eightyknots
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Posts posted by eightyknots
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This was a most enjoyable flight in a very nice aircraft in still air conditions. Thank you Bob!
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We continued north and then headed east to the Gladstone region. The width (and beauty) of the valley can be appreciated here:
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The flight then turned roughly northward and we passed west of Greytown and Carterton, close to the rural/town boundary with a portion of Carterton visible:-
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After flying south east, roughly parallel to the Tararua Range, we came to a position north of Lake Wairarapa, which looks somewhat brown just now. Five rivers from the valley drain into this and, because we have had a lot of rainfall over the last two months it has carried a good quantity of sediment into the lake:-
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The mountains received quite some snow last week and there is still a good icing sugar-like dusting of snow left on the higher parts of the range:
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😉Our speed was a comfortable eighty knots:
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First we flew first to the snow-capped Tararua Range which marks the western edge of the Wairarapa valley:
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A few days ago, Bob (iBob) invited me for a flight around the picturesque Wairarapa valley in the Savannah that he constructed at his home. This oft-repeated quote is fitting for Bob’s beautifully constructer aeroplane.
“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that Noah, a lone amateur,built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic”.
I believe that the attention to detail, and the level of finish, visible in Bob’s Savannah exceeds that of factory built planes. Here is a picture of his aircraft in flight:
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This is an interesting idea.
Because the inboard tanks on the Savannah show fuel levels visually, via the clear Rilsan tubes, do you just use this for the outboard tanks?
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This 600 kg upgrade should open the market wide for Skyrangers. ✅
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On 27/06/2022 at 1:46 PM, Kyle Communications said:
Finally at the pointy end with this bloody lower cowl. I am so over it.
Filled and sanded a few times now to get the shape and lumps and bumps out. The grey is spraybog and I will need to do just a few little wipes with filler and then I can refit the cowl properly. I have to put about 15mm onto the back edge of the top cowl to make it fit nice in fromnt of the screen yet but thats easy and wont take long.
I really have to get my finger out and get Mabel finished to the point of getting her to the hangar for assembly. The mrs is up me because she wants to go flying. Got a notification on bookface on the weekend....the Girlfriend went to her new owner 2 years ago !!!!!!! it does not seem like that long
Two years! Time goes quickly, that's for sure.
I hope you'll be airborne by Spring.
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On 29/01/2018 at 4:09 PM, eightyknots said:
Lithiumax Car, Boat and Bike Starter Batteries
This LiFePo4 battery above is rated at 26 Ah. The one supplied by ICP is only 18 Ah.
The above link is defunct: the replacement seems to be: Lithiumax 500CA RACE5 LCD Engine Starter Battery | Lithiumax 2020
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On 06/08/2021 at 4:36 PM, AndyDrain said:
Remember the test switch only checks the bulb is good - not the sensor. In 600 hours I have only had the warning light come on twice, when unplanned. On both occasions I picked up the warning while it was in the flashing state - prior to becoming steady. The light is in the default location. ( I would move it if I built another).
I'm currently mounting sensors on the outside tanks to give a 5 litre warning. They will not be very accurate but will at least tell me when those tanks are empty. I can set those up so that a light goes off when the level is low, so it is reasonably fail safe.
Hi Andy,
What kind of extra sensor systems have you added to your tanks?
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On 22/01/2022 at 10:02 AM, Luca Milesi said:
Good evening IBob, no they don’t are adjustable.
They are not standard by ICP and I ordered they with the kit one year ago but they was long time out of stock.
They are well made and very light.
blue skies
Luca
Hi Luca,
Are these (non-adjustable) seats an ICP option? ...or were they custom made just for you?
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1 hour ago, Bodie said:
Hi All!
I just wanted to shout out a big Thank You to all the folks on this forum. If it wasn't for folks from all over the world, especially Australia and New Zealand my Savannah S project wouldn't have been completed as soon or as easy as it was. In particular Kyle Communications and iBob's threads had a lot of tips and tricks, and the back and forth with the other folks clarified most situations I came up against. Whether it was wiring, fuel tanks, manual clarifications, etc the problems were all sorted out, many times by searching through other threads.
I was building my plane for way too long, got interrupted by life way too many times but persevered. When I hit the point where I didn't know if I would ever finish I read somewhere (not sure if it was here or not) that I just needed to do something every day. Anyway, I started the project in October of 2015, and I witnessed flight today. I still need to get my license, but at least I have my plane!
