Thatcher CX5 • Jim Bede Hatcher • T Vacuum Forming

Promises, Promises: Remembering Jim Bede KITPLANES APRIL 2016

® Thatcher CX5 • Jim Bede hatcher • T Vacuum Forming

• CX5 Air-Oil Separator • Deburring • Logbooks • 3D Printing Parts • DIY Restrictors Homebuilding’s • Prop Theory best-kept secret • Engine Shop Upgrades Oil

BELVOIR Keeping It Organized April 2016

Got Paperwork? In the Shop: • 3D Printing for PUBLICATIONS records and Logbooks Homebuilders • Speed Deburring Engine Lubrication • DIY Restrictor Fittings oil for Flight www.kitplanes.com

April 2016 | Volume 33, Number 4 Flight Review 6 Building the Thatcher CX5: An insider’s view into one of homebuilding’s best-kept secrets. By Glen Bradley. Builder Spotlight 16 Promises, Promises: Remembering Jim Bede Sr. By Amy Laboda. 24 Vacuum Forming Leading Edges: Making long, straight bends in sheet metal is easier than you think. By Paul Dye. 28 Print Your Own Parts: Using a 3D printer to make an avionics fan shroud. By Dave Forster. 16 33 sPeed Deburring: Why turn a hand crank when electrons work so cheap? By Ken Scott. 42 separator or Condenser? Air-oil separators 101. By Dan Horton. 46 a ircraft Records and Logbooks: What’s required for Experimental/Amateur-Built Aircraft? By Owen C. Baker. 50 engine Theory: Oil—lubing and cooling the source of thrust. By Tom Wilson. 67 c ompletions: Builders share their successes. 74 a sk the DAR: Highlander gross weight increase, using certified parts in a plansbuilt Cub. By Mel Asberry. Shop Talk 36 shop Upgrades: Part 2—Keep it clean and organized. By Eric Stewart. 40 no Restrictions? Restrictor fittings that are easy to make. By Paul Dye. 60 Home Shop Machinist: Drill guide for canard install. By Bob Hadley. 78 Aero ’Lectrics: Let’s stay current. By Jim Weir. Shop Tip 66 Non-Marring Fluting Pliers: By Larry Larson. Designer’s Notebook 75 Wind Tunnel: Blade inflow angle. By Barnaby Wainfan. 6 Exploring 2 Editor’s Log: Our worst fears. By Paul Dye. 56 high-Desert Tales: Nuke it! By Elliot Seguin. 63 checkpoints: Never too experienced to learn. By Vic Syracuse. Kit Bits 4 Letters 69 list of Advertisers 70 Builders’ Marketplace 80 kit StufF: Drawing on experience. By cartoonist Robrucha. 56 On the cover: Glen Bradley (front seat) and Patrick Panzera in the Thatcher CX5. Photographed by Sheldon Heatherington at Pensacola International Airport. For subscription information, contact KITPLANES® at 800/622-1065 or visit www.kitplanes.com/cs. KITPLANES April 2016 1 Editor’s log Our worst fears. As a lifelong student of aviation, I VFR, and avoiding even worse weather our birth as baby aviators about flying have spent a great deal of time studying while IFR—especially in a light single with in weather that can swat us like a bug. the causes of aircraft accidents—mostly limited capability to handle the worst the Pilots should take precautions against by reading accounts of aircraft accidents. atmosphere can throw at us. getting themselves killed by weather, but As a pilot for over four decades, I have But now let’s take a look at today— they probably shouldn’t worry about it developed a healthy respect for things recent history as applied to Experimental as much as they do—because they have that can cause a flight to end badly. aircraft in the real world. Our fear tells us many other things to worry about. And I have, like most pilots, cultivated a that many people are killed stumbling What things? Well, the single biggest healthy set of fears for “bad things that into weather for which they are not pre- cause of fatal accidents has recently been can happen to me and my airplane.” pared, or the airplane is not suited. Yet… defined as the “loss of control” accident. Maintaining a healthy respect for things if you look at the actual accident statistics, The FAA usually has a “hot button,” the that can kill you is, I think, a reasonably a very small percentage of the fatal acci- current problem that they really want to good way to help yourself live to a ripe dents in the homebuilt world are actually solve. In the past, it has been weather, old age and die in bed. Yet many pilots weather related these days. The reason? then it was CFIT—Controlled Flight Into and builders of homebuilt aircraft spend Well, I am sure that is debatable, but it is Terrain. There is something to be said for a great deal more time looking at things probably a combination of the enhanced an agency like the FAA having hot buttons that, while potentially fatal, are far less weather information available in the cock- and then directing a lot of effort into solv- likely to happen than things they over- pit, the vastly superior avionics available ing those problems. If they put enough look or simply ignore. Addressing the to the average homebuilder today, and energy into these things, they get results! actual causes of accidents, rather than (of course) that fear instilled in us since For instance, CFIT has been reduced to the imagined things that materialize in our fears, is a far, far more productive way to address risk management. Let’s look at an example. Aviation magazines for the past 40 or 50 years have been chock full of stories of pilots’ bad encounters with the vagaries of the atmosphere. Whether it is a VFR pilot stumbling into IFR conditions, an IFR pilot running into severe convection, or a terrible encounter with ice, weather has always been a staple fear of the light airplane pilot. Many of our brethren have met their fate while tumbling out of control to the ground, with or without their wings. To be sure, I can’t think of any single topic more thoroughly drummed into my Lenticular clouds are often an indicator of strong turbulence and downdrafts that could head than avoiding bad weather while lead to loss of control or controlled flight into terrain.

Paul Dye retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 40 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the space shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen, and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He flies an RV-8 that he built in 2005, and an RV-3 that he built with his pilot wife. Currently, they are building a Xenos Paul Dye motorglider. A commercially licensed pilot, Paul has logged over 4800 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an EAA tech counselor, flight advisor, and member of the Homebuilder’s Council. He consults and collaborates in aerospace operations and flight-testing projects across the country.

2 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes the occasional anomaly by moving maps, GPS, and synthetic vision. Today’s effort is to stop LOC—and those Loss Of Control incidents are a tough nut to crack, mostly because they don’t have a single root cause. Some are just poor piloting; others are due to poor judgment—aerobatics close to the ground or buzzing, leading to a stall/spin on the pull-up. However you get into it though, losing control of the airplane often means a fatal return to earth—and this is something pilots really should be worried about. The statistics don’t lie; we can make great inroads into the accident numbers if we can solve the problem. Incidentally, the EAA is currently running a contest soliciting ideas to reduce LOC accidents, and the prize money is pretty good! The good news, of course, is that the vast majority of aviation mishaps aren’t fatal. And that’s good, because there are mishaps every single day caused by pilots running off runways and collapsing the landing gear—or sometimes those two things happening in the other order. This suggests that if pilots really want to cut down on accidents, they shouldn’t be only worried about weather, or structural failure, or even how many redundant EFIS displays they have—they should really work at keeping directional control during takeoff and landing. Well, that and keeping the wing from stalling when they are well off the ground. Learning what we should really be afraid of is simple—just read the daily mishap reports from the FAA, and every once in a while, spend some time reading a few NTSB reports—especially for aircraft of the type that you fly. The NTSB reports go into great detail into the why of accidents—not just how many occurred. And knowing the why, you can hopefully find a way to stay out of the same situation. You see, understanding what percentages of accidents are occurring in each category is useful and can help you understand where to put your emphasis when it comes to safety. That is valuable. But understanding the precise reasons that pilots get themselves and their airplanes into bad spots—that is worth its weight in gold. A little fear is good and healthy—so long as we fear the right things. J

Photo: Paul Dye KITPLANES April 2016 3 EDITORIAL Editor in Chief paul Dye [email protected] Aircraft Wiring and have solace with himself. Having Managing Editor mark Schrimmer In “Top Ten Wiring Mistakes” [Feb- seen Mental Illness at AirVenture several Art Direction Dan Maher ruary 2016], I did not see mention of years ago, it was nice to reconnect with Editorial Director paul Bertorelli an insidious pitfall/failure I have come the plane and now to have some under- Contributing Editors larry Anglisano, Marc Ausman, across involving soldering and crimping. standing of the pilot. Best wishes on roy Beisswenger, Chuck Berthe, David Boeshaar, LeRoy Cook, If you “tin” a stranded wire and crimp a Kerry’s future flights, and perhaps some robert Hadley, Dan Horton, lug to it, the electrical connection, espe- day, the right seat will be occupied with louise Hose, Amy Laboda, Dave martin, Sid Mayeux, David Paule, cially those carrying 5 amps or more of a spirit similar to his. Dave Prizio, Dean Sigler, Dick current in properly sized wire, may fail Paul D. Fiebich starks, Eric Stewart, Vic Syracuse, barnaby Wainfan, Jim Weir, via high resistance and heating of the tom Wilson. “crimped” junction. This could lead Tube Notching Web Editor Omar Filipovic to equipment failure and possibly to Since my article appeared in KIT- Cartoonist Robrucha fire. The failure is caused by lead/solder PLANES® [“Tube-Notching Made ADVERTISING “cold-flowing” after the crimp, physi- Easy,” April 2015], software developer Sr. Advertising Manager Chuck Preston cally loosening the crimped electrical L.B. Corney of Dog Feather Design has 805/382-3363 connection. This pitfall is aggravated by created a new tube-notching program [email protected] heat and mechanical vibrations. that is much more capable than other BUSINESS OFFICE A mechanical crimp with tinned programs currently available. Here’s a Belvoir Media Group, LLC 535 Connecticut Avenue stranded wires may not fail, but when link: http://dogfeatherdesign.com/ttn_ js. Norwalk, CT 06854-1713 life and limb are at risk, one ought never Jeff Point EDITORIAL OFFICE take the chance. I never crimp a lug on a 535 Connecticut Avenue tinned wire. One More Turbine Norwalk, CT 06854-1713 David Benedict First, I would like to thank you for cover- [email protected] ing the PBS TP 100 engine in your June CIRCULATION Marc Ausman responds: Good point. I’ll 2015 issue [“Turbine-Powered RV-10”]. Circulation Manager Laura McMann be sure to include this in a future release of However, I would like to point out that SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT the book. the engine wasn’t mentioned in the Feb- 800/622-1065 ruary 2016 Engine Buyer’s Guide. www.kitplanes.com/cs Fellow Traveler The TP 100 now has 200 hours of P.O. Box 8535, Big Sandy, TX 75755-8535 For Canada: Box 7820 STN Main, London, ON N5Y5W1 I just finished reading Kerry Fores’ flawless flight time plus countless hours article, “On a Wing and a Whim” in the of testing at the factory. It has been avail- REPRINTS FOR PUBLICATION AND WEB POSTING AVAILABLE January 2016 issue. It was a refreshing able for sale for the last two years, and Minimum Order: 500 approach to what is normally found in several engines are presently installed in Contact Jennifer Jimolka, 203/857-3144 aviation magazines. There was no bra- other projects. vado, no exciting situations, nor excla- Christian Skoppe mations of piloting skill. It was simply Turbine Solution Group, Inc. Change of address? a pleasant solo flight by a man in the Missing issue? process of shaking the past and creating Subscription Question? We regret that we missed listing the turbo- a new memory. prop from PBS—especially since we liked Visit www.kitplanes.com/cs. Kerry’s flight was a contradiction to it in the RV-10. Do you know of an engine Or call 800/622-1065 from the U.S. and Canada. the way most of us fly; he had no set plan, that we missed in our Buyer’s Guide this schedule, or specific destination. He just year? Please let us know so that we can add Foreign 903/636-1112 or fax needed something meaningful to do 203/857-3100. it to our database.—Ed. J

Web site Information: General homebuilt aircraft information, back issue availability, online directories ordering info, plus a Kitplanes® article index and selected articles can be found at www.kitplanes.com. Unsolicited manuscripts: are welcome on an exclusive basis, but none can be acknowledged or returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. No responsibility is assumed for loss or damage to unsolicited material. Kitplanes® (ISSN 0891-1851) is published monthly by Aviation Publishing Group, LLC, an affiliate of Belvoir Publications, 535 Connecticut Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06854-1713, Robert Englander, Chairman and CEO; Timothy H. Cole, Exec. Vice Pres./ Editorial Director; Philip L. Penny, COO; Greg King, Exec. Vice Pres./Marketing Dir.; Ron Goldberg, CFO; Tom Canfield, Vice Pres., Circulation. Periodicals postage paid at Norwalk, CT, and at additional mailing offices. Copyright ©2015 Aviation Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. Printed in USA. Revenue Canada GST Account #128044658. Canada Publishing Agreement #40016479. Subscriptions: One year (12 issues) is $29.95 U.S. $41.95 in U.S. funds in Canada, includes GST. $41.95 in U.S. funds for Foreign Surface Mail or $57.95 in U.S. funds for Foreign Air Mail. Single copy price $4.99 U.S., $5.99 Canadian. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes and subscription inquiries to: Kitplanes®, P.O. Box 8535, Big Sandy, TX 75755-8535, or Canada Post: Return undeliverables to P.O. Box 2601, 6915 Dixie Rd, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A9 or call 800/622-1065. Kitplanes® is a registered trademark of Aviation Publishing Group, LLC.

4 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes BY Building the Thatcher CX5

An insider’s view into one of homebuilding’s best-kept secrets. By Glen Bradley

6 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Building an airplane from a kit or With the design work complete, some anxiety. But my faith in Dave and plans is a sizable project that’s bound to Dave started building the CX5 fuselage his design skills enabled me to test-fly take months—and more likely years— frame. But being over 80 years old, he the CX5 without undue stress. Still, to complete. But some folks want even soon had doubts that he could finish it. the first flight was a bit of a challenge, more of a challenge. Not content with That’s when I entered the picture. In late even though the plane flew very nicely just building, they want to design an 2011, I began helping Dave construct and no major adjustments were needed. aircraft, too. the prototype CX5. According to Dave, the CX4 prototype Building the Dave Thatcher is that kind of guy. A had flown the same way on its first flight. longtime A&P with Inspection Autho- Why Me? rization, he designed the Thatcher CX4 I had known Dave and his reputation at Building the Wings [KITPLANES®, March 2011] in his a distance for many years, but I was just When I first got started working with early 70s. A few years later, after com- getting back into flying after a 17-year Dave, I couldn’t help but wonder whether pleting the prototype, he showed up hiatus to raise my kids. I was in phase or not I was up to the task. I had worked Thatcher CX5 at AirVenture, and his good-looking, retirement from being a college profes- on mechanical things all my life, but had economical, single-seat taildragger was sor at the time, so I told Dave I’d help never driven a rivet or worked with sheet an instant hit. Although Dave built the him for a few hours a couple of days a metal. In any homebuilding endeavor CX4 strictly for his own enjoyment, week. I ended up helping him much there are hurdles that must be overcome. he was bombarded with requests for more than that, and when I fully retired, One doubts oneself, and that is normal. plans. He returned home, cleaned up I helped him every weekday until the I wondered if I could develop the new his original drawings, and began sell- aircraft was completed. skills this project demanded. I also knew ing plans, along with a few hard-to- The initial plan was for Dave and I to that I would find out only by trying. And make parts such as the molded canopy build two CX5s—one for his company since others had succeeded, I jumped in. and welded controls. and one for me. About halfway through, The first day of work, Dave showed As of the end of 2015, there are over 600 Dave decided that he would not be fly- me how to trace rib material and cut CX4 builders in 20 countries, and Dave ing anymore (his love is designing and out ribs. I cut ribs out of flat metal for is aware of 49 CX4s that have flown. But building anyway), so we worked out a several days. Fortunately, Dave had not everyone wants a single-place plane. deal such that I could buy the CX5 and, designed the ribs to all be the same Ever since the prototype was finished in return, I could promote it however I except for the tapered wingtip, so the in 2004, Dave has received requests for wanted. Dave is a very gracious person; process was repetitive; I would find that a larger version of the CX4. About five I got a good deal on a plane that I had there are many repetitive processes in years ago, he began working on a two- a big hand in constructing, and he got a building a homebuilt airplane. That seat tandem LSA, the CX5. Available test pilot and promoter. Dave Thatcher’s first design was the single- as a taildragger or with tricycle gear, the I had not really thought out the test seat CX4 (left). It was well received, but aircraft is powered by an 85-horsepower pilot part of our agreement ahead of many people want two seats, so Dave Revmaster R-2300 engine. time and, to be honest, it did cause me followed up with the CX5 (right).

