

You did real good Frank. Much, much better than Clark Griswold on the London round-a-bout. And much, much better than Charlie on the MTA.

[Frank Giger]

Well, unlike Charlie there is a very slim possibility my wife could hand me a sandwich when I got hungry.

[waltermitty]

Poopie air, I love it.

[Frank Giger]

I stole that from Dick Starks, actually.

I went out to the airport a couple of days ago to install a pitot tube (since I paid all that money to put it on the panel, might as well have it read something other than zero!).

Normally, something like this would be full of adventure, not a few swear words, and a couple drops of blood. I'm sort of hexxed that way.

I had to put a stiff wire from the cockpit through the wing and hit the wing strut dead on. Got it on the second try - no expletives needed.

I needed to anneal and custom cut both ends of the aluminum tube the nylon hose would go through that gets riveted to the wing strut to hold it in place. It went perfect first try.

I needed to paint it all without drips. Awesome.

I needed the nylon tubing to snake up the inside of the cockpit, though a hole in the panel, and into the airspeed indicator. Not an issue.

Why the "no fuss, no muss?"

Because I flew with Mike in both of his aircraft, the KR2 and the Cessna 150.

First up in the KR2. The air was super poopy, two men and full tanks of gas make the CG at the very aft end of acceptable, the winds became gusty on landing, and, as a bonus, his headset crapped out.

Then up in the Cessna 150, where almost immediately the intercom system stopped working. We discovered after we landed that the power cord had come out of it.

I need to fly with Mike more often when I'm working on my airplane, as it seems I can transfer my minor difficulties onto his aircraft instead of my own.

[cub builder]

Yeah. I'll bet Mike really appreciates the Giger hex. :cool:

[rwanttaja]

Yeah. I'll bet Mike really appreciates the Giger hex. :cool:
I always thought this was the Giger Hex:
http://www.wanttaja.com/hex.jpg
Or is that the Giger crescent?

Ron "Where's that 20-foot breaker bar" Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

Spoke to Robert at Sun N Fun about random stuff and the Nieuport as well.

Typical Robert Baslee conversation:

On pitot tube placement: Why even bother with one? But if you want, put both the static port and pitot tube right together; there's no good place to put a static port anywhere in the fuselage.

On the axle inserts bending: Better than something breaking! But you could make metal bushings to use instead of the plastic pipe insert.

On coaming: I suck at that and have other people do it; whatever works for you is best.

On the build process: Well, how I did the leading edges is in the instructional book that came with the plans. You didn't get a book? Oh, yeah, we put that together after you got yours.

:)

I talked to Blake about his Nieuport and got his take about coaming (both the Nieuport 28 he built and the Sopwith Schnieder's are just excellent.

He said the foam is evil, and they went with just a big fat garden hose instead, as it's easier to wrap the leather around a firm surface. He also implied that I really should get pieces of actual leather that can stretch to fit.

I'm going to have to manufacture a setup to hold two 1/4" tubes side by side if I'm going to run both the static and pitot tubes in the same location.

There are two easy ways and one hard one:

1) Simply use another 1/4" inch piece of aluminum tubing to hold the plastic tubing and place it along side the one for the pitot tube line up the wing strut (easiest). It's also the least aesthetic; yeah, yeah, I know, now I care about looks!*

2) Drill holes into the side of the strut itself at the top and bottom and run the tubes down through it. A big PITA to run the tubes through it, and that's holes in the side of the wing strut. Okay structurally, but I don't like holes in struts. Its the most aesthetic, though.

3) Ovalize a piece of 1/2" tubing and run both through them. Most difficult, as I'd have to make a jig to do that and my track record on that account isn't the best.

Oh, and hey, look here's me with a Camel!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/camel.jpg

* "What about additional drag? I give two hoots about drag. The whole aircraft is as if someone made a bet on how much drag one could design into an aircraft and still have it fly.

[Sam Buchanan]

Frank, these clamps are pretty handy for securing tubing to the side of the wing struts:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/an742.php?clickkey=4904

7140

I used these with sheet metal screws for securing the aileron control cables to the N-struts.

[pittsdriver3]

Spruce has several pitot/static tubes. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/inpages/unheatedptubes3.php?clickkey=5714

[Frank Giger]

I actually have one that I bought but never used.

[Frank Giger]

Went out yesterday to fix this, and figured out that running up the back strut and then across had more problems to solve than solutions, so just went up the front one.

It actually went pretty straight forward. I took a peak at a Citabria during some hangar talk and it's static port tube, drawing some measurements from it. Some epoxy at the front, some super tiny holes drilled, tubes cut, annealed, etc. and voila!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/pitot004.jpg

It's not super pretty, but what on my aircraft is?

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/pitot005.jpg

Will it work as it should? I don't know, but it looks very airplane-y and might.

[Frank Giger]

Pitot tube and static port worked really well flying today!

No real wind, but seriously bumpy - like riding a dirt road and an elevator in turns!

But I must say I finally put together the landings I want, coming in high and rounding it out to kiss the mains when landing. More incredibly, not only was it on the centerline but there were witnesses!

Naturally, though, I didn't mount the GoPro to capture it.

:)

[DaleB]

Naturally, though, I didn't mount the GoPro to capture it.

:)
Perfect landings normally occur only when there are no witnesses and no video evidence. Come on, Frank, I thought you knew that. :) If there were witnesses, they must have snuck up on you.

[Frank Giger]

I didn't ground loop her two days ago - I drifted to a halt! Of course I had the video rolling, and I may put it together, as it's sort of entertaining!

What a day!

So when I was last flying, the engine seemed to be running a bit rich, so a bit of adjustment was in order.

Pull out my instructions, start setting the carb to the starting default positions, and notice the rubber seal thingies from the carb tubes to the intake manifolds has some signs of dry rot.

Hmmm, that's not good. I need to pull them to see if it's cracking all the way through.

In order to remove them, I have to take off the intake manifolds into the engine.

Bugger up the gasket between the engine and the intake manifold as it sticks and breaks.

Dang.

Glories of VW's, the new rubber round dealies and the gaskets are less than ten bucks, but the plane is down until they arrive.

But it did give me an opportunity to order a new oil temp sending unit, one that fits on the bottom of the engine at the oil pressure relief valve (replacing the bolt there). I think the one at the front of the engine is lying - or, possibly, I have the coolest running VW engine ever to grace an aircraft.

Now that I know my fabricated static port works great, I also put a T into the tubing and ran it to the altimeter. I may be very weird to have accurate instrumentation on the panel. Heck, I may have to take the plane to the compass rose and adjust it, too!

;)

[Kyle Boatright]

Pitot tube and static port worked really well flying today!

No real wind, but seriously bumpy - like riding a dirt road and an elevator in turns!

But I must say I finally put together the landings I want, coming in high and rounding it out to kiss the mains when landing. More incredibly, not only was it on the centerline but there were witnesses!

Naturally, though, I didn't mount the GoPro to capture it.

:)

You ought to do a cross country up to Center/Piedmont. There's never any traffic and you could do as many takeoffs and landings as you want. And you could do it without the curse of those onlookers who, it is widely known, are the cause of bounced landings, runway excursions, and groundloops.

[Frank Giger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9hf8JQKco8&t

:)

Note my airspeed indicator now works!

Since it's a-okay, I put a T into the static line and hooked it up to the altimeter, which now should indicate correctly as well.

Sure, I may never look at them, but if my eyes stumble across them at least they'll be telling small lies instead of huge ones.

[Frank Giger]

All the parts and stuff went on yesterday, and I adjusted the mixture to the carb. It definitely was running too rich.

So little hint:

If, for some reason, you ever take the carb off of your engine - such as rebuilding the engine - just throwing the carb onto a table, then into a box, then onto a table, and then onto the engine may throw it out of calibration. Slightly.

Zero winds and calm air first thing this morning, and she flew gloriously.

The new prop has me cruising at a steady 55 mph indicated with the engine turning around 2200 RPM's, which is just fine with me.

And, with the static port connected to the altimeter, it's now indicating altitude correctly. Useless information, but at least now it's accurate and useless information.

Next up is replacing the stubs that hold the wheels into the axle. They're bent, and I fear they may bend just enough to bind the brakes. Been there, done that, did the rebuild.

