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Bigglesworth

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Everything posted by Bigglesworth

  1. A new joke: a Jab 2.2 'motor' </laughs uncontrollably> I got my new Jab 2.2 'motor' the other day. And some of the accessories which were meant to come with it, including a dead solenoid, half the amount of oil hose I ordered (and paid for), a choke cable that was too short by half, and a carby heat cable which was similarly inflicted. Other than that it also included various machining features such as a pipe clamp fouling up the carb intake sleeve, lovely large holes where the muffler was meant to seal, and the worst oxy cutting job on the muffler that I have seen for a long time. Not to mention that I requested a welded muffler and it came unwelded. Also the only documentation it had with it are 2 sheets of paper where they have checked off all the items that should be in the box; SHOULD being the operative word. Owners manual, checked but not there, Installation manual, checked but gone walkabout, Parts list, checked, but now I don't know which number to order for a parts list, And 2 sickers (sic) which also didn't turn up. Not that I would want to advertise the motor after all this, but I could change the wording a bit.....................um, God made S***, Jabiru gave it wings. (don't throw things at me, I have to live with holden drivers saying that about Fords) Another genius idea of theirs is their way of putting marking paint onto the cylinder nuts, they bridged between the nut and the stud, so a loose stud will not be noticeable.:confused: And it was really handy the way they didn't supply the mounting bolts, despite saying they included a mounting kit, I have had to use the prop bolts for now. And the Ram air shroud is going to need to be trimmed to fit, which helps.:;)4: So that all sounds like fun. BTW before all you Jab enthusiasts flame me for writing this, just remember that I spent $15000 on this box of tricks, and thats a lot of money for someone who earns most of that at $18 an hour for hard work on the building site. I have earned my right to complain. On the positive side, the gauges I got with the motor look sweet, now I need a few more (order sent off today). I wanted to get a key switch from this electronics mob which I don't usually deal with, so I made up an order to get above their minimum, and then they tell me that all I didn't really need is available, just the key switch is on back order. That helps.;););)
  2. When my plane is built, I am hoping to put an airstrip in at my boss' place. No worries about wind direction, we only have one spot the strip could go and that is on a pretty bad sideslope. All I'm planning on doing is mow the grass short, fill a couple of holes, maybe a fence rerouted, and a few less trees (to wherever with carbon trading). And a portable transceiver for the 'ground staff' so I can call them to get the cows off the strip. Also no useage during milking hours, the dairy farmers might object.
  3. My understanding of it is that the lighter air will be offset by the asi reading indicated airspeed instead of true. As for weight, we were taught that a heavier aircraft will glide just as far, but will descend faster, so it must be a higher airspeed. I'm probably all wrong, but thats my 2 cents worth.
  4. Like dog food with new improved flavour; who is the poor sod who has to do the tasteing?
  5. Darn the wind Just a short summary or this weekend, need my sleep badly, I will be a wreck before this is finished. Got her outside and the wings on, drilled the drag spar mount. Garry says just put them where they fit, but I measured them, and found that they both were out a bit. I think the spars develop a slight curve in them when they are being made, both wings were out about the same amount, and in the same direction relative to the spar. Straightened them out before I drilled them. This means that it will be hard to put the drag spar pin in in future, it should straighten itself out I hope. While it was on, I put the aileron cables in, this was pretty easy. Then I started making up the control rod extensions, and had one made up when the wind picked up and I had to get her back inside. Derigging in the wind is hard for one person. So I got her back inside. got some brake lines installed, including some elbows which I had to get extra, it allows for greater adjustment of the pedals, and doesn't crimp the line. Then I made the other side of the cabin. I fixed this to the logerons with M4 screws so I could remove it later to add more cables. I didn't have an M4 tap, so I made one by cutting a slot in an M4 bolt. Works fine, even for the bolt in the steel frame. Then I focused on making the panels for the first section of wing. This is harder than it looks, and to make matters worse, it is visible in the finished product. I bent the front edge for extra strength, then fixed it to the ribs and D box sheet. I marked the trailing edge onto it, then measured 10mm in for a sensible lap. Snce this join is visible, I didn't want to have shear marks on it so I scored and ripped it. I ripped it downward so the edge actually has an inwards curve which hides the join, this makes it look a lot neater I think. Then I had to countersink all the holes and deburr them as well. So after 4 of them, there wasn't much weekend left. And I have to work tomorrow, no long weekend for me, I need the money.