It was great to finally see some air underneath the tires, and someday soon I will fly her myself!
Thanks again!
-steve
G'day Steve,
It is so good to see your plane aloft!
Life has gotten on the way for me as well but I try hard to do something to my Savannah every week if at all possible (rather tan closing the shed door for months at a time).
I support your comments about other builders' experiences that they have so generously shared on this site. They have been most helpful to me as well so far.
I hope you will be flying your plane yourself before long.
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1 hour ago, IBob said:
That is a curious accident report, though probably due to inaccurate press work, or talking to the wrong person:
The Sav flaps are 15 and 30 degrees, not 20 and 40.If the bump occurred 2/3 of the way down the strip it must have been a big one, as the flaperons would have had air and prop blast under them, and would tend to go to 0 degrees if not latched properly.
And if the left wing was stalling, the best response (aside from also getting the nose down, if possible) would be right rudder. Not left, as reported, which would only aggravate the left wing stall.
Maybe I'm being picky, but I think the last item needs correcting, if nothing else.
Does your Savannah have 10°, 20° and 30° flaps?
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28 minutes ago, IBob said:
Let me know when you are up for a visit..)
Sure thing❕
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1 hour ago, IBob said:
How's progress with your build, Hank?
My progress can best be described as "slowly but surely".
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1 hour ago, AndyDrain said:
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I assume that you have seen this Savannah Accident. Flap lever to blame.... I have heard of other cases of the flap lever retracting on final.
Many in New Zealand have the extended rudder (from the tail wheel) fitted.
That is a really nasty accident based entirely, so it seems, on the aircraft's ergonomics! I am glad that the pilot was able to exit as a survivor.
I am building my Savannah with a tall rudder after weighing up what Steve, an Australian, (rankamateur on the forum) suggested.
The extended rudder (along with long range tanks and vortex generators) were all developed in Australia and adopted by ICP, with the last-mentioned appearing on all of their aircraft.
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3 hours ago, IBob said:
Hi Mark, and thank you for your detailed input. This is all really good info.
Yes, my battery is in the forward position, as now detailed in the S build manual etc, and yes I have difficulty keeping the nose off on landing (and as mentioned above, the original test pilot commented on this). SVA will sit on her tail, just, but I have never been sure about that as a measure, since fuel moves to the back of the tanks when the tail is pushed down: can you recall what the fuel situation was when you did this?
At present I am considering two temporary options: extra weight to the rear of the (extended) baggage compartment, in the form of a flat sand bag. And/or a lead strip attached at the tail skid.
Hank, I have the conventional lead/acid battery: the Savannah has no shortage of lift and I have no reason to be further reducing weight.
Dan, I have the Condors all round and they are quite heavy, I also have the adjustable seats, so am not sitting hard back as in the original design. And so it all adds up, I think.
Also, I initially had trouble with the full flaps lever position, as you mention: the angle was all wrong, and setting and releasing it was clumsy and difficult. In the upshot, I designed an angled lever that works very well. It is simple, but needs to be fabricated quite precisely. I was fortunate to have a very capable fitter do the required cutting and welding of the outer tube.
That modified angled flap lever looks nicely made.
I was wondering, however, is the "resting position" too close to the floor?
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On 31/05/2022 at 10:10 AM, Garfly said:
Very interesting: thanks for sharing.
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On 04/06/2022 at 9:30 PM, Kyle Communications said:
Another one will bite the dust shortly I think...gets very interesting 1/3 of the way in
Those blades come very close to the ground a number of times 😱. It's all way too close for comfort and safety.
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On 04/06/2022 at 9:30 PM, Kyle Communications said:
Another one will bite the dust shortly I think...gets very interesting 1/3 of the way in
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.
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Furthermore, do you have a lighter, LiFePo4 (lithium) battery or the ICP supplied lead-acid battery?
My Savannah S model rebuild Blog
in Savannah
Posted
Mark,
If you could somehow paint the stainless steel pipes a matt black, you would get some additional cooling effect. Matt black radiates far more heat than silvery stainless steel.
However, you would also have to be careful that the matt black doesn't pick up more radiated heat from any high temperature heat source such as an exhaust pipe close by.