Fortunately I bought a big long piece of cromoly steel, so it's just a matter of cutting lengths from it, taking the bungees off, undoing the bolts, pulling the old ones out, putting the new ones in, drilling the holes, putting in the bolts, and re-bungie-ing the axle.

I think I'll look at putting proper bushings around it, though. The plastic conduit pipe Robert uses may not be cutting the mustard. He remarked that I might want to use steel for that when we talked at Sun N Fun.

I may also delete the brakes entirely. 1) I never use them. 2) I have them adjusted so loosely that it doesn't really do anything when I do engage them. 3) They're just another thing that might tear up.

[Frank Giger]

Axle inserts are fine - straight and true.

It's the bearings on the wheels that are shot.

So I'm going to call Worksman Wheels on Monday and see if they have heavier duty ones that will fit the hub; if not, I'll just order spares.

[Frank Giger]

I managed to locally source the bearings, as Worksman is apparently ordering them via slow boat from China, and discovered a few things:

1) "Pre-greased" apparently means "a drop of some yellow watery rust inhibitor."
2) I was amazed at just how much bearing grease actually went into the bearings.
3) It ain't that hard to put those pressed fittings in. I bought a couple extra thinking I was going to booger at least one of them up.

Did some taxi tests and stuff this morning, and wasn't satisfied with how the brake shoes have some spots where they rub the drums. It's not much, just some minor brushing, but I'm a bit skiddish about brakes since the flip-over.

After dinking around with them for about forty minutes I just pulled the brake shoes out of the assembly and threw them on the bench.

It's not like I use them anyway.

So now I just have to give myself a little more room when cutting the engine to coast to a stop.

Oh, and I went around the pattern once just because the weather looked just okay enough for it. High cloud cover that looked sort of pregnant with rain (though a low chance of it), smooth air, but the winds were light to sneaky variable gusts. Wind sock couldn't decide what it wanted to do.

[Frank Giger]

Today's flight was just great!

Winds were light, if very variable, and it didn't get bumpy until the end.

I got to fly with a bald eagle (though the GoPro didn't capture it very well).

There was traffic - I saw two other airplanes, including one that landing ahead of me at the airport!

Speaking of traffic, thanks to a tailwind I kept up with the traffic on the Interstate. Mostly.

Oh, and the landing was completely unexpected. Maybe removing the two inches of lateral slop in the wheels is a help in that area:


https://youtu.be/Ek_gLLtSjFE

[Frank Giger]

On my last landing (not the one in the video) I got something of a surprise when I pushed her back in the hangar:

This is what happens when on decides to mount an oil cooler to the tab on it without a reinforcing strip underneath:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler001.jpg

Metal completely failed!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler002.jpg

So the plan to keep this from happening again is to reduce the angle of the radiator, put strips underneath, add some vibration stopping baffling rubber material in there, and try again.

Had to do some math problems. Pythagoras, you magnificent so-and-so, I read your book!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler003.jpg

Because I'm using a thin mild steel for this, I decided to double it up. Plate that will go underneath is also steel.

Ready for paint!

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler004.jpg

Here's the difference in angles between old piece (black) and new:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler005.jpg

[Frank Giger]

Over the past two days I have endeavored to make probably the best example of craftsmanship in regards to my aircraft to date.

Both sides matched each other nearly perfectly (I'm sure a micrometer could spot a discrepancy), and each side was made of two sheets of steel bent to perfectly nest within each other.

The holes all went where they should have gone, and it installed easily with the baffling material to ensure vibration would be at a minimum.

Even the paint is perfect and smooth.

What I didn't take into account in my initial measurements for the reduced profile is this hangy-down part right at the end of the engine block before the starter. Said hangy-down part is 3/16" too long for the oil cooler to traverse under the engine.

Of all the scrap parts I've ever made, I can't think of a single one that quite matches my pride in its manufacture.

So here's to you, perfect oil cooler mount that is less than a quarter inch too short and therefore has to be thrown on the salvage pile; know that the one that will follow and actually fit onto the engine will be no less dear to me.

[DaleB]

Frank, speaking of cooling... how hot does that VW run on the ground and in flight? I'm pondering various engine options for my maybe-might-finish-someday wood biplane. One of the contenders is a reduction drive VW. I've heard that it may be a challenge to keep them cool at low speeds and while taxiing. What's your experience been?

[Frank Giger]

Well, it's all in the baffling...everyone I know that had problems initially solved them with a bit of fussing. The key is to not ask the VW to do more than it is meant to do.

As for my plane, I'm cheating a lot by design. It's really half a cowl, with the bottom of the engine hanging out in the wind. Blocking off the top half, which is cowled, makes for a nice high pressure area to force air down around the cylinders. Plus I have a humongerous oil cooler, which helps.

Indeed, I'm going to replace the oil temp gauge, as I suspect it's a bit over optimistic in how it's reporting my cooling ability.

I have about half a mile of taxi work to do to get to the runway, at walking speed, routinely fly at slow speeds (around 50 mph), and never had an issue with overheating.

[conodeuce]

... So here's to you, perfect oil cooler mount that is less than a quarter inch too short and therefore has to be thrown on the salvage pile; know that the one that will follow and actually fit onto the engine will be no less dear to me.
I'm pretty sure there's some nicely worded material in there that could be fashioned into a poem.

[Frank Giger]

I have come to realize that just as it is with warriors, within each pilot resides a poet.

[DaleB]

I'm a poet
You all should know it
My feet show it
They're Longfellows.

Sorry, but that's all I got.

[Frank Giger]

Try number two on the cooler mount!

With the last one a beautiful failure, I tried again, making it larger. My reduced 35 degree angle turned out to be much closer to the original 45, though.

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler006.jpg

And done.

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler008.jpg

Of note is four things here:

1) Steel is doubled up. I have no idea if this is going to be an improvement or not; my thinking is that it's going to half my chance of a catastrophic failure before detection.

2) Rubber grommet at the engine mounting points, with washers on both sides larger than the holes. This is to hopefully reduce the vibration on the piece, and if the rubber fails, at least the mount won't fall off the engine.

3) One can't see it, but there is a steel plate under the oil cooler itself holding things together. My first installation had the nuts going just to the cooler itself and it's soft metal. Now it will have to think of a different way to fail. I also put in two more bolts to even out the load on everything.

4) The baffling material on the cooler between the mount and the strip underneath isn't there to prevent vibration as much as it is to reduce the friction between the steel mount and the steel strip against the cooler.

Oddly enough, when I enlarged my mount measurements and bent them, I came pretty close to what was there originally.

Everything ran great and no leaks.

For those wondering where I get my engineering inspiration, note the decal.

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler007.jpg

[Tench745]

For those wondering where I get my engineering inspiration, note the decal.

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cooler007.jpg
We do what we must, because we can. Looks good.:thumbsup:

[Frank Giger]

And remember the first pillar of Aperture Science:


Pillar one: Science without results is just witchcraft.

:)

I actually toyed with putting the logos of all the "bad" fictional companies on the aircraft (Umbrella Corporation, etc.), but thought it might look too cluttered.

[Frank Giger]

I put three rivets up the front on both sides.

Funny story with that. John is a mechanic on the airfield, who only works on special consignment. John is the kind of guy that gets sent plane tickets to work on DC-3 engines in Scandinavia.

The only reason John even speaks to me is A) he's a decent human being, and B) his little dachshund took a liking to me immediately, and there is no higher character reference than that.

The reason he wasn't speaking to me before that was that I built and fly a "damned home built" with "a damned VW." And while I know profanity is discouraged here, those were his kind words on the matter.

Anyhow, John stopped by the hangar to say hello and looked at my new oil cooler mount and gave it a better than passing grade.

This was just before I put in the rivets, and I told him I was going to run three 1/8" rivets "about here" on the side plates.

"Well, yeah, of course you'd put them a quarter of an inch away from the edge."

* blink *

"Oh, good grief,"* he sighed, "One always takes four times the diameter of the rivet when placing them from an edge."

* blink *

"Because that's the industry standard."

"I thought I'd put them there because That Looked About Right."

:P

[Many censored words and accusations about the nature of my parent's relationship when I was born]

Anyhow, I flew yesterday and today. Yesterday's flight was about an hour an a half, and today's just under half an hour.

