Quote:
Originally Posted by todd copeland
ditto !
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Quote:
Originally Posted by todd copeland
ditto !
good idea to cover the wheels with fabric,
now I know where to save another "millipound" on the W&B
a bit late, but cutting the hole for the valve on the inside ....
summer is in the air
johan
It's a fig leaf to historical accuracy. That's where they put the holes in 1915.
Thanks for the kind words. Big thunderstorms today, and it's all my fault. I have finally figured out how to do the transition piece from the top of the fuselage to the side sheeting and am really eager to get on with it.
Never fails...
No pictures, as my main PC is down for maintenance, but work on the cockpit combing and the transition piece at the side sheeting to fuselage continues. I cut up a vinyl long coat for the material and it's worked out pretty well so far!
Well, let's put up some pics to prove I ain't just telling stories about doing work on the plane.
First up is the cowling stuff. The wife surrendered a long vinyl coat for the cause, and I gleefully cut it up. The part that formed the front of the coat had a lovely seam on it that seemed to me to be perfect for the transition between side sheeting and top of the fuselage.
I measured it up to put a peg every two inches (four inches between them on either top or bottom:
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cwl000.jpg
I spent waaayyy too much time trying to figure out how to make a peg with a lip at the top to hold a leather shoe lace. Turns out a little bit of copper tubing, a small pipe cutter, and some time in front of the TV was just what was needed. A small washer on a long 1/8" rivet over them worked well.
The pipe cutter idea is a gift from the EAA. I had brought my test sheet with a bunch of riveted stuff up there and the copper tube part was tilted owing to my poor work with a dremel cut off tool...one of the guys said I should have just used a small pipe cutter. Naturally I laughed as I actually have one and it never dawned on me to actually use it!
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cwl001.jpg
The strip is three inches across - one inch above the longeron and two below. I didn't want any holes in my longerons or to rivet the side sheeting to the fuselage!
The problem was the forward most gusset and the one in the rear. I couldn't put the rivet through them, obviously, so I just drilled through the side sheeting, made a mark, and then enlarged the 1/8" hole to where the rivet fits through it. Clearly I was off on my first guesses on placement and had to move the holes to keep from hitting the tubes underneath.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cwl002.jpg
The gusset in the rear had a more difficult fit, as it's two tubes that meet together in an inverted vee shape. To find the right placement I took a couple of small rare earth magnets, one on the inside and one on the outside of the sheeting. Worked really well, as you can see.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cwl003.jpg
All laced up! I'll go back and paint the pegs.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cwl004.jpg
The cowling around the fuselage was simple - coat material over pipe insulation and a boot lace through holes. The back of the cockpit is actually the collar to the coat.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/cwl005.jpg
I'll adjust the boot laces to get rid of some of the sausage effect. But it's gooder enough for me.
I've been fussing with the notion of the rudder pedal stops for a long time, and none of my solutions I drew out were worth a flip. Spoke to Robert Baslee about it and he steered me the right direction.
He said to run a bolt of "all thread" back from the firewall to the pedals. Simple enough.
Okay, not so simple. The firewall is just a sheet of aluminum and it moves some when pressure is put on it. Either I could adjust the length of the pedal throw based on the warping of the firewall or find a way to stop it.
The former is wrought with disaster - repeatedly bending a sheet of metal with a rod stuck through it seems like something that is the start of an accident chain in a report. So it's on with the latter!
First is a reinforcing plate of thin steel, painted thickly to keep different metals apart.
It helped a great deal on the warping of the firewall issue and I'd of put it there even if the firewall was rock solid, but there was still some play.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/pdl001.jpg
I wracked my brain over how to stabilize the bolt, drawing up complex shapes of aluminum and other crazy stuff when it struck me that all I needed was a nice curved bit of metal with some bends in it to make it beefy.
Shelf supports. They're strong, light, and cost about a buck fifty each in the aircraft section of Lowe's.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/pdl002.jpg
It worked.
I also put two long bolts on the end. This makes the length of the stop adjustable. It's much easier to adjust the length of the stop than the rudder cable itself, and the differences between throws if one is different from the other is so small one would never notice it with one's feet.