  6. A new flying hazard has arrived. Evolution is to blame?
  7. Crimping works well on good quality lugs, but in my experience with modifying car electronics, these cheap lugs have a nasty habit of either coming loose, or squeezing the wire and weakening it, so I solder it, then put good quality heatshrink on it to give it a bit of support. I use glue lined 4:1 heatshrink, and it is a lot better. Besides, who needs electronics to fly a plane?.
  8. Thanks, I have only used it on the colourbond so far, but now I think of it, standard silicone isn't polycarbonate safe. I'll have to get hold of some waterbased silicone which is, that should be OK. Heat glue is safe, but it never worked for me, chances are araldite is safe, I will check. I don't think you can get waterbased silicone around here. We get it from Canberra when we need it at my building site job.
  9. Jealous of Slarti Just green with envy that Slarti will be finished first. So less typing and more work, I'll let you work out what I am up to from these photos. There wasn't much to say anyway, I'm getting up to the generic stuff like switches and wires. WARNING: never let a gadget freak loose with a Jaycar catalouge and plans to wire an aeroplane, She'll be sporting rayguns next.:;)2: Jaycar doesn't sell a key switch, so I will have to get that from Altronics, good looking shop that, just a bit dearer, and I don't have the master catalouge for them, but they are Australian which is better. Back to work, someone get the whip out, I'm being too lazy (I work 4-5 days to pay for my darling Cowboy Up, and have to help at home, so no wonder Slarti is ahead, but I am still jealous).
  10. Another Alien-leron is on Another weekend of work has passed, and this time it was interrupted by having to concrete an apron in front of the workshop. I only realised after I started work that I would need some form of ramp to get my plane in and out, and Lex said if I am going to do anything to his workshop, it better go the whole way since it has needed an apron there for ages. So that took Saturday morning, then on Saturday arvo, I started on the other aileron. It went lots quicker than the other one, especially since all the calculations were done, and I had made the wings close enough to the same to use the same measurements;). So I started it at about 1 in the afternoon, and by 3 in the morning, it was all drilled, cleaned and half rivetted together. Yes that time is not a typo, I had to make up for the lost morning somehow, and it was no picnic. There's no heating in the workshop and it was a cold night, I was wearing my jacket, and there was dew starting to form on it by the time I left. ;) But I got most of the 2nd aileron. A couple of procedure changes; I put the hinges onto the aileron early in the game, clecoed them from inside the box, then got 2 hinges on the wing side, clecoed on, and then I didn't need anyone to hold it while I set up the trailing edge. This seamed a good idea at the time (and probably is) but for some reason, this aileron has a ~3mm twist. . But it will work I think. Also got the cable mounts setup. These brackets are made out of 40x40 angle, cut to shape and holes in it, they are fun to make. Then I put the cable onto mount and the aileron, set everything to neutral position and marked its position. I cut a piece of 3 ply and glassed it onto the area for extra support. Next day I set it all up again, set the depth to wherever it seemed right, and drilled the mounting bolt holes. Only later on I realised that I should have made sure that the cover would fit over the cable mount. God was with me, and it did fit. That almost covers the weekend's work I think (other than preparing a large potato patch, but that is not of flying interest:confused:) I also did a bit of other stuff on the fuse, I have got most of the electronics already, the switches, cables, and a battery. Now I just need the instruments to wire to to give me inspiration to put them in. I have ordered a motor, which may be here in time for playing with next weekend. It sounds like not much an the weekend doesn't it? If I think of anything else I will let you know :)
  11. They can make it tricky, check take off direction, it will be in the shortest direction which sometimes will be up due to headwinds. If that is not it; don't be surprise if it is a mistake. The other common mistake is to get your directions 180 out over confusion between the wind from the given direction, and the runway in to the direction. Good luck BTW When a friend of mine did his recently, he was the first to do that exam, and more than half of the exam questions were faulty, but he still passed.
  12. Thats why all boys learn it at a young age, so we can do it safely if we get older.
  13. Bigglesworth

