Marty_d

I bought some from Bert Flood in 2020. On the invoice the part number is 842950 - Lock Nut M8-SW12, at that time they were $3.01 each.

I was out near YCBG today and spotted this beauty. Anyone know what it is? I thought Yak or Nanchang, but it seems smaller and looks like a single cockpit. I like the Ukrainian star on the tail.

If you can afford a Diamond the flight costs aren't going to bother you.

...or you're a Chinese balloon... oh, wait.

If you ever glide at the same rate as the earth's curvature, your glide angle is 0.

Well, I got the oil hatch done. Decided to go with the DZUS because otherwise I'd have to carry a different screwdriver for the camloc. Besides, I had the spare DZUS. I made the recessed bit out of a section of a "first attempt" fibreglass cowl that the owner of the moulds had given me, so it matched the curvature. Epoxied that to the underside of my cowl and then hinged the door. Size seems about right for my arm, especially as a bit of wrestling is needed with the oil tank cap - are they always this tight??

Thanks Bob! And everyone else too. Yes I have to epoxy in a recess which is going to be difficult. Interesting how they've used nut plates on the hinge as well in that one.

You might be right Bob. Talking of the oil inspection hatch, I just drew it up on the top cowl but before I start cutting I'll ask some advice. How big would you make it? I'm thinking around 130mm x 130mm (D shaped with the flat side longitudinal on the cowl to allow the hinge). That would probably make it realistically 120mm x 110 mm allowing for the seating under including the camlock/dzus in the round end of the D. Comments? Bigger? Smaller? (I have big hands!)

It's a nice looking bird, and you know what they say - if it looks right it usually flies right! Good luck with it. Planning to blow your own canopies or get that done?

I think I've got 2x spare Dzus fasteners, so I'll use one for the dipstick (good thinking, I'd forgotten about that!) It's not a wingnut but I do plan to carry around the big washer that's a perfect fit for the Dzus slot, I use it as an opener.

Thanks OK. I don't know that it's that important to lock the hatches - can't see anyone wanting to steal a servo, and all you can do with the others is bugger around with the fuel system. If they really wanted to hurt me they could just bung some sugar in the tanks, the petrol caps don't lock either...

Little doors! I've been building inspection hatches. 4 so far, with a few to go. Two are on the wing roots, near the trailing edge, to access the fuel quick-release attachments. Top of the wing to access where the fuel return hits the tank, and lastly bottom of the elevator to access the trim tab servo. I found the rest of the aluminium piano hinge I used for the doors, so I figured the easiest and lightest way to do the hatches is hinge at the upwind end and single nutplate at the downwind.

As someone who's had to do some fibreglassing recently I am in awe of the amount you've done. In my experience it's an endless cycle of filling and sanding (maybe I'm just crap at getting it right in the first place). Great work. PS I kept getting the same question about how I was going to get my plane out of the shed. Now I've actually got it up against the roller door people have stopped asking that one.

Always in the wrong way though, never makes me look skinnier

You scared me there Planey, I went and checked. It's not a ding, just the rivet line in the skin. Camera makes it look worse than it is.

In the last week of my holidays I got a bit of fibreglassing done. Think I've finished now (although there's always that last little divot you don't see)... So the bits I needed to add were: - Top cowl: a blister to give the port side carby and throttle body a bit of room, throttle was binding on the cowl. This is because the engine is offset 3 degrees so the back end of it is closer to the cowl on the port side. - Bottom cowl: - a shaped outlet which follows the curve of the exhaust pipe from the muffler - a blister on the opposite side to accommodate the other side of the muffler.

Batman was around in 1925?

Wrong shape for electric. Similar to the 701, it's got a built in headwind.

You look ready for your scene with Katee Sackhoff!

Jeez, you could grow tomatoes in that greenhouse.

Fantastic work Mark. Hey with your fuel splitter, looks like you have 2 joined blocks. I thought only 1 x 5 point block was needed (fuel in, carb x 2, tank return, fuel pressure) - interested in why you have more?

The loom came with a set of steam instruments I bought. They'd come with a Savanah kit but the owner wanted a glass panel.

Massive "Thank you!" today to @nomadpete who generously offered his time and expertise. He spent the afternoon working out my instrument panel wiring. Still a bit to go but a lot further than I would have got on my own. Really appreciate the help Peter!

With the shedroom finished (we moved in Boxing day) I've been clearing out stuff in the rest of the shed. Today with the help of my 12yo son, we performed a 60-point turn with the plane (along with some sideways lifting) to get it around the corner in the L shaped space. She's now backed up to the roller door and today for the first time, her shapely behind got some sun! 😁

Well no wonder it was unsuccessful - they forgot the rear fuselage and horizontal stabilizer, pointed the engines the wrong way and mounted the tail upside down.