Photos: Sheldon Heatherington and Glen Bradley KITPLANES April 2016 7 (Left) Keeping things level and square is important. (Right) Tapered wingtip also tapers in thickness—elegant aerodynamics and gorgeous, too. repetition saved a lot of time though, Removing the plans is a simple task, as a Thatcher airplane. The only elaborate and the ribs were eventually cut out. I is tracing dot to dot to get the outline tool we used was a rented brake from now had a stack of aluminum, all with of the form block. After this, cut it out Home Depot to bend some of the trail- the same shape and thickness, except on the bandsaw, round the edges, and ing-edge pieces. We were done with it for a few ribs that had to be cut out of you are ready to make ribs. Dave went within an hour, and it cost very little to thicker material to support the wing to great lengths to make his planes easy rent for half a day. tanks. It didn’t look like much, but I to build using simple shop tools, most After cutting out the form blocks, I was proud. I had expected to be proud of which guys already have around: a pounded out ribs with a rubber mallet upon completion of the entire airplane, small bandsaw, a good vise, a small air for days. This was completed by placing but was pleasantly surprised that, along compressor, a drill or two (we found the ribs between two form blocks, plac- the way, I would have many moments the cordless type to be particularly use- ing bolts through the alignment holes, where I smiled both inside and out. ful), screwdrivers, and wrenches. The and then bending the edges over slowly, Next, Dave showed me how to cut entire plane was built using a simple making many passes with the mallet out form blocks—and it was surpris- 4x12-foot workbench made out of 2x4s until getting a nice 90-degree edge. It ingly easy. Take the full-sized plans and plywood with a 3x3-inch angle was amazingly simple—and repetitious. and lay them over the 1x12-inch wood iron edge attached for bending metal. Soon, I had a stack of ribs for both wings. I boarding. Then tape the plans securely When people visit our shop, they are could now see the outline my wing would in place and, with an awl, punch very amazed just how low tech it is. I even have. It was another proud moment. small holes through the plans into have a YouTube video (http://tinyurl. The rest of the wing-building pro- the wood, tracing the rib outline and com/hd62c2h) tour of our shop so you cess proceeded the same way. Cut pieces keeping the spacing close together. can see just how little is needed to build according to plans and assemble the

The author checking nose rib alignment (above). Fastening ribs to the spars is a simple process: level, align, drill, Cleco, rivet, repeat (right).

8 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Simple beginnings: Fuselage construction starts by assembling the forward frame (above). With side skins, windshield, vertical stabilizer, and rudder in place, the CX5 begins to assume its final shape (right). pieces as shown in the plans. Align the things you did when you were start- gear, engine, controls, windshield, radios, everything. Double-check the align- ing out. By the end of the build, you will and instruments. It was then time for me ment. Assemble with Clecoes. Check look back and be amazed at your prog- to start skinning the fuselage. the alignment again. Mount the ribs to ress—and at your accomplishments. You The fuselage was a much more com- the spar. Check alignment. Stand back will also wonder why you doubted if you plex process than the wings because of and admire the wing that is gradually could do it in the first place. The first time the shapes involved in the tapering fuse- taking shape—a wing that you will fly I felt this was when the first wing was lage, but I had developed my skill level one day. Remember to take a picture of completed. It was a definite high point so it worked out well. I simply used stiff the smile that will be on your face. for me. It was the first wing I had ever paper to make full-sized templates for On that note, a word of encourage- built, and it was a wing I would actually each panel and started at the rear so each ment: Piece after piece, an aircraft wing fly. Suddenly, all those days of cutting and new panel could overlap the prior panel. will take shape. Take your time. If you pounding ribs seemed like mere flashes of One day at a time. I took my time and don’t like a piece you cut out, make memory. I had a wing! used Clecoes to get the skin just right another—metal is cheap. But don’t fret if before riveting. I was always afraid of your work isn’t perfect; I recommend you Building the Fuselage ruining a panel somehow by mis-drill- strive for perfection and get it as close as The tail feathers and ailerons went really ing or whatever but, to my amazement, you can. You will be surprised how close fast—much simpler than the wings. The I never did. I did make a few mistakes you can come and how much better you fuselage took longer. While I was build- on some smaller metal parts, but I found will get during the build process. You will ing the wings, Dave was building the that if you make a mistake and ruin a also get faster and learn to not fret over all fuselage frame and mounting the landing piece, you can nearly always put it aside About Dave Thatcher Dave Thatcher’s love of airplanes runs deep. He says his first airplane was a board across a cardboard box when he was a young boy. As an A&P with Inspection Authorization, he worked at repairing and rebuilding aircraft until he retired at age 70. Now in his 82nd year, he has designed two aircraft that are safe, simple to build, and amazingly efficient. Dave is also an artist, so his aircraft are truly beautiful. Dave’s personality is reflected in his designs. He is honest, frugal and thoughtful—and so are his airplanes. They are inexpensive to build and operate, and quite comfortable. Dave is always thinking of first-time builders, so fabricating wing ribs is quick because, except for the tips, they are all the same. No jigs are needed The master, Dave Thatcher, inserting elevator pins on the CX5. for the wings—just a solid, flat table. The tools needed are simple, and that’s good. Visitors to Dave’s hangar are amazed that an aircraft is taking does so regularly. Occasionally, builders even bring by parts they had shape there. They always ask, “Where are all the tools?” Dave is low-tech, trouble making correctly; Dave will typically show them how to do it, and nothing sophisticated is needed to build one of his designs. and I’ve never seen him charge a penny. He truly has his customers’ best Dave is readily available on a daily basis; he keeps his cell phone interests at heart. with him while he works. He is glad to answer builders’ questions and —G.B.

KITPLANES April 2016 9

Thatcher CX5

Estimated completed price (plansbuilt) . . . . $25,000 Estimated completed price (kitbuilt) . . . . . $32,000 Estimated build time (plansbuilt) . . 1000–1200 hours Estimated build time (kitbuilt) . . . . 500–600 hours Powerplant ...... Revmaster R-2300 Propeller ...... 56/48 combo, 54/50 cruise

AIRFRAME Wingspan ...... 28.0 ft Wing loading ...... 10 lb/sq ft Fuel capacity ...... 22 gal (20 gal usable) Maximum gross weight ...... 1320 lb Typical empty weight ...... 721 lb Typical useful load ...... 599 lb Full-fuel payload ...... 479 lb Seating capacity ...... 2 tandem Cabin width ...... 28 in Fuselage side panels have already been drilled, but are riveted on last for easy access to the cockpit during construction. PERFORMANCE Cruise speed ...... 120 mph aluminum—easier to drill out and plenty think you are 90% done, you are really Maximum rate of climb ...... 1000 fpm strong enough, Dave says. I felt certain only half done, but you get busy at the Stall speed ...... 42 mph the plane would fly just fine with only end of the build, and the first thing you Takeoff distance ...... 700 ft half the rivets installed but, of course, I know, it is time to get the plane inspected Landing distance ...... 1000 ft wouldn’t be doing steep turns. The point and take that first flight. Specifications are manufacturer’s estimates and are based on the configuration of the demonstrator aircraft. is, the Thatcher CX5 is overbuilt. At this point, the days went by First Flight and cut a smaller piece out of it later, slowly—lots of repetition. I fell into a I was not paid for my work while build- reducing waste. routine, but the accomplishment of each ing the CX5 prototype, so Dave allowed I also learned that, with few excep- day—a new side panel, a finished vertical me to fly the CX4 prototype all that I tions, one could even mis-drill a rivet fin, the attachment of the landing gear— wished. It had recently been converted and fix it later by drilling the correct hole made some days quite rewarding. I must to a nosewheel, so it was configured and filling the extra hole with a rivet. admit though, for a long time the first the same way as the CX5 prototype. Thankfully I only had to do this once flight was a very distant fantasy—as they I put over 200 hours on it during the or twice, and only in non-critical areas. I say, “In a galaxy far, far away.” I would construction of the CX5, and it was also learned that rivets are strong. I used also say that the first flight just might a superb way for me to get back in the stainless steel ones, but the plans call for sneak up on you. It is true that when you groove of flying after a 17-year break. Revmaster R-2300 Engine Every experienced pilot I take up in the CX5 is impressed by the performance of this 85-hp, 142.2-cubic-inch engine. Most find it hard to believe that the aircraft isn’t actually powered by a 100-hp O-200. Even with my son in the back, I have a superb rate of climb in the Florida heat and humidity; on my first flight I was startled by the rate of climb. You can for yourself on YouTube (http://tinyurl.com/orh2fuz and http://tinyurl.com/ j5365cj). I love the redundancy built into the R-2300: two 20-amp alterna- tors, eight coils, four electronic ignition systems, a mechanical fuel pump with an electric backup, plus an enormous oil pump with oil cooler. There’s also a huge front bearing for prop loads that resembles a certified engine, and the R-2300 can use auto fuel as well as 100LL. Each engine is fully assembled at the factory and dyno tested. In over 325 hours, the Revmaster hasn’t missed a beat, and oil consumption is so low that no oil has to be added between oil changes at 25 hours. My engine runs totally dry; except for a drop or two occasionally out of the breather tube, there is no oil on the engine. None! It is truly “the little engine that can,” and I feel very confident behind it. —G.B.

10 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Roomy cockpit is 28 inches wide. Recessed side panels add 3 more inches for elbows.

So there I sat, a retired college profes- sor, one day before my 66th birthday and 110 years to the day after the Wright brothers made their historic first flight on December 17, 1903. I was strapped into a prototype—not a kit or proven aircraft—wondering just how I had become a test pilot. I have thousands of hours in multiple aircraft, but I had only flown the single-place CX4 during the previous two years. I knew that the CX4 was a very predictable aircraft, stable and easy to fly, with no bad traits at all. But I had no way of knowing if the prototype CX5 would behave the same way. I started with some high-speed taxi- ing, made one intended liftoff, and was ready to go. I pushed in full power, raised the nose a smidge at 40 mph and waited to rotate at about 55. Too late—I was off and climbing at over 1300 fpm at 50. What a ride—and all on 85 hp. It felt like it was well over 100 hp. I immediately noticed the visibility was fantastic, the best of any of the 60 aircraft I have flown. I arrived at pattern altitude, 1000 feet agl, well before the end of the 7000-foot runway. Leveling off and letting the speed build, I quickly passed 100 mph and had to throttle way back. What a performer! My glide to landing was normal, and the flare was, too. The landing was smooth, and directional control was straight as an arrow. What a great design! Dave and I both smiled really big all the way home. Of course, if you build a Thatcher airplane, you will not have to test-fly a

KITPLANES April 2016 11 prototype as I did. To prepare, I read minor corrections. Steep turns require elegant, not only in how it looks, but the book, Flight Testing Homebuilt exactly the amount of control force also in its aerodynamics. It is a well Aircraft by Vaughan Askue and found pilots dream about, and therefore, it is thought out design. it very useful, even as an experienced very intuitive to fly. The rudder is large enough to coun- pilot. Flight testing requires a different Beginning pilots find that the CX5’s teract the torque on takeoff, and the perspective, and this book will help you differential ailerons make turns easy. offset fin and small rudder tab keep the adjust to that perspective. I have flown turns with aileron only ball centered at cruise. Elevator forces and with rudder only, which can be are light, but not twitchy, and there is Flying the CX5 seen on YouTube (http://tinyurl.com/ plenty of elevator to keep the nosewheel The CX5 is a simple, straight flying air- zbm568v), but when used together, a off the runway after touchdown, all the craft with no frills. If there is one word turn becomes a thing of joy. When my way down to 30 mph or so if desired. that describes how it flies, it is honest. non-pilot passengers make their first I find a nice touchdown speed is a bit It does what you ask it to do effortlessly turns ever, they smile from ear to ear; above a stall, at about 50 mph. and without complaint—no more, no experienced pilots smile even more. The CX5 is stable in all three axes, less. It has very good control response, The CX5 flies the way a small general so hands-off on cross-countries is easy; but is in no way overly sensitive. Just aviation plane ought to fly, but many trim for both elevator and aileron really using your fingertips will suffice for don’t. That is because the design is helps. The plane has 10 gallons useable CX5 Ergonomics Dave and I spent a great deal of time trying out different seat angles, rudder positions, and control positions. I was 270 pounds at the time, and Dave is 6 feet 2, so we made sure that big and tall guys would be comfortable in both the front and the back. To accommodate people of all sizes, legroom, both front and rear, can be adjusted by rudder pedal placement and cushion thickness. The throttle hand falls comfortably to the throttle lever on the left side because one rests one’s arm on the side cover, resulting in low fatigue, especially in rough air. Same for trim control on the right. The control stick is bent perfectly, so one’s right arm rests on one’s leg. The panel is just the right distance away so radio and altimeter can be reached without leaning forward. The seat pan and back is just the The author loves the CX5’s roomy cockpit and superb visibility. right angle, too, and getting in is easy with the front step. The view out of the canopy is so good, it is startling at first—even Getting the ergonomics right took time, but it is built into the plans, in a climb. On cross-countries one sits there, both arms supported so when you build a CX5, it will be comfortable for you. Check out comfortably, flying hands off or with fingertips, with a stunning view YouTube (http://tinyurl.com/o4bmvds) and see for yourself. over the nose. —G.B.

12 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Now, a wireless sync is easier than you’d think. With Garmin G3X™ Touch.

The newest G3X™ Touch displays now feature built-in Connext™ wireless link capability that lets you stream information to/from your Apple iPad® (or other compatible mobile devices) via Bluetooth®. This means you can use your Garmin Pilot™ app to do advance fl ight planning on your iPad – and then quickly upload the waypoints into your G3X integrated fl ight deck system once you’re at the airport. On the fl ip side, you can also use the link to stream subscription-free weather and traffi c from an ADS-B datalink* – as well as G3X-based backup attitude and rock-solid GPS input – onto your iPad for added situational awareness in fl ight. You can even use the link to view and wirelessly control Garmin’s VIRB® Elite action camera*. So you can record, upload and relive your aerial adventures in awesome HD video.

To learn more, visit our website: Garmin.com/experimental

22032 G3X Connext Ad-Kitplanes.indd 1 1/6/15 7:47 AM fuel in each wing, but even with one tank empty and one full, a nudge of aileron trim levels things up. I fly for months and never touch the aileron trim. The CX5 climbs well over a wide speed range. One can climb anywhere from 60 mph up to cruise with no problems. At lower speeds some rudder is needed but, above 75 mph or so, it is very slight and decreases to zero at cruise. Stalls are a nonevent, with solid nibbles and then a mush into a sink. A slight release of back pressure, and it is flying again immediately—it is very well behaved. The electrically operated speed brake helps the slick airplane slow down for landings. The CX5 is stable in pitch; it resumes normal flight speed after an oscillation come in too fast and float quite a bit. To far away from the airport and get a big or two, depending on speed. It is stable remedy this, one can side slip the plane bump in speed while descending. in bank with only a slight overbanking or use the electric speed brake on the The CX5 is clever in many ways, but tendency in very steep turns. In terms of belly, activated by a momentary switch. the wing design really stands out. It’s stability it flies much like a Cessna, but It takes three seconds up or down, and tapered in aerodynamic terms, but all is more responsive and much lighter on there is a green light on the panel for of the main ribs are the same for ease of the controls. It is a clean airplane, and up and a red light for down. It doubles construction. The taper is achieved by the it attains a glide ratio of 13:1, so it will the descent rate with only a small pitch aileron alone being tapered. The wingtips glide much farther than, say, a Cessna at change. I like to leave the speed brake taper even more and become thinner as 8:1. The CX5 will float in ground effect down at fly-ins just because it is cool the bottom side tapers up to the tip. It’s an if any excess speed is used during flare. looking. The clean aerodynamic lines elegant design, yet quite simple to build. Like the CX4, this means the approach also allow for speed to build quickly All of these features make the CX5 speed is quite slow so, at first, some guys downhill, so one can start descents efficient—both to build and to operate.