Everything ran splendidly. Indeed, yesterday's flight was almost surreal in beauty and ease.

Naturally, since it would be entirely scientific to only test one thing at a time, I did the other thing. I attempted a nice three point landing. Pulled it off pretty good, too!

Today's flight was a third thing thrown in.

I've been really wimpy on climbing out. Lazy. So today I got the nose up and shot for what I hoped for was around 500 fpm. Incredibly, I hit the number with no means of measuring it fairly consistently!

The weather was okay - a hot day in Alabama with some bumpiness - but the clouds in the distance were working up to be thunderstorms and could start dumping rain like crazy at any minute. While I was well clear of any chance of rain, the wind they would produce was not on the schedule.

So I turned around and landed.

I lined up, got her how I wanted her (even used the center line and everything!), and began to slowly flare her. I hit the stall in a perfect three point posture - about a foot above the runway. So it was one quick bounce and then back on all three, still straight down the runway.

Neat.

Here's the CloudAhoy data of today's flight for fun.

http://www.cloudahoy.com/debrief/?key=U7grdD7nUzQeTI

* He actually said "Good grief."

[Frank Giger]

I'll never be asked by EAA to make a "Hints for Homebuilders" video...


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gm9bkpsAi5U

[conodeuce]

Frank, That video was a treat. It's refreshing to see good honest, not over-produced, presentation by a small team that was clearly enjoying the process.

[Frank Giger]

Thanks!

Part Two...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKWrCl3_SHw

Best. Thumbnail. Ever.

[Frank Giger]

Part 2.5, where I get diverted and improve the gun mounts:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB7LepqqJgU

[Frank Giger]

Note the use of solid planning:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GINO4hW7N2A

[Frank Giger]

Getting more work done, but it's not done.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG_fDSiaAIk

[Frank Giger]

The wife says my production values have risen by 2%.

https://youtu.be/liRNl70oVZA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liRNl70oVZA

[conodeuce]

I think it's very helpful, Frank, that you are showing us the process by which you are methodically improving your techniques.

P.S. And thank you for the blood donation advice. :-)

[Frank Giger]

Thanks for your kind words!

I re-thought the jig for bending once again, and this time left myself enough "tail" on either side of the bend to tie into the sheeting.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsRlCVVrIAQ

Right about the time I was just about finished, it dawned on me that since I'm not tying the gun mount through to the bottom sheet I could have just run a piece of fabric held in place with some velcro up with just a thin strip across the center to the top.

But I was well into it by then and said to heck with it.

The reason for this center section being removable is really for Conditional Inspections; I can look down the wings via cutouts on the end ribs. Between that and the holes around the wire mounts I don't need to mess with inspection panels.

And if I were ever to trailer it the pieces would all come apart neatly.

[Frank Giger]

I re-armed the Nieuport.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwNU8eN8P1o

I mention at the start that I took the plane up prior to making this video and that it was bumpy. That's quite the understatement, as a slow start put me into the heat of the day and it felt like I was doing hurricane recon. Since I'm in Alabama, living with thermals and boiling air is just par for the course, and I've learned to deal with it in my light little aircraft - and how to take advantage of them to climb - but I can't say I was thrilled about it on that flight. I went up to 4K and it just didn't seem to get any better.

A guy in a Mooney stopped by for some gas on his cross country and said it didn't peter out until a bit over 5K.

On the video - yes, that aviation nut I tried to put onto standard threads went into the trash and no, I didn't use a single cleco when building the aircraft, so why start now?

;)

[Frank Giger]

First fly-in on Saturday, taking the short hop over to Greg Koontz's place for a fine day of getting sunburned, talking to pilots, watching the really great shows, and eating surprisingly good food.

First time landing on grass, too! Naturally I was over-thinking it and sort of muffed it....never get too far ahead of the aircraft.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_GpSakp6-U

Since the plane is kind of cute and has a fake gun on it, kids seemed to like it. I put a bunch in the cockpit for fun.

Best exchange was with this eight year old (or so) girl, who sat in the cockpit, ran her hands along the coaming, looked at the panel, over it through the windscreen, out the sides down over the wings, and said:

"I could do this."

I responded with "No, dear, you need to do this."

Her father looked at her, beaming, and then at me.

"What the hell, she doesn't need a college fund anyway."

[rwanttaja]

First fly-in on Saturday, taking the short hop over to Greg Koontz's place for a fine day of getting sunburned, talking to pilots, watching the really great shows, and eating surprisingly good food.

....

Since the plane is kind of cute and has a fake gun on it, kids seemed to like it. I put a bunch in the cockpit for fun.

Best exchange was with this eight year old (or so) girl, who sat in the cockpit, ran her hands along the coaming, looked at the panel, over it through the windscreen, out the sides down over the wings, and said:

"I could do this."

I responded with "No, dear, you need to do this."

Her father looked at her, beaming, and then at me.

"What the hell, she doesn't need a college fund anyway."

Neat story, Frank. I run a lot of kids through my Fly Baby cockpit. I found a place that prints up cheap customized wings I ordered some and hand them out as souvenirs.

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/wings.jpg

They were about $2 each, buying 50 at a time.

https://www.customizedmemories.com/choosewings.html

Two weekends ago, there was one little tyke who did NOT want to sit in the scary airplane. But then his older brother did, and got a set of wings, so suddenly he decided he needed to sit in the cockpit, too.

If it's in the hangar, I've got a spare helmet and goggles set aside for them.
http://www.bowersflybaby.com/vl.jpg

One of the advantages of my power lift seat (due to a bad knee) is that I can run it up to the top when I'm putting kids in the plane so they don't sink into the "barrel." The seat is up in the above photo.

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

On goggles - I got a cheap costume set for Christmas last year, and brought them along, letting the kids wear them or not as they chose.

I'm going to pass on the wings (though they're a great idea), simply because I already preen in front of my airplane like a rooster as it is. ;)

[DaleB]

I already preen in front of my airplane like a rooster as it is. ;)
As well you should, Frank... after all you built a freaking airplane.

[Frank Giger]

This whole flying machine stuff is crazy, to be honest, and we're all just a bunch of nuts.

:)

[Frank Giger]

I think the last time I adjusted the landing gear bungees I made them too tight. Did some touch and goes and was a bit too bouncy, even when floating her down the runway.

[Frank Giger]

Just too much fun!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiqTmRq8Hfw

Bungee adjustment worked a wonder!

I actually ran down the runway before the landing, floating above it and touching several times to settle them, as some will be tighter than others and I wanted to get them equalized. It dawned on me afterwards that this might not have been the smartest thing, as if they failed I'd of had a very katywhompus set of gear, with one loose and travelling to the top of the axle channel.

But there's a reason why my most common phrase in just about everything with it is "Well, that worked out okay." :)

[Sam Buchanan]

Frank...your Christmas tree has some bulbs burned out....... :P

[Frank Giger]

Well, I did build a flying machine in my back yard under a tarp, so yeah.

:cool:

[Frank Giger]

I figured out one problem but still have one remaining!

The first problem was that my plug-in thingie that I connected to the battery replacer for my radio was giving me a lot of electronic noise to the point where the radio was useless.

The reason I want to run the handheld off the aircraft system is that when the regular battery gets too low to transmit there's no way to know. One still receives well, and there is absolutely nothing on the ICOM screen to let one know the battery level. I ran into this problem the other day that could have turned out badly.

Anyhow, I had tried to be sexy by using one of the units with a cigarette lighter plug and a couple USB ports next to it. That way I could charge a phone or something as well. Turns out that the switches in the unit that tells it whether it's drawing from the USB or the cigarette plug is super noisy. Bought a little unit that's only a cigarette lighter type plug in thingy and hey-presto, problem solved.

The second is that I've got a sneak circuit somewhere that's going to ground and draining the battery slowly. It's both frustrating and simple. There's not a lot of electrical stuff on my plane to begin with, and all of it goes through two switches - a main for everything but the radio cigarette lighter thing on it's own circuit.

With everything routing through just two switches, it should be simple to track it down. The instruments, for example, are all daisy chained in one loop of wire.

It's frustrating because with such a simple system going through switches there should be no way for it to happen.

I did hit a small window of flyable weather, though, which was great.

