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Frank, these clamps are pretty handy for securing tubing to the side of the wing struts:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...?clickkey=4904
Attachment 7140
I used these with sheet metal screws for securing the aileron control cables to the N-struts.
Spruce has several pitot/static tubes. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...?clickkey=5714
I actually have one that I bought but never used.
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.
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.
:)
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by 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!
;)
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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?
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.
I'm pretty sure there's some nicely worded material in there that could be fashioned into a poem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Giger
I have come to realize that just as it is with warriors, within each pilot resides a poet.
I'm a poet
You all should know it
My feet show it
They're Longfellows.
Sorry, but that's all I got.
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
We do what we must, because we can. Looks good.:thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Giger
And remember the first pillar of Aperture Science:
:)Quote:
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.
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."
I'll never be asked by EAA to make a "Hints for Homebuilders" video...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gm9bkpsAi5U
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.
Thanks!
Part Two...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKWrCl3_SHw
Best. Thumbnail. Ever.
Part 2.5, where I get diverted and improve the gun mounts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB7LepqqJgU
Note the use of solid planning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GINO4hW7N2A
Getting more work done, but it's not done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG_fDSiaAIk
The wife says my production values have risen by 2%.
https://youtu.be/liRNl70oVZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liRNl70oVZA
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. :-)
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.
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?
;)
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."
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Giger
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
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. ;)
As well you should, Frank... after all you built a freaking airplane.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Giger
This whole flying machine stuff is crazy, to be honest, and we're all just a bunch of nuts.
:)
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.