14 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes I simply oil the control surfaces twice a year, wash the plane, check the tire pressure, and fly nearly every day at sunrise. The Bottom Line To date, over 60 sets of CX5 plans have been sold, and several customer-built projects are expected to fly this year. The aircraft is a roomy two-place tandem with awesome visibility and a powerful, inexpensive engine. It cruises fast; lands slow; is easy to fly, yet responsive; and is available with tricycle or conventional The CX5’s sleek lines are always admired on any ramp and give it superb fuel economy. gear. It can be built from plans with simple hand tools for under $25,000, I have never flown an aircraft that does of oil and filter changes (Valvoline Rac- including the Revmaster R-2300 engine. so much on so little fuel. It is a genuine ing oil 20W-50) and valve adjustments, Pre-drilled kits are also available (at extra two-place airplane that is comfortable which are quick and easy. The engine has cost), and builder support is excellent. No for two big guys. Oh, and it is a gorgeous never missed a lick and seems even more wonder it’s been called one of the best- airplane to boot. powerful after break-in. I often fly at 20 kept secrets in homebuilt aviation. J inches manifold pressure (about 60–65% Long-Term Evaluation power) and cruise around 100 mph just For more information visit www. After more than 325 hours spread over sipping fuel. I climb at 24–25 inches m.p. cx4community.com, call 850-712-4539, about 300 flights, the CX5 has proven so as not to run over the C-172s in the or send email to: [email protected]. to be very reliable and comfortable. pattern. I use a mixture of 70% 91-octane There are also over 50 CX5 videos on Routine engine maintenance consists no-ethanol auto fuel and 30% 100 LL. YouTube.

KITPLANES April 2016 15 Promises, Promises– Remembering Jim Bede Sr.

“Aviation is full of complicated promises…” –Richard Collins, retired editor, Flying magazine By Amy Laboda

Jim Bede Sr. made lots of promises, risk-averse majority, are quick to con- He was one of more than a few classically convincingly, if you ask around, and demn them publicly, loudly, and with trained aircraft engineers pumped out of even delivered on a few of them. much self-righteousness. There are some American universities in the 1950s who His legacy, however, is considerably risk takers who are humbled by these were being pushed to save the USA from more than any promise, fulfilled or public shamings. They learn to walk its greatest nemesis: the Soviet menace otherwise, that he ever made. the narrow line and never glance right (do you remember Sputnik?). Bede joined There are in this world, a few people or left—never to yearn for more. Fewer that effort at North American Aviation, whose nature is to think big—really still are the mavericks who rise again and where he worked on projects such as the big. Whether they are nurtured to this again, sometimes learning from their F-4, F-100, and A-3 Vigilante. mindset as children by adoring and failures, until they succeed. And when all-empowering parents or whether they do succeed, they bring to the world BD-1 they spring from their mother’s loins new and wonderful inventions that By 1961 young Bede felt ready for some- full-formed and hell-bent on stepping, we all want. Our world is a safer, more thing new. Always a proponent for light rolling, heck—hurling themselves off communicative, more fun and infinitely aircraft, he partnered with his father every cliff they encounter in life—I smaller place because of these brave, and friends Don Keck, Larry Schnei- can’t tell you. reckless souls. der, and Dick Jiminez to produce an This I can tell you: those people are Not a one of those guys lives a perfect airplane that “everyman” could fly. born into this world ready to take risks. life. Let’s take aircraft engineer, designer, Better than that, he wanted it to be an Most of them fail miserably, and we, the and fabricator Jim Bede Sr. as an example. airplane that everyman could buy. The

16 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes BD-1 was conceived as a kit aircraft, Promises, Promises– something few, if any others, were doing (there were plenty of plans for aircraft out there at the time). It was comprised of 385 distinct parts, of which 175 were Remembering Jim Bede Sr. interchangeable. Those interchangeable parts were key to both its price point (cheaper to manufacture) and the sim- plicity of its build. The airplane relied on bonding to fuse its large parts together—something altogether new for light aviation. Bede demonstrated the process to Popular The BD-1 evolved into the factory-built Mechanics writer Kevin Brown around Grumman American AA-1. 1964, who marveled at how quickly the structural parts could be set in a jig and then literally glued together with pheno- flight-training facility at the nearby air- BD-2 and BD-4 lic and epoxy resins. The airplane had a port in Springfield, Ohio. It all looked Not to be discouraged, and still own- unique tubular spar that was strong, and great on paper. So great that investors ing a small piece of the company, Bede super-light (for the time) honeycomb got onboard early, hoping to take the kit went back to the drawing board. Soon aluminum was used for the floor, bulk- into full production as a 14 CFR Part after the BD-1 was no longer his project, head, and cockpit sidewalls, as well as 23 certified airplane. And then, as is he set several endurance aloft records in the rear bulkheads. The prototype was often the case, things got slow. Promises his BD-2, a one-off design that looked flown by Brown for that 1964 article, seemed to take forever to fulfill. And a lot like a Schweizer SGS 2-32 glider and he liked its handling characteristics. they seemed to take more money than with an engine on its nose. It was, how- Bede planned on having a range of first forecast. ever, much more. The aircraft fuel capac- engines available for what he touted as In 1965 Fred Lemmon, a Cleveland ity was 565 gallons. He nicknamed it any and everyman’s airplane. Published industrialist, came in and succeeded “LOVE,” an acronym for “Low Orbit, (forecast) speeds at 65% power ranged at taking over the project and forming Very Efficient.” from 112 mph to 145 mph. The wings a new company, American Aviation, By May 1969 Bede was in Popular included a quick-disconnect function which was eventually scooped up by Mechanics again; this time Brown was for home storage. The engine included Grumman. The airplane, with a few writing about the BD-4 kit aircraft. And a swing-away cowling that allowed com- key changes, was produced without again, Brown liked the airplane. The plete and quick access for the mechanic. any more Bede influence, as the AA-1 BD-4 was not as sexy as the little fighter It seemed he’d thought of everything. and later at Grumman, with its much BD-1, but it was eminently buildable, Beyond production facilities for the loved, more powerful derivatives. Look ostensibly because of the exquisitely aircraft kits, Bede planned an elabo- around—you’ll see Grumman Yankees, detailed plans that Bede had created for rate sales and service center, as well as a Travelers and Tigers still flying. the aircraft. Popular Mechanics liked

(Left) Bede poses for pictures with his record-setting BD-2, a one-off homebuilt purpose built for efficiency. (Right) Bede at the controls of the BD-2.

Photos: Courtesy of Jim Bede Jr. KITPLANES April 2016 17 the airplane so much that it agreed to sell the plans for Bede ($30 a pop back then). It also included some new technologies, including plastic wingskin panels that slipped over the skeleton and were bonded into place, saving the builder hours of riveting or rib stitching. The article cutline reads, “Bede’s newest airplane is the easiest to construct yet. The wings come ready-made and most of the fuselage just bolts together.” Seri- ously, look it up. The four-place airplane was booked at 166 mph using a 150-hp engine, according to the article. Handling? Brown again Jim Bede (far right) shows off his BD-4B to an eager crowd. flew a prototype, this one with a 160-hp engine. It made 162 mph cruise and flew like a solid cross-country machine. BD-5 decidedly homely looking, but solid-fly- What made the BD-4 truly unique, The 1970s were a different time. Per- ing BD-4 kits (the numbers vary but suf- however, was that its components would haps you lived through them? Do you fice it to say plenty), had flipped back to be shipped to the buyer in seven distinct remember Nixon? Lining up for gaso- his everyman’s fighter idea, and the design kits, one at a time, for $2,940, minus line? A recession that seemed to last for- prototype he showed up with at the EAA the engine. Years later Bede would write ever? In the middle of all of this, in the Fly-In the summer of 1971 was making about it, “Since the BD-4 was truly the little town of Newton, Kansas, an odd pilots everywhere hot and bothered. first homebuilt kit aircraft, I was not sort of phenomenon was happening. “The BD-5 was just sexy,” said Richard sure how close a builder would follow “Employees of Bede Aircraft showed Collins, then editor of Flying magazine, the drawings. I wanted the structure to up early and never went home,” smiled remembering the time well. The little be nearly foolproof for construction. For stunt pilot Corkey Fornof, one of those airplane looked just like a mini-fighter, example, there are many areas where we employees, remembering. “Bede knew and could be equipped with either a pis- had more screws than would be required talent, and he brought it to Newton to ton engine (pusher prop) or, for those to just meet the structure loads. It is so help him refine the BD-5,” he continued. with the moxie, a turbojet (BD-5J). foolproof that even an aeronautical engi- Who did Bede hire? Do you know a guy It was set up for one soul in the cock- neer could build the first one.” named Burt Rutan? How about Boeing pit. The control forces on the airplane It was a formula that worked, and kits test pilot and FAA certification inspector were light and responsive. Talking about went out the door, providing cash flow Les Berven? Dan Cooney, Bob Bishop, the aircraft’s then unique side stick, test for a radical new design that was already Deb Gary, Al Thompson…should I stop? pilot Les Berven wrote, “By decreasing in his head—a design that would both Why were they there? Because Bede, the pilot’s force capability to that avail- make and break him—the BD-5. after selling more than 800 of the able from his wrist, the aircraft and

The BD-4C is still sold by Jim Bede Jr.’s company, Bedecorp.

18 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes This BD-5B was built by Albert C. Beckwith and Peter K. Graichen. It flew in 1978 with a modified Honda engine. The two flew it nine hours before donating it to the Smithsonian in 1984. pilot forces are matched; and although deposits of $400 to grab their place in the stick forces are very light, they feel line for a BD-5 kit. absolutely normal. I really believe the But there were problems. If you ask side stick is the optimum system for Fornof, he’d tell you that Bede was no very small aircraft, and I don’t think the different than any of the other prolific BD-5 would be a success without it.” aircraft designers of the 1950s-1970s. With a few engineering refinements “They all, and I mean Beech and Cessna, provided by those capable engineers wanted to continually improve their air- on Bede’s staff, the airplane flew like a planes…slowing down bringing them to dream, according to the likes of airshow sale,” he explained. But Walter Beech pilots Bob Bishop (he purchased 20 of had his wife, Olive Ann, who ran the the jet version), Corkey Fornof, Deb company and pushed him to clean it Gary, and writer-pilots Jack Olcott, up, lock-in a production prototype, and Richard Bach, and more. worry about changes later. Clyde Cess- Yet everyone was a skeptic about na’s wife brought her nephew, Dwane whether Bede could bring the airplane Wallace, in to do the job. Don’t think to market, at least in the press of the that they weren’t watching Bede back day. To counter assertions that the air- then, because they were. The bigger man- plane was difficult to fly, the company ufacturers even quietly used him to con- brought a series of ordinary pilots to the sult on some of their own troublesome airshow—even a girl!—and had them issues. And if he’d gotten the BD-5’s fly demos in the airplane for the crowd. piston-engine and drivetrain problem Even BD-5J owner Richard Bach gave worked out before his cash flow ran out, Bede a hard time in print, but he loved Bede may just have been a force in the the airplane all the same. The crowds at light-plane market of the 1980s. the EAA Fly-In loved the airplane, too, and came out to see it. Engine and Financial Troubles “Bede used pure showmanship to Bede was generous with his time and sell that airplane,” remembered Col- that of his employees, ready to problem- lins. “He knew how to project this solve for his kit customers. There is no bubbling enthusiasm he had for his question of that, and they loved him for designs, and people went for them.” A it. He knew well how to promote his BD-5J demo team traveled the airshow products, too. circuit showing off the airplane’s Turns out, though, that Bede was maneuverability and performance. not much of a businessman. He didn’t People came to airshows to see it and manage the cash flow. He didn’t have were inspired to learn to fly, hoping anyone effective pushing him to pro- just to fly it. Thousands put down duction. He kept refining the airplane,

KITPLANES April 2016 19 was designing a variable-pitch prop (not a constant-speed prop) that was refined for this engine. It had a takeoff position, high-cruise position, low-cruise position, and feathered position. Unfortunately, that all came too late to save the company, and a lot of money evaporated, much of it Bede’s personal monies, but plenty of other people’s money, too. “I was initially angry about losing my deposit,” said R.J. Siegel, these days chief technology officer for One Avia- tion. “But later on I got to know the man and admire him. I understood that he was this eternal optimist. He always thought that these roadblocks were just another little developmental problem The BD-10J was something altogether that with time he could fix.” different in homebuilt aviation. So was the price tag. In 1979 bankruptcy proceedings ended with an FTC decree stating that Bede would not take deposits from anyone for any product for a period of 10 aiming beyond the kit toward taking though he was pretty sure he still had years. He honored that settlement. He the aircraft into production, even while enough fuel in the tanks to get there. was not, however, idle. During the decade he went through engine manufacturer Sipping fuel at 1.8 gph at full throttle, he created a couple of highly efficient after engine manufacturer trying to find it was a sight better than the fuel con- land vehicles with his cousin, and began a workable piston powerplant (the jet sumption on the BD-5J, which gave conceptualizing and sketching out some- engine, a 225-thrust-hp Sermel TRS-18- you about 40 minutes of useable flight, thing—wait for it—altogether different. 046 turbojet, worked fine). Guys who with a reserve, according to Fornof. flew in front of the Hirth engine were “That engine was just what the BD-5 BD-10J apt to tell you that the aircraft equipped needed. It was cost effective and the Just a few weeks past the 10-year mark, with that engine was a really good latest technology, everything Jim ever in 1989, Bede resurfaced with another glider. Even Richard Collins watched wanted in a machine,” he said. Bede radical aircraft design. This time Bede Jack Olcott deftly set down the airplane after flying it for a magazine pilot report (he landed it just fine, on airport, by the way) in 1973. Kits were being delivered, but many were waiting for powerplants, among other parts. The sheer volume of materials Bede suddenly needed was overwhelm- ing for his suppliers. How many kits went out? Estimates are as high as 5000. An engine did finally come along. “The Xenoah engine, from Japan, a three-cylinder, two-stroke, was fantastic,” remembered Fornof, who flew a BD-5 equipped with it (and standard 40 gallons of fuel) from Newton, Kansas, to Memphis, to Atlanta, to Pensacola, to New Orleans, to Houston, and, feel- ing a little wary at that point, had the line guy throw in five gallons a side Jim Bede Sr. (right) speaks at a LoPresti First Saturday event. He’s flanked by his good friend before heading back to Newton, even and skilled BD-5 pilot Corkey Fornof (left).

20 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes started with a proven engine, the Gen- eral Electric CJ 610 turbojet producing 2950 pounds of thrust, and essentially pulled from his basket of knowledge honed at North American Aviation, to create an airplane he hoped would be every pilot’s dream. It sure looked dreamy, like a mini F-15. Its performance? Once again, Bede wowed them. William Garvey wrote in Popular Mechanics that “Bede expects he can deliver a BD-10J kit, less engine, for around $160,000 USD.” The airplane’s projected specifications blew Garvey out of the water, but he was looking at it on paper, and there it said it was designed to fly at Mach 1.4. At the time three aircraft were under construction in Mojave, California, and were meant for the airshow circuit, initially. A few years later, in 1994, Aviation Week writer William Scott said in a pilot report that went four pages long that it flew like a fighter, the airplane hurtling from standing still on the runway to 29,000 feet in six minutes flat. “The airplane was an absolute delight to fly, but most general aviation pilots will definitely need some training and practice before they will feel comfortable with the BD-10J’s attention-getting performance,” Scott wrote. Interviewed in the article, Bede admitted that the airplane would “fill a niche.” By that time the idea of selling an airplane as complicated as the BD-10J was beginning to look to be very difficult. “The FAA probably could have worked better with Dad on figuring out how to certify these jets as homebuilts,” Jim Bede Jr., by then an adult with his own construction business, remembered. Fornof felt the same way. The FAA, though, was not the only problem with the BD-10J program. It had teething issues, particularly with its tail, and demanded a fix. Bede created one, but after yet another crash in the mid-1990s, the NTSB report put to question whether the fix was enough. Soon the aircraft’s pedigree became muddied; there was the Peregrine, the Fox-10…. Interest from the Canadian and Portu- guese militaries never panned out. And by 1997 Bede Jet went bankrupt.