Naturally, there was a tiny amount of drama involved:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_NQUaCgENU


(Three minutes long)

[Frank Giger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veHNu1_AboY

Chased on take-off. For science.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veHNu1_AboY

(a minute long)

[Sam Buchanan]

Frank.....you just ain't right........ ;)

[Frank Giger]

Because dramatic music makes everything better, a rather pedestrian landing seems quite the adventure:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYRWT_U--cQ

I forced the tail down a bit quickly, as I wanted to be sure to make the first turn off, hence the bit of squirrel action there.

This flight was actually pretty short, as my fix to the leaky valve cover gasket needs a repair - on take off roll I could actually taste oil. I made my way down to one of the last remaining VW parts places anywhere and picked up some new ones, which I'll put on tomorrow.

I resolved my radio power problem - I had put in this cigarette lighter/USB power combo unit to plug the radio into, and it was a noisy mess. Turns out that el cheapo units like that have a rotten switch between the 12v lighter plug and the 5v USB ones. I just bought an even cheaper plug unit that is just the lighter hole and it solved the issue.

I still have a nasty little sneak circuit somewhere that is draining my battery that needs to be tracked down. It's frustrating in that I have so little hooked to the battery in the first place, and it goes through two switches (with everything but the radio going through one). The good news is that since there are so few things it shouldn't be that hard to figure out.

[Yellow Peril]

Frank, when you are rolling out on the runway it is yours. Don't hurry things even if the tower wants you to make a specific turn off. That's when bad things happen. I never let the tower or other traffic bully me into doing something in a hurry. I try to be a good pilot and make the earliest turn out or let some in the downwind but sometimes you just need more time so take it.

[Dana]

Because dramatic music makes everything better, a rather pedestrian landing seems quite the adventure...

My is sitting on the couch where she can't see my computer screen, asked, "What are you watching? It sounds really intense." :thumbsup:

[DaleB]

Frank, I love your posts and videos. My build project has been stalled for weeks due to other priorities. Seeing you out flying in your biplane... Well, I have to admit that it makes me jealous as hell. Today I'm going to get my workbench cleared of all the household project JUNK that's covering it and get back to work. Tomorrow I'm ordering plywood. I'm tired of watching other people have fun, to e to get it back in gear!

Thanks.

[Frank Giger]

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. :rollseyes:

[rwanttaja]

Good stuff again, Frank.


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

[Frank Giger]

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.

[Sam Buchanan]

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.

[Dana]

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 (https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/gauge-float-only) (actually I used two of them on the wire to get enough flotation).

[rwanttaja]

Or you can do what I did on my Starduster, replace the cork with a plastic Model A fuel gauge float (https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/gauge-float-only) (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.
http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/cork2.jpg

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.
http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/cork3.jpg
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

[Sam Buchanan]

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..... ;)

[cub builder]

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.

[Frank Giger]

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.

:)

[cub builder]

Woohoo! Phase 1 is done. Congratulations!

[Frank Giger]

The very thin coat of JB Weld seems to have worked a treat! It's kind of nice to fly around and know how much fuel one actually has in the tank.

This Summer I'm going to have to pull that fuel tank (major surgery!) and file down the welding flashing around the filler neck where meets the tank on the inside. While it doesn't interfere with the cork working, it makes it difficult to put in and out of the tank.

I may go crazy and put a proper sleeve for an actual fuel cap on it as well.

We had that rare window of acceptable weather, so up I went a couple days ago.

While the wind wasn't high, the front was crossing very slowly and the air was about as squirrelly as it gets. Not the big swing turbulence of Summer, mind you, just really uneven; I felt like I was flying down a backwoods dirt road at 60 mph rather than through the air.

I caught some nasty little bit of air on landing, and since I was a bit fast had already flared to slow, just did some pilot-y stuff to keep things okay - only to find myself making a pretty acceptable three point landing. Huh.

[Frank Giger]

I was reflecting the other day that my approach to the building the aircraft was to make it a sound, safe aircraft to fly, leaving a laundry list of things that aren't critical that can be fixed later. I think it was a good approach, as I'd rather have an aircraft with small imperfections in the air than an almost perfect one sitting in the backyard waiting to be finished.

I've been putting together this Summer's list of improvements to the aircraft, and it's fairly short - but involved.

The last flight around I took the little lumbar pad I've been using and flipped it sideways so it ran all the way up the seat with much relief. Yeah, I'm a little slow sometimes and should have figured out I could do that a long time ago. So coming up with a pad for the seat back is pretty high on the list.

Part of the discomfort is that I tend to really crank down the shoulder harnesses, probably tighter than they need to be. However, this habit served me well on the morning when I inverted the aircraft on the ground. So thick padding it is.

I'm going to cover the wheels. It's an afternoon's worth of work, but one I've been putting off for no particular reason. Purely aesthetic, as the plane is such an exercise in drag that I don't think it will seriously improve airspeed.

While I'm at it, I need to replace the wheel bearings again. They're really inexpensive, so I bought a bunch of them and it's dead simple to do. It doesn't take much on the grabby grooved pavement to make them sloppy. Fifteen minutes for all four.

Replace the oil cooler with a standard sized one. This winter I blocked off most of it and still didn't get up to full operating temperature. It did get closer, and with it the oil pressures approached more closely to what is optimal. Whipping up a mount for it to hang below the engine will be a snap.

Here's the big one - pull the fuel tank. The flashing from the welding on the neck on the inside makes putting in the cork float a real pain, and the only way to file it down and remove the slivers of aluminum is to flush it completely. So the wings come off, the rivets drilled out for the top of the fuselage, and up and out it goes.

I'm toying with rotating it 180 degrees and putting in a sight gauge. The issue is that Robert put the access for that on the opposite side of the fuel output at the bottom, meaning I'll have to either work out some sort of system to work the fuel cutoff lever or do without it completely.

I will also make a neck to fit the top of the fuel tank that accepts an actual gas cap rather than some cobbled together PVC fittings.

Since the wings will come off, they'll have to go back on, which leads me to my last real task - properly safety wiring the turnbuckles. My current job is barely adequate, so I'm going to use the double wrap technique to hold them more firmly (as I did the turnbuckles for the rudder cables).

Add in the coaming, which is version number three, but still crappy.

Oh, and touch up paint all around.

[Yellow Peril]

Frank, I have kinda the opposite philosophy. I like to make everything as nice as possible without getting way overboard. I have found it doesn't take much more time to things to a higher standard. You have done a great job on the Nieuport and you are flying it. That is way ahead of over 50% of the people who start a homebuilt project. On your next build (you know you want to build another airplane) you know where to improve things. I have a reputation of building nice airplanes and turned it into a business building Supercubs. I'm finishing up the fourth one and have a PA-12 coming in after this one is finished. Anyway always do the best you can do even if its only a bracket. I might have put this here before but here is a website with a Supercub I built. http://geared2survive.com/supercub

[Frank Giger]

At our last EAA meeting (which was up at the hangars, which was sweet) we were reflecting how the homebuilding community has always been split between "airplane builders that are pilots" and "pilots who build airplanes," and how they both are really necessary to keep the ball rolling.

I've fallen into the latter - while I can say that building the airplane was rewarding, the only way I'm going to build another one is if something really bad happens to my current one.

And yeah, if I were to build the plane over there's a bunch of things I'd do either differently or better, taking advantage of the "education" part of what I learned. Like every builder, I walk up to my airplane and see imperfections that nobody else can. Some make me smile - there's usually a story behind them - and other just frown a little, as it's indicative of the holes in my skill set (like the coaming around the cockpit).

We've got a guy in our chapter a lot like you - his aircraft are simply perfect out of the gate, and while he hasn't gone professional, when he sold his last creation - Murphy Rebel - it took about a week for someone to snatch it up. It's neat to be at a local fly-in and have him troop the line saying "I built that one....and that one..." He also is the go-to guy when someone is thinking of buying an Experimental and wants help in evaluating it.

Time for that bi-annual flight review, and following the advice given a long time ago, I'm adding in a new wrinkle. This time around it's up to Tuscaloosa to not only get the sign off in a "fancy" airplane with flaps and lights and doors and stuff, but to also get signed off on controlled airspace.

Because most CFI's aren't really familiar with Sport Pilot stuff, I suppose I'll need to bring along the verbiage for the endorsement to go in my logbook. It's usually a surprise to PPL guys that it's an extra for us.

