rankamateur

I finished an XL rudder on Thursday arvo, what exactly do you want me to measure? I sould be going back over in the next few days to start the rear fuselage.

 

 

Bob Is your Sav a S or a XL?I am going up tomorrow to seal the last 2 tanks I will draw a line on my rudder hinge to see if the bottom hole in the rudder horn is different. It maybe different as the bottom plate on the fuselage maybe different...it shouldn't be but I will check mine and see

Looks like an XL with no "nose skins" on the under side like the S has.

 

 

Yeah and try getting him to reply to an email after he's got your money, how do i know, well cause i had to sort out the crap and get one of the motors running, i got it to go, but not been flown yet, hopefully this week.So do you have one of these engines? or could you get access to one? i wouldnt mind getting a copy of all the maps to double check things ive done.

I wasn't sugesting that anyone deal with him, only that the fuel injected turbo with electronic mapping does make a savannah get up and go, with 19 rego of course. I know his engines aren't ready to run out of the box. I fly with Reg (Aerokits on here) in his XL behind one of these engines. PM me and I will give you his email.

 

 

gee that would be nice... imagne the rate of climb you could get in a savannah with 140hp pulling you along

http://www.customflightcreations.com/id26.html this is where Jason Parker ended up, the Extreme 914 predator engine in the Savannah XL does climb well, even with a big lump like me in the passengers seat.

 

 

I drove through Leyburn on the Darling Downs twice this weekend and noticed a brand new strip about 6nm south of Leyburn and the new sign says "Newfarm" farmstays. It might be what you are looking for when it gets a bit established.

 

 

This is something that I keep reading about Savannahs over the last 18 months or so. Quite a few other kit manufacturers don't seem to have the same accuracy of pre-drilling which says something for the very expensive CNC machinery that ICP uses. This gives comfort to current (and aspiring) builders.

This is hard to believe until you are actually involved in building one, the holes all line up and if they don't you are doing something wrong, so fix it! Also if there are spare holes you have done something wrong until recently. I am currently building the stabilizer on a VGXL and the rear spar is drilled for both the XL and S model mounting plates, like the three spare holes under the trim tab, we are starting to see spare holes in an effort to keep the parts inventory smaller at the factory across all the models.

 

 

I did clecos every second hole generally but on curves and other tight stuff I had them in every hole to make surethat way I could rivet a few then take out those ones in between and rivet them...worked all ok for me

Did you have five or six hundred?

 

 

Hi HadynThere is no way enough clecos you actually need about 300 plus of the 1/8 ones (copper)and around 50 to 100 of the 5/32 ones (black) and around 50 to 100 of the 3/32 (silver). You really need to cleco everything BEFOR you start riveting so everything is all aligned to make sure its all square. The wings require a stack load if the 1/8 you really want them all clecoed top and bottom before riveting in the pattern they say in the manual to make sure there are no warps.

 

On another note almost finished the first of the prop pitch gauges...I will make one up for you as well. Just deciding if my hub centre needs to be bigger which I think it would be better if it was....its a lot of turning down on the lather from 75mm down to 25 I maybe be able to come up with a different method

 

Will post some pics later today

 

Mark

A cleco every third hole keeps everthing aligned and leaves some holes free to recieve rivets without a lot of double handling. With all those nice purpose built benches you are going to have to start another build Mark.

 

 

somethings don't changehttp://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?s=3a16df77c84ecf05babb96bcd08be80b&p=630769&postcount=17

[url=http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?s=3a16df77c84ecf05babb96bcd08be80b&p=630769&postcount=17][/url]Anybody who bought one after reading this would have to have rocks in the head.

 

 

If the Y2K bug was half as disruptive as the leap second it needn't have gone down in history as the biggest con, or fraud, or deception of all time as it was. People flying yesterday like my daughter yesterday morning Armidale to Canberra via Sydney did arrive but still don't have their luggage, which the airlines promised last night by 2200. They were lucky to get the passengers there I guess, the computer system crashed after the last passenger was checked in but before they could print the manifest, caused a 40 minute delayed departure but apparently Sydney was a total mess and baggage handling melted down. Guess she was lucky she booked here baggage through to Canberra. And think if you blinked at the wrong moment you would have completely missed the leap second we had to have.

 

 

Recreational Flying works for passengers too!