KITPLANES April 2016 21 Jim Bede Jr. and the BD-17 “I watched two guys build it in about 40 bankruptcies,” he continued. “As part of Jim Bede Sr. did have a couple of other hours, and then everything about the remembering Dad, we’ve started a foun- smaller aircraft in development in the airplane was designed for easy mainte- dation. We take abandoned kits back, 1990s, but until Jim Bede Jr. began work- nance,” he continued. refurbish them, and we are now donating with his dad to manage Bedecorp, the Bill Koleno of Titan Aircraft remem- ing them to STEM programs at schools business side of, well, the business, didn’t bers Jim Bede Sr. in those lean years. “I for the students to build as part of their go so well. “I think Dad really hated the started helping Jim out machining parts education. So far we’ve located 20 kits, business of aviation,” he said. “I’ll be hon- and doing math for his designs…we had and we’ve got a couple going out the door est—that strained our relationship.” a lot in common. He likes to make stuff, already,” he said. He’s excited when the Bede Jr. found out quickly that he like me. He’d come by with a roll of blue- kids write to the program, telling him loved the aviation business. “It was so prints and we’d talk about designs, such why they want to build an airplane. It entirely different from construction.” Of as the BD-11, a 4-place BD-10, I think; gives him hope for general aviation. course, it isn’t a business for people who and the BD-25, a 4-place little twin jet,” don’t understand that you might have he recalled. “His designs all had key hall- Moving Forward to lose money to develop your product, marks: that honeycomb aluminum and Today Bedecorp sells the BD-17L (an either. Bedecorp felt the squeeze with a tubular spar.” ELSA), right next to the BD-4c, an the rest of light aviation during the deep Koleno was heartbroken when his improved version of the BD-4, and the recession of 2008-2012. friend died suddenly last July of an BD-6, a single-place version of the BD-4 “We lost money, but we got through aneurysm. “Jim had a huge heart and designed in the 1970s. It was working it,” remembered Bede Jr. “We all strug- was such a family man. He cared about on a two-place BD-22L last spring. All gled through, with some companies not aviation, and he paved the way for of the airplanes can be purchased as sev- selling a single kit in a year. But we kept so many other kit builders,” he said. eral smaller kits, or one complete kit, coming back to AirVenture and working “What I liked about him was he owned and all of them can be built at the com- our booth.” up to his mistakes—he never hid from pany’s builder-assist facility at St. Lucie One of the reasons Bedecorp got the crowd. And he was always there for County International Airport in Fort through it was because Jim Bede Sr. was his builders, and even other kit manu- Pierce, Florida, if the buyer chooses still developing interesting airplanes, facturers, like me,” he continued. to get help with assembly. Jim Bede Jr. this time in the realm of LSAs. The Jim Jr. misses his father, too. AirVenture hopes the company can continue his BD-17, looking eerily like its big brother, 2015 will be forever memorable for him father’s legacy through the solid gen- the BD-1, was first announced in 2000, because of how many people came up to eral aviation designs that are eminently and like its older sibling, consisted of few him with stories about his father. buildable. Everyman’s airplane, really. parts. It entered flight testing in 2003 “My dad went all in with aviation,” Just as Jim Sr. would have had it. J and proved to be a sweet-handling, easy- he said. “It’s not like he ever kept back to-fly airplane. a penny for himself. He lost everything. Grumman American AA-1A: aeroprints.com “I took one flight and I was hooked on But he’s not alone. Kit aircraft manu- [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/ the little one-place,” said Corkey Fornof. facturing is littered with stories about licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Jim Bede Jr. is marketing the BD-17 as an ELSA kit.

22 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Booths D39-42

OVER HALF THE WORLD CAN’T BE WRONG.

Maybe it’s because we’re preferred by industry experts everywhere, chosen by over half the world’s general aviation fleet. Or perhaps it’s that our engines boast decades of reliability and unrivaled durability. These qualities help, but what really makes us the world’s engine is our global footprint of unparalleled customer service, support and distribution. Pilots across the globe trust Lycoming. #TheWorldsEngine

LYCOMING.COM

LYC0029 Tagline Ad_KitPlanes_FullPage.indd 1 12/24/15 10:28 AM Vacuum Forming Leading Edges

Making long, straight bends in sheet metal is easier than you think. By Paul Dye When you buy an all-metal homebuilt pieces one at a time. And trying to bend a easy they have made it. In fact, you’re kit, you generally get a whole lot of cut long, large-radius piece using home tool- going to be shocked at just how simple sheet metal parts, usually with rib and ing seems impossible—but only because it really is. All you need is a flat table, a bulkhead flanges already bent for you, they haven’t seen it done! few strips of 1x2-inch wood to make a and several large sheets of aluminum One of the neat things about visiting frame the size of the table, some heavy- that have been bent with beautiful lead- kit manufacturers is the chance to see gauge plastic painter’s sheet, and an old ing edge curves. These tail and wingskins how they make parts. In a recent visit to vacuum cleaner. are often the largest parts in the box, and Hummel Aviation, makers of the Hum- when builders have problems during con- mel Bird, UltraCruiser, and H5 kits, we Building the Table struction, they dread making a mistake got a chance to observe a very simple The Hummel vacuum table has a sheet that might lead to replacing one of these technique that they use for making these of plywood for a top, with a hole cut near skins because they can just see the dol- skins with long, beautiful bends—and one end to fit the suction hose from an lar signs associated with shipping such you’re going to be surprised at just how old, tired home vacuum. Inserted into

24 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes The vacuum table is powered by an old The blank piece is wrapped into a teardrop shape and fastened with duct tape. household vacuum. A shop vac could also be used. the top of the hole is a PVC angle (avail- Making the Bend squeezed down by the plastic sheet. The able at almost any hardware store) to With the table complete, you take the flat vacuum is not all that powerful when help direct the airflow through the part. skin that has been cut to size and curl it measured in psi—but multiply the psi Their frame is a simple rectangle, big around into a teardrop shape, taping the by the area of the piece, and figure out enough to enclose the largest part that edges together with duct tape. If this is the forces involved! You’ll be surprised needs to be bent—in most cases, a lead- going to be a small-radius part, like a sta- at just how flat it becomes. When it ing-edge wingskin. The heavy, translu- bilizer skin, place it in the vacuum table appears that the compression has ceased, cent plastic is wrapped around the frame so that the taped edge and the future turn off the vacuum and open the lid; at the edges and stapled in place. The leading edge are parallel to the tabletop the new leading edge will have taken a frame is then hinged to the back of the and located near the vacuum hole angle nice set, and the final curvature will be table to allow it to be flipped up. Frankly, fitting. Now close the lid, making sure determined when you attach the ribs the technique would work without the that the vacuum hole is not blocked, and that go underneath the skin. hinges, but they probably only cost a turn on the vacuum. couple of bucks at the hardware store, Watch what happens next: The plastic Large-Diameter Bends so why not make your vacuum table the is sucked down against the tabletop and If you need a large-radius curve for a envy of the neighborhood? workpiece, then slowly, the workpiece is wingskin, insert a suitable round pipe

Place the taped blank on the table with the open end next to the The frame with the plastic sheet is closed onto the tabletop, cover- vacuum source. ing the piece to be formed.

Photos: Paul Dye KITPLANES April 2016 25 The vacuum is turned on and it begins sucking air out of the As most of the plastic becomes sucked down tight, the work piece enclosed space. is squeezed down.

(PVC will do) into place before begin- bend to specific molded shape—you are that “rolling your own” is a very viable ning the operation. The table will still just putting in a nice curve and letting the option. And, of course, if you’re build- suck it down tight, but this time, around ribs set the shape during assembly. ing from scratch, or to plans, the vacuum the pipe, making for a much more gen- So the next time you are deciding table could quickly solve a great number tle bend. With the vacuum turned off, whether or not to replace a damaged skin, of forming problems. This is true home- you’ve got a wing leading edge! The key and you find shipping costs becoming a building at work. Not only do you make to remember is that you are not trying to driving factor in your decision, remember the parts—you make the tools. J

At some point, the work piece will stop collapsing—that is time to With the vacuum turned off, the plastic will billow, releasing the turn off the vacuum, as the work has been done. workpiece, which will have taken a nice set.

Voilà! A nice new vertical stabilizer skin is formed. With the tape removed, the piece will expand, but the leading edge has been formed and will conform to the ribs when assembled.

26 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes See What’s New at David Clark Visit Booth #C8 & C9 Sun N’ Fun

On ﬂ ights like this, the last thing you want to think about is your headset.

At David Clark Company, we understand the importance The best-selling H10-13.4 sets the of a comfortable, quality headset. A headset you can count standards for quality on, hour after hour, fl ight after fl ight. One that is so reliable and performance for passive noise- and dependable, you never have to give it a second thought. attenuating A headset that is backed by industry-leading customer headsets. service, so that you’ll feel just as comfortable owning one, as you will fl ying one. That’s why hundreds of thousands of pilots have chosen The technologically David Clark headsets. What are you fl ying? advanced, intelligently designed DC PRO-X. Visit www.davidclark.com, or call 800-298-6235 Aviation’s ‘Best for more information. Value’, full-featured ANR headset. ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT

Made In USA

230-32383 DC Brand 7.875X1050KP.indd 1 1/18/16 3:25 PM Using a 3D printer to make an avionics fan shroud. By Dave Forster

“The only thing cheap in aviation is fan, which can be found on eBay for Robinson or Rube Goldberg would pilots,” my wife declared, glaring across about $5–$10. be proud of. A second option is to 3D the table. However, the avionics fans have print an adapter. I’m pretty sure she wasn’t thinking nice, 7/8-inch outlets to connect to scat If you don’t know how to 3D print, about aviation in general at the time. hose, which feeds into the tube connec- learning will take a small investment of However, it isn’t economically effi- tors on the back of the avionics trays, time and a smaller amount of money— cient to spend more than needed for a whereas the square computer fan is, something that most Experimental given element of functionality, right? At well…square, which raises the prob- builders have plenty of experience at least, that’s my defense. lem of trying to fit a round tube into a doing (except maybe the “small amount There are lots of opportunities to square hole. of money” part). spend money in aviation, but Experi- There are at least two ways to address Confession: I don’t know what I’m mental aircraft provide an opportunity this problem. One is to use a variety of doing with 3D printing. I’m a newbie and for some frugality, too—or at least, rela- PVC adapters, fittings, and duct tape still have lots to learn. This article will tively speaking. One of the areas that from the aviation aisle of the hard- share some of the things learned so far. stands out is in avionics cooling, with ware store. While this works, it yields 3D printing is pretty magical. Draw “proper” cooling fans costing close to a bulky and not-very-professional-look- it on the screen and print out some- $200, compared to a computer cooling ing installation that cartoonists Heath thing that can be held in the hand. It’s

28 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes not terribly difficult, but there are some Step 2 frustrating parts where the computer Measure the fan. This will require a absolutely refuses to do the intuitive micrometer. 3D printing is now accurate thing. Some experience in drawing stuff to fractions of an inch, to the point where on the computer will definitely come in parts with friction fit and even printed handy, but it’s not required. hole threads are possible, although they To illustrate how the process works, are crude and not as good as tapped here is a step-by-step guide to print a threads. Plan on specifying dimensions four-tube fan adapter shroud using to the nearest hundredth of an inch. Autodesk’s Inventor 3D CAD (Com- After drawing a square on the x-z (tabletop) plane (Step 3), extrude the square into a puter Aided Design) program. Step 3 cube (Step 4). Fire up Inventor and draw a square Step 1 which matches the outside dimensions then build it up or down on the “y” Obtain a fan. In this case, the fan used of the fan (in this case, 3.15 inches on axis. Selecting the “x-z” plane is the was 80mm (3.15 inches) on a side and a side). To do this, you must first select first step when commencing a new was purchased on eBay for under $10. the “plane” that you want to draw the drawing in Inventor. Pay attention to the CFM (Cubic Feet circle on. Most graphs have an “x” and per Minute) ratings; if the shroud will a “y” axis. In 3D CAD, a third axis, Step 4 have only one outlet, a high powered fan the “z” axis is used. If you think of the Extrude the square into a flat cube. This is probably not required (and a smaller “x” and “y” axes as being the left/right is the process by which a 2D shape (the fan might work better). However, if the and up/down axes on a piece of paper, square) is stretched into a 3D shape (the output is being split into several tubes then “z” is the in/out axis. When a 3D cube). It’s actually a pretty easy and fun like in this example, a higher CFM rat- printer does its thing, it will be print- step. This cube only needs to be deep ing (and higher amperage draw and/or ing on a horizontal table, so I like to enough for the mounting screws (e.g. larger fan) might be helpful. start the design on the “x-z” plane and 0.3 inches). Learning to Print in 3D I’m no expert in 3D printing. Up until a few months ago, the only functionality one step at a time. This can be a great way to learn thing I ever printed on was paper. As it turns out, it’s not that hard how to use fairly complex programs at your own pace and in the and you don’t even need to own a 3D printer. However, it does require comfort of your own home. an interest in learning new things, something builders of Experimen- One good way to learn how to design a part might be to sign up tal aircraft are particularly good at. for a local weekend 3D printing class, obtain a student copy of the Printing something in 3D involves two basic steps: CAD program, and then proceed with a self-learning program to 1. Design the part in a 3D CAD program. learn the rest of the functions necessary to build a part. 2. Submit the file created in Step 1 for printing. Designing a part in 3D is a little bit like magic. After all, you are If you don’t have any experience in 3D CAD (like me), one good way using a 2-dimensional tool (the computer screen) to design a part to start is to contact a local “maker” club. These are springing up in that will hopefully come into existence in three dimensions. However, cities all over the country and consist of hobbyists who share their while the details can get a bit complex, the basic concept is pretty time, ideas, expertise, and sometimes even equipment with each straightforward. In the case of Inventor at least, you start with a other in support of their hobby of making things—kind of like a local two dimensional picture of the basic shape of the part, and then you EAA chapter. In some cases, there are even organized weekend and choose one face of the part to “extrude” or “stretch” into the third evening classes. For example, in Houston there is a group called TXRX dimension (sounds a bit like “Twilight Zone,” doesn’t it?). This creates labs (https://txrxlabs.org) that has a warehouse full of classrooms and a 3D part that can be moved and rotated on the screen. From there, equipment that are made available for a very reasonable tuition. An you attach and stretch new 2D pictures either as new additions to the internet search under “maker” will reveal other, similar organiza- part, or as subtractions from the part (creating holes). Many or most tions in other cities around the country. As an additional benefit, if parts can be created by adding and subtracting common geometric you take an organized class in 3D printing, you may be able to obtain shapes like squares, rectangles, circles and ovals. a student version of a 3D CAD program at a heavily discounted price Once the part is created on the computer and looks like it is ready for that could more than pay for the cost of tuition. In my case, as a the real world, it needs to be printed. Different hardware and software student at TXRX labs, I was able to obtain a fully functional copy of have different requirements for how this is done, but it is common to Autodesk’s Inventor CAD program for free. convert the file to something the printer can read (like selecting “File/ In some cases (such as with Inventor), the CAD program comes Save-As” in a normal computer program) and then send it to the printer with an included tutorial that walks the user through the vari- or to the online print service. ous steps of creating a new part and introduces the program —D.F.

