ducksrus

Hi eightyknots, I'm about 3/4 of the way through the build. The Savannah kit is very comprehensive and quite easy to build with all parts, skins, ribs etc being pre stamped and all match hole drilled (punched). I am going to fit a Rotax 100 HP, the engine of choice for an aircraft like this. That is the only reason I have the Aeropup on the market, to pay for my engine. Rgds ducksrus.

Thanks Walter, I just love building and the only way I can pay for the engine purchase of my latest project ( Savannah VG XL ) is to sell the Aeropup first, so it is going to be very hard to part with it when the time comes, but, we must move on. Rgds Steve

I am reluctantly putting my Aeropup on the market to make way for my new project, see add in the classified section. It is owned, built and maintained by a Lame (myself). 190 hrs TT with a Jabiru 4 cyl (hydraulic). Comes with aileron and wing stay rods to hold ailerons up and wings steady when folded, makes for very easy trailering. This aircraft has an award winning build and finish and flys beautifully. Located Caboolture QLD $ 59,000. If interested, email Steve at [email protected] for more pics or phone mob 0421603175.

Hi Mark, Yes mate, feel free to come over and have a look. Ring or email me and I will give you my address. When you are fitting up some of the parts, it first appears that there is no way they are going to fit but with perseverence and a bit of force they do eventually fit. Also don't be tempted to redrill holes if they don't line up. You will need a good quality tapered hole podger to persuade everything into alignment, it's amazing how it does all come together. Make sure you wash out the Shurline roller and clean the head of it after each days use to stop it gumming up and going hard and dry the roller before next use ( I also found two packs of spare rollers at Bunnings for $ 2 a pack). I think my compressor is set at about 80 psi (will check), but the riveter will still work well at a lower setting. Anyway, happy building. See Ya soon Steve

G'day Mark (Spectre-O). Good to hear you have taken delivery of your kit, Iv'e been keeping an eye on this thread. I took delivery of my VG XL kit in Feb and have finished the wings, tail feathers, aft fuselage and I am well into the fwd fuse. I only live down the road from you (Boundary rd ) if you still live in Burpengary ?, so if you need any help with anything or want to have a look at how I dealt with some of the slightly grey areas of the Italian/English manual, feel free to contact me, it might save you the time going to look at an already constructed aircraft to see how to do it. Regards Ducksrus (Steve) [email protected] mob 0421603175

Hi, I ended up using acrylic for my side doors which are under the fuel drains when open and stuck to the Makrolon for the windscreen and headrack. just need to be carefull not to get fuel on them. The makrolon is starting to craze where it is stressed at the curves. Ducky

Hi Tornado, 1/ Good question. I can understand why in flight as the jabiru is faster, but on the ground static, you would think they would be equal bar some slight cowling (thus airflow differences). I trialed a near new J160 and it only got 2750 static anyway. 2/ Personally I will probably end up using the 60 X 38 prop, mainly to keep the rpm at cruise at the suggested levels, others may beg to differ ? 3/ Unsure of how far further fwd the engine would need to be moved, perhaps 1/2 " , but this then impacts on engine cowling clearances. 4/ I did very thorough W&B weighings, mine was weighed over 20 different scenarios starting from empty and gradualy adding fuel, pilot, pax, cargo etc. I can carry a combination of pilot, pax, fuel and cargo up to 544 kg, with cargo max of 20 kg behind the seats. 5/ John Cotton has suggested wing sweep back as a way to eliminate the addition of ballast. I didn't know about that when I built mine so added 4.86 kg to the nose (a divers weight belt weight worked beautifully). 6/ I can only speak for the jabiru 2.2, if I built another one I would seriously consider a rotax 100hp. This slightly heavier engine would probably eliminate the need to add lead also. Does anyone else have input to Tornado's Q's. Ducky

Curandero, I may be wrong, but as I understand it, at the moment to fly into CTA with a rec registered aircraft you would need a current ppl, radio & transponder, not sure about engine certification. RAAus are currently trying to gain CTA endorsments for its members. Ducky

Curandero, The CTA step around Caboolture is at 3500' so no problems. I haven't flown my Pup into CTA and don't really intend to at this stage, plenty of wide open uncongested places to visit elsewhere. Anyway fyi, the Caboolture Aeroclub website is www.cabaeroclub.org.au if you do fly up this way in the future. It is a beaut airfield with accomodation, pub etc close by. Regards Ducky

Hi Curandero, I have flown into heck field at Jacobs Well twice now. It has two strips which cross each other 18/36 and 10/28 CTAF freq 126.7. I you go to www.gcsfc.org.au you will find all the details you need including a schematic layout of the strip. the runways are good, gravel surfaces, but the taxiways are a bit rough. I keep my Aeropup hangared at Caboolture which is about 30 mins drive north of Brisbane. If you are in the area it would be good to catch up. Ducky

Hi Brett, I have a complete set of build pics. If you would like I can send you a CD copy also. Send me an email with your details to [email protected] Ducky

Hi Mark, Yeah I agree with Curandero. The removeable port access panel is great. It just makes it so easy to get access, which I have had to many times for various reasons. In fact next time I would make the starborad panel removable also. If made correctly the panel still contours nicely to the fuselage frame and not look out of place. Regards Ducky

Yeah, I did deburr every other accesable hole but the ones on the inside of the spar tubes are inaccesable. I you find out an easy way to do it, let me know !

