Bubbleboy

Hildy...I thought you were moving here soon?

FT...your in trouble now, go to your room! Back on subject....Polikarpov's dont have spoked wheels me thinks...hhmmmm

OME...its not a Kinner. I think he said it was an English model but I cant recall. Will take some pics and post them when I can. Although if you have a spare kinner 5 cylinder radial keep it aside for me. What I want to build is a replica Polikarpov PO2 and the Kinner 5 cylinder would fit nicely. Scotty

Well Harley's have never been my bike of choice and this has enforced my previous thoughts about the folks who indulge themselves with such machinery. (Trying to be polite here). Scotty

Ok...some one is looking down on me! I couldnt accept the answer I got from the local Harley dealer that no one here in Tamworth can do this. I called in to the other motorcycle shop here and asked the guys behind the counter if they did this and the answer was "of course!". They said we will get the boss in here and see what he says as he likes old planes. In comes the boss! I showed him the photo of the rim and spoke set I have from Buchanans along with a photo of a Pietenpol. Well his eyes lit up! He immediately said "Thats a Pietenpol". I said yes it is! Well for the next 30 mins we chatted about how he has one in his garage at home. What he has is a 1933 built Pietenpol Scout. This one he has, has been hanging from the roof of a mueseum that was once in town here. Apparently it is fitted with a 9 cylinder radial engine which was freshened up in 1959 and has been hanging from the roof since 1961. He got it in the 1990's and has had it in his shed at home ever since. He said once a week he uncovers it and turns the prop over by hand and one day hopes to restore it to flying status again. Well this is all very exciting and he has invited me over to have a look at it. I asked if he can lace and true these rims I have and hes going to do it at a price I cant refuse so will try and be there while he does it so I will know for the future. I cant believe that this has happened and am in a bit of shock that some one who lives a few streets away from me has one in his garage! Scotty

OME...I got no idea! Hence why im now iffy about doing it myself as it seems there are a lot of variables. Scotty

OME...I was studying the rim in your pic and some of those spokes are badly bent almost under pressure! I should go to a bike shop as well with camera in hand and take some pics. let me know if you get there before me. Scotty

Corvair...lalala

Mark...the price is $50 000 and its yours! Seems the going price for a cheap RAA now days and its not even plastic...haha! ok...damn good pics there Mark! I really appreciate that and I can now see how the pattern is formed. Those wheels look like a 36 hole rim? Mine are 40 but I guess its the same principle? I looked at my spokes again today and the button head? on the spoke that sits against the hub has a different angle bent on each set. Im assuming this is for the inside and outside variation. Nev & Dazza...yes have the bottle of lube that came with them. I cant lace them yet as I need to get the hubs powder coated but before that, a little needs to be turned from the inside of the 4 oilite bushes. The bushes are supposed to be for a 1.5 inch axle which I have here yet they dont slide on. Only by a pooftenth though. Im hoping the powder coaters wont need those oilite bushes out to do it. Scotty

Thanks guys!...Im getting more and more scared to do this the more I read these comments! The hub is custom made and is 6 inches wide and takes a 1.5 inch axle. Kennie Buchanan from Buchanan Spokes in the USA sent me the rim and stainless spokes. I had to send him all the dimensions of the custom hub and he made the spokes to suit and drilled the rim. I need to ponder this some more.... Scotty

Dear Mr. Cameron, Please find below our suggestion for fixing England 's economy. Instead of giving billions of pounds to banks that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.. You can call it the Sensible Retirement Plan: There are about 10 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them £1 million each severance for early retirement with the following stipulations: 1) They MUST retire. Ten million job openings - unemployment fixed 2) They MUST buy a new British car. Ten million cars ordered - Car Industry fixed 3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed 4) They MUST send their kids to school/college/university - Crime rate fixed 5) They MUST buy £100 WORTH of alcohol/tobacco a week ..... and there's your money back in duty/tax etc 6) Instead of stuffing around with the carbon emissions trading scheme that makes us pay for the major polluters, tell the greedy bastards to reduce their pollution emissions by 75% within 5 years or we shut them down. It can't get any easier than that! P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of parliament pay back their falsely claimed expenses and second home allowances Also……….. Let's put the pensioners in jail and the criminals in a nursing home. This way the pensioners would have access to showers, hobbies and walks. They'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they'd receive money instead of paying it out. They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly, if they fell, or needed assistance. Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them. A guard would check on them every 20 minutes and bring their meals and snacks to their cell. They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose. They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counselling, pool and education. Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, PJ's and legal aid would be free, on request. Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard, with gardens. Each senior could have a PC a TV radio and daily phone calls. There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct that would be strictly adhered to. The criminals would get cold food, be left all alone and unsupervised. Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room and pay £600.00 per week and have no hope of ever getting out. Think about this (more points of contention): ------------------------------------------------------------------------ COWS Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Appleby almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the county of Cumbria? And, they even tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 125,000 illegal immigrants wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq ... Why don't we just give them ours? It was drawn up by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for centuries and we're not using it anymore. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE 10 COMMANDMENTS The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse or Parliament, is this - You cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal', 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians..... It creates a hostile work environment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes OME...dead sexy they are! Dont know why more folk dont use them at half the price of the others. Scotty