Photos: Dave Forster KITPLANES April 2016 29 Step 6: Create a temporary work plane Step 7: Loft between the square and the Step 8: Create a new work plane below and draw a point on its center. point to create a pyramid. the upper work plane. Step 5 Step 8 Step 10 Create a temporary work plane about Create another temporary work plane Extrude the circles 1.5 inches upwards 2 inches above the x-z plane. The tem- 0.85 inches below the upper work and 0.35 inch downwards. This stretches porary work plane is kind of like a tem- plane. This is where the circles will be the circles into cylinders which pro- porary workbench, floating in the air drawn for the tubes that the scat hose trude above the pyramid and extend above the main workbench. You can will connect to. down into the pyramid. Note that the put drawings on the temporary work- cylinders need to extend high enough bench and then connect them to stuff Step 9 above the pyramid so that a scat tube on the main workbench. Draw the desired number of circles on can be slipped over them without inter- the new work plane. In this case, four fering with the sides of the pyramid. Step 6 circles are drawn, each 0.74 inches in It is tempting to lop off the top of the Put a Point at the center of the tempo- diameter (to fit inside a 0.75 inch scat pyramid, but this would create problems rary work plane. tube). Be sure to allow enough distance when the part is 3D printed (see sidebar: between the outside edge of each circle “3D Printing Limitations”). Step 7 so that the tubes and hose clamps can At this point, the part consists of a solid Draw a new square on top of the cube fit over them. One way to make sure the pyramid with four tubes sticking out of it. and then loft between the square and the circles are clustered around the middle However, a solid pyramid isn’t going to point. Lofting is the process by which of the part and equidistant from each pass much air, so the next thing to do is: two drawings are connected into a single other is to draw a 1-inch square first shape. In this case, the square on the bot- and then draw the circles with the cen- Step 11 tom is connected to the point at the top, ter of each circle centered on each cor- Open the inside of the pyramid, turning creating a pyramid. ner of the square. it into a shell instead of a solid. Oddly 3D Printing Limitations 3D printing might seem like magic—and it kind of is. It’s pretty amaz- Because the unmelted powder supports the part, it is possible to print ing to be able to draw something on the computer, press a button, and horizontal surfaces, but it is a good idea to include some kind of hole in have a real, live part emerge from a printer. However, there are limita- the finished part, so that the unprinted powder can be drained from the tions to what 3D printing can do, and these limitations must be kept in part and re-used. mind when designing a part. The finish of a 3D printed part is not the same as a machined part. If One way to think of the 3D printing process is that it is kind of like a you look closely, you can see the lines created by each pass of the “glue very small glue gun, building up a part with multiple passes, starting at gun.” However, it is possible to sand a part after it is printed to obtain a the bottom of the part and working layer by layer up to the top. more finished surface. This works fine, so long as each layer is more or less on top of the The material properties of a 3D printed part are not the same as a layer below. However, it doesn’t work if you try to leave a dab of “glue” part manufactured from the same material using other means. Because hanging in midair—it simply plops to the bottom of the workspace. the 3D part is composed of layers that are bonded or melted together, For some printing technologies, this means that it is not possible to it doesn’t have the same properties as a part that has been machined print a horizontal surface, unless it is on the bottom of the part, resting from a solid block. At this point in time, it probably wouldn’t be a good on the floor of the printer. For these printers, it is also not possible to idea to use it for anything structural or critical. However, for cosmetic print steeply angled walls, although up to about 45 degrees has worked parts or parts for which failure does not have significant consequences, reasonably well for the parts tested so far. Other kinds of printing tech- 3D printing can provide a great alternative. nology involve melting the parts from a bed of powder using a laser. —D.F.

30 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes After drawing the circles (Step 9), extrude them (Step 10). enough, this requires the use of the “shell” function. Select a wall thickness of 0.0625 inch. This will shave the bottom of the cylinders to mate smoothly with the inside walls of the pyramid. Step 12 Draw circles inside the cylinders. These represent the inside wall of the cylinders. The outside wall is 0.74 inch. If a wall thickness of around 1/16 inch is desired, this means the inside circles should have a diameter of 0.615 inch (0.0625-inch wall, but the wall needs to be all around the cylinder, so this means an inside diameter of 2 x 0.0625 = 0.125 inch). Step 13 Extrude the inner circles inside the cylinders. However, this will be a “cut” extrusion, which removes material and will be 2.5 inches in length, extending down inside the pyramid, turning the cylinders into tubes. Step 14 Draw a square on the x-z plane, which is 2.815 inch on each side and centered on the plane. This square will serve

Step 11: Hollow out the pyramid using the “shell” command.

KITPLANES April 2016 31 Step 12: Draw circles inside the cylinders. Step 13: Hollow the cylinders with a “cut” Step 14: Draw squares on the base. extrusion.

as a drawing aid, identifying the cor- should be created with the tapped-hole 3D Printing Without ners where the mounting holes will be option, leaving them with a 6-32 thread located (the fan mounting holes are ready to accept a #6 mounting screw. a 3D Printer 2.815 inches apart). Draw four new One of the things that makes 3D printing squares that are 0.30 inch on each side, Step 17 a little less accessible than it might oth- centered at each of the four corners of Apply .0625-inch fillets around the erwise be is the cost of a 3D printer. Entry the 2.815-inch square. edges of the part to provide a more fin- level printers can be found for around ished looking part that is more com- $500, which isn’t too bad, but at that price Step 15 fortably handled. Apply a 0.03-inch point, the printer may be limited in terms Extrude the four new squares 0.3 inch up chamfer around the outside lip at the of the kinds of materials it can handle and into the pyramid, forming the “pads” for top of the tubes, to help the scat hose the precision of the print. In addition, 3D the mounting holes. Ensure you select slide on more easily. printing technology is constantly improv- the “join” option on the extrusion, oth- The finished file can be printed locally ing, with new materials and methods erwise Inventor will try to do it as a cut. or uploaded to an online printing ser- being introduced that make last year’s vice. If you would like your own duct and printer look pretty crude. Step 16 don’t want to create the CAD file, you Alternatively, there are a number of Draw a new 2.815-inch square on the can have it printed by a third-party print- online services that will print the part for bottom of the duct and use the corners to ing service. Simply go to www.shapeways. you. To use these services, simply upload draw four points. Use the points as cen- com and search for the file called “Duct4 your file, provide a credit card number, ters to create four mounting holes. Each Tubev2.” They will print it out and mail it and 2–3 weeks later, the part will arrive hole should be 0.3-inch in depth and to you for a cost of around $35.” J in the mail. The major drawback of using an online service is waiting for the mail to arrive. However, there are many advantages, including: • Access to the latest printing technology. • Access to the latest materials. • Access to a wide variety of materials and printing technologies without any capital investment. Step 16: Create the threaded mounting Step 17: Apply chamfers and fillets. • Pay only for what you print. holes. • No issues with printer maintenance or equipment breakdown. One of the online services I have used is a company called Shapeways (www. shapeways.com). They offer printing services in a wide variety of materials, including stainless steel and gold. The next time your significant other asks, “Was it gold plated for that price?” you know how to reply. —D.F. Finished part.

32 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Speed Deburring Why turn a hand crank when electrons work so cheap? By Ken Scott The majority of homebuilt airplanes Deburring Usually Isn’t. nicks in the corner and a nick can be a these days are built of sheet aluminum, What about just dispensing with it alto- place for a crack to start. and the basic fact of sheet aluminum gether? Most holes drilled with a sharp Visualize a sheet of glass. Freshly airplanes is: bit don’t leave a lot of burrs and chips, cut, the corners of the edges are sharp Holes. and those can be easily brushed away. enough to draw blood, and an unfor- Lots and lots and lots of holes. Every- Isn’t that sufficient? tunate tap right on the corner of an thing about holes is repetitious and The answer is that deburring is a edge will crack the pane in an instant. boring—layout, drilling, deburring, misnomer. When we deburr a drilled That’s why glass shelves and door pan- dimpling—so anything that makes a lot aluminum sheet, we aren’t necessarily els have the edges beveled and rounded of those operations quicker and easier is removing burrs or chips. We could do over, a process known as chamfering. a good thing. that with a flick of a finger or a piece of By changing the geometry of the edge, Take the tedious job of “deburring,” masking tape. What we are really doing the chance of cracking is dramatically for instance. When you look at wing- is changing the shape of an edge. reduced. Think of aluminum as slow- skins for an RV or a Sonex or (ahem!) The reason lies in the material motion glass. A sharp edge is still a place a Bearhawk, there’s what—1000 holes? itself…aircraft aluminum alloys are for a crack to start, although in alumi- More? And every hole has two sides, so strong and light, but they are also a bit num it may take days or years to crack as there’s at least 2000 deburring opera- brittle. A sharp edge on a brittle panel far as glass does in a split second. tions. And that’s just one wing… is a delicate thing (and holes are noth- Decades of experience building There must be some way to reduce the ing more than a pair of circular edges). aluminum airplanes has shown that time involved. Small impacts can cause chips and deburring is good practice, and there’s

Photos: Ken Scott KITPLANES April 2016 33 This short, double-ended, single-flute deburring tool never Cleaveland Aircraft Tool’s DB04 deburring bit combines a single- chatters or produces “washboard” surfaces. flute cutter with a hex shank that fits into a cordless screwdriver. no good reason to ignore those who have screwdriver. Most electric screwdrivers but there aren’t many countersunk holes gone before. don’t have a chuck—they’re set up for in skins. The absolute minimum skin hexagonal screwdriver bits—but you can thickness that can be countersunk for The Tools make a simple adapter from a screwdriver an AN3 (3/32-inch shank diameter) rivet Holes are deburred with spinning bits bit and a short chunk of stiff plastic tub- is 0.032 inch, and most manufacturers that look a bit like a woodworker’s coun- ing that will let the deburring bit and prefer dimpling 0.032 and even 0.040 tersink (in fact, if you’re using standard screwdriver work together. Better yet, whenever possible. Given the size of air- aircraft tools, you can use a deburring at Oshkosh this year Mike Lauritsen of plane most of us are building, you won’t bit to countersink the odd few holes Cleaveland Aircraft Tool showed me his find skins thicker than 0.040 inch—and since deburring bits and countersink- new, specially manufactured DB04—a not many of those. You might as well just ing bits share the same 100-degree deburring bit combining the single flute deburr them all. included angle at the tip). Bits come in cutter with the hex head standard on several styles. Some have three “flutes” electric screwdrivers. Perfect! I owned To the Mattresses or cutting edges, some have six, but one within minutes. One cool trick for deburring skins the best have just one. A short, double- What about holes that will be quickly has no cutting edges at all. It’s ended, single-flute deburring tool is an machine countersunk later? The coun- simply a big piece of egg-crate mattress elegantly simple tool. It never chatters or tersink bit will be cutting away metal, foam. This stuff is perfect. It provides a produces “washboard” surfaces. just like the deburring bit. Do these cushion for the thin skins, with just a bit What spins the bit matters too. Some need to be deburred, too? Probably not of flex and spring-back. It allows the bit texts on airplane building suggest on the side that will be countersunk… to penetrate the skin (which it couldn’t deburring holes by twiddling a large drill bit in the hole with your fingers. Given the age of most of us building airplanes, forget it. We’re not young enough for 2000 twiddles. The tool that’s included in every new builder’s tool kit is the hand-crank deburring tool. This has interchangeable threaded bits, usually three flute (unfortunately it’s difficult to find a single-flute deburring bit with threads that will fit the crank), and sometimes comes with an extension that allows reaching far-away holes. The hand crank is a good tool, and does the job well—but it’s slow. Why turn a hand crank when electrons work so cheap? For big skins, you can make things go a lot faster with A hexagonal screwdriver bit that is covered by a short chunk of stiff plastic tubing makes it a cheap slow-turning electric drill or possible for a single-flute deburring bit to work with an electric screwdriver.

34 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Help us make

even better! Take our survey and enter to win an Aircraft Spruce gift card or free subscription. Egg-crate mattress foam is the perfect We want to know what you like—or don’t like—about Kitplanes®. surface for deburring. It allows the bit to But we need your help. We’d like you to take a short survey that penetrate the skins, which it couldn’t do on a solid surface like a workbench. All of only takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. It will help us learn what the chips fall into the indentations where kind of stories you enjoy most, and what topics you rarely read. they won’t scratch the metal. Win Prizes do if the skin were flat on a solid surface We’re also giving away eight $25 Aircraft Spruce gift certificates and like a workbench), and all the chips fall eight 6-month magazine subscriptions. You can choose to receive to the bottom of the indentations where Kitplanes® or one of our sister publications: Aviation they won’t scratch the metal. Consumer, Aviation Safety, Light Plane When you’re ready to deburr a large Maintenance, IFR Magazine, or IFR Refresher. skin, simply lay it on top of the “mat- Two winners will be chosen from all entries tress” at a convenient working height. every Friday between February 26 and April Take your electric screwdriver or drill 15. So fill out the survey today. The sooner with the deburring bit installed, and you enter, the more chances you have to rubber-band the trigger down until the win! And thank you for helping us make bit is turning 100–150 rpm—it will Kitplanes® even better. seem quite slow. Hold the drill perpen- dicular to the sheet and touch the bit to To take the survey, visit www.kitplanes.com/survey. the hole with just enough pressure to feel the resistance of the foam. Let the bit turn one and a half to two revolutions as you release the pressure. The biggest mistake beginners make is using too much pressure and duration and cutting deeper than necessary, sometimes to the point of enlarging the hole. The resulting bevel should be visible—but only just—to the eye. You’ll establish a pattern and rhythm, moving quickly and just touching each hole for a second or two. It takes little practice to get consistent results, and you’ll be surprised how much quicker the job goes. If you save a second on every “deburr,” you’ll save 2000 seconds on 1000 holes…about half an hour. Or just about the time it takes to draw and sip a short pint of home-brew IPA from the hangar kegerator while you admire your work. J

KITPLANES April 2016 35 Shop Upgrades

Part 2: Keep it clean and organized. By Eric Stewart In Part 1 of this two-part series on “When I was building a Long-EZ,” shop upgrades, we looked at coating Matt continued, “I was in Chuck Cole- a shop floor with industrial epoxy. In man’s hangar. (Chuck is a test pilot, Industrial pallet racks are relatively cheap, this month’s article, we’ll look at some airshow performer, airplane builder and super-stable, and allow you to free up smaller upgrades, most of which can be designer.) He’s built many Lancair IVs in floor space. (Inset) Foot pads distribute implemented in just a few hours, but the basement of his home, and he swore the load and allow you to bolt to the floor yield big benefits in terms of keeping by using a dust collector. It was more than if you wish. Make sure your crossbeams your shop clean and organized. enough to keep the mess down until I got and uprights use the same tab/slot design. These crossbeams feature safety buttons deep into the body-working stage.” to prevent accidental removal. Dust Collection System When Matt moved into his own han- “As anyone who has built a composite gar/shop, a dust collector was the first plane can attest, the dust is invasive,” thing he installed. “Shop vacs just don’t do Industrial Pallet Racks says Matt Stinemetze, an engineer at the trick,” he explained. “I drag the hose Those giant steel shelving racks you find in Scaled Composites currently building around the shop and use it where I need box stores? You too can get them, although a 2/3-scale Bearcat. “You grind a couple to. I mix micro, etc. next to the Y pipe, but you may have to look a bit. Having once times over in the corner—and you are you could plumb to a downdraft bench lived in a shoebox-sized apartment in always grinding something—and next if you desired. They are bulletproof and Japan, I learned the trick to efficient use thing you know, it’s all over your tools, worth their weight in gold—think shop of space is to stack stuff to the ceiling. the plane, the shop, your clothes, and in vac times 10! Now, if I can just find a hose Heavy-duty 14-gauge industrial racks are your skin. Oh, the itch! reel for that 6-inch dust collector hose.” just as cheap as the smaller/lighter-gauge

36 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes stuff sold at the hardware store, but much decide to get rid of your tools, you can The 650 and higher series Roombas beefier and much more shelf space per dol- almost certainly get back all of your ini- allow daily programming, and this seems lar spent. Uprights are typically 8-, 10-, or tial investment if you have taken care of to be the secret: The Roomba scoots 12-feet high and crossbeams are 8-, 10-, them. Craigslist, eBay and VansAirForce. around in a pretty much random fash- or 12-feet across. Drop-in wire shelving is net want-ads can be your best friends in ion, so the cleaning is pretty haphazard. cheaper, stronger, and easier than plywood. putting together a nice tool collection. But when programmed to clean for an No special tools are required—it’s hour each night, in the course of a week, it all tab and slot assembly—and you Overhead Air/Electrical seems to pretty much scour every corner can easily put up an entire rack in 30 If you decide to put in new/additional of my 1800-square-foot shop. That said, minutes. If you buy used items, make lighting (see the sidebar), consider put- Roomba picks up dust and shavings, not sure the uprights and crossbeams use ting in retractable air and/or power oil spills and 2x4 cutoffs, so serious clean- the same tab/slot system (usually a while you’ve got the ladder out. This is ing is still up to you. Overall, I’m very teardrop) and have lock pins (a safety so much more convenient than drag- happy with the Roomba, and it allows feature that prevents crossbeams from ging hoses/extension cords around, me to go significantly longer between coming out of their slots). Uprights especially when the hangar is full of air- sweeping up than otherwise. with foot pads will distribute the planes and projects. Note that for large areas (like a han- weight better than padless. You can Notice in the photo below that there gar), Roomba may give an error message, usually find both new and used pal- is a steel sheet between the power retract so make sure you get one with a virtual let racks on Craigslist. Expect to pay and the wood truss. Excessive power draw wall lighthouse, which tricks Roomba approximately $60–80 per upright, through a coil retracted on itself can cause into thinking the room is smaller than it $15–25 per step beam (two required significant amounts of heat. Better to stick is. After a few weeks, my Roomba seemed per shelf) and $10–20 per wire shelv- to the manufacturer’s 10A rating, but the to have “learned” the layout of the han- ing (two required per shelf). The pallet “firewall” is extra insurance. Also note that gar (or the human learned where to put rack in the picture cost $800 (new) and the compressed air is fed by copper pipe. the lighthouses) and it makes it back to provides 270 square feet of shelving. Yes, it’s expensive, but this is the industry its charging base 90% of the time. standard for routing compressed air. Cop- Cool Tools—Cry Once per pipe failure does not create dangerous MIG Welder/Steel Worktables Without getting into a debate about the shrapnel as would iron or PVC. If you read my previous article, “So You technical merits of, say, Snap-on vs. Want to Get Paid to Build?” [Kit- Craftsman vs. Harbor Freight, from a iRobot planes®, September 2015], you’ll purely economic point of view used top- For the purposes of this article, I pur- remember that Bob Kuykendall of the of-the-line hand-tool sets like Snap-on chased a like-new iRobot Roomba 770 HP-24 Sailplane Project recommended consistently maintain or appreciate in floor cleaner off Craigslist to review as a single tool for any serious shop: a value. Notice that I said “used.” If you a replacement for the evening sweep. A MIG welder. You can pick up a decent buy new, you will never get your money fellow pilot raved about its ability to pick used welder for $300-500 on Craigslist, back if you sell the tool. Buying used, up cat and dog hair in her apartment, so I although in keeping with the top-of- high-quality tools is a way to enjoy your wondered how it would do with sawdust the-line tools mantra, if you can get build with the assurance that if you ever and aluminum. Not bad, it turns out. your hands on a used Miller 211 (about

Overhead retractable power line and iRobot’s Roomba can be set to clean air hose reduce clutter on the floor. The every night. It’s pretty much geared air line is fitted with Cleaveland Aircraft towards picking up dust, pet hair and Tool’s lightweight air hose kit, which, shavings, but if you have a hard time Combining a dust-collection system with combined with their quick disconnects, is motivating yourself to pick up a broom, a downdraft sanding table is a great an awesome “leader” between the heavier a Roomba can keep things from getting combination. (Photo: Matt Stinemetze) 3/8-inch hose and your air tool. out of hand.

