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bobcharl

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  1. bobcharl
    Have managed to get some time back at my project at last. Decided to put some airvents in the forward fuselage adjacent to the pedals.Took lots of time but should be good in the warmer weather as these vents do work well. To the Jab jockeys out there, if you think they look familiar then you are right.Have also assembled and installed the instrument panel but it is nothing at all unusual. Am now running wires, airlines and hydraulic tubes and this also is quite time consuming. Slowly slowly but ever forward. Bob [ATTACH]17974[/ATTACH][ATTACH]17975[/ATTACH][ATTACH]17976[/ATTACH]
  2. bobcharl
    Hi 80K, Yes, still using standard rims and these tyres slip on easily. Weight? An extra 800gms per tyre over the standards. Thats 3.5L of petrol that I can't carry, or perhaps 2.5 kg of fat that I will have to lose. Whilst on tyres , the originals are still in the box and are for sale if anyone is interested. I won't be driving too hard a deal. Bob
  3. bobcharl
    G'day All, No, I haven't fallen off the planet, just haven't had time to indulge in matters aeronautical lately. The reason? My son has a grain growing property in Southern NSW and this time of year sowing is in full swing so for the last few weeks he has had my arse anchored to a tractor seat. Did snatch a few minutes ( and that is all it took) to unpack my Aero Trainer tyres and fit one to a rim. Like the look of these tyres, should be good on my planned farm airstrip. Should be back Sav building soon. Now to see if I can upload a pic of the tyres. Bob Hey, it worked!
  4. bobcharl
    Mark, What a wonderful achievment.Your sense of satisfaction must be huge. She looks and sounds just great.I wish you many happy hours flying your pride and joy. Its been a pleasure to share your journey with you via this forum Mark.Thanks for that. Good luck, Bob
  5. bobcharl
    Congrats Mark on both your final inspection and a successful flying test. What a week! Bob
  6. bobcharl
    Mark, Re the mis-alignment of the inner aileron hinge, yours is not the first one I have heard of. I do wonder if those who have not had an issue have not looked hard enough.I am of the opinion that this mis-alignment is possibly the cause of the stress and occasional failure (although rare) of the coupler between the inner and outer aileron.I feel re-alignment of the inner hinge would be most worthwhile. Keep up the good work, Bob
  7. bobcharl
    As you may have guessed not a lot of progress lately. Have installed rudder pedals, firewall, instrument panel frame and have had a trial fit of the cabin frame, but its now out for painting.After a bit of fiddling the cab frame seemed to square nicely, to the mm (as near as I could measure it) in fact. Got the firewall painted the external colour (white) and the exposed inner cabin pieces painted grey. Painting is a worry as I have no experience in that field, and have been unable to find anyone to do the job without wanting a share in the aircraft (well almost). I have access to good advice so with some practice maybe I can produce a reasonable finish. One of the extras I am installing is a parking brake lock. After some time spent researching and finally getting what I wanted, wouldn't you know it, ICP now have one on their website.Thats life. Some photos soon. Bob
  8. bobcharl
    Mark, Wonder could I request a small favour of you. I assume you still have a wing not fitted to the fuselage. Could you measure the minimum distance between the two tangs on the wing root that mount to the cabin frame. I say minimum because I think they will be closest at the lower edges. I have set my cabin frame up in the supplied jig, but the distance between the mounts does not correspond with the manual. Perhaps the manual is wrong again. Have been trying to contact Reg but without success. Thanks in anticipation, Bob
  9. bobcharl
    Mark, The flap lever mod looks just great. Looks as though it will have some ergonomic advantage as well with more pull in line with the arm than the more backward movement in the original, as well as giving you more space. Good to hear you are getting a big buzz out of you conversion training. Congrats on being solo; nothing quite like it is there? Bob
  10. bobcharl
    Just a brief update. The cabin floor and forward fuselage are now assembled. Mostly went quite well: only doubt I have is that the cross member at the front of the seat is under some tension due to the fuselage sides having to be pulled in quite strongly. Some upholstery is in but many pieces have to be cut to fit. The flaperon control lever which is a bit topical at the moment fitted well and I just HAD to sit in the seat to try it out. (I haven't flown a Savannah from the LH seat).In view of some reports of the lever slipping out of the notches I cut the notches a little deeper and it now looks as though it could never slip out. I am wondering whether to stretch the spring slightly also. Haven't made a huge amount of progress lately due to lots of non-aviation happenings, but I have tomorrow off work and it looks as though it will be raining so I should be able to get into the shed and work without any distractions. Cheers, Bob
  11. bobcharl
    Hi Mark, Interesting problem you have encountered with your flap lever. Re electric flaps, the Jabiru I am currently flying uses electric and I quite like them even if they are a little slow. One thing you may need to consider if you go electric is some form of position indicator. Jab do it mechanically with a bowdern cable . Works fine, but looks like an afterthought. I'm sure you could come up with better. Having said that, I think it is important when customising something, that you end up with what you need and like rather than what the rest of us think you should have. Noted the problem Ballpoint 246niner has had with the lever not holding in the notch. Wonder if the notches need to be made a little deeper during assembly? Is it a widespread problem? By coincidence, I am assembling my flap lever at the moment, but can't locate the smaller bits (knob,spring, bushes etc.) You don't remember what they were packed with do you? Looking forward to hearing of your first flight , Mark. Regards, Bob
  12. bobcharl
    Mark, I did see the pics on your thread and I think that is probably the best option. I will most likely go the same way unless a better idea comes up. Bob
  13. bobcharl
    Sorry guys about the out of sequence problem in the photos in the previous post, but I'm sure you will sort it out, even if I can't. Bob
  14. bobcharl
