rankamateur

Pioneers need all the luck they can get, hope you get all that you need. You make me feel so lazy using a factory supplied and proven firewall forward kit. All the best with it.

 

 

Someone forgot the flaps :)Dont worry we have all done it...just be carefull though check the flaperon brackets for bending the skin. Flies much better after you put the flaps away on takeoff :)

Early in my training with Bill, I hung full flap out at near cruise speed. Just pulled it on like a handbrake. We did inspect it after but there appeared to be no ill effects.

 

 

It did, Steve...and in reality I'm very unlikely to put in anything other than a Rotax.But in the small but growing Savannah squadron here, we like to keep interested!

The point for anyone else, like Hank for instance, is that the decision of which engine you are going to be installing, needs to be made prior to ordering your kit. Surely the firewall forward kit is now readily available from ICP to lock in some customers for their new engine when it does become publicly available.

 

 

Yes, I'd very much like to know where they are up to with the M09. My Savannah S is part built, but I am still some way off ordering an engine. How would one find out???

Did your kit come with a 912s firewall forward kit? If so it would not be a straight forward install with your existing engine mount and cowling.

 

 

Critical glide slope, too slight and bounce off the atmosphere, would have to ruin your dinner plans.

 

 

Now, how to get around this for those of us attached to Savannahs, but allergic to BookFace????

Take an antihistamine!

 

 

915i would be even better, would need a smooth paint job though, to make drool cleanup easier!

 

 

You may need an analytical balance to measure the difference reliably. I doubt your electronic kitchen scales are going to give you what you need.

 

 

I know of a couple of yellow planes that required a third top coat to get the yellow to cover, so it is heavier by one full coat anyway.

 

 

Do others with completed planes think that is about right?

It is probably quite right and also the reason so many European planes get polished and just have the Wingtips and caps and the engine cowl painted. Oh what a joy it would be polishing around all those rivets. Wouldn't give much protection from corrosion for beach fishing.

 

 

I also put a strip of Etch primer down under each line of rivet holes so that there was primer under each rivet head.

 

 

I had seen this on a few of the build logs and it seems to be a minimum starting point. The black paint seems to act as a seal and protective coat to stop corrosion between layers. I was going to prime the surfaces first and do the black gunk. Almost decided that the first few months will be spent sorting cleaning deburring and priming all the parts (aluminium ones that is.

I used the approach you have described, but spend a few dollars on three or four rolls of easy peel masking tape to keep the Black of the face surface of your parts outside the joint or it will be a real pain come time to do your painting prep. It takes a bit longer to prime, assemble the joint, mask, dissemble, Black, dry, unmask, assemble, then rivet each exterior joint but I would do the same again. Once the Black dries it is very hard to shift with GP thinners or Prepsol, both of which mess up your base coat of primer.

 

 

If this guy had been, for instance,......, reporting the progress of a fire ..... I'd contribute to his Court costs.

Unless you were a pilot trying to fight the same fire with aircraft, then you would want his head just like CASA do.

 

 

any offer I made would be unduly influenced by "...the less it costs, the better.."

That is very human of you Dan!

 

 

I would love to do a metallic finish but the repair and touch up process with solid colours is so much easier.

Reg used a mono metallic 2 pack maroon paint on his last plane, it wasn't too bad to match, but the multi layer metallic auto paints are too heavy to start with because they take about 6 coats but the match depends on laying the metallic layer on the same way that the original painter did. Even if you did it yourself, who would remember by the time it mattered.

 

 

I originally I wanted dark blue everywhere but I was warned about the wrinkly skin problem and changed to white.

Painting is the part of the build that really stalls the momentum. Less so if you do your own painting for sure but Guy took five months to get all his parts painted. Reg, ever the optimist advised me to avoid my chosen metallic green in favour of White because it will be easier to match when I am doing repairs.

 

 

Colours and finishings are still a thorn in my side and probably always will be.

Avoid dark colours on the wing leading edge, what ever else you choose. When parked in the sun they suck in nasty dents as they heat up. Crease a Coke can a few times and the result isn't pretty.

 

 

Hoping to get my Savannah kit before the end of the year and may well end up building most of it in the house and not the garage as originally planned.

I highly recommend the ground floor. Skee built on a higher level, see #290 here And a Savannah S in Sweden.. I used my Mum's lounge room which was quite comfortable.

 

 

Sorry we didnt make it. Bailed as the weather was going to be way too rough for the trip home with the mrs on board

Does she rock the boat?

 

 

Does anyone have any idea what DZUTZTS are?

Fasteners & Tools look towards the bottom under Self Ejecting Dzus Fasteners.

 

 

I think they are well and truly worth the 5 knot dockage.

What is the weight dockage though. I copped 1.5Kg per wheel to go over to Condors on my Savannah and that is acceptable. Not sure I would be comfortable giving anymore away or I would have to trade in my heavy prop on a ground adjustable one.

 

 

A lot of discussion here, Foxbat tundra tyres , I remember "Ultralights" comment and he went on to out some on his Savannah I am pretty sure. Might be worth messaging Rob on here.

 

 

Just need a bit of rubber around the join and you could hang a small outboard on it and use it for a tinnie when you get to the spot. Not sure it would outrun a crock though.

 

 

 

Savannah Muster finally....from small beginnings it may grow.

 

 

If the elevator fabric is that sick, the rest of the airframe must surely be suspect too.