[rwanttaja]

Like every builder, I walk up to my airplane and see imperfections that nobody else can. Some make me smile - there's usually a story behind them - and other just frown a little, as it's indicative of the holes in my skill set (like the coaming around the cockpit).
I flew Pete Bowers' original Fly Baby prototype for eight years, in the 80s and 90s. About fifteen years ago, Bob Dempster bought it from the current owner and donated it to Seattle's Museum of Flight.

I heard they had it on display at their restoration facility at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, so two months ago, me and a buddy went for a visit. After explaining I used to fly that plane, the docent let me behind the ropes for a close-up look. I then started point out the imperfections of the airplane...

"See the burned mark on the cowling? The exhaust pipe blew off one day when I was doing touch-and-goes."
"Patch mark at the bottom of rudder? Found the tailwheel control horn half-torn off when we had it at an airshow."
"Flat spot on the bottom of the wingtip? Was towing it and the wing swung open and the tip ground against the concrete.
"See the patch on top of the wing? Windstorm blew a big toolbox down onto the wing, broke a landing wire turnbuckle and one of the internal brace wires.
"See the funny patch around the wing-spar connection? That was a repair after they crashed it on floats."
"That bracket? Oh, that's for the biplane wings."

Word is that the museum is going to preserve...not restore...the airplane, and eventually hang it from the ceiling in the main museum.
http://www.bowersflybaby.com/n500f_visit.jpg

Ron Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

Very cool! Btw, I had to look twice at the photo, as initially I thought it was high winged. :)

Today was very unusual in that the weather report predicted winds, making it an 80% no-go sort of day. The only reason I drove up was to get my logbook for tomorrow's Flight Review, but was shocked to see the wind sock limping from crosswind to down the runway.

Well, that's simple enough - up I went for a mildly bumpy hour.

They're doing a bunch of controlled burns in the forests, so it was very smoky, with some bands thick enough to have me flying around them.

[Yellow Peril]

Frank, I agree that there are usually two camps in the EAA. I balance building with flying. There are a couple of Cubs and a RV7 that I built or did major parts of the build that I can fly anytime. Plus I get to fly some other cool airplanes like the N3N. I do work in the Hangar about 100hrs a month as I am semi retired and work less than 20hrs a week in the Dental Lab. I still enjoy that and not ready to give it up. It also helps to have a wife that is understanding. I keep eying the AA Neiuport 28 and I think it would be very cool with a Verner radial in it. My friend with the RV7 is interested in it also so who knows there might be one flying soon. And Frank. you know you want to build anther one. As always I enjoy your adventures so keep on posting.

[Frank Giger]

Flight review went well; even though the C152 had all manner of excesses - flaps and trim and yokes oh my - and it was my first time talking to a tower (which was this time's goal), I am validated as a pilot for another two years.

Perhaps my reputation has preceded me, but the instructor said I was "surprisingly good" at the whole pilot thing.

:)

[Yellow Peril]

After flying a light squirrelly tailwheel airplane it is amazing how easy it is to fly a heavy tricycle gear plane.

[Frank Giger]

Went up to the airport yesterday to finally cover the wheels.

It went well, including replacing the wheel bearings.

I only had time to cover and paint one side, so I went on home, thinking about how the patches for the hole to inflate the tires turned out not so bad.

And then it hit me. I've done the wrong side first. The inside of the wheels has to be covered first so I can access the nuts on the inside for the brake drum.

So the plan is to paint over the first of the red stripes back to off-white, put on the brake drums, leave the hole uncut, and call it the inside.

Damn you, Order of Operations!

[Frank Giger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q38RKqKklAw

Of course I did the wrong side of the wheel first - it should have been inner side with the nuts and bolts for the brake drum THEN the outside with the hole for the bike pump.

But I figured out how to work around my inability to fully grasp the notion of Order of Operations, which will be part 2.

[Frank Giger]

Here's part two to the covering:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPE_jbENAAA

A few notes:

1) I should have covered this side first, so I could cover the wheel completely and still have access to the nuts for the bolts of the brake drum.
2) I could have simply put the drum over the side I had already covered, but I didn't want to paint over the stripe or have the air hose hole patches on both sides (though I would have left them uncut).
3) I managed to bugger up the painted side even though I put down a moving blanket on the bench, and went back later to touch it up.
4) I wound up tightening the fabric a little once it was done, which wasn't a big deal. Latex paint is extremely flexible so no cracking.

And last, to make removing the wheels easier, I had to loosen the brake cables. So they need to be re-adjusted, which is a two man job - one at the brake end and one on the lever inside to ensure that they're grabbing okay (but not too much) and the same amounts. Both brakes go to one handle, so the latter is pretty important.

[Frank Giger]

One of those rare early mornings where the winds are slack, the thermals hadn't quite kicked up yet, and all is right with the world.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHIJEWZPjP0

[Sam Buchanan]

[QUOTE=Frank Giger;75324]One of those rare early mornings where the winds are slack, the thermals hadn't quite kicked up yet, and all is right with the world.

One of those flights where you are thinking as you put the plane away, "Man, did that just happen?". Very nice. :)

[Frank Giger]

A few things I said after landing:

"Man, I should have put those three gallons of gas I have in the can into the airplane.*"

"All that and I three pointed the landing?** Inconceivable!"

- Outright giggling like a school girl -

"I'm so glad I made the padded back for the seat!"

* If one looks at the video, the fuel stick is getting low by my standard with about four gallons in the tank. Another three gallons and I could have stretched the flight another hour.

** Yeah, I actually three pointed the aircraft, right at the stall. Not the most pretty, mind you, but it was a three pointer.

[Dana]

One of those rare early mornings where the winds are slack, the thermals hadn't quite kicked up yet, and all is right with the world.


Nice video!

That's the kind of flight that makes the previous 95 forum pages of tribulations worth it, eh?

[Frank Giger]

Definitely.

My aircraft may be a little rough around the edges, she might spit oil out of the prop hub, and there's a long list of improvements in my back pocket that need attention, but when she's in the air and all is right with the world there is nothing that compares.

[Frank Giger]

So the aircraft is in pieces right now, as I had to take the wings off and remove the forward panel on top of the fuselage to remove the fuel tank.

Why?

Because my constant guessing at fuel levels is A) shorting me on flight duration, as it always reads low, and B) because it always reads low it's too easy to think I have a bunch more gas than I do.

So it's remove the tank, flip it around 180 degrees, drill out the sight gauge fittings, and put in a sight gauge.

Also, since I'm there, might as well put in an actual filler neck that supports something really crazy...like an actual gas cap that isn't made up of cobbled together PVC fittings.

To illustrate just how woeful my cork is, I naturally had to drain the fuel tank. I had guessed between 3 and 4 gallons in there. Nope, SEVEN. I had seven friggin' gallons in my 12 gallon tank and was thinking I was needing to put more in. It makes me think I've never had the tank less than half full. Seven gallons is two and a half hours of flight duration! That glorious flight I cut short because the cork went low didn't need to have been.

Oh well, better to gripe about the fuel reading too low than have it read too high and go into whisper mode over the trees.

So all the fittings and the filler neck are here, so tomorrow I go up to put it all back together and calibrate the sight gauge.

A secondary issue is actually fueling the aircraft. I have a crank pump for the fuel, which is grand for putting a bunch (a whole 5 gallon can) into the airplane in a hurry. It is hopeless in putting in anything less. Either I'm too cautious and don't fill the tank all the way, or I'm not cautious enough and spray gas onto the fuselage (and into the cockpit).

So to refine the process a bit I invented the Fuel Dispenser 2000, complete with a sight gauge itself, a pluggable breather hole on top, and a quick action valve.

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/gas_can.jpg

Easy as punch! Put gas in, put the cap with the hose connector on, place it on a step ladder or something, remove the breather hole on top, put the hose (not shown) into the aircraft tank, turn the lever and watch it go.

The sight gauge is to let me know how much I've dispensed.

[Sam Buchanan]

Or....you could rig up something like the electric transfer pump I use. Just stick the nozzle in the fuel tank, turn on the pump and watch the fuel level slowly rise to the desired quantity in the calibrated sight gauge on the fuel tank. :)

http://home.hiwaay.net/~sbuc/fuel-transfer-small.jpg

The pump is a Carter automotive/marine pump that delivers ~1 gal/min. It is powered by a 12v battey that has been retired from aircraft duty. The five-gallon fuel can sits on the plywood platform.