Photos: Eric Stewart KITPLANES April 2016 37 $700–900), you’ll never have any prob- steel should be adequate; 1.5-inch square lems unloading it for what you paid if should work up to 4x8, and larger than welding turns out to not be your thing. that I’d recommend 2-inch tubing. Make They are a pretty hot item. sure you leave a couple inches of overhang A great way to learn how to use a MIG so that you can clamp stuff to the table. welder is to fabricate some steel work- You can make the tabletop and shelves tables. The table pictured took about from MDF or plywood; attach with con- Building a steel worktable is an easy way eight hours and $200 to build. Use at struction adhesive. to learn MIG welding. least 3-inch wheels to make it easy to roll around, and make sure the bottom Tool Storage Chiavetta of Aerochia, was in town I shelf is high enough for your broom (or How about taking your plastic stor- was finally able to get some pictures Roomba!) to get underneath. For small age containers to the next level? “The of his awesome portable toolbox,” says tables, 1-inch square 16-gauge (1/16 inch) last time our sponsor and friend, Andy Elliot Seguin of F1 Team Wasabi. “Like Lighting Done Right—An Interview with Jon Friedmann Within the theme of shop upgrades, lighting deserves special attention. higher ceilings; I start considering T5HO sources for 14-foot mounting It’s one of the most important elements of good shop design: it enables heights or above. quality work (much airplane fabrication requires close visual inspection), You can, of course, still get similar lumens even at these heights with enables work at night and in winter when people most often have time T8 lamps; you just have to use more of them. T8 lamps are easier to get to build, and strongly affects the “feel” of a shop. a hold of and less expensive per bulb, so that is what I prefer unless we Jon Friedmann is a graduate of Oregon State University with a are in the 20+ feet mounting heights where T5HO starts to become a bachelor’s degree in industrial education. His early career began as an better choice than T8. electronics technician for a lighting controls company. He joined H.L. LED is very susceptible to glare introduction in the fixture. The beauty of Stearns, Inc., a lighting manufacturers’ representative, in 1987 and has LED is it is a very, very, small directional-point source. This allows us to design spent the last 25 years of his 30-year career applying and selling lighting products that can take advantage of this precision and the efficiency that is solutions to engineers, architects, and contractors in Oregon and South- gained there. In contrast, fluorescent tubes are not very directional. west Washington. Jon has flown the RV-1, built and flown an RV-6, and is Reflectors are helpful when you have an open ceiling, exposed beams, restoring a Bücker Jungmann. A frequent contributor to the RV builders’ or trusses. Simple white reflectors are preferred over mirrored reflectors forum, VansAirForce.net, Jon was a natural choice to interview about as they are almost as efficient and much better at controlling glare. lighting an aircraft workshop. White paint is typically a very good reflector for all surfaces—wall, floor, KP: Let’s start with the basics. What is good lighting? and ceiling. Texture can come into play, but gloss isn’t the best choice. JF: Well-lit shops provide even illumination throughout the space, Satin or matte will diffuse the light, reducing the chance of glare. avoiding dark areas or corners since contrast contributes to eye fatigue. The darker the colors, the less effective the lighting system will be. Good lighting minimizes glare, provides good color rendering, provides If you have a finished ceiling, a painted white ceiling is one of the best appropriate lumens on task (typically measured in foot-candles, with reflectors you can have. watts per square foot being a rough proxy) and, of course, we aim for a Age can be a factor and should be mentioned. The older we are, the system that minimizes the combination of installation and running costs. less elastic our eyes are in their ability to deal with glare. It is also more KP: There is a huge variety of lighting options available. What are the difficult to see in lower light levels in general. pros and cons of the various types? KP: So what are your recommendations for actual foot-candles per JF: Actually, there are really only a couple of viable options today: square foot? high-performance fluorescent and LED. Older technologies, such as HID JF: The quality of a lighting system is not measured only by raw (high-pressure sodium and metal halide), compact fluorescent (CFL), lumens on the task. It is a combination of things including glare control, and T12, suffer from poor color rendering or related inefficiencies. color rendering, and illumination level. We used to design school class- High-performance fluorescent—T8 and T5HO systems—are my go-to rooms for 100 foot-candles. Today, with improvements in CRI, good glare sources. LED is excellent and getting better every day, but the cost vs. control in the fixtures, and improved efficiencies (byproducts of techno- benefit isn’t quite there yet for shops and hangars as they typically logical advancements), we are lighting classrooms at 30 foot-candles. are not using the lights long enough every day to justify the higher One of the biggest mistakes I see is overlighting. If 50 foot-candles purchase cost associated with higher efficiency. is good, 100 foot-candles must be better, and why stop there? goes the KP: How do glare, fixture height, reflectors, and wall colors affect lighting? thinking. Not only is this wasteful, you can start to introduce unnec- JF: All of these things are interrelated. Glare is a huge factor in light- essary contrast and glare. Our eyes are amazing. We can navigate a ing design. T8 (8/8-inch [i.e., 1-inch] tube diameter) with a lumen output parking lot at night with 1 foot-candle, yet function just fine out in the in the 2350 range, depending on the system, is less of a concern than a daylight of 7000 foot-candles. T5HO (5/8-inch tube diameter) at 5000 lumens. The brightness of a T5HO That said, a typical layout we would do for a hangar/shop would start bulb itself is considerably higher than a T8, so I reserve this source for with an open floor plan. Most people do not know where furniture,

38 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Andy, I have been using the Plano tools. Harbor Freight to the rescue! Yes, StowAway tackle boxes for years. What much of their stuff isn’t top drawer, but impressed me about Andy’s rig is he was their U.S. General tool chests are actu- not only using the boxes, but the associ- ally considered by many to be a great deal ated organizer rack also built by Plano. (check out the many in-depth reviews at I was surprised how well the organizer www.garagejournal.com). rack fit in my old Craftsman two-shelf Hopefully this article has given you side chest. This seemed like something some ideas about how to upgrade your worth passing on.” shop. If you have your own brilliant On the topic of tool storage, this is one idea for a shop upgrade, please send us area where I would not buy Snap-on class a picture and a short description and Below Andy Chiavetta’s toolbox are Plano goods—you are talking mega-bucks but we’ll consider using it as a shop tip in an organizer racks that hold the Plano Stow- without the same resale profile as hand upcoming issue of KITPLANES®. J Away storage boxes. (Photo: Elliot Seguin)

shelving, equipment, etc. will be located, or they may move it around. I design for 50 foot-candles maintained average throughout the space. This is an acceptable level of illumination for general shop work. In areas that may require more, like rotating shop equipment, or for fine assembly, we recommend supplemental lighting in these areas—100 foot-candles is adequate. Color rendering is a huge factor. With the exception of HID sources, which are woefully poor, most of the fluorescent low-tech phosphor products are being legislated out of existence. Soon, you will not be able to buy lamps that do not have good color rendering. CRI, Color Rendering Index, is how this is measured at the source. Ceramic metal halide (new HID) and older fluorescents typically range in the 60-70 CRI range; 80 CRI or so is the new standard. HID, T12, and many CFLs, will not meet this. One last comment: One of the biggest mistakes I regularly see is Visual Interior Tool allows you to specify a lighting system (i.e., make people using screw-in sources of any kind, typically CFL or LED. Screw-in, and model of light) and room dimensions/reflectance. Visual then calculates the number of lights you’ll need to achieve your desired self-ballasted products are shortcuts to a good overall lighting system foot-candles at the work surface. and you will suffer for it. KP: That leads into my next question: What is your opinion of is 3500K—excellent color and color rendering. 4000K is just too blue for fluorescent tube form factor LEDs (i.e., LED tube lights)? my taste, 5000K even more so. I like the Acuity LB LED. These are simple JF: LED tubes are getting a lot of interest, but they are a bad idea as wraps, nothing new about them, other than the LED arrays. far as I am concerned. The LED tubes are gaining popularity because they KP: Any comment on safety issues? are relatively cheap and easy to put into existing older fluorescent-type JF: While code exists for commercial hangar spaces, nothing exists for fixtures. I think their life statements are dubious. Since they are being residential. The biggest safety concern is fire. We light a lot of hangars/ put into a fixture designed for fluorescent, you gain little except energy shops with simple open strips mounted to the finished ceiling. Stupid savings. The lumen output is similar to fluorescent or a bit less, and life simple, cheap, and very effective. However, the lamps are open to poten- is similar, depending on the tubes. You will need to check the CRI (color tial breakage. Every light source has some kind of heat associated with it. rendering index) of the LED tubes to make sure they are decent, i.e., If you break a lamp, you will get a spark. Lenses covering the lamps offer above 80, if you want to go that path. In addition, you need to consider some protection, however, they also tend to gather bugs, dirt, and are whether the lumens you are using in your layout are “delivered” or less efficient as a result. I like to see a lens on lower ceilings that might be “raw.” They need to be delivered, i.e., tested in the fixture you will be subject to catching an errant broom handle, step ladder, etc. using, or your calculations are meaningless. KP: There is a free online software package called Visual Interior Tool So I just don’t see the value in the tubes unless it is a retrofit of (www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior). Have you used it, and if so, what an older lighting system, and your only goal is to save energy, not to did you think? Is it worth the effort, or can people do just as well with a improve anything else. It is only a matter of time before technology calculator and a rough sketch on a piece of paper? makes tube LEDs obsolete. It is a shortcut with little value in my opinion. JF: Visual is actually considerably easier than trying to manually That said, if you are set on going with LED, I would research fixtures calculate things. It is an excellent tool. We used a “Pro” version of the designed specifically for LED. You will want to ensure it has good shield- software. One caveat: I see a lot of people misapplying the Visual tool by ing, like a lens, to diffuse the brightness of the LED array. As I mentioned, using unrealistic reflectance; 70/30/10 [ceiling/wall/floor] is our default. make sure you are getting good CRI. The manufacturers like higher This allows for some furnishings, dirt accumulation on surfaces, etc. Kelvin temps because the LEDs are more efficient there. My preference —E.S.

KITPLANES April 2016 39 Restrictor fittings that are easy to make! By Paul Dye

Although not strictly required, it your own with just a little shop time. want it to be just enough larger than the has long been considered good practice Here’s how we do it ourselves. center of the AN fitting that you can’t to include a restrictor fitting in the oil Start with a standard fitting and an insert it by hand. line between the engine and the pressure AN470-5 rivet about ¼- to 3/8-inch Once you have expanded the rivet gauge or transducer. This fitting should long—whatever you have handy will properly, get out a ball-peen hammer be at the engine end of the plumbing, work. Take your favorite rivet squeezer and your back-riveting plate. Tap the screwed directly on the engine, so that and set it up with an AN470 female die rivet into the bore of the AN fitting; if the hose or gauge ruptures, the engine on one side, and a flat die on the other. if it takes more than a ball-peen ham- will not pump all of your oil overboard Place the rivet in the jaws with a pair of mer, you probably squeezed it too too quickly. A small restriction has no needle-nose pliers (trust me, you don’t much, and you might split the AN effect on the measured gauge pressure want your fingers in there!) and give the fitting. If it goes in with one tap, you of the oil when the system is functional, rivet a little squeeze—just enough to didn’t squeeze it enough. Drive the but it will greatly slow down the rate of expand the diameter of the shaft a little rivet in until the head sits squarely oil loss if you have a leak outside of the bit. Try the rivet in the AN fitting; if on the lips of the fitting all around. engine case. it slides in, squeeze it a little more. You The shank of the rivet is now tightly The restrictor used by many is a modified AN816-4D nipple that screws into one of several possible oil sensing holes on the typical Lycoming or Continen- tal engine. The fitting is modified by plugging the passage and then drilling the plug out with a tiny drill—something on the order of #40 or smaller. You can buy standard AN fittings modified with a restriction from several of the regular supply houses in the The simple AN816-4D nipple before modi- Use pliers or forceps to place the rivet into homebuilding world, or you can make fication has a 0.169-inch bore. your squeezer jaws.

40 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Squeeze the rivet just enough to make the Use a ball-peen hammer to tap the rivet shank larger than the bore of the nipple. into the bore of the fitting.

Tap the rivet until the head is fully seated Chuck the fitting into the lathe to remove on the lips of the fitting. the head of the rivet.

Carefully trim away the rivet head without Use the tailstock to hold a drill bit to bore damaging the end of the nipple. the new orifice in the plug. married to the bore of the fitting and if that is what you need for your instal- should never come out. lation—you just won’t be able to use a Next, remove most of the rivet head. lathe to remove the head. You can also We did this on our lathe, but you can use use a variety of drill sizes to fit your a Scotch-Brite wheel (or other method application. Van’s Aircraft uses a #40 of aluminum removal) to slowly eat hole for their oil pressure restrictor, away at it until you have it flush. Be care- while some have found that a restrictor ful not to damage the sealing surface of with a #60 hole is needed to smooth out the fitting—go slowly. the pulses in a manifold pressure sense Finally, chuck the plugged fitting into line. The same technique can be used to the lathe and pick a #40 (or smaller) drill produce any size restrictor you need. bit to drill out the new orifice. Alterna- Restrictor fittings are important, but tively, put the fitting into a drill press they don’t need to be costly. Some folks vice and drill it out that way. Either don’t know they are good practice, oth- way, drill all the way through the plug ers don’t want to spend the money—but and voilà! You now have your very own rolling your own makes the cost no more restrictor orifice. than what you’ll pay for the unrestricted You can do the same thing with an fitting in the first place—plus a penny for angle fitting (either 45 or 90 degrees), the rivet and a few minutes of your time. J

Photos: Paul Dye KITPLANES April 2016 41 Separator or Condenser?