The wife was coming out of the door as I was coming back into the house to tell her what a smart fellow she married, gone to check the mail. Ha! Gotcha!
She reluctantly squeezed into the tight space behind the tail and I explain that I need to know how far from the up-and-down thingie the swishy tail thingie is when it's from one side to the other. I threw her a ruler to help out, and climbed into cockpit.
Full left rudder, bring the elevator up.
"Now go the other way," she says.
Full right rudder. *whack*
"Ow, you should tell me if you're going to do that. I meant the other thing."
So for fifteen minutes we totally miscommunicate as she measures the distance from the rudder to the elevator, I hop out to make minor adjustments, hop back in, whack her with either the rudder or the elevator, and wind up with about 3/4 an inch on each side clearance. It's a lot of rudder even with that large safety zone of space between the two - without a vertical stab it should be pretty interesting when she gets in the air!
Sherry also confirmed I had measured the cable lengths to the tail wheel correctly - when the rudder is straight, so is the wheel. I had used a brick on each of the pedals to make the rudder center, centered the wheel, and swagged the cables together - not very scientific, but it worked out!
I tend to agonize over little things in projects; it's the finishing touches that make me nuts more than the big things. I once did a free decent down a two hundred foot cliff only to trip over a rock stepping away from it at the bottom to land on my ass, after all.
So it is with putting the markings on my tail. The "Big N" in particular had me vexed.
Now the experten go to print shops, use hole punching wheels along the edges, puts that on the plane, makes little marks on the plane with the hole, and make art with perfect edges.
I went another way.
I looked through various photographs I'd taken at Gardner and Liberty Landing and found that I had taken a pretty decent photo of Dick Lemon's N11 from the side.
Well, decent in that it was flat on to the tail, which is what I needed.
I slapped into MicroSoft PowerPoint, scaled it up to fill most of the page, printed it, and then cut out the N with an exacto knife.
This was laid onto the tail and the hole traced with a pencil. The pencil lines were then used as a guide for painter's tape.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/n001.jpg
Out to the paint shed, which means I leaned it up against the fence in the back yard after taping paper all around the rest of it to cover the tail.
I shot it first with some white to fill the inevitable little gaps in the paint, giving me a clean edge with the black.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/n002.jpg
Pulling the tape off with it still wet, naturally I had to let the tape curl, touch the right side of the letter, and pull that paint off.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/n003.jpg
The bottom left of the letter doesn't match the right side of the curve.
A little work with a sharpie pen in freehand and the white spots are removed and the curve at the bottom of the letter is symmetrical.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/n004.jpg
Whew.
Note the picture next to the rudder. It's not the example I used. I carried the wrong picture out with me for reference into the back yard, but figured there was no use in going back for the other one - what I made is what I made.
I don't tell you this nearly enough, Frank, but thank you for continuing to post the updates on your Nieuport. It's one of my very favorite parts of our forums, and is always inspiring. Keep up the great work! I can't wait to see it here in Oshkosh one of these days - it's going to be quite the celebrity airplane!
* Blush *
Thanks for your kind words. I think if I ever flew it to Oshkosh they'd make a new parking section called "Comedy Relief" and hold forums on it with titles like "Poor Craftsmanship - Why?" and "Gooder Enough Usually Isn't." :)
Leaving off the bottom lettering for the tail for a minute, I decided to tackle two other tasks that need done - the cable exits from the fuselage and the aileron push rod exits.
I decided just to put down some leather(ish) patches where the cables go back to the rudder and the tail wheel. It's a simple thing that doesn't require a lot of muss or fuss.
I had measured what was needed to cover my slits in the fabric and let the cable through and began to muck about marking circles with varying degrees of success, as I broke the needle end of the small plastic compass.
I've been breaking a lot of things lately, it would seem.
I also kicked over my plastic "smokeless" ashtray cup in the garage (I never, ever smoke in the house) and broke it. So I've been borrowing one of the wife's Coke bottles for that duty, throwing them out when they fill with butts.
