eightyknots

8 hours ago, IBob said:

Thanks again, Andy.

It would help if this were not subjective.....but I'm not suggesting anyone goes out there with a spring balance at this stage!
FWIW I have the adjustable seats, am average size and fly with them on the 2nd notch back (full back is 4 notches).

My tyres are Condor 6 x 6 and the build is as per the manual, with the battery forward.

 

 

I fitted Stolspeed VGs to the underside of my elevator (so they emerge at start of elevator up, though JG now recommends fitting them on the TE of the stabiliser). I did this early in the piece as SVH noted his Sav VG was much easier to get onto the back wheels pre-takeoff.

However, it was too soon in my own flying to be able to reliably judge the effect.

 

My (hugely experienced) test pilot on completion of build ran SVA through a very comprehensive documented test program, with no changes required apart from a minor tweak to prop pitch. He did, however, note that the aircraft tends to drop promptly onto the front wheel on landing.
I have 200+hrs on her now, with a large number of circuits and full flap landings, so the aircraft certainly works as is.

However, I frequently fly alone, with no baggage and partially full inner tanks, and this puts the C of G well within limits, but somewhat forward.

I am considering both the trim, and shifting the C of G back some, to see how that affects the approach handling.

 

All thoughts and comments welcome.

Thanks.

Is your battery midships as per the kit or behind the battery door at the rear?

On 28/04/2022 at 12:53 PM, IBob said:

Hi Dan, a minor disambiguation of model types, which may help with your enquiries. And put me straight by all means if I have this wrong:

My understanding is that the Savannah models, chronologically, are:
VG = the original, but with VGs, not slats.

XL = ICP reworked the VG fuselage shape at the front, from the seatback forward. The cockpit is wider and roomier, the windscreen has more rake etc.

S = ICP completed the fuselage rework by rounding the rear of the fuselage, from seatbacks back.

 

I would have said your aircraft was an XL.

However, in searching for a pattern for a cockpit cover you may (also) want to enquire about the S, as your cockpit area is identical to the S, apart from some very minor rounding of the fuselage above the seatback.

 

In North America, the Savannah XL was designated XLVG by the then local dealer.

On 29/07/2021 at 10:00 AM, petr said:

Hi please I would like to convert the savannah XL to a taildragger. What reinforcements did they send you from ICP? Are there any plans to find out if it works on my plane? could you send something to meil thanks peter

 

I wonder what part of the fuselage ICP strengthens for the taildragger version of the Savannah S?

I am following this as well. I look forward to seeing and reading more.

I am currently building an ICP Savannah S.

The main problem is the construction manual. It was originally written in Italian and then (so it seems) the text was put into Google Translate or similar. As a result, the instructions in English are not good and leads to quite a bit of head scratching. Thankfully, there are some good build threads with valuable photos and a better interpretation than ICP's attempt at English. Mark Kyle and iBob's threads are really useful. 

Despite the not so great manual, the design is great and the rivet holes fit together well. I am enjoying the build and look forward to the day it will be complete.

Hi Tozza,

I, for one, would like to see your report.

Mate, despite the fact that you had a big clean up, I am so glad that your aircraft was spared from major damage❗

On 25/02/2022 at 12:26 PM, Tozza73 said:

oh no im so sorry ill change it right now 

I have done the survey; I am also living on New Zealand.

On 03/03/2022 at 8:05 PM, kgwilson said:

There used to be a number of hoists at YSGR hangars but due to the lack of severe flooding over the past decade or 2 there are only a couple left & these guys are laughing now. One owner of a Mooney put his aircraft up on blocks and retracted the undercarriage. He then came back and raised it another 100mm or so. He managed to escape the flood depth by the skin of his teeth like me but even better his undercarriage is out of the water too.

 

I think that there will be a few of us (me included) who organise hoists for the future.

Ho KG, I hope your aircraft cleans up OK. My son lives a couple of hundred metres from the airfield. It was a very big flood this time around.