Air-oil separators 101. By Dan Horton

Next time you’re hanging out on hot combustion gas leaks past them on the compression stroke; compres- the FBO porch with the boys, casually into the crankcase. We call this leak- sion blow-by is mostly ordinary air announce your intention to install an age “blow-by,” a nicely descriptive term. spiced with gasoline. The resulting oil separator with a sump return line. Without some way to escape, blow-by “crankcase atmosphere” is hot, so con- Chances are at least one will swear it’s a would increase crankcase pressure until stituents with high vapor pressures bad idea, and offer a dire warning about it became high enough to blow out an (notably water and fuel) are in the returning water to the engine along oil seal. The escape path is the crankcase form of a gas, not liquid. with the captured oil. breather outlet. The crankcase is full of whirling Is he right, or wrong? Let’s look at The hot combustion gas is, not sur- parts and flying oil droplets. Lubricat- the details. prisingly, similar to ordinary exhaust ing oil has a very low vapor pressure and outflow: in ballpark terms, about 71% thus does not easily evaporate, even at

Blow-by-Blow N2, 14% CO2, 13% H2O, with the high temperatures. In consequence,

Crankcase outflow originates in the remaining few percent being NOX, although the oil droplets get smacked combustion chambers. The piston rings CO, unburned hydrocarbons, and and smashed until broken down to aero- don’t seal perfectly, and some of the trace compounds. The rings also leak sol size, they remain in liquid phase. The

42 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Separator or Condenser?

Figure 1: Oil separator with catch can, ambient pressure system, overboard dump.

result is a breather outflow consisting of Almost everyone likes a separator. tiny liquid oil droplets floating in a hot The debate centers on what to do with mixture of gases. the oil drain line. Quite a few separa- In a traditional aviation installation, tors have been installed with a catch can the breather outlet is simply vented intended to store the separated oil until overboard at the base of the firewall, drained at some maintenance inter- and the liquid oil tends to spread itself val (Figure 1). Owners and mechan- along the belly. If the outflow tempera- ics often report that the can collects a ture remains high enough, water and milky emulsion of oil and water, usu- fuel remain in the vapor state and pass ally described as “slime.” The condensed to the atmosphere. However, if outflow water generally includes some miscible temperature is reduced to the respec- acids and oxidizers; the reported pH tive dewpoints of the water and the is in the range of 4.6 to 3.85, which is fuel, they will condense into liquids about the same as ketchup, canned within the breather hose. Normally peaches, or a Bartlett pear. Regardless both re-evaporate when released into of content, it’s not attractive. Owners the atmosphere, although ice formation don’t like the idea of returning slime to (and blockage) at the end of the hose is the engine sump. a distinct possibility if outside air tem- However, slime isn’t universal. Other perature is low enough. operators report nothing but oil in their catch cans. The slime faction Separators figures them for tall tales and white Let’s add an oil separator. Traditional lies (they’re pilots, right?), but that’s aviation separators generally work by unfair. It is far more likely that the directing the breather flow against the slime-free installations simply operate inside surfaces of a can, then vertically at higher temperatures. to an outlet. The oil droplets, having Remember, when the engine is oper- mass, can’t follow the rapid changes ating, the crankcase outflow is hot… of flow direction. They splatter on the usually somewhat hotter than indicated surfaces, coalesce into larger drops, oil temperature. At that level all the drain to the bottom of the can, and volatile liquids (water, some acids, and exit via a drain line. In a simple system fuel) are in vapor phase. If they remain the hot outflow gases continue over- in vapor phase, they pass right through board as before, but now without the the separator with the other gases; only liquid oil. liquid droplets collect on the walls. To

Photos and illustrations: Dan Horton KITPLANES April 2016 43 maintain the vapor phase, the separa- The second cause is accumulation temperature is held above the dew- tor and its associated plumbing must be following cold start. When the engine point until downstream of the sepa- kept at some temperature above the dew is started after a period of inactive stor- rator can. Dewpoint is dependent on point of the vapor constituents. age, liquid water droplets condensed percent water saturation (or relative With that in mind, there are two inside the crankcase are blown out humidity, to use a common term). The causes for water in a catch can. The first through the breather in the same man- quantity of H2O in the breather gas and most obvious is that the breather ner as liquid oil droplets. Since both is a function of combustion chemis- hose and/or the separator housing is the initial outflow gas and the separa- try (fixed by the number of available being chilled enough to act as a con- tor system are cold, the liquid water hydrogen atoms in the fuel) and the denser. The cowl may be the type that cannot reach vapor phase, and is thus contribution of atmospheric water in is largely open to the air stream (think collected by the separator and drained the intake air. I wasn’t able to obtain J-3 or similar), or includes several blast to the catch can. Note that if cold-start research literature that specifically tubes, or is just poorly sealed. Leaking liquid water is returned to the engine, it measured breather gas H2O satura- baffle seals can allow lota of cool air evaporates as the engine reaches normal tion. However, there is no shortage of into the accessory area; NASA Report operating temperature, and is ejected as information about exhaust gas con- CR 3405 reported 38% of total cool- vapor in due course. stituents, including water content, ing mass flow bypassed the engine fins and the dewpoint calculations can be in a relatively new installation. That Temperature Considerations borrowed from flue gas engineering. unheated leakage significantly lowers It is physically impossible to return The resulting dewpoint appears to be temperatures in the firewall area. water to the crankcase if breather gas between 125° and 145° F. Take a Breather There are a number of successful breather evacuation (Figure 3). The idea is to reduce entire breather and crankcase volume to be and separator systems, but they’re not all atmospheric density inside the crankcase in pulled below atmospheric. A reduction of alike. Let’s explore the differences. order to reduce pumping losses, which are -2.5 to -3.5 inches Hg is common, as mea- significant. Auto racers take it to extremes, sured with an ordinary manifold vacuum Ambient Pressure System using powered vacuum pumps to pull as gauge (mechanical averaging), or with a Here “ambient” refers to a system operating much as 15 inches Hg negative. For the digital manometer connected through a at normal crankcase pressure, usually 1 to less radical aviation application, a reed line restrictor. 3 inches of water (0.0735 to 0.22 inches Hg) valve capable of withstanding moderate A different approach to a low-pressure above atmospheric. Examples would include temperatures is attached to a port welded source is seen on the 6-into-1 Sky a classic breather hose dumping overboard, or clamped to an exhaust pipe, then con- Dynamics exhaust system popular with and the separator system shown in Figure 1. nected to the separator’s air outlet. Normal aerobatic and Red Bull competitors. The exhaust wave physics generate substantial pressure tap is inserted into the high Positive Pressure System alternating positive and negative pressures velocity area in middle of the collector. Perhaps the best known is the Walker sepa- in the pipe. The reed valve closes against Published reports state negative pressure rator system (Figure 2), now produced and the positive pressure peaks and opens is on the order of 3 inches Hg at 2700 rpm marketed by Airwolf. The notable features for the negative pressures, allowing the with this system. are the separator can size (promoted as larger than competitors’) and the “venturi tube” (manufacturer’s term) at the sump return fitting. This system operates at significant positive pressure because it is connected to either the vacuum pump output, or to upper cowl pressure. It appears the purpose of the venturi tube is to assist sump oil return, perhaps necessary in some installations. The Walker/Airwolf system dumps breather outflow directly to the atmosphere. Negative Pressure System Many experimenters have adopted Figure 2: Airwolf (Walker) separator, Figure 3: Separator with sump return and negative pressure systems using crankcase positive pressure system. evacuator, negative pressure system.

44 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes My RV-8 is equipped with a pair of However, a similar separator system show no change in water content after very useful roving temperature sensors may run colder under certain circum- the addition of a sump return separator. (National Semiconductor LM135’s) on stances, and there is no downside to The systems were installed on RV-type long leads in the engine compartment. increasing the margin between separator aircraft, which, being fully cowled, tend In order to establish operating tempera- outflow and dewpoint. So, the next step to maintain moderate to high under- tures, one sensor was inserted into the was to insulate the breather system and re- cowl temperatures. However, there was main breather line just outboard of the check temperatures. Surprisingly, breather no effort to insulate the separator sys- accessory case port, and the other into can insulation (1/16-inch Fiberfrax felt tems and increase dewpoint margin. the outflow line just after the separator under aluminum foil tape) didn’t change Bottom line? It appears that warnings (red dots, Figure 3). outlet temperature very much. However, about returning water and slime to the The resulting measurements are insulating the breather hose with a length sump have basis in physical reality, but interesting. Breather outflow at the of ordinary firesleeve raised the separator only if the owner/installer fails to ensure accessory case averaged 200° F, or outflow to between 170 and 175° F, a nice adequate operating temperatures. The about 15° F higher than indicated oil increase in margin over dewpoint. apparent physics do not allow water temperature. Separator outlet tempera- return to the sump when the breather- tures averaged 40° F less than breather Oil Analysis separator system is operating above the port temperature. A 200° F average Several aircraft owners were kind dewpoint. If you’re not sure about sepa- breather outflow and 160° F separator enough to forward their recent reports rator outflow temperature, measure it. outflow are enough to stay above the from Blackstone Laboratories, the very One measurement can be worth a great assumed dewpoint. popular oil analysis firm. The reports many front porch opinions. J

Several certified installations pipe the go, and case pressure skyrockets to a level separator outflow directly to a tap in the that can easily blow out the front crank- tailpipe, without a reed valve. These systems shaft seal. The result is massive oil loss, probably operate with some negative pres- followed by a forced landing. At the time of sure, although certainly not as negative as this writing, no one has firmly established reed valve and collector tap systems. a method of preventing eventual block- There are six benefits to a negative- age. Users of such a system must clean the pressure system. First, germane to water exhaust tap at regular intervals. removal, negative pressure slightly lowers What is “regular”? Anti-Splat’s system for the dewpoint temperature. Second, the the muffled RV-10 seems to have the worst engine tailpipe becomes the overboard record, with a time-to-blockage of 30 to 35 vent, incinerating both liquid and vapor hours. Tornado Alley Turbo’s tailpipe tap volatiles before they can foul the belly. breather system for the turbo-normalized Third, negative case pressure tends to halt Cirrus SR-22 has a recommended cleaning or slow the kind of weepy oil leaks common interval of 50 hours (SI08-01 rev. A), while to aviation engines. Fourth, the entire a similar Mooney cleaning interval is 100 system is contained within the lower cowl, hours (SB M20-312). The author’s shop-built where temperatures make ice blockage system for an RV-8 has gone as much as impossible. Fifth, reduced air density 140 hours between cleanings, and at least means less ability to support aerosol oil one Long-EZ owner reports no cleaning, Figure 4: Safety valve. droplets. Last, even a small reduction in ever. The differences appear to be the tap pumping losses is welcome. Airplanes location in the exhaust system, but there is outflow line, between the separator and usually become efficient through steady, no firm conclusion. For now, be aware that the exhaust tap. The auxiliary reed opens incremental improvement. an evacuator tap must be cleaned regularly, if system pressure becomes positive, thus using a schedule based on careful observa- eliminating any chance of a blown seal. The Danger, Will Robinson! tion of that particular system. Just pull the worst case then becomes oil mist deposited No system is perfect. The critical issue hose or reed valve, and run a scraper and on the firewall and belly, much like a con- with any engine breather ported to the wire brush through the exhaust tap. ventional open breather. The safety valve exhaust is the buildup of coke deposits in As a safety measure, builders may wish is cheap insurance if you’re not absolutely the exhaust tap. When the tap becomes to tee a second reed valve (Figure 4, and sure of the required cleaning interval. clogged, the breather gas has nowhere to magenta, Figure 3) into the separator —D.H.

KITPLANES April 2016 45 Aircraft Records and Logbooks What’s required for Experimental/Amateur-Built Aircraft? By Owen C. Baker

46 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes A somewhat frustrated KITPLANES® Where to Begin? reader recently asked two questions We’ll start by searching the text of 14 regarding his Experimental/Amateur- CFR for “aircraft logbook,” and we find Built aircraft: “What maintenance the phrase, “…engine…notation…must be records are we required by federal regu- inserted in the aircraft logbook, or alter- lations to have on our E/A-B aircraft?” nate equivalent document…,” in a section and “Are we required by federal regula- dealing with TC aircraft. Next we’ll tions to have an aircraft logbook for our search the text in 14 CFR for “mainte- E/A-B aircraft?” As used here, the word nance records” and find that the term “have” means that the material named is frequently used. For example: “… in the question is available for access shall ensure…appropriate entries in and can be provided if demanded by the aircraft maintenance records…” proper authority. is also found in a section dealing The reader’s frustration is understand- with TC aircraft. These words able since Title 14, Aeronautics and Space, show that the FAA intends that Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR), a logbook, or equivalent docu- and its predecessors, were originally writ- ment, and aircraft maintenance ten with Type Certificated (TC) aircraft records must exist in some for- uppermost in the minds of the writers. mat for each TC aircraft. All of the specifics and nuances of regu- But since neither “aircraft logbook” lating E/A-B aircraft were added as after- or “maintenance records” are defined in Having a logbook that goes along with thoughts. The result is a patchwork of 14 CFR, Part 1, Definitions and Abbre- the engine is a good idea—especially if orders and regulations regarding E/A-B viations, we will attempt for ourselves you purchase (or sell) a used engine. aircraft and a variety of interpretations to achieve some degree of agreement or that cannot be definitively resolved to understanding regarding the definitions each individual E/A-B aircraft. The cur- everyone’s satisfaction. But we can search or meaning of those two terms as they rent version of an E/A-B aircraft’s Operat- through the information that is available would pertain to any TC or E/A-B air- ing Limitations are required to be written to see if any agreement and understand- craft. Our proposed definitions are: in accordance with FAA Order 8130.2G, ing can be gained regarding the FAA’s Aircraft Logbook: A collected loca- Airworthiness Certification of Aircraft intended use or requirement of “main- tion of paper (bound or unbound), and Related Products; Chapter 4, Lim- tenance records” and “aircraft logbooks” digital, or other format, where infor- ited Airworthiness Certification; Section for our E/A-B aircraft. mation regarding a specific individual 9, Experimental/Amateur-Built Airwor- aircraft is placed in order to provide for thiness Certifications; Paragraph 4104, subsequent access. Issuance of Experimental/Amateur-Built Aircraft Maintenance Records: Operating Limitations. Information regarding the inspection, We’ll make some partial extractions maintenance, modification, damage, or from FAA Order 8130.2G and dig into repair of a specific individual aircraft that the details of the contribution of E/A-B is placed into an aircraft logbook or some Operating Limitations toward answer- other location for subsequent access. ing the questions regarding the FAA’s With the above interpretive, seman- requirement for having E/A-B aircraft tic, and semi-legal trip through 14 CFR maintenance records and aircraft log - completed in order to provide a foun- books. But first we should note that dation, let’s now try to answer the two E/A-B aircraft Operating Limitations questions asked earlier: “What mainte- written in accordance with previous ver- nance records are we required by fed- sions of the then-current FAA Order eral regulations to have on our E/A-B may vary from the Operating Limita- aircraft?” and “Are we required by tions being written now. Also note that federal regulations to have an aircraft Paragraph 4104. a. states: “Operating logbook for our E/A-B aircraft?” limitations must be designed to fit the specific situation encountered.” This gives the Check Your Operating Limitations FAA ASI (Aviation Safety Inspector) or Table of contents from a loose-leaf binder Our starting point is the Operating DAR (Designated Airworthiness Repre- for maintenance records. Note the extra Limitations that are issued as part of the sentative) performing the initial airwor- lines for adding additional categories. Special Airworthiness Certificate for thiness inspection of an E/A-B aircraft