Frustrated, I decided to grab some coffee and enjoy a cigarette while I contemplate the right combination of profanity that will make this simple task go smoothly. And set the Coke bottle down on what was the sleeve of the wive's long coat.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/pch001.jpg
Um, the bottom of the bottle was just the right size! Eureka! I'll put "not worth a hair in the pimple on a frog's posterior" into reserve for something else.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/pch002.jpg
Pretty scary how well that went.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/pch003.jpg
Now, then, when I put the sheeting on the top of the fuselage forward of the cockpit I made some overly generous and somewhat asymmetrical holes for the aileron push rods to go through. They work great but are ugly as sin.
One may notice some little Sharpie marks around that hole; they're marking about where the rods move. The rods themselves have a little movement as they go up and down, owing to some give to the rod end mounts and not being perfectly over each other (about an eighth an inch). This isn't a problem, of course - just have to give them some play room.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/prd001.jpg
What I want is a nice plate to cover that ugly hole, something done precisely and with only the best materials, preferably designed and checked in 3D in a CAD program.
I opted for some folded up paper instead, though, along with some pencil marks.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/prd002.jpg
I sourced some scrap sheeting and an aileron control rod gusset hole bushing* to complete the work.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/prd004.jpg
* Sold under the odd brand name of "toilet tank gasket."
Wait.... What ???
The Firewall is ALUMINUM ????
That's no Firewall....
I thought they had to be Galvy or Stainless Steel...
Aluminum MELTS...
Does Aluminum pass for a Firewall...
I know it'll fail with a Fire...
.
Gotta Fly...
PS Mine is Stainless Steel.... Galvy produces Toxic fumes when heated with fire...
.
It's actually very thin steel - I am just so used to typing aluminum that's all I know how to write.
[edit]
On fire - with a three-quarters cowl (the lower third is cut away, exposing the engine), fire is going to wind up exiting the compartment and along the bottom of the fuselage if it gets going. That's one of the reasons I opted for a wooden floor (as in the original) versus running fabric all the way up, as a lot of folks do with these replicas.
Yep... Hope for the Best...
Prepare for the Worst...
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Gotta Fly...
JAM
So my son is graduating High School and apparently my wife thinks that stuff like getting him decent clothes to wear under the gown (they actually have a dress code for that!), getting him to various functions associated with it, and other junk is more important that getting some of the final stuff done on my airplane before taking it out to the airport.
I'm down to mounting the throttle, painting the top of the forward bit of the fuselage, and doing some touch-up paint before making its journey.
Frank, Have you got your engine installation done? You might want to get that done before you haul it to the airport. Don
Nope, it'll be installed at the airport under expert guidance.
Looking forward to hear from your first flight !
Also looking forward to seeing pictures of the engine installation.
.
Gotta Fly...
JAM
Not as much as I am!
With my son's graduation from High School out of the way ("Welcome to the ranks of the unemployed," I said), time to tighten things up in order to take her out to the airfield.
First is that area forward of the cockpit. I was concerned about glare from the off white underbelly of the upper wing, so taped it off:
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/top001.jpg
(if you think that's bad, you should see what I can do to a Christmas present)
And painted it flat black.
Looks gooder enough for me!
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/top002.jpg
Bob Ross said there are no accidents in painting, only happy opportunities. I think I had one of those.
I had done a test piece of sheet using three layers: a primer, white gloss, and then aluminum paint. It was nice and smooth and pretty.
Well, when I did the same for the aluminum of the cheek cowls, I suppose I was a little impatient and sprayed the aluminum before the white was completely dry.
Little ridges popped up all over it in random patterns, giving it a texture.
I'm not sure if I like it or not....gonna take it out into the sunshine to see how it looks. If not, I'll sand it down and do over.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/chkcowl.jpg
Sometimes a fresh perspective after a day is really helpful. My idea of painting the forward part of the fuselage was sound, but it sure does show every rivet and when I tape up the cable holes they'll stand out like nobody's business. Little ugly things like that can serve to be a turd on top of a wedding cake....that's all anyone remembers.
So tomorrow I'm going to just cover it with fabric, paint it, and make slits for the cables to slip through.