Hey Brett, I didn't deburr the holes on the inside of the spar tubes. i don't know of any easy method of doing so. Out of interest, does the manual say to do that ? I can't remember. regards Ducky

Curandero, great to hear you are enjoying the Aeropup, as I am. Iv'e got 60 hours up now and the furtherest I have been so far is Orchid beach on Frazer Island (I fly out of Caboolture). I plan to soon start spreading my wings further within Qld & Nsw. What strip do you fly out of ? Ducky

Hi Curandero, Go to the Jabiru aircraft web site, click on Service Bulletins, then engine SB's. Have a look at JSB018-1, it has all the information about engine tuning and some history of carby jetting etc. My engine came new with the "economy tuning" jets and needle (the main jet was a # 225), but I then bought and fitted the recomended richer jet and needle kit (the richer main jet is a 245). Yes I do have a Mizer fuel flow guage fitted so I can easily see what my FF is. When I had the economy jets fitted, my FF was also about 13.5 lph with the 42" prop. I then fitted the richer jet kit and it went up to about 15 - 16 lph at cruise. I then fitted the 38" prop (with the richer jet & needle kit), thats when I had the vibration. so as I mentioned I then refitted the 225 main jet and it went away. The reason jabiru introduced the richer needle & jet kit was in an effort to stop some of the burning valve problems owners were experiencing, so be carefull not to run it too lean, if you do, I would suggest you do a cylinder leak down check every 50 hours as an indicator of any potential valve problems, that's what I plan to do. Jabiru recomend that their engines be run hard i.e cruise rpm 2800 or above. Anyway, I hope all of the above makes sense. Regards Ducky

Curandero, I may be able to help with the rough running problem as I experienced the same thing after I fitted my 38", which I thought was an out of balance prop. An owner from Mallacoota also experienced this. Previously, I had fitted the richer carby needle, needle jet & main jet as per the latest Jabiru SB. After climb out when I retarded the throttle I would get what appeared to be an out of balance just as I would retard the throttle. He suggested going back to the original (leaner) main jet, which I did and it fixed the vibration, so I am not sure why but must have had something to do with the mixture (this problem only happened with the 38", not the 42"). I have since experimented with a combination of both props and both main jets (225 & 245) and at the moment I have gone back to the 42" prop and the 225 (leaner) main jet. I also did thrust force checks with all above mentioned combinations and there was hardly any difference (124 kgs of thrust) between the 38" and 42" props full throttle static. Thats why I am a bit disappointed in the 38" prop as I was expecting more, although flat out in flight I am able to get 3100 rpm with the 38" vs about 2900 rpm with the 42". On another note, I am interested that you can get 94 kts with the 38" prop at 2750 rpm. Do you have your wheel spats fitted ? I don't. 85 kts seems to be about all I can get (thats at cruise power). Ducky

Hi Curandero, I was a bit worried about the aluminium welds craking over time with fatigue and vibration, so I put on a coating PR 1422 B2 aircraft tank sealant externally over all welded areas prior to installing the tanks, so far no leaks. You may want to look at using a tank sloshing compound which coats the internal surface of the tank. This would require wing removal (not too hard to do) and turn the wing all over to allow the compound to coat the entire inner surfaces. Spruce & specialty sell the stuff but you may be able to get it within Aust also. may be worth a try. How did you get access to the tank to apply the 3M sealant ? JC has now added the external sealant idea to the revised manual since I told him what I did. On a different note, my 38" prop arrived the other day so I fitted it and went for a fly. I'm not totally satisfied as am still only getting 2700 rpm max static ground run which is only 50 rpm more than the 42" prop. But I am now getting 3000 rpm flat out straight & level and I can cruise at 2750 - 2800 rpm which gives me about 85 kts. Overall performance is a little better but I guess I was expecting a bit more. All the best Ducky