Photos: Owen C. Baker KITPLANES April 2016 47 some latitude in what they write into So Section 91.417, in the context of that aircraft’s Operating Limitations. requiring E/A-B aircraft to have main- The first finding relevant to answer- tenance records, is not an applicable ing the maintenance records question general operating rule. for an E/A-B aircraft whose Operating While we are in the vicinity of Sec- Limitations were written in accordance tion 91.417, let’s look at Section 91.419, with FAA Order 8130.2G is found in Transfer of maintenance records, this wording from Paragraph 4104. b.: wherein only paragraphs 91.417 (a) “This aircraft must be operated in accor- (2) and 91.417 (a) (1) are referenced. dance with applicable air traffic and But since the records described in general operating rules of 14 CFR part those two paragraphs are not 91.” This statement puts us right back required by 91.417 to be main- into searching through 14 CFR Part tained for E/A-B aircraft, then 91 to determine which applicable gen- those records would also not eral operating rules may require having be required to be available for maintenance records and aircraft log- transfer at the time of sale of books for E/A-B aircraft. an E/A-B aircraft. Section 91.417 Maintenance Records Next from 8130.2G, we will is a logical place to start looking, and extract paragraph 4104. b. (8): “After we soon find a requirement in 91.417 completion of phase I flight testing, unless A bound airframe logbook removes any (a) (1) (iii) that maintenance records appropriately equipped for night and/or doubt about the order of maintenance, or must include: “The signature and cer- instrument flight in accordance with 14 that it has been performed. tificate number of the person approving CFR 91.205, this aircraft is to be operated the aircraft for return to service.” But under VFR, day only.” This is a very sig- 4104. b. (19): “After incorporating a persons working on E/A-B aircraft nificant paragraph deserving of its own major change…the aircraft owner must are not required to have a certificate, article, but we’ll note it just in passing make a detailed aircraft logbook and nor any training for a certificate, nor now because we want to get to the next maintenance records entry describing the any specific knowledge of, or train- paragraph, 4104. b. (9): change before the test flight.” ing on, all of the provisions of 91.417. “Aircraft instruments and equipment 4104. b. (22): “No person may operate installed and used under 14 CFR 91.205 this aircraft unless within the preceding must be inspected and maintained in 12 calendar months it has had a condi- accordance with the requirements of tion inspection performed in accordance 14 CFR part 91. Any maintenance or with the scope and detail of 14 CFR part inspection of this equipment must be 43, appendix D…This inspection will recorded in the aircraft logbook and be recorded in the aircraft logbook and maintenance records.” maintenance records.” 4104. b. (23): “Condition inspections What? must be recorded in the aircraft logbook Read those last few words again; did and maintenance records…” we just discover that the intent of the There’s not much doubt for those FAA is for E/A-B aircraft to have E/A-B aircraft whose Operating Limita- both an aircraft logbook and main- tions include the above three paragraphs tenance records? Well yes, but also that both an aircraft logbook and main- notice that the requirement is for tenance records are expected to exist for the maintenance, inspection, that entire E/A-B aircraft and not just and recording of only the instru- for the items found in 91.205. ments and equipment used Since Appendix D of 14 CFR Part under 91.205; no requirement 43—Maintenance, Preventive Mainte- for, or mention of, recording nance, Rebuilding, and Alteration has inspection and maintenance been referenced in paragraph 4104. b. of the remaining portions of the E/A-B (22) of FAA Order 8130.2G, let’s look aircraft is made. at Part 43 to find 43.1 (b) applicability: The adlog system consists of a 3-ring binder with color-coded tabs to organize The next three FAA Order 8130.2G “This part does not apply to—(1) Any all maintenance records. This propeller paragraph partial extractions that we’ll aircraft for which the FAA has issued an logbook fits into the binder. look at are: experimental certificate, unless the FAA

48 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes has previously issued a different kind of airworthiness certificate for that aircraft.” Since E/A-B aircraft do indeed have a Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Category/Designation: Experimental, 14 CFR Part 43 as a regulation in its entirety is not applicable to E/A-B aircraft. However, as we have seen in paragraph 4104. b. (22) above, and in some other locations yet to be visited, portions of 14 CFR Part 43 will be made applicable to E/A-B aircraft. No Person May… Are there some other applicable general operating rules of CFR 14 Part 91 that may also describe or require entries in air- Many builders tinker constantly with their craft logbooks and maintenance records aircraft’s avionics and electrical systems. for E/A-B aircraft? Probably, so let’s This table of contents page is easily resume our search of CFR 14 Part 91 to updated with additional categories. see what else may turn up. There are some sections of Part 91 of 43.9 of this chapter as to content, form, that are worded beginning in the fash- and disposition of records.” ion of “No person may use…” or “No It is apparent that it would not be pos- person may operate…” an aircraft unless sible for a builder, pilot, operator, owner, some specific criteria regarding the air- or maintainer of most E/A-B aircraft to craft or its equipment is met, and that function legally without having records criteria may involve having mainte- to keep track of the items that some nance records. Therefore these sections 14 CFR Part 91 regulations require be demand regulatory compliance by a recorded, not only for his or her own use, person maintaining or operating E/A-B but for substantiation of the fact that he aircraft as well as TC aircraft. The -fol or she is legally in compliance with those lowing is not presented as a compre- specific regulations should some author- hensive list of such sections, but instead ity request such proof. provides some partial extracts with We cannot definitively resolve to comments and relevant references to everyone’s satisfaction every issue that other 14 CFR Part 91 sections: arises in answering our two questions: 91.207 Emergency locator transmit- “What maintenance records are we ters. (c) (2): “The new expiration date for required by federal regulations to have replacing (or recharging) the battery must on our E/A-B aircraft?” and “Are we be legibly marked on the outside of the required by federal regulations to have transmitter and entered in the aircraft an aircraft logbook for our E/A-B air- maintenance record.” craft?” But we can state with reasonable 91.411 Altimeter system and altitude confidence that while the requirement reporting equipment tests and inspec- for some E/A-B aircraft maintenance tions: This section refers to Appendices records is optional or open to interpreta- E and F of Part 43. From Appendix E (d) tion, there are also some E/A-B aircraft Records: “To comply with the provisions maintenance records that are required of 43.9 of this chapter…shall enter that by regulation to be kept, and that keep- data in the airplane log or other perma- ing those records accessible in one loca- nent record.” tion means that you have an E/A-B 91.413 ATC transponder tests and aircraft logbook. We can also state with inspections: This section refers to Appen- some assurance that having records and dix F of Part 43. From Appendix F (k) not needing them is better than needing Records: “To comply with the provisions records and not having them. J

KITPLANES April 2016 49 ENGINE THEORY

This month our ongoing introduction to engine technology begins an examination of the lubrication system Engine by considering the stuff it pumps: oil. Lubrication is a background concern to the average pilot, but it is a must- have because without it, metal-to-metal Lubrication: wear soon reduces any engine to a use- less mess of melted bearings and ugly metal shavings. In practice, maintaining correct oil temperature is the direct challenge to most Experimental aircraft Oil builders and pilots. On Oil Oil—the stuff of life in internal combustion engines—very much leads a double existence in our air-cooled aircraft powerplants. It’s the obvious working fluid in the lubrication system, while at the same time is a major, if often over- looked, player in the cooling system. It even moonlights occasionally as a sub- stitute hydraulic fluid in controllable- pitch propeller systems. As a lubricant, oil is mainly responsible for reducing friction among the engine’s moving parts, but it also floats away impurities, provides corrosion protection to the engine’s otherwise un- plated, un-painted metal, and aids sealing the piston rings to the cylinder. As a coolant, oil transfers combustion heat from the vulnerable, hellishly hot piston and piston pin to the oil cooler where it is shed to the atmosphere. It’s also the main source of cooling for the entire bottom end of the engine, that is, the crankshaft, connecting rods and, most notably, the main, rod, and thrust bearings, plus it is also the main coolant for the valve train where the valve springs are especially needy. In fact,

Part of both the lubrication and cooling Lubing and cooling system, oil is an absolute essential to any air-cooled piston engine. Due to accumulated contaminants and depleted the source of thrust. additives, frequent oil changes are more By Tom Wilson important in aviation than automotives.

50 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes while typical aircraft engines are labeled air-cooled, the only parts mainly air- cooled are the cylinder heads. It would be more proper, if laborious, to say these are air- and oil-cooled engines. The same is similarly true for water-cooled engines, although water’s greater density typically handles a greater percentage of the engine’s waste heat. Oil the Lubricant For our purposes let’s note mineral oil (the traditional stuff) is refined from crude petroleum and synthetic oil is the same stuff more highly refined, or a totally different material synthesized from non-crude-oil beginnings. Syn- thetic oil is more uniform in its molecu- Both of these are 50-weight mineral oils, but one is an automotive motor oil completely lar structure and contains much less of unsuitable for aviation. Detergent additives in auto oil form harmful ash by-products the extraneous stuff found in mineral in aviation engines’ oil-consuming combustion chambers. They should never be run in aviation engines. oil (waxes and such) that have nothing to do with lubricating engines. Syn- to mineral oil, but with some synthet- mainly as a 30% synthetic/70% mineral thetic oil has several desirable qualities ics, the first thing to give is the bearing blend to form semi-synthetic oil. It has to offset its greater cost, most notably it material in the engine! no issues with sludge formation. remains stable—does not break down One downside to synthetic oil as first Oil is also categorized by viscosity, into gummy residues—at high tempera- sold to aviators was its minimal ability which is the liquid’s thickness, mea- tures. Mineral oil begins breaking down to carry extraneous lead from 100LL sured by its resistance to pouring at a noticeably around 240°F, while syn- gasoline in solution. Said to have been an given temperature. Viscosity is impor- thetic oil often withstands temperatures additive issue, sludge formation has pur- tant as it provides the “body” to cushion hundreds of degrees higher. In fact, portedly been a problem with 100% syn- against metal-to-metal contact. Around high oil temperatures are first a threat thetics, and synthetic oil is now offered cars, oil viscosity is called “weight,” as in “30 weight” and is established in accordance with standards set by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). In aviation this property is formally known as “grade,” and the numbers come out roughly double that of SAE weight. So 100 grade corresponds to 50 weight, for example. Naturally, around the airport “weight” is more often heard then “grade” these days. Oil weight or grade is matched mainly to the oil’s operating temperature range, although internal engine gaps (between the crankshaft journals and their bearings, or between the piston rings and cylinder walls) play a major role as well. Thus, the light duty cycle of automotive engines means relatively low oil temps, plus these tightly-built engines feature Multi-viscosity oils are available in various Semi-synthetic blends are the top-dog small oil clearances so they employ viscosity ranges, mainly 15W-50 or, as this oils in aviation. The synthetics give excel- 20 to 30 weight oils at most. Our oil/ quart of Phillips 66 shows, 20W-50. Milder lent heat resistance, while the mineral oil climates don’t need as much viscosity component better handles lead residue. As air-cooled aircraft engines run hard, range, and fewer viscosity improvers are premium products, these oils seem to get long, and put generous heat into the said to make a more temperature-stable oil. the best and latest additive packages, too. oil, so thick, 50 weight is typical, with

Photos: Tom Wilson KITPLANES April 2016 51 some legacy radials running 60 weight, thanks to their cavernous oil clearances. Single weight or grade oil is just what it sounds like, an oil with a specific viscosity at operating temperature (212°F). It is much thicker at cold temperatures. Multi-weight or multi-grade oil, say 15W-50, is a thin 15 weight oil with viscosity improvers added to it. The VI compounds literally coil into tiny balls at low temperature and uncoil into longer strands at high temperature. When balled, the VI compounds don’t impede the oil’s pourability, but when strung out they make the oil thicker. In our 15W-50 example the oil pours like 15 weight oil at 0°F and 50 weight oil at 212°F. This helps because, like Man-on-the-street advice is to avoid ashless dispersant oils such as the widely used Aero- everything else, oil has an operating shell W100 at left during engine break-in or risk poor piston ring seating. Phillips 66 M at right is thus a first-choice for break-in chores. Official recommendations vary, however, so temperature range. The thick 50 weight checking with your engine manufacturer is the smart thing. oil in aircraft engines is barely a lubricant at low temperatures—think 45°F This makes life difficult for the starter breaks down, cooks, burns, call it what or colder cold starts—because it doesn’t motor and drags down the battery. It also you will, but it permanently turns into flow. The oil can be so difficult to pump robs engine power and wastes gasoline a non-lubricating goo. This process is through the engine’s smaller passages overcoming the excess drag. But the worst beginning at 225°F, but gets meaningful that it momentarily doesn’t flow at all. issue is rapid metal-to-metal engine wear around 240°F, and when conventional Engine preheating is a great answer, due to no or low oil flow. Short of preheat- motor oil exceeds 260°F, it’s rapidly but a multi-viscosity oil with greatly ing, a multi-viscosity oil and warming the becoming something other than motor improved flow at low temperatures is a engine in the run-up area until movement oil. That’s why overheated mineral oil big, very convenient help, too. is seen on the oil temperature instrument must be changed. It’s also a big synthetic Cold oil, no matter what type, is a real are the practical answers. advantage; hot oil temps are not much concern. Besides flowing poorly until it At the other end of the thermometer, worry to it. gets a bit of heat into it, thick oil causes excessive heat is fatal to mineral oil. Clearly Goldilocks oil temps are the meaningful drag on engine internals. As temperature ramps up, mineral oil goal: 185°F to 215°F. Given an hour of flight time, this is warm enough to burn off the copious water contamination formed by combustion, but not so hot as to break down the oil. Additives All motor oils are augmented by additives chosen by the oil manufacturer. These differ widely by the oil’s intended use, but what you need to know is most additives are sacrificial. They get used up by engine operation, and either more additives must be poured into the crankcase (not unknown in over-the-road trucking or industrial engines, but not done in aviation or automotive applications), or the oil must be replaced. Pistons are eye witnesses to combustion heat, yet have long heat rejection paths making Typical motor oil additives address them vulnerable. Their only cooling is via engine oil, and high-performance engine builders have found heat barrier coatings on the piston crown (copper color) effective as high-pressure lubricity (the camshaft- this pair of Ly-Con slugs show. The black coating is a friction-reducer; the underside is lifter interface is the big player here), uncoated for maximum heat transfer to the oil. but aircraft engines are also heavy on

52 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes unlike automotive engines with their essentially oil-tight combustion cham- Why So Much? bers, aircraft oils avoid detergents. Air- Filling the typical airplane engine dur- cooled aircraft engines burn oil, thanks ing an oil change feels like topping off to their necessarily loose piston, piston a super tanker—why do they hold so ring, and cylinder wall tolerances, so ash- much oil anyway? forming detergent additives are an avia- There are several reasons. Firstly, the tion no-no (and why you don’t run auto more oil available, the fewer trips through oil in airplane engines). Ashless disper- the engine any given amount of oil makes sant additives hold what ash that does per unit of time. So, more oil means less form in solution so it can be scrubbed contamination, less rapid oil heating, and out by the oil filter, or (amazingly) fail- maybe a touch less total oil temperature. ing an oil filter, until the oil is replaced. But mainly our good old, loose-tolerance, air-cooled aircraft engines draw oil past the Controlling Oil Temperature piston rings and burn it in the combustion Lycoming and Continental provide chamber, sometimes dramatically. for both too-cold and too-hot oil tem- When the regulations were written Aftermarket oil additives are limited in peratures. A thermostat, called the decades ago, massive oil consumption aviation; AvBlend and CamGuard are the vernatherm (on Lycoming engines), was fairly normal because cylinder sealing two biggies. Both have their advocates, and we’ll say anything that helps reduce is set to open at 185°F. It shuttles cold wasn’t as good as today. Thus, typical rust or corrosion from inactivity is worth oil directly through the engine and 6-cylinders are allowed nearly a quart of considering because our engines sit hot oil through an oil-to-air oil cooler oil an hour(!) consumption, so a seven-hour unused so much. before letting it go through the engine. leg with long-range fuel tanks means it’s Thus, oil temperature on these engines possible to consume five quarts during anti-sludge additives to combat the gray is a minimum of 185°F, except from such a trip. goo formed when leaded gasoline, water, between a cold engine start and when In the modern world, oil consump- and loose engine tolerances get together, the oil warms to 185°F. That’s a big tion should be more like a quart every along with acid neutralizers. “except,” and it’s up to the pilot to avoid 10 hours, and you’ll also find putting 12 Then there are the well-known high engine loads (such as taking off) quarts in a 540 Lycoming or eight quarts ashless dispersant additives. Ash is a when the oil is too cold (below 100°F). in a 360 results in one quart blown out the combustion byproduct formed in the Few pilots seem to have the discipline engine breather and down the aircraft’s combustion chamber when engines to avoid cold-oil engine operation, and belly in about an hour. This is why the old burn oil there. The big players in ash low-performance standard category hands always run a quart lower than the formation are detergent additives, so applications and their Experimental placarded maximum. —T.W.

It says 12 quarts on the dipstick, it will run without damage at 2.75 quarts, One of the most effective oil coolers is running lean-of-peak air-fuel mixtures. Cylinder and smart operators keep 11 quarts in head and oil temperatures drop dramatically—often 50°F or more on the cylinder heads. the sump. It’s all because air-cooled LOP effectively air-cools the pistons, noticeably reducing the heat load on the oil. aviation engines burn oil.

KITPLANES April 2016 53 Lycoming’s remotely mounted oil coolers Continentals mount their coolers directly to the engine. They also use the more heat- mean you have more flexibility in where transfer efficient, more physically durable bar-and-plate style cooler construction. to mount and how to duct air to/from the Integrating the engine to