I also got my hangar. It's a bit further than I like - Talledega (yes, right next to the famous race track) - but it has a lot going for it. First, the bulk of my EAA brethren have hangars there. Second, I got a huge T hangar with electricity for 115 USD a month. Indeed, my little plane will probably fit entirely within the back of the T.
The reason for the price is that there's an inch wide gap in the doors at the sides from floor to ceiling. When it rains water gets into the hangar. But it doesn't pool inside and just makes the first three feet wet.* It'll never touch the plane.
Because the two main doors (it's split, rolling left and right from the center) will open wide enough for the plane to fit through, I could just run duct tape over the gap.
So next week after I clean up the plane it's out to a hangar.
* There are water marks on the floor showing just that. One can see where it's been, thanks to pollen and the clean marks.
Well, the more I looked at the top of the front of the fuselage the more I disliked it.
So I covered and painted it:
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/top003.jpg
The color matches, it's a trick of the light that makes it look darker.
The next was my break lines. I had just zip tied them to the gear legs, and it was kind of rinky-dink. So I put them through the gear legs (and painted a little):
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/brakeline.jpg
And got to my first repair. Well, the first in a long time. My step hole is reinforced with an aluminum U, but it didn't loop around the bottom longeron. Naturally I caught a foot in it and ripped it right on out:
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/step001.jpg
Good grief! Well, I cut some spare tubing, split it, and flattened one end to give me a J shaped piece that fits around the longeron, riveting it into the U shaped piece.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/step002.jpg
I got so thrilled at coming up with an easy solution I didn't tape over it before covering and painting it.
http://www.darts-page.com/images/Nieuport/step003.jpg
Oh well, at least I won't be ripping up the side of the plane getting in now. The color actually matches perfectly - it wasn't quite dry all the way when I took the picture.
Hey Frank,
I'm not really sure why you didn't reinforce the other side of that Aluminum Step hole/ Fabric guide...
Seems like it could rip like it did before...?
If your lapping that Gusset...
Maybe a quick rivet would secure the aluminum "U"... ?
That hole will be used a lot... Twice each flight at Minimum....
It's hard to see... But maybe the "U" is already shielded by the Gusset...?
.
.
Gotta Fly...
JAM
.
.
Well, to be honest the reason I didn't reinforce the other side of the step U is I wasn't sure if my first solution would work. I just cut a piece of thick tubing of the same diameter as the longeron as wide as the step guide, cut it length wise, and then using a screw driver and other wedges that seemed to work widened it until I could get some purchase on it. Then I beat on one end of the tube until it was flat with a hammer. I have no idea how it turned out to be just what I wanted - a J shaped piece of tubing that fit over the longeron. It actually goes around half of the longeron, poking up through the fabric underneath.
All the bad force is upwards, and I really don't want to put a hole in the longeron if I can avoid it. I reckon it won't elongate and it sure won't slide. Missing the hole on the way out results in a mark on the fabric - the thin aluminum won't catch on a shoe or boot.
The position of the hole is such that if a toe drags or pokes hard into the hole it's on the rear.
I may well reinforce the front of the U, though. I've got the scrap for it, and now I know how to make the piece. The only time I throw away scrap is when it has stuck into my skin. I have used some of the tiniest pieces for things - heck, I've used the thin trimmed pieces about an eighth of an inch wide as a grabber for washers that have fallen down.
A couple other notes - painting the plane with latex has been a blessing. Since the fuselage is exposed to the elements (my Wonder Tarp Tent blocks the sun, which is the big deal, and most of the rain), dust and junk collect on the plane. Cleaning it is as simple as a little soap and water.
Running the brake lines through the gear was far more of a chore than it should have been, but I've been missing drama in my life of building so it was kind of refreshing. It seems entirely too simple - drill two holes and run a cable through them.
Heck, Rule 11 of building, "Cut nothing until you have to" made things easier, as I've got a huge amount of brake cable to feed through the holes before I get to the sheathing.