[rwanttaja]

Or....you could rig up something like the electric transfer pump I use.
My old tech counselor built something similar using a bilge pump. Did work pretty slick; didn't take much time to pump the entire five gallons.
http://www.wanttaja.com/bilge.jpg
I was always a bit skittish about the diaphragm or other other components being attacked by the fuel, but bilges occasionally get contaminated with fuel and the pumps apparently have to tolerate it.

Being old and lazy, I have two 2.5 gallon containers. That way I only have to lift ~16 pounds or so to shoulder height to pour one into the Fly Baby tank. The two containers nest perfectly inside a plastic "milk crate"; that makes them easy to keep them from flopping down when hauling them in the trunk.

Ron Wanttaja

[Dana]

I filled my Kolb by pressurizing a 5 gallon gas can with a foot pump (the kind made for air mattresses). I did some measuring, and a sealed gas can ballooning up in the summer sun gets up around 5psi so that much is obviously safe for the can, and is plenty to push the fuel up to my tanks. A hose and a brass ball valve, and a homemade fitting to hook the hose through the cap, were the only other parts.

7870

7871

[Frank Giger]

All great solutions!

Out at the airport, I discovered I'm going to need something higher than my folding ladder to hold the fuel up high enough to gravity feed with any sort of flow. Hmmm...

Fuel tank is back into the aircraft, and my boat fuel filler neck is going to work out great. Lines were run for the sight gauge, so here's what's left:

1) Make the actual sight gauge, which is a piece of U channel aluminum that will hold my clear line (tybex, I think it's called?), and plumb it in.
2) Make a nice little patch that will go over the Big Ugly Hole in the top panel of the fuselage I made to get the fuel neck to fit right.
3) Calibrate the sight gauge and mark it (while checking for any leaks!).
4) Put the sheeting back on the aircraft, clean it up and touch up paint.
5) Put the wings back on, check rigging, including doing a much, much, much better job safety wiring the turnbuckles.
6) Write it all up in the log and go fly!

[Tralika]

I bought one of these Terapumps from Amazon last year. I used it for about 70 hours of flight time on my plane (5-6 gph) and it still works fine. It lift's the fuel from the ground to the tank in the high wing plane with no problem. I'm not using it now because I got tired of dealing with the 5 gallon fuel cans so I switched to a 30 gal barrel and a bigger pump. The feed tube on this pump is not long enough to work with the 30 gal barrel.

https://www.amazon.com/TeraPump-TREP03-001-Multi-Purpose-Powered-Transfer/dp/B01HOXQ5E0/ref=sr_1_5?crid=LL1X401MORC&keywords=portable+fuel+pump+for+5+gallon+gas+can&qid=1559663057&s=gateway&sprefix=portable+fuel+pump%2Caps%2C247&sr=8-5

[Frank Giger]

That's pretty slick! The whole issue of my wonder gas can was to measure how much fuel I am putting in the tank - and I want to thank everyone for showing how they do it!

Sight gauge is plumbed, along with the vent line (I now have one that puts overflow outside of the aircraft instead of into the cockpit), and the sight gauge is calibrated.

A few notes:

1) It's a ten gallon tank. Robert had said it was twelve-ish, but I think he was referring to the full scale N17 tank.

2) Because of the angle of the sight gauge to the right on the fuselage, it's very easy to see the meniscus of the top of the fuel, as one is looking down onto it. Simple marks on the white U channel every two gallons works really well. It looks suitably rustic for my tastes.

3) With the tank rotated 180 degrees, I wound up having to remove the cutoff valve on the fuel line. It was too close to the battery for my liking. I'll just have to drain the tank in order to change the fuel filter during the condition inspection.

4) With all the fussing getting the tank in, I didn't notice that one of my wires had hopped on top of the tank and wound up getting riveted into one of the cross members on top of the tank. Fortunately it was the main hot wire and went straight to ground, blowing the inline fuse that's right at the battery. Easy to diagnose and fix - snip, snip, put a new connector end to the line, re-attach and tape.* I write fortunately in that it was immediate and demanded attention. If it had been another wire it might not have been as obvious.

5) No leaks!

6) To measure the fuel level, I'll have to lift the tail to flying position. With the tail down it fills the tube to the full level with just two gallons. This isn't a problem, as I put the tail up to measure the oil. On cross-country flights I'll know how much fuel is in the tank when I land, as I'll be measuring it in flight.

7) Now it's time to clean everything (the only way to properly get all the dirt, oil, etc., off of the aircraft is when it's apart) and put it back together.

8) My external charging access wire for the battery works great, and is hard to spot if one doesn't know what to look for.

* When I wired the aircraft it was with troubleshooting in mind, so I left excess wire in the aircraft, and put connectors coming off of the panel rather than going straight through. Everything is labeled, of course, on both ends.

[Frank Giger]

Oh, here's the end results:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/sight_gauge.jpg

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/gas_cap.jpg

[Frank Giger]

Wings are back on, she's in rig....and as predicted, that great flying weather during the teardown and re-assembly process has turned to sit-and-wait.

;)

[Frank Giger]

Very variable winds + hot day = classic landing!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8TULU7-dHk

(A little less than three minutes)

[Frank Giger]

I haven't added much to the thread because I've been working with Ron Wade getting his and Don's aircraft ready for Oshkosh. Apparently they thought highly enough of my little Babette that they asked if I could give a hand...which is sort of intimidating, since they made the give-away Cub last year, have had more than one aircraft on the cover of SportAviation (the Rat Cub is the latest example), etc., etc.

I warned them that while I'm not very good, I am slow - but they didn't seem bothered by it.

Anyhow, things I've learned:

The corollary to "Pretty don't make it fly," is "but it sells aircraft."

Drill bits also come in number and letter sizes, which smells of the Metric system to me, but it's really Freedom units.

There is a gauge to help resolve this into fractions.

Bucking rivets isn't rocket science, but it's not child's play, either.

If it seems really complicated and hard, chances are there is a tool that I am unaware of that will make it simple and easy.

Things I knew but were brought home to me:

Being ignorant is a-okay; one gains far more respect by admitting they don't know what to do and asking for help.

Wiring is of the Devil. Anything electrical probably involves Dark Forces.

Nothing says one is really making progress like a little blood.

All aircraft speak in their own language. Once you learn what it's trying to tell you things go much, much smoother.

[edit]

Not to say that I'm not continuing to improve my airplane. A new, smaller oil cooler arrived, and I'm going to figure out a good way to mount it to the fuselage - that big sucker hanging off of the engine sure does cause a lot of sway to the engine.

The horizontal stab support tubes are secured to the horizontal stab by rivnuts and screw head bolts. I'm going to remove them and just have bolts going through the gusset and tubes.

[Frank Giger]

Whelp, this last Saturday I had an engine out and had to put my little Babette into the trees.

The FAA man and myself figured that during the hammering turbulence I wound up in that the fuel connector on the bottom of the tank that goes to the sump broke (I probably kicked it), so she went into stealth mode.

The choices were: 1) Road with cars on it, 2) Power lines, and 3) 50 foot tall Alabama pines.

I performed an okay landing at the top of the trees and she fell out right next to the road (I wanted to be close to it, as I knew she'd need a trailer to get out of there).

Some stitches to my head where the goggles dug my glasses into my eyebrow and a broken rib were what I came away with - a testament to the force absorption of tube-and-gusset construction.

Left wings are okay, tail feathers okay, a lot of hardware and tubing re-useable. Longerons are all needing replacement, cowl is toast, and the right wings pretzeled and took all the crash for me. The engine is iffy - one of the valve covers is pretty bent in, so I'll have to tear her down to see if anything cracked.

The prop made it through without a scratch, which is incredible.

So after this rib heals up I get to exercise the statement "if I had to rebuild her, there's some things I'd do better."

[DaleB]

Frank,

Very sorry to hear of your mishap, and I hope you heal quickly. Take care fo yourself, and at least you know you'll have something to keep you busy during the winter.

Dale

[Floatsflyer]

Ah Frank, I'm so sorry for your loss but so happy that, once fully recovered and healthy from your minimal injuries, you'll be able to put Humpty/Babette back together again. Given your flying history to date, you're one very lucky dude. Better to be lucky than good lookin'.

