Bought an Airplane.

[peterb]

This is almost worth a sub-forum of its own!

[Macman]

Subscribing to this!

Some comments gave me a chuckle!!

Should get a Hexus sticker on that badboy when your finished. lols

[TeePee]

A little update:

With all the parts assembled, the pilot holes were drilled and countersunk. More Cleco action, as the larger holes have larger clecos.



Then the parts are painted. I don't do gardening.



And then riveted together. This took ages and was pretty miserable. There's so little access for a bucking bar, I ended up beating up the skin in a couple of places. It's cosmetic, and the plane will be painted, so no big deal, but it it ain't pretty.



Then with the hinges attached I mounted it to the Vstab which the original owner built. Of course it didn't fit. Turns out the hinge on the Vstab is positioned based on the rudder hinges. I put my rudder hinge in the plans location, the original builder did not. I had to redo the hinge fitting. I left the horn skin oversized so that I could trim it exactly to fit. I'm very pleased with that part.. In this picture the rudder is slightly deflected, so it looks like it's way off! That's the aerodynamic balance for you!

[peterb]

Just slightly concerned at the duct (or Duck!) tape in third picture! I guess pop rivets are not acceptable for this? Solves the problem of access to the back of the pieces.

Does the build have to be inspected by anyone (FAA?) at any stage during construction?

[melon]

Just slightly concerned at the duct (or Duck!) tape in third picture! I guess pop rivets are not acceptable for this? Solves the problem of access to the back of the pieces.

Does the build have to be inspected by anyone (FAA?) at any stage during construction?

haha I noticed that too, I hope he has enough rivets !!



m

[peterb]

haha I noticed that too, I hope he has enough rivets !!



m

Just so long as you don't want to see the golden rivet.

[Biscuit]

Does the build have to be inspected by anyone (FAA?) at any stage during construction?

I was wondering that myself.

[melon]

Just so long as you don't want to see the golden rivet.

I didnt actually know anything about that till you told me .

isnt that a naval myth though ?

m

[stevie lee]

Just so long as yoj don't want to see the golden rivet.

cant be worse than the golden showers that TeePee will produce, if when hes flying a wing falls off



more seriously, didnt TeePee make a canoe a few years ago?
if so, make another one, strap them to the bottom of this thing, voila, a seaplane.

[TeePee]

And I thought I was going to get comments about the garden...

The duct tape is 20 years old! It was taping up the cable that's hanging out of the bottom. That's eventually for a NAV antenna which I may or may not have mounted on the Vstab one day. The while wire through the rudder is just there as a pull through. I'm planning to put a beacon on the top.

Which brings me to a question that might be in the particular field of some readers here. I want to use LED lights, and most of the commercial offerings are very large and expensive. I'm thinking about using a small number of high power LED's like the SST-90s. They meet the FAA intensity requirements, but I am concerned about powering them. The airplane will have a 28v electrical system, and the cheap LED drivers for flashlights aren't designed with EMI in mind. Any ideas? I know I can use a microcontroller for the flashing part.

[peterb]

Do the electronics have to be FAA approved?

If not, you might improve the EMI performance by careful screening, mounting the controller in a metal box, use screened cables connecting the controller to the LEDs, chokes in the power lines connecting to the 28V system, although it will add to the weight. On the plus side, LEDs have a low power requirement, which will reduce the problem. (switching high currents is a big source of EMI).

[Larkspeed]

I'm pretty sure that anything electronic/electrical installed in a plane must me FAA approved.

and @peterb from knowing others that have done these type of projects, no there is no inspection during the build process.

There is a certification inspection done for final approval before you can fly it and they use camera's and such to look inside the wings and other hard to reach places.

Of course this info is over 10 years old so they may have changed the regs by now.

[TheAnimus]

Is it an experimental rating?

[melon]

And I thought I was going to get comments about the garden...

.

Garden... I hope thats not going to be your runway strip , though it would be pretty awesome to say the least .

Then again if you had something like this , perhaps you wouldnt need it ?

BTW did you notice anything unusual in the 1st video Animus ?

m

[TeePee]

It is experimental. No FAA certification requirements for the electronics, but obviously must not catch fire and burn me to death. There will be an airworthiness inspection from the FAA.

[peterb]

Another option for the controller case would be metal sprayed plastic, there are high nickel paints that can be used for RF screening, help keep the weight down.