Time for the Tool Hunt. What's required? A little allen wrench to loosen the brake line from the brake itself. A 3/16 inch drill bit. No problem! Open up the bit holder - one missing. Son of a...start looking around the work table. Found it! Oh, it's in terrible shape. That's why I didn't put back in the drill holder. I needed to replace it. Hmmm, forget it, I can go one bigger if I can't find the replacement bit I know I bought. Maybe it's in the storage shed.
Open up the socket set briefcase to get the allen wrench to loosen the cable from the brake. Pull out wrenches - one missing. For the love of Pete, are there evil gnomes messing with me at night? Crap in a hat, it's a conspiracy! Grumble a bit about how it's a pretty important tool and impossible to replace without buying a whole 'nother wrench set. Easy to lose, too. Something I should have placed where I could....oh, I did. I've got a plastic bin from a fishing tackle box that I keep all the nuts and bolts required to put the plane together kinda sorted to purpose. I put the allen wrench in with them because it's small and easy to lose.
What a clever fellow I am! Good thinking!
Hmmm, drill bit. Drill bit. 3/16 bits are something I've used a lot, and I know I bought several. Last time I used one is right before I got the replacement drill (needed a new battery and it was cheaper to buy the identical drill with one than a replacement by itself)....check the old drill. Sure as heck, pull out the old one and there it is, and in good shape! Slap a battery on it and I'm all ready with the bit in place!
Drill the holes.
Getting the wire into the top hole is no problem. How to get it out of the bottom one? Try grabbing it through the hole with a looped twisty tie. Nope, too big with the cable in it to come through the hole. Try grabbing it with a bit of safety wire looped. Impossible. The cable doesn't want to bend for me. Run the brake cable through the hole all the way to keep it in one place and out of the mud. Drink some coffee and wipe sweat (it's approaching 95 degrees in the tent). Notice the end of the brake cable is at the bottom of the gear leg. Ah. Run safety wire from the bottom hole through the end of the gear, wrap it around the end of the brake cable, and use it as a guide to pull the cable through. That wasn't such a chore was it?
The other leg, however, isn't cooperating. The cable doesn't want to pop out of the end of the gear, no matter how much I twist it about. Try the loop catch thing, which works about as well as the last time, which is to say not as all. Maybe I can go the other way? Run some safety wire up the leg from the bottom hole to the top. Aha! This I can loop and catch pretty easily with another bit of safety wire. Wrap and pull it through.
Time spent? Two friggin hours. Two hours to pull a cable through two holes, twice.
Hmmm, I'm of the mind to get the engine mounted before taking her out to the airport.
I've seen a lot of pictures of folks dangling engines on firewalls to mount them, but I think I'm going a different way.
My engine weighs around 150 pounds with accessories, and my mount about five. So it's occurred to me to mark the mount to center/line of thrust, take it off the airplane, fit it to the engine, mark the spots for drilling, drill it, and then put the mount back on the plane.
Then I can simply raise the engine to the mount, put the bolts in, and tighten.
Anybody see a problem with this technique?
Sounds like a good plan to me. I know with the lycoming dyno focal the challenge is getting the engine on the mount itself. I needed to have the mount on my plane so I could leverage against it to get it on the mounts. If your engine goes on the mount easily I think you have a good plan.
Hey Frank,
One thing to keep in mind...
When I was fitting up my Engine mount... I asked the question...
With "Tolerance".... plus or minus.... WHICH WAY should I favor...
The reply I got was plus "Right"..... Zero - Left....
So aside from getting it PERFECTLY straight.... If it's "off" a little.... Favor "Right"
.
.
Or Does YOUR engine turn the opposite ???? If so... Go the other way...
Ask someone you know with the same engine...?
.
Gotta Fly...
JAM
.
Yes, it turns "the other way."
From other builders of type, trying to bring the thrust line to the left results in a lot of work with little effect; but a little down angle is desired (about five degrees). Those with straight on mounts say it's not enough to make much of a difference, as in the end the plane is ground trimmed for cruise at the vertical stab.
One of the things that drew me to this particular plane is that it's sedate; apart from a few quirks owing to the free flying rudder they're analogous to a Champ - everyone who pilots these says Champ time is the best way to be prepared for them. I wouldn't say I'm a great pilot, but I can work the stick of a Champ pretty well in the air and all of my takeoffs and landings have been on pavement with a model that doesn't have the "no bounce" gear (so why don't they call it the "bounce gear?").