I would not ever presume to second guess you but if those were MY only choices, I would have taken the road with cars. Historically, seems to mostly work out well for airplanes in similar circumstances with a little luck. And you are lucky!

[Kyle Boatright]

Frank, sorry you had an accident. Glad you're mostly OK and don't have any long term health issues from the crash.

As for the airplane, well, you needed something to do this winter anyway, right?

[Dana]

Oh.... no....

Wow, sorry to hear about it. Welcome to the club... glad to hear you're not badly hurt... and already talking about rebuilding.

[cwilliamrose]

Very sorry to hear about your engine failure. Dollars and time will bring back the airplane and your injuries will heal so there's a lot to be thankful for. As soon as I read your latest post I thought back to this post (http://eaaforums.org/showthread.php?612-Building-a-Nieuport-11&p=75324&viewfull=1#post75324) and how nervous it made me feel watching it. It was beautiful and concerning at the same time for the same reason -- the scenery. Thankfully the problem choose a different moment than this to become part of your life.......

[Sam Buchanan]

Frank, very sorry to hear of your misfortune but glad it had a "good" outcome.....you are here to tell us about it.

May be too soon to think about this, but carefully consider whether or not it would be most expedient to repair or build a fresh ride....would it be best to have an aircraft with crash history or a new one.....best wishes for whichever path you choose!

[Frank Giger]

I made the FAA man chuckle when he asked me my plans and I replied "I have a data plate, an N number, and a repairman's certificate, so..."

:)

[Frank Giger]

For those curious about what a tube-and-gusset aircraft looks like after it falls out of a 50 foot tall tree:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/wreck.jpg

She did a great job of collapsing and taking all the acceleration of the stop so I didn't have to.

I must have taken a branch to the face, judging from the goggles:

http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/goggles.jpg

I like this photo because it looks far more dramatic than it actually was.

[Floatsflyer]

May be too soon to think about this, but carefully consider whether or not it would be most expedient to repair or build a fresh ride....would it be best to have an aircraft with crash history or a new one.....best wishes for whichever path you choose!

Wow, that's a picture of horrific damage you posted. Again I'll say it, you are a very lucky dude. Perhaps you should give some serious thought and consideration to Sam's suggestion of building a fresh ride rather than rebuilding a twice crashed airplane.

[Frank Giger]

C'mon, folks, it's actually a rebuild - and I'd say the "twice crashed" is a bit of hyperbole.

Yes, I did flip her at five miles an hour and replaced two spars in two wings, along with a precautionary engine tear down. But that's hardly a serious crash.

Everything gets stripped and pulled apart, with most of the fuselage re-built from scratch (I'll most likely recycle a few tubes, the stringers, and the hardware), the left wings re-done, and the right wings stripped and inspected. The gear will be rebuilt as well.

A "fresh rebuild" infers throwing everything out, from instruments to nuts and bolts.

Think more "repair" in the way the airplanes from beneath the glaciers were. :)

[Kyle Boatright]

I like this photo because it looks far more dramatic than it actually was.

There are few things more dramatic than an airplane crash. Its a big deal and I'm glad you came out mostly OK.

[Frank Giger]

It is a big deal, and I feel like I've failed to communicate my attitude towards it properly.

First, when adversity strikes, I've always looked at it, learned what I could from it, and then moved forward.

Endless second guessing and "what ifs" are, in my experience, useless endeavors. Could I have been killed or seriously injured? Absolutely. Should I let that fact alter my goals and aspirations? For me, that's a no. I'm just not built that way.

Second, I always look at what's still good when faced with adversity rather than focus on what's bad - not just in this matter, but in all matters.

It's easy to look at my poor little Nieuport and give a list of all the things that were broken - longerons, gear, cowl, etc. - and throw up one's hands.

It's just as easy to take a second look and see what's still good - a lot of tubing, the elevator push-pull rod, nuts and bolts, two wings, tail feathers, instruments, and on and on - and work from there.

In the strip down process, if something looks remotely questionable, into the scrap pile it goes. If not, why not re-use it?

The aircraft design itself is sound, and there are hundreds of examples (including the Graham Lee versions) that have flown and are still flying. Indeed, where one might see a mangled mess on the side of the road, I see and aircraft that - thanks to it's tube and gusset design - crumpled nicely to protect me from serious harm. The fact that there has been only one fatality in type (flight number one, with a bunch of factors involved) went into my decision to build it in the first place.

Would it be safer to build a Carbon Cub or an RV-7? Dunno. Maybe. But neither fit what I want an aircraft for.

The facts of the matter are that I somehow went through seven gallons of fuel in thirty-five minutes, which screams fuel leak (at least to me and the FAA man), leaving me 3,000 feet up with a stilled propeller. I did that which was required to ensure my safety and those on the ground the best I could - and since I'm here typing, it serves to validate my decisions on landing point. Say what one will about my abilities as a pilot - I never shy from the fact that at 135 hours behind a stick I'm still learning - but on that day I was on my game.

Was I lucky? Yes and no. I sure put a lot of my chips into the "lucky" column to where the outcome of the forced landing was going to be in my favor.

I flew her all the way down and landed on top of that tree. The plane had almost no forward momentum when she came down from it, and when she did, she was level to the ground (though pinwheeling a bit).

I put her down next to a road that had light traffic on it. Should I have needed serious assistance, help was a cell phone and an ambulance away; there would be no searching for me.

I let the design of the aircraft work for me. Having two big ol' collapsible wings making a cage around me as well as fuselage that would likewise collapse goes a long way to reducing G forces on a sudden stop. Where one might look at a Z shaped landing gear strut and cluck, it warmed my heart to see it.

Light, collapsible design + low momentum = "luck."

Indeed, rather than looking at the picture and saying "wow, maybe a different design is in order," my thoughts are "wow, there is no way I want to wreck in anything else."

Know what would have been unlucky? Taking on the power lines or the road with traffic on it. Shooting for a remote field with a fence across it. Trying to extend or shorten the glide for a marginally better landing spot. Trying to stretch to Pell City and winding up in the lake.

As to an aircraft with "a history of crashes," well, I'm not looking for resale value. When I'm done with her, she'll either be donated to hang from someplace's ceiling or recycled into beer cans.

[edit]

And will I improve the fuel system to prevent what we suspect happened (that in high turbulence I most likely kicked the barbed fuel fitting at the bottom of the tank, which is placed to where that can happen)? Most definitely. I was wearing my steel toed work boots that day, so I could do that without feeling it. Then again, judging from the dents at the bottom of the fuel tank, those boots probably saved me from broken toes.

[Sam Buchanan]

Frank, I appreciate your determination to continue your aviation journey and ability to see the positive in a very adverse situation.

However.....your little aircraft is totalled.....no other way to objectively describe it. You may indeed decide to "repair" it...but you are going to be building a new airplane. I would be very concerned about the condition of the pulled rivets in areas of the airframe that appear undamaged. It could be difficult to determine if those rivets have lost any of their original tension after being subjected to unanticipated stresses during the sudden stop at ground level. It would be far better to apply the knowledge learned during the construction and flying of your aircraft to a new flying carpet where you can reset the clock to zero. Your engine and instruments will fly very nicely in a new, fresh airframe. :)

I know that probably isn't where you want to go...I'm just looking at the situation without the emotional investment you understandably carry into your decision.

Best wishes!

[Frank Giger]

No rivets can be re-used. They're all pop rivets. A lot of the tubing can be re-used. But not a single rivet.

And Sam, I think we're all talking past each other. Of course it's a new airplane...but in the rules of aviation, with the same data plate and N-number, it's a repair.

:)

[Sam Buchanan]

No rivets can be re-used. They're all pop rivets.

And Sam, I think we're all talking past each other. Of course it's a new airplane...but in the rules of aviation, with the same data plate and N-number, it's a repair.

:)

Fair enough.

[Frank Giger]

A prime example of what I'm talking about is the turtle deck stringers.

Of the five long tubes, two of them are bent - one of them hopelessly so.

I'll re-use three of them, as well as the rear mount they attach to (with new rivets, of course).