 

 

Or th

 

For all the young players out there going through their first romances.You are on of the way there if your young lady passes wind in front of you. .They like you and and are comfortable in front of you.

Or they watch too many Shrek movies, there is a little bit of ogre in all of us, even the fairer pretty ones.

 

 

To actually arrive aot the base camp with a rig that had not flown seemed like a breakdown in carrying out any planning.Seemed like a massive gamble to spend the $$$ and effort to get there without well tried and proven equipment. Gambling their life as if one had gone down on the upper half of the Mount they would have perished due oxygen starvation and/or freeze before help could arrive.

I couldn't believe the rig was untried and if it runs rough and stops, they had to take them off to put the starter on, no pull cord, guess that is all for weight saving. Wonder what a stripped down rotax 912s weighs? might not be a lot more than a 125 pound. They talked about 100Hp but the engine didn't really look deep enough to be a four cylinder.

 

 

On SBS now

 

Bear Grills and his mate are trying to fly over Mt Everest

 

100 Hp super charged inter cooled engine weighing 125 pounds, who couldn't use one of those?

 

But why wouldn't you use anti-freeze if you had Everest in your sites?

 

 

But the VNE is now 112 knots, and 95 knot cruise is quite achievable BUT the price is economy.

 

 

That comment of yours worries me 80 ...Are you quoting the 'Ultimate' or 'maximum design' load factor.

 

Usually 'ultimate' means the point just before permanent deformation occurs and is usually 1.5 x the design load factor (unless I have it wrong). +6 / -3 is a big number to claim, standard utility GA aircraft are usually +3.8 / -1.8.

I have seen that figure quoted too, often in the company of MTOW 450Kg!

 

 

Mark could you comfortably build a Savannah in a 40 ft container or should I be looking for a nice 12m x 6m shed?

You would end up with a head full of primer, prepsol and thinners, You would certainly enjoy the build, on a hot day it is nice to have a high cieling and a couple of nice big roller doors.

 

 

So, they'll have to sell quite a few hundred Savannah Ss before the price will be equal to the XL, to recoup this large outlay!

No Hank, They spent that on the software they use to cut all the kits. It works out how all those neat little cnc cut holes have to be laid out so that, for example in the lower stringers in a VG XL fuselage where there are about five layers of metal, many of them angles lying inside each other, all the holes line up so you can wriggle the rivets through. That is magic. Obviously ICP are confident they are here for the long run and their investment will be well justified.

 

 

I understand the S fuselage is somewhat more complex than the XL. I'd be really interested how complex you find it, Hadyn. This will be one consideration when I eventually make the XL versus S choice.

It is only more complex in that you have to assemble the frame with the stringers, then hang the side sheets, then fit the curved corner pieces(which are supplied flat), In the XL the side sheets and stringers are the frame to a much greater extent, and you get a big bit built fairly quickly, takes a long time to put all the little bits on the big bit though. The pieces where the curved rear fuselage transitions to the square cabin frame(also supplied flat) are the most engenius piece of design I have seen yet, It was amazing that they fit so neatly, magic Cad program they must use, $300,000 well spent.

 

 

Reg sounds like the best guy to buy a kit from but he's a long way from where i am. Does anyone know if Aerokits has a dealer in South Oz.

Wasn't a problem to Ron Hoey, he got plenty of help along the way with his build!

 

 

Hi HaydenIt wasn't zinc chromate it was something else I will ring Bill and find out.....I didn't fill my rivets either...deemed it way too much work for just a cosmetic effect...you can't see the rivet holes standing 2 mtrs away anyway

It takes a bit of time but think of all those little rivets with the wind whistling in there ears, dear little pots of turbulence. What is a couple of knots between friends anyway, nah probrably not worth it.

 

 

I keep reading in the forums "S" for smooth..... We were happy to get the "latest" shape. I think its a little easier on the eye.

And a little more complex in the fuslage frame, takes maybe a one to two days longer to build the rear fuse. If you want the Smooth I still think filling the rivet heads before painting is more important than the shape. I have always liked the shape of the S ever since the first photo arrived.

 

 

Obvious solution Hank, start your own, you would be getting pretty good at it by now.

 

 

No law to say we have to cover the table top with empties in an hour this time though!

 

 

The certified versions come with a lot of extra expense and documentation.

But are they actually any different in the flesh?