I was asked once why I've spent most of my time doing touch-and-goes, and my response was that's where the trouble lays in flying a tail wheel. That and it's my favorite thing to do in an aircraft, apart from flying down the river at 500 feet AGL.
The mount itself is a sort of double bar H placed on its side. The long ends run flush across the firewall and connect to bolts coming out of the longerons, and the vertical bars between them spaced to fit the back of a VW engine. One simply drills holes and runs bolts through them (or fits a nut at the longeron bolts). It's simplicity that's oddly beautiful by my way of thinking.
The starter will poke back from the engine, and rather than extend it outwards (which will have CG implications) I'll cut the firewall and make a box for it on the inside.
Changing subjects, I made a mess of the 7/8ths scale Lewis gun kit. It's formed PVC, and I mucked up cutting it out of the forms and mating the sides together. Naturally I fixed it to the point of being ugly, and no repair will make it anything other than ugly. So I bought some wood and will use it as a pattern for a replacement.
Cool....GUNS....
.
.
Yeah the Idea was just putting any tolerance on the proper side...
Not trying to compensate for anything...
Mine compensates "P" factor torque by off-setting my Vertical Stabilizer by 1/2"
.
.
You say compensating "Down"..... Was that in the Design or because of the Engine your using...
I think Free Flight models do that with their engines...
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Gotta Fly...
JAM
.
.
Inherent in the design, as the lower wing has an angle of incidence that tends to pitch the nose up. But the guys back in 1914 didn't have CAD-CAM and computer modelling.
Quote:
Cool....GUNS....
What else does one put on the upper wing of an aircraft? Blinking lights?
:)
I'll put up pics later, but the gun is done except for the handle and painting.
I received a message from Mirka, a guest to our forums from Poland - and his English is much better than my Polish - that was encouraging. It's nice to know that folks can see a plane can be built in the most primitive of conditions and figure they can do it themselves.
Frank, if all the people who follow your project would donate one dollar, you could run for president...
if you win the election (without any doubt), you'll have no time left to fly, and I understand this is not something you want ;)
keep it going
johan
I could never be POTUS.
"I'd like to go flying today."
"Sorry, Mr. President, there's a TFR."
"Dang."
[Two weeks later]
"I'd like to go flying today."
"Sorry, Mr. President, there's a TFR."
"Again? Sheesh! It's like that darned thing is following me around wherever I go!"
Frank, if your firewall came with the kit, stick a magnet to it to see if it is indeed steel. The firewall that shipped with my D7 kit was 6061 aluminum which is unacceptable for a firewall. I replaced it with 26g galvanized steel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Giger
Yep, it is aluminum. Hmmm, gonna have to think that one through.
Gun is almost done, and I started work on the windscreen.
I have used this on several airplanes. A little spendy but how much is your life worth. Get their fireproof glue to go with it. Don
http://www.brownaircraft.com/product_p/ct-190-36.htm
Here in Canada at least, the firewall MUST be steel, not aluminum. I just bought a big piece of stainless from Aircraft Spruce for my Bearhawk. You do NOT want just a piece of aluminum between you and that roaring fire under the cowl...
Especially with the aluminum fuel tank just two inches behind the "firewall"...... :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by rv8bldr
For stainless steel for firewalls, check with local metal cabinet shops. I was able to get a piece of .032" stainless cut 42" perfectly round by a local shop for less than the shipping on a piece of square sheet steel.
Dale
Hmmm, I'm thinking I can mount steel over the aluminum, which will keep me from undoing a lot of the work already done. One of the easier things.
Either that or start carrying a pistol in the cockpit as they did in WWI. ;)
That should work, I even considered that option (not the pistol...) when I changed my firewall. I ended up saving part of the old "firewall" and replacing the majority of it behind the engine (and in front of the tank).Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Giger
http://eaaforums.org/attachment.php?...tid=4897&stc=1
http://fokkerd7.com