Curtandero, I currently have a 42" fitted which gives me 2650 max static rpm (full power ground run up) and about 2800 max rpm flat out in level flight. This is fine with just me in the aircraft, but recently when I had a 95kg passenger as well and near max weight, it used alot of strip to get off the ground. I have purchased a 38" prop from jabiru which I get next week, so this should give me much better rpm and thus more HP produced, for a slight sacrifice in cruise speed, so takeoff and climb should be much better at higher weights and hot / high days. Having talked to jabiru, they say that the engine should be run fairly hard anyway, so will let you know how my figures and performance come in. I recently fitted the latest jabiru carby needle & jet kit so the engine is running more rich but no black smoke though. i think that kit will also be more suited to higher rpm with the 38 " prop. I have just ticked over 50 hours on my aircraft now and all is going well so far (still got a few radio problems though). Will let you know regards Ducky

Frosty, when you say "not a lot of difference in the top end though" , do you mean that cruise speed was similar with either prop ? I'm just wondering if I were to fit a 38" pitch, how much it would affect cruise speed. Takeoff roll performance should be better ? Ducky.

Hey Frosty, is curandero running a Jab 4 cyl also ? did he originally have a 60x42 prop but change to a 38" pitch ? I sat in brand new J170 the other day and we were only getting 2750 RPM out of it, same engine, same prop. Michael at jabiru said he would llike to see at least 2750 rpm as a minimum. Ducky

I am doing speed checks now and at about 2600 rpm she is coming in at between 81 and 85 kts. I will do some more to pin it down to exact figures. ( That's with the Jab 4 cyl and a 60 " X 42 " jab prop). I'm only getting 2700 rpm static so I suspect I'm not getting full HP out of the engine just yet, also I haven't yet fitted my wheel spats so another knot or two there. Potentially with spats and full HP 85 - 90 kts should be acheivable. I have a good feel for the aircraft now and have modified my t/off & landing tecnique where I am holding the tail down longer on the takeoff roll for better directional stability (all wheels on the ground) then lift the tail and she still lifts off in about 200 meters. The landing roll I am using full flap (20 degrees) about 55 - 60 kts over the fence and do a 3 pointer. In this config she touches down beautifully every time. Iv'e got 20 hours on her now and starting to venture futher away from home base, just got some minor oil cooling and radio issues to sort out. Ducky

G'day everyone, Since my last post I have now got 13 engine hours up and 8 hours flying time. I have explored the stall and flap use and all is good. At almost all up weight the clean stall came in at 44 kts, 10 degres flap 43 kts, 20 degrees flap 42 kts. The stall is very gentle and tends to want to "unstall itself" is soon as it occurs. The ailerons are very very responsive, so until you get used to it you are all over the place, I'm used to it now. My oil temp is still sitting at the top side of the green band, so a bit more tweaking of the cowl openings req'd and the cht is in the green band at 325 degrees F. So far I have done about a dozen landings and at the moment I need to really fly it on and pin it with forward stick as soon it touches. The landing gear shock absorpsion works well. Anyway, off to Narromine now, hope to see some of you there. Regards Ducky aka Steve Donald Mob 0421603175

Hi All, I did my first test flight on Sat and all went well, have since put a couple of hours on it. The only noticable problems are oil temp a bit high (Jab engine), so I am tweaking the lower cowl openings & exits to get that right, it needs right rudder trim, the fuel tank sight tubes need a restrictor orifice in each tube to stop air being sucked into the fuel lines during turns. Other than that, all ok so far. Now that I have done lots of high speed taxi tests and a few takeoffs & landings they are quite easy and i have got a good feel for it. Ducky

Good to hear, I was getting a bit worried. I now have my Aeropup in the hangar @ Caboolture, just waiting on RA Aus to give me the ok and I will begin mt flight test phase. For any one who is interested, I spilled fuel on both doors (Makrolon polycarbonate) and it ate into it before my very eyes. I have since found out that fuel and polycarbonate don't mix. I have now removed the Makrolon from the doors (only) and replaced it with cast acrylic (perspex). Before you work with either polycarbonate or acrylic, google search the "Perspex handbook". There are quite a few tricks working with this stuff to get a good job that won't crack around the rivet holes etc. If you take care and follow the guide it works out well. Main points are to blunten both cutting tips on the drill and use very light pressure at fairly high speed to let the drill bit sort of melt its way through, rather than cut. Also this material expands and contracts a lot, so a much larger hole with a spacer, so the rivet doesn't stop the material from finding its own equillibrium. I used nylex tubing as the spacer. One more point of interest, I feel that the nylex fuel level sight tube could be better as the fuel did affect it first time I put fuel in the tanks, so I don't think it's going to last too long. I found a product called "Tygothane" which is a clear ester based urethane and apparently is very rugged and totally fuel proof. Don't know of a supplier in Aust but can buy through "ultralightnews.com" in Canada. I don't know of anything else suitable for fuel. Ducky