On 28/02/2022 at 10:28 AM, SGM said:

Sad. 
In the middle of the photo is the white top of someone's fuselage, a vertical and part of a black prop. 
To the left is a flying boat.  I had a chat to this owner when I visited December, (at that stage he was putting the finishing touches on the restoration and preparing for a first flight - the Tweed River is not too far away)

In the background, on the other side of the North-South runway, are two hanger buildings also well underwater.

Very sad 😔 .

On 03/02/2022 at 1:41 PM, Marty_d said:

I've bitten the bullet and spent the money - on order are 3x Carlisle Turf Glide tyres & tubes, and a 70" Bolly 3 blade prop.  

No e-props propeller?

On 24/11/2021 at 8:07 PM, microman said:

Cheers eighty knots - I must admit, having another Savannah in the hangar, and two others very close, not to mention having already built one, all made it a whole lot easier than someone building in isolation. Even so, we made a few cockups, usually because we couldnt follow the instructions so just worked it out for ourselves and we didnt always get it right. I was determined to get it as light as possible, so left out the adjustable seats, (the new factory cushion seats are brilliant so if you are tall it is actually more comfortable without the metal seats. We only painted parts of the aircraft, and of course the E-prop keeps the weight down. Result - 299.6kg so it can lift its own weight.

I was not aware of the new cushion seats. How are they different from the fairly complex to construct (but an engineering marvel!) adjustable seats? I am 186 cm tall so I may be interested in comfy seats for taller people, especially if it will (a) save weight and (b) save me seat assembly time ...this is all depends whether these new seats can be retro-fitted, of course.

BTW: finishing up under 300 kg is really impressive: yours may the the lightest Savannah S on the New Zealand register!

1 hour ago, microman said:

Well ZK-SGC is now finished, passed its CAA inspection this morning and test-flew this afternoon. It took 6 months - two of us working 3 days a week ( I calculate it at 850 hours) Only minor issues along the way - the worst being 2 factory tank fittings which both leaked - requiring deriveting of the tank covers (both sides). On a number of occasions we thought bits were missing, only to find them eventually. However the instruction book left out the section relating to the extra fuel tanks, and that caused us some puzzlement until we checked the book for another aircraft and found the relevant section. Rivets supplies are never enough ( a few had to be drilled out of course!), but the local agent came to the party.

Performance wise - climbs at 1200ft/min (2 up), cruises at 90 kts @ 5000 rpm, quiet and smooth. That E-Prop is something else - we are gradually converting all the Bolly adherents on the field. Because ICP now supply a much better exhaust system we pitched the prop at 26.5, rather than the 24.5 recommended by the factory. A bit down on revs on takeoff (5400) but winds up once airborne and although we havent done full tests I reckon we will get close to 100kts at 5500.

All in all, a very satisfactory outcome - there is no question that the Savannah kit is by far the best value on the market.  

Well done Microman  👍.

I can't wait until my Savannah build is complete. 

9 minutes ago, IBob said:

Kurt, you're not talking gibberish at all. I believe Mark has his fuel return plumbed back into his fuel selector valve block. Seems to me it would work fine, let's see if Mark has anything to add to that>

It seems to make sense to me. Where can one sources these Chinese fuel selector valves in Enzed?

6 minutes ago, IBob said:

Eightynots, the air bubble in the receiver tank problems dates back to the older Savannahs, which had no vent pipe from the receiver. The problem was that once you got air in there, it had nowhere to go. The manual now calls for a breather pipe from the top of the receiver tank to a point high in the L inboard tank. This effectively addresses the problem.

Thank you iBob. That puts my mind at rest regarding the bubble trouble: I can stop looking for the information now.

1 hour ago, Savannah Kurt said:

Heya!

 

I'm not EXACTLY following your (and Mark Kyle's) setup. I'm using two 3-way valves. Right tanks valve: Right Outer-Right Inner-Right Off. Left tanks valve: Left Off-Left Inner-Left Outer. The valve handle "points" to the tank being used (or to the center of the airframe for "off").

