Kyle Communications

I love the whole wing/spar design on this aircraft. Apparently its from a old Luscombe design. The centre truss arrangement and front and rear spar just makes sense for ease of build and strength

Great video and so much automation in the processes.....but isnt automation supposed to make things cheaper? 🙂 I would hate to think how much all those robots and CNC machines would be worth. Very impressive. Certainly much more info than that old video of aircraft engine assembly thats been on youtube for a lot of years..would like to have seen more but they also may not have been able to film those tasks or operations

Well its a big week this week. Work has finally started on my S-21 build. RodgerC who had a S-20 with the 141 wing and the round tail ( christened a RANS S-20.5) that came in the container I organised with mine and Greg's S-21 has finished his beautifully built aircraft and it has some 50 odd hours on it now. Rodger asked me if he could help me building my S-21 as I am still finally getting the the finish line with Mabel but still a bit away until I can clear my workshop out by getting Mable to the hangar for assembly. Of course I jumped at the chance to have such a craftsman help me put it together and of course he has already put together a set of 141 wings and they are the same series of itteration of back in 2019 so he knows all the traps in putting them together. This will help shorten my build time a lot seeing its been so long since the kit got here in Oct 2019 I got all the parts for the wings over to his place earlier this week and he has started prep already. I will be heading over there helping him when he needs it or I can get a chance to get over there and annoy him. As soon as Mabel vacates the workshop I will start on either the tailfeathers or fuselage..probably the fuselage I think. I will be away overseas for almost 2 weeks with my very understanding wife from Tuesday for some R&R to a mates wedding. We both need a break I should have Mabel down to the hangar a few weeks after that so can start the S-21 fuselage here. I am excited 🙂 A picture of Rodgers S-20.5 is here as well It is such a lovely built aircraft

I have moved this thread from Other Aircraft into the now available RANS location in the forum

Hot off the press from Eprop This is a great video for how to set it up for any aircraft

Making some headway now. The cowl I did all actually fits :)...avionics wiring all finished except for radio ptt in the sticks. twin sticks all fitted, pedals back in and new brake lines. When I get back from Thailand I will start cutting the windscreen and cabin top...then its almost off to the hangar for Mabel 🙂

Durandal is a tractor prop Excalibur is a pusher prop and the Glorious is the new IFA constant speed one

Feedback on FK9. https://aircraft.e-props.fr/index.php?cPath=1_33_192

Carbon Canary..what is the aircraft ?..you may find it on the feedback

All I can tell you is that there have been a few DUC props replaced by the Eprop here and everyone of the guys says the eprop is much better..quieter, more performance, super smooth also the engine starts and stops easier because the prop is so light. I have not had one person return a prop. Eprop give a 6 month return on the prop..If you use it and you dont find its a improvement and a better prop than what you like they will give you your money back....someone who stands behind their product https://aircraft.e-props.fr/satisfied.php Just some small feedback...977 of them https://aircraft.e-props.fr/feedback.php

I just had a answer back from Eprop on the time for their props..there is no time constraint only the 4000 hours due to the way they are made and the special material they use

Yes I service Australia and NZ

Got no idea..but some of the aircraft get a lot of use

No its not...he tested it to how he wanted to...NOT to how the props are designed to be run His testing was done as if you have a IFA or constant speed. These props are ground ajustable and designed to run a max rpm on a gearbox driven engine If you set them up as per factory instructions you will get a substantial improvement in performance...more than 50 customers I have sent props to with maybe 15 or more different style of aircraft cant all be idiots..they know what performs better than what they had. I have not had one customer that did not get substantial performance increase

What do you mean? what parameters?

They do extensive testing and destructive testing..they have videos on it They would have not got the approvals if it didnt hold up to the hours The paperwork approvals is attached here tcds_easa.p.512_epgu3_030223.pdf

I have asked Eprop the question and will post when I get the answer back...most likely tonight

Eprop beats the DUC no issues..4000 hr TBO. not sure on years. I dont think it really matters at 4000 hrs

The smaller pcb track lines are the 1090 mhz for the ADSB..it is on the right side. Ideally you should have it on the windscreen facing forward but it depends of course what direction oncoming traffic is coming. So its much of a muchness. The main thing is to make sure it has clear view of the sky for the GPS signal and no obstructions..metal of course in its way

Not far now actually 🙂 Work on the S-21 will be started on the wings after easter. A friend of mine is going to start the wings for me. He built a beautiful S20 with metal wings (same as the S21). stunning workmanship on all of the build. That will give me more time and I can concentrate n getting Mabel to the hangar then I can start the tailfeathers and fuselage on "The Mistress" 🙂

Some may have seen this already. But Mabel now has a fully running heart. The engine hasnt been run for 5 years..well the bottom end anyway. Just new cylinders and pistons fitted. I put oil down the plugs and let it settle for a day or so then turned it over to make sure it was well lubed. Did the air pressure oil purge to make sure I had oil pressure then went for a start. It started so much faster than I expected as I was winding it over the throttle slipped towards full as I have springs on my throttle mod as I am using a McFarlane throttle and it keeps the bowden cable nice and tight. Frightened the crap out of me as it raced towards full power but mangaed to get the throttle back quickly. The mrs was videoing and missed the inital turnover but it literally took 2 sec of winding and started as soon as I flicked the one swith on. The burst of smoke is obviously the oil I put in the cylinders. I have to say the modified Rotax muffler I have on the the engine is really quiet. It is 6.4 litres instead of the std 5.6 litres. Hopefully this gives me a bit more power. Havent done a carb balance yet but the Eprop makes it run incredibly smooth even though it does need a carb balance down the lower rpm. The video is short as it is edited but I ran the engine to 55 degC oil temp before shutting it down

I ran the engine until the oil got to over 55 degC the video was edited Too boring otherwise

Well I did the first start on Mabels engine..it has the fuel pump I showed on it and it worked fine

Vacuum bag it. then no drama

All looked and measured exactly the same Nev