Hi Kevin...thank you for that. The article very clearly explains how to true the wheel etc but im having trouble picturing the spoke pattern. Call me dumb...lol! They are a 40 spoke rim, 21" x 2.15. OME....I asked at the local Harley dealer and he shook his head and said he only knew of a place in Victoria some where but said it was very expensive. I found a place in Brisbane that charges $99 a rim plus I need to get it all there and he needs to send it back so probably in excess of $300 to do it that way. Scotty

Ok...a better example!

This could be the start of a new "never ending story"!

Im thinking of "biting the bullet" so to speak and lacing and truing my spoked wheels for the Pietenpol. I have the rims, spokes and hubs here and I was looking at sending them to Brisbane to get done but this is going to cost in excess of $300 which could be spent on gauges! I have an article here explaining how to do it which I was going to upload here but it says the file is too big. Has anyone done this before and what tips could you give me? Scotty

Hi OME...well a bit of bitter sweet really! As your aware I bought a Block from LS Corvair in the USA as the guy I was emailing proposed to be an expert on what was needed for the aero conversion. Mental note: NEVER buy anything form LS Corvair in the USA! If the Corvair block is blast cleaned in anyway it is stuffed. They need to be hand cleaned so the bearing surfaces are not worn away and so they wont leak oil etc. This guy from LS Corvair stated he knew all this and he had a block there so sent it over. It got here and it looked a little pitted so went in to the local engine rebuilder who rebuilds Porsche engines and the like and when he looked at it said straight up its been blast cleaned. He took a look at it and said he wouldn't rebuild it for a car let alone a plane! At this stage I was a little dirty you could say so emailed LS Corvair as politely as I could asking them what they propose to do about this and never heard anything back. That now gives me the right to warn other people about their crappy service. It came about when I received an email from a guy in the USA who saw my website and emailed be stating I should have the crank journals measured as a lot of the Covair engines have been thrashed to death in buggies over the years and that is where they wear in this situation. Anyway I have mentioned on as many forums how crap LS Corvair have been and lost them a lot of customers so, you get that! Out of the blue after reading one of my posts a chap in the USA emailed me suggesting I needed someone in the USA to work with me in coordinating the rebuild and shipping of the Corvair parts. He is building a Corvair aero conversion and had a spare core engine there. To cut a long story short, Roy from Roys garage has organised for the core to be dropped off to him and he is going to check this core over to make sure it is rebuildable. If it is, he is going to have the crank modified(threaded for a safety shaft and nitrided), fit a new cam & gear, torque the case together and fit one of his fifth bearings which can be seen on his website below. There are a few fifth bearings out there but the difference with Roy's is that each one if custom fitted to each block. Hence why he needs the block! He line bores the case and makes sure the fifth bearing is aligned properly. For anyone who doesnt know Roy, he is a master machinist and does amazing work. http://www.roysgarage.com/new/Welcome.html Add to this I now have here the rebuilt dual ignition distributor and starter motor, Ma3SPA carb, John Deere Dynamo and regulator and most other parts to assemble the rest of the engine after the block arrives here. Anyway its a learning experience and I still hope to have a fully rebuilt 100hp Corvair aero conversion for around the $7000 mark! Scotty

I think more the quality of the microphone! These engines are extraordinarily smooth.

Nice scenery too! Scotty

Look at the Corvair as an option. Flat 6 cylinder air cooled 100hp. Probably around the $7000 built depending on options. Scotty

David...I feel like vomiting after reading this! I have only ever found myself having to turn back once when flying and that was on the way to Scone. Had to turn back and land at Cessnock. I know how it feels to be approaching this situation and I have butterflies reading it! Thanks for sharing it as it is a stark reminder of how lots of little things can turn into one BIG thing. Scotty (Helmet on waiting for impact....)

...balls

If they are using the Kubota style, we Corvair guys are using a tried and tested John Deere Alternator/Dynamo with seperate regulator. You can see the picture of mine on my website. Many hundreds of hours have been flown on this setup and its 20amp. Scotty

I will be needing this too so if anyone is going to order a bulk lot, count me in! Scotty

This thing is fantastic!..and affordable....