[Frank Giger]

My plan of attack is after stripping everything thus:

Fuselage - completely disassemble, figure out what's still good, put it to the side, take the scrap to the recycler, and rebuild it. It's pretty much a from-scratch build process, as the longerons and a lot of the support tubes are toast. The tail wheel design is going to be improved. Once that's on new gear, move to the wings.

Wings - the right wings are a complete do-over, with not much more than the bolts able to be saved. Maybe a rib or two, and the drag/anti-drag fittings can be re-used. The left wings will be stripped and inspected, and I think I'm going to take off the leading edges and re-do them in a different technique. That way they won't look like I routinely fly through hail storms.

Tail feathers: strip and inspect. There isn't so much as a wrinkle in the fabric on the horizontal stab, elevator, or rudder. I may not even strip the rudder.

Engine: Tear down and inspect. I might put the other crankshaft in it, as it's balanced better than the one in there now, and I can put on a better engine seal. Hopefully the head and the case came out without any damage. It took a big enough whack to bend the engine mount, so who knows?

I'm figuring three grand for repairs, with a *gulp" budget of five. If I wind up replacing the engine, well, that's where the upper limit comes from.

Then it's cover, paint, and put her back into test phase. The FAA man said it's up to me for how long to put it there, and I don't have to notify them about it.

[cub builder]

I like the way you think Frank. It's unique in aviation. Actually, it's getting to be pretty unique overall. But I like it. If I can escape sometime this fall or winter, I'll drop in to check on your rebuild. Mike will know when I'm gonna be around.


-Cub Builder

[Sam Buchanan]

Frank, I bet Robert can put together a "repair kit" to which you can attach your data plate and N-number...... ;)

[rwanttaja]

This news was a real bummer. Glad Frank's OK, but his plans to repair the airplane remind me of the WWI flying song, "The Bold Aviator".....

Oh, the bold aviator was dying
And as 'neath the wreckage he lay, he lay
To the sobbing mechanics about him
These last parting words he did say

"Take the cylinders out of my kidneys
The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain
From the small of my back get the crankshaft
And assemble the engine again"

Ron "Glad it didn't have to go that far" Wanttaja

[Frank Giger]

Frank, I bet Robert can put together a "repair kit" to which you can attach your data plate and N-number...... ;)

Finally folks are starting to get my drift on the repairs!

The thought did occur to me - just plunk down the 8K for a new "kit" and repair away! But there's just too much good left for that, and a lot of his cost is hardware.

Indeed, Robert called me up a day or so after the forced landing and let me know he stands ready to supply anything I'm going to need (after asking about how I was doing).

However, if the engine is toast I'm going to simply call Valley Engineering and have them put together another one for me.

[jdanneel]

Good to hear you are OK,
good to hear you will continue flying.

If I would not live on the other side of the Atlantic then I would be very pleased to donate all the kit parts I did not use on my N11;
that is the least I could do for enjoying your posts that were useful during my build.

How is the lady of the house taking it ?

take care

Johan

[Frank Giger]

Oh, the wife knew what she was getting right out of the box.

Indeed, she had her pick of Safe Men and went the other way in accepting my offer for her hand; her only request is that I keep things as safe as I can within the constraints of what I'm doing.

When I called her from the landing site and told her I was okay she took it in stride. Of course she called back about two minutes later to ask what "okay" meant, and reckoned that a broken rib fell somewhere below "all okay" and above "all busted up;" but I should have mentioned it in the first call. ;)

It was about three days after it she looked at me, sat up ramrod straight, and said "you could have been killed," to which I replied, "yeah, but not that day."

Between overhearing the NTSB guy say that I did pretty much everything right and my Army buddies making light of it (considering the number of times I should have bought it or been maimed) she's shrugging it off as just another one of my adventures.

She's been nothing but supportive of my Aviation Quest from start to now.

[planecrazzzy]

Whelp, this last Saturday I had an engine out and had to put my little Babette into the trees.
HOLY COW Frank,
I just heard about this .
Glad your alright , Sad the plane isn't
And like others , glad you're not giving up!!!!!!!!

Gotta Fly...

PS Hobbs time ?

[Frank Giger]

Hobbs time is around 65 hours.

So she went about median average for actual WWI aircraft. ;)

I'm healed up enough to where this weekend I can go up to the airport, untangle the bent wings from the fuselage, remove the engine, strip the fuselage and see what's there.

[planecrazzzy]

.
Winter is coming...Always a good time to FIND time to work on it.
.
After flying my first plane for a while...I missed the building process.

This will help you fill that desire...
.
I'm guessing you'll need to fly off some time after the re-build ? 25 hrs ? another 40 ?
.
Maybe you can take a picture where you landed and plopped out ?

and your crumpled baby...( Oh, I backed up and saw the site...and your goggles )

Gotta Fly...
.

[DaleB]

I'm guessing you'll need to fly off some time after the re-build ? 25 hrs ? another 40 ?

Don't take this the wrong way, but in this particular case -- what does it matter? It's a single seat airplane that never gets flown far from its home field. How is Phase I testing different than normal flying for Frank?

[Sam Buchanan]

.
.
I'm guessing you'll need to fly off some time after the re-build ? 25 hrs ? another 40 ?
.

A new Phase 1 "fly-off" is only required after major modifications. Repairs do not require the aircraft to be placed back into Phase 1.

Frank is considering a repair. :)

[Airmutt]

So during the rebuild he must not make any changes that effect the weight or structural strength otherwise it’s a violation of the 21.93 definition of minor change. Additionally any propeller change or modification to the engine is also considered a major change and drives you back to Phase 1, right??

[Sam Buchanan]

So during the rebuild he must not make any changes that effect the weight or structural strength otherwise it’s a violation of the 21.93 definition of minor change. Additionally any propeller change or modification to the engine is also considered a major change and drives you back to Phase 1, right??

Yes, major changes require reentry into Phase 1.

But Frank is intending to return an exact clone of his little bird to the air. ;)

Replacing a prop with an identical unit or simply repairing an engine is not a major change. But Frank didn't break his prop! If Frank installs a constant speed prop or a turbine on his repaired fighter....that would be a major change. :)

[Frank Giger]

I'm glad the thread is going in a more generalist direction - this is how I learn!

To the particulars of my airplane:

1) I asked the FAA man about this very topic when he came out for the initial investigation, and he said it was at my discretion, saying that five to ten hours would be prudent and I need not involve their offices. I suspect he was speaking ex cathedra, though, and I'll talk to my FDSO when she's ready to fly again. The absolute worst they can say is the whole nut roll, which leads us to number two:

2) It is very accurate to say that 99% of my flying is within the original test phase area regardless of whether or not it's actually in test phase, so the impact of it is minimal. However, I do like the option of flying to fields farther than 25 nm from my base. If they say go to Phase I with 40 hours, I'll simply ask for a larger test area. Again, if that's denied, well, okay...sight seeing along the Coosa River it is; I'll just have to be happy to be thrown into the briar patch.

3) While it's a repair back to original (same engine, prop, plans), replacing the fuselage, gear, and two wings along with an engine tear down is a bit more than altering the tail wheel design. By the regulation it's not a major change, but I'm treating it as one in practice.

If there's any frustration on my part it's that for all the fun I poke at myself as a builder and pilot, I'm actually very scrupulous when it comes to both. Even very minor things like covering the wheels with fabric were put in the airframe log, and when I put the fuel sight gauge in I had a trusted builder help and inspect the work before buttoning it up. For the latter, I flew the first hour close to the field and a couple more carefully to validate it's accuracy.

Since there is no weight and balance concerns when it comes to fuel, I always take off from my home field with a full tank of gas. Yes, in the Summertime that means my take off roll is five hundred feet rather than four, and my landing is six hundred rather than five, but these are laughable differences since I'm landing on mile long runways, and the reduced climb rate is the same in practical practice.

On the day in question I darned near over-filled the tank that morning, and the first leg was fifty miles, flown in just under an hour. The gauge gave me right at seven gallons on landing, which is the expected fuel consumption. No way I burned through seven gallons in forty minutes - there had to have been a fuel leak, no doubt caused by the high turbulence. Whether I kicked the stupid fuel sump connection or there was a leak somewhere else, there was a leak.

To put a bit of humor in the post, I will no longer accept the statement that when one runs out of gas it's not like one can pull the plane over to the side of the road, as that is precisely what I did. :)