    JOEY 2

    It is good and cheap because it comes from Morgan Aeroworks, and Garry runs on a very small profit margin. I think (but am not sure) it comes largely pre built, just enough to get through the 51% rule.
  14. Try Chlorine bleach and ammonia for variation
  15. Bigglesworth

    JOEY 2

    She's coming along, and you are all welcome to come for a fly, estimated finish, about another month and a bit, things are getting fiddly now.:)
  16. One Alien-leron finished I finished the aileron on Tuesday. 2 inches was good enough centres, so I was alright, just had to drill a few more holes, make the control arm, drill those river holes, drill the hinges, and that was about all. Then take it all apart, and clean up every hole. That took ages, lots of holes. Then riveted it together starting from the bottom moveing up. All was well, except for the trailing edge. I had put the rivets in the centre of the te strip, this meant there wasn't much space for them and had to be pushed in as they were being 'pulled'. Luckily I had the foresight to make the rivets staggered or there would have been trouble. So I got it all together. Then came the fun and games part of trying to het the hinges in the right space. The trick I found here, is make the rivet spaceing close; that way it won't mind if some of the holes are slotted because they were in the wrong place:confused:. Took a few goes to get it. And I'm not altogether happy with it. I made the aileron to match the ribs at either end, I should have made it to line up with the hinge plate. Now it lines up at either end, but looks too skinny in the middle. I think I will make the other the same just to have them equal, but I might even end up thinking they make extra drag, and make a new set for them in the very distant future. Also The trailing edge is a bit wavy, it is hard, because of the double taper of the wing, the ailerons have to be made in position, and then the trailing edge is free to be in all sorts of places. It should still fly ( I hope), So that is a major part done. Now I have to get the cable in, then do it all over again on the other side, now won't that be fun ?
  17. Bigglesworth