 

I've got a fuel return-line question. I'm going to be using an Aeromomentum AM13 100hp fuel injected engine on my Savannah. Can I just route my return line to the header tank or is that asking for trouble? I'm a little concerned about routing it full-time to any other tank because if I'm running on outer tanks and my fuel return is going to my inner tank, won't I get a fuel overflow? If I route the return line to the header tank, then any return fuel would, hopefully, be pushed back up to whatever tank is supplying the fuel, or at the least resupplying the header tank. Am I talking gibberish?

 

Thoughts?

Hi Kurt,

I am also toying with the idea of using an Aeromomentum engine. What kind of cowl and FWF setup will you be using?

4 hours ago, IBob said:

Hi Kurt, really interesting to read of your control mods and see your progress! I'm most interested in your Arduino work: I do a bit myself.

Credit where it's due: my fuel valve setup is a direct copy of Mark Kyle's setup on his original XL, and I referenced his build thread here a great deal during my own build.
Also, and as Mark mentions, I fitted a flashing LED instead of the bulb supplied for the low fuel indication. I then fitted a second one in parallel on the pilot's side (the standard indicator goes on the RH side of the panel).
The flashing LEDs were sourced from RS, the fuel manifold and valves we source from China, though you may have more economical sources where you are.

Keep the pics coming: it's great to see another aircraft coming together.

 

 

I read somewhere in the Recreational Flying site that a bubble in the reserve tank sometimes hinders the float switch from working and this gives false information to your flashing light. Someone had proposed a "fix" for this but I can no longer find it. Does any other Rec Flying forums reader remember reading this?

Hello Skee, 

I noticed that you have a red light on your extended rudder (as per the attached YouTube screenshot). I am building a Savannah currently and will be using an extended rudder. Could you tell me how you ran the wires from the moving rudder to the fixed airframe?

I look forward to hearing about your wiring approach and whether this has been successful for the five years that you have been flying the aircraft.

On 04/10/2021 at 2:03 PM, shajen said:

Thanks Roscoe I actually think  I will get a Beijing instruments one. They are the best price  and don’t seem to have any inherent problems.

Make sure you buy a Southern Hemisphere version.

On 05/10/2021 at 11:06 AM, Marty_d said:

I'd also be interested in that, at roughly the same point.  (Although mine's a 701, the main gear and rudder pedals inc. cylinders are off a Sav, so the system should be the same.)

It sounds like you're building a Zenvannah.

On 05/10/2021 at 7:57 PM, JG3 said:

I used Solaguard on old perished skins and the result was really good. Looked like new and now protected somewhat from UV.

I wonder how good Solagard would be on metal skins (eg a Savannah)?

On 29/09/2021 at 11:38 PM, jackc said:

Now for another crazy off the planet paint idea 🙂. My Thruster came with a spare set of skins,  I need to somehow get them tested to see IF they are serviceable.  IF they are OK I was going to try and ‘paint’ them with this paint scheme.

So, any ideas IF this would be doable?

 

Jack, I am a bit worried about flying over terrain, with your aircraft painted like this, and then not being seen by other other pilots.

On 15/07/2021 at 10:26 PM, Kyle Communications said:

Mabel is getting some dress up today. paint finally going on. This was done about 2pm and the clear was about to go on. I will be picking all that up tomorrow then loading the other wing onto the rotisseri so it can be painted. Then hopefully maybe sunday I will be picking that up and it all will be going down to the hangar. Then the fuselage will go over for painting probably monday or tuesday not sure but it will be done sometime late next week. The fuselage will come back here for engine and avionics and controls to be done.

Finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel

That looks great so far. What kind of paint are they using?

On 21/09/2021 at 11:26 PM, Kyle Communications said:

There is a couple in NZ now Hank. One is flying the other about to. The one who is flying with it is loving it. Much better than the orginal

 

 

What kind of aircraft?

On 25/09/2021 at 12:29 PM, kgwilson said:

That's what I did. They will have sales people but usually also have someone who knows all the different paints and coatings. Luckily at the place I went to, the manager was an industrial chemist so his advice was gold.

What kind of paint did the industrial chemist recommend?