    Christmas and its associated socializing has not been conducive to Savannah building but Iwouldn't miss it for quids. Assembled the fuselage ribs and that was easy.A word of caution though: the rudder cables which must be installed at this stage are left and right specific. Mine were not tagged and I assumed them to be identical. Not the case. The parts manual does give them separate numbers, but I didn't pick up on that until later.According to the manual the two slender ribs should be riveted to the skins and the corner braces added after assembly. I couldn't see how that could be done without the services of a pygmy, which I didn't have, so I riveted them together and installed them the same as the other ribs and the skins went over them fine. Clecoing the corner longerons required quite a deal of levering with the probe to bring all the holes into alignment. Some at the front did require a hone with a drill where several layers were involved. I was advised to install the extended baggage compartment before skinning and I think it proved to be good advice.Thanks to some earlier advice on resizing photos there should be some photos with this post. The one of the stabilizer skeleton shows the gap in the front where I later added a support that I mentioned in an earlier post. The rest are self explanetory. Bob
  15. bobcharl
    Hi Guys, Thanks for the ideas re flaperon tips. Will take both ideas to the workshop with me after Xmas.I'll keep you updated. I think I have the resizing of photos sorted.(I'm a slow learner). Watch for the next post. Have a Merry Christmas. Bob
  16. bobcharl
    G'Day Mark, Great to see you project continues to romp ahead. I love your paint job. No, you haven't sent me any photos of aileron tips-I would certainly appreciate any that you have which might give me some ideas. Bob
  17. bobcharl
    Got the flaperons completed. Well, almost. Ican't work out the best way to fit the plastic tips on the ends of the outer sections. They fit the leading edge nicely but the trailing edge doesn't want to look decent at all. I might have to set them aside and see what has been done on other Savs. I put a strengthening doubler inside the ribs where the tabs between the inner and outer sections rivet on just as a precaution even though problems in that area seem rare. I have a feeling any stress on these tabs could be caused by misalignment of the hinge points on the wing and fuselage. I will see how they line up when I get that far. Now for the fuselage. I note this website now has a "Builders Blog" section. I wonder if thats where I should be posting this drivel. What does everyon think? Bob
  18. bobcharl
    Have finished the elevator. I'm pleased with the way it has turned out. I like the trim tab design; hope it works as well as I think it should. I haven't put the plastic tip on the elevator or stabilizer yet. I am considering putting rivnuts on both sides to facilitate any dismantling in the future, but haven't decided yet. Would like to post the occasional photo but haven't a clue how to do that on this forum. Any advice gratefully received.
  19. bobcharl
    JG These McCleary tyres are available from Hawker Pacific in Sydney. Google Hawker Pacific and go to their home page and click "Special Offers". I understand there are plenty in stock. Good luck. Regards, Bob
  20. bobcharl
    A query: Have come across a 6.00-6 aviation tyre (McCreary brand) at a reasonable price. I want to know if it would be the same profile as the Condor 6.00-6. I was considering Condors but these are so much better priced. Can anyone help? Bob
  21. bobcharl
    The stabilizer is now completed and I am reasonablyhappy with the result.The outer sections when clecoed together seemed rather flexiblewhere there is no longeron underneath so I madeup what the manual would call "angulars"and riveted them onto the ribs with the external surfaceflush with the top of the ribs. Drilled the holesthrough the skins and they riveted up to be a nice firm job. I know its more weight but I can always go on a diet. Only blemish on the stab.is from the nose ribs. I re-shaped them prior to fitting to avoid this happenning, but no luck. I have been told cutting the tip off the nose rib is the way to go, but I didn't have the courage. Wish now I had tried it. This is just a fascinating project. Bob
  22. bobcharl
    rankamateur, Thanks for the link. I am following it up.Re the prepsol cleandown, I have been using acetone. What do you think? Bob
  23. bobcharl
    Have now got the fin assembled and riveted. Was keen to get it to go together without the wave in the skin that all the Savs I have looked at seem to have, but no luck. It has turned out just the same as all the others. Remarkable how rigid the structure becomes after completion. Lots of time spent painting anti-corrosive paint on the contacting surfaces. I am giving each surface two coats of the paint supplied in the kit. Had considered using etch primer, but decided ICP should know something about the job. Have been told about a handy gadget called a "Paint Buddy"to use for painting, but like lots of good products does not seem to be made any more. Now to the stabilizer. Bob
  24. bobcharl
    G'Day All, Am new to the world of Internet Forums, so if this seems unusual in any respect when it is posted please forgive me. I live 30km north of Wagga in southern NSW. Savannah's are a little uncommon here, I know of only two in a 250km radius of here, as opposed to SE QLD which seems to be dotted with them. Perhaps it's something to do with affluence (or lack of). If there are others near me I would love to hear of them. I will try to highlight some of the problems so other builders can be forewarned before they make the same mistake I did. Anyway, I have commenced construction of a Savannah VG XL. I hope to provide a running commentary of my efforts, although not in the detail of some already on this forum, and in no way to compete with them. I have tackled the rudder first because it looked the easiest part. (I am a first time builder). Went quite well.The fit-up is good, although where a rivet goes through a longeron, a rib, and a couple of skins requires some effort. I was reasonably pleased with the outcome, except for the plastic cap on the top.I may have to re-fit it. The manual was not much help in that regard. Whilst on the manual, that Italio-English takes mastering. Surely a better translation would not be too much to ask for. Cheers till next time, Bob Charlton
  25. bobcharl
    Alan I live in a rural district called Marrar about 30km north of Wagga in southern NSW. I'm not working to a timeline on the Savannah: how long it takes is how long it does take, but it would be nice to fly in to Natfly 2013. Bob
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