    JOEY 2

    If you get it, I'll give you a hand to build it. (once I finish my Cheetah). I think that the Joey, like the Cheetah, is just miles faster than anything else in the same price bracket, same motor. I don't know how he does it, but Garry's plane's are better in almost every way than the others on offer.
  18. I like that, (BTW I don't drink, the sig is a joke) You are correct, of course. I didn't say what should be done, just what is likely to happen. the point I wanted to make was, the original compainer was making a big scene over things which, while not good, were not all that bad. Hardly anyone sticks to the rules as far as I have seen. One of my first lessons included cloud cutting, and most other instructors did similar things (wing overs in a Gazelle). So, what point did he want to make? He isn't going to change the people who do it, he might make rules worse for others, but the rules still won't stop people. As I wanted to point out. By the way, as dangerous as all that seems, it is still safer than driving a car.
  19. Showing off is something else, that is definately dangerous. But taking things to extremes, well, I have come close to killing myself a few times in various activities (i.e. diving) and no-one thinks it any big deal there. So what do people have against flying? As for making more restrictions for others; I just hope Casa realises that this would happen in any case, and so doesn't worry
  20. Apart from low over a town, I'd do that if I was in the right/wrong mood <dodges bricks> I especially would tell any 'complainers' to so off ;) Seriously, who out there hasn't done a bit of low flying and abnormal circuits just for experience, and as for the 'turnback', if you can do that, you will learn the exact critical height for EFATO, which might save a life. Besides, if they only endangered themselves, Freedom is what we want.
  21. A few extras Once I had stalled on the aileron, I switched to other things, I put the back of the parcel shelf in. Made 3 brackets out of aluminium angle, screwed them to the ply, bent them to a bit sharper angle, covered the face with good ol' roof and gutter silicone, and put it into place, this should hold well. While I had the silicone out, I also put a bit on the the sound material. The paper glue idea didn't work after all, it needs air contact to dry, but the silicone is perfect, spreads very thin and all over the vinyl. Also noticed a problem with the fuel tank mount, so that needed trimming, and a bit of rubber over it. Also went over the tank mount and glued rubber over wherever it had rubbed through (the leaking fuel softened it in the testing phase, then it rubs through easily), So now it should be fine. Thats about it for the weekend. More soon :)
  22. ailerons from h**l, or somewhere else hot You know them things which make a plane rock its wings? (when the plane's rocking, don't bother knocking [shut up, not that]) Those ailerons which are taken for granted, are a real nuisance to make. For starters they use 3/32 rivets which means more clecos, then they need to be deburred, but clecoes get in the way of setting it up to drill the trailing edge and on top of that the ribs need to be folded, and the sizes are "find out yourself" and three quarters exactly.;) So, pick an average value for the angle of the front of the aileron, I said 65 degrees and that seems fine. Then trace the profile of rib 4 (root of the aileron) and work out a template. Then I put the wingtip on and did the same there. Great, now I have 2 templates, and still no rib. Okay. So now try to make a rib. Um, scrap that one, try another <and so forth and so forth> Finally, one which looks right. I found if i used 5/32 holes in the corners, it was easier to get precise folds in it than if I used a larger drill size. Then I made one for the tip. Nice size, bent the wrong way. Another, and another [for a long period of annoying time] Eventually I had a pair. Now I need 4 more, with nothing to compare them to. And since the aileron is tapering, the spaceing is not the same. I tried to work it out to mathematical perfection, but found the formula to be recursive, and I didn't feel like calculus at the time, so I approximated it, gives it a bit extra differential, but thats OK. Then came the fun part. I knew the measurements of the root and tip ribs, so i applied an even size decrease to them and found the size of the intermediate ribs. sounds simple, look at my calculation sheet, [ATTACH]3649.vB[/ATTACH] Then I found I had made the infamous 100mm mistake and had to do half of them again, [ATTACH]3651.vB[/ATTACH] So now I knew the size of the front and the top, and the angle was constant, and that let me make the other ribs. I spoke to Garry about it today, he said he just puts root and tip onto the aileron, then measures the others. Still my way is more fulfilling;) I had already trimmed the sheets to length, they are supplied pre bent, so that is some consolation. clecoed the ribs to the top [ATTACH]3652.vB[/ATTACH] put the bottom on and clecoed that. Now that has to be held while drilling the trailing edge, since they make [or hold against] the twist in the aileron. But when holding it in place, the cleco get in the way. So with a bit of trouble, I got 2 clecos into it from the inside. Then I held the hinges onto the plate with rubber bands, then got Lex to hold it inline with the wing while I drilled it. Drilled it at 2 inch centres, should be closer but it will do. Wasn't sure if it needed more holes, so I couldn't finish it the other night. but almost there :)
  23. Winging along Big weekend, no birthdays (none I couldn't avoid anyway). So I have my rivets, Yeeha, look out the 2nd D box. I cleaned off the bench which somehow had got way too full to fit a wing, then I got the wing from its precarious position of "just lean it here for now", and the sheet from "try to step over it until the rivets get here" and tied them together. Then I re setup the washout. (all those water lines;)) This time I wanted to get it done without ripples, so I put the ratchet straps back on, then clecoed up the leading edge so it sat hard against the rib. That left no clecoes for the spar ( I only have 25) so I just had to hope that was right. Started riveting the top of the leading edge, that all sat pretty good, except for 1 rib, very small ripples in that, but I figured I could pretend they didn't happen, and not admit to them. (Ummm, then why do I tell everyone on the net? Duh). Started on the bottom of the leading edge (the 'danger zone'), riveted from the front back. And.................. I got it !!!! No ripples! I am a legend!. [my boss wasn't so ecstatic "now she'll go better around one corner than the other since the first wing isn't as good"]:;)4: Riveted the trailing edge of the sheet next. I figured that that was what held the washout, so if that was right, the spar could do what it wanted. So lastly I did the spar. With all the other rivets in, it was just the time to find out my compound mistake. First part; I drilled the holes with a 1/8th drill instead of a 1/8rivet drill (rivet drill is slightly larger, the rivet expands to fill it. 2nd part; I coated the lot in etch primer, and it went into the holes,,,,,,, and I hadn't cleaned it out. So 90% of the rivets needed gentle persuasion to get in. That really made it fun:confused: In any case; it got done. And only then did I notice a grain of course sand in the D box:black_eye:, that'd be right. Not as bad as it sounds, it is in the first 'bay', and there is a gap between the rib and the spar, so at the right angle, it should come out. It flies at the necessary angle, so if I don't bother getting it out, it should fall out. I also made the wing walk, or part of it. This one is a bit more complex since the ribs face the other way, this means that the side supports can't be rivetted to them. It needed 2 extra supports, and relies on the bonding strength of fibreglass. Actually I could have used liquid nails, but I didn't have any on hand. So the other wing is takeing shape. Still a lot more to come.
  24. If you want to progress to Private GA, get the full Trevor Thom set. You can't go wrong there.
  25. Worked a long night on Tuesday, not worth taking photos though, nothing new was done, only the other elevator, and things like sanding off rivet heads. A couple of things: where I stuffed up the glueing the other day, I was able to correct that with pure acetone which softened the glue, allowing me to rub it through the fabric to get a good penetration. I could even soften entire areas and get wrinkles out of it. Well not all of them, it will always show that it was my first fabric job. The 2nd covering went better with the thinned glue. doesn't want much thinning, but it need some. Still wasn't perfect, the rounded corner at the outside of the front is a B***rd, it affects the rest of the sheet. But it will fly (I hope). Starting to organise things like electrics and motor, all nice and expensive, will have to work longer hours yet. It must suck to be rich, eh.. Hope to have a big weekend on it; my rivets have turned up, and my clecoes for the aileron. So no excuses. Just LeDoux it. (a saying coming from a famous cowboy/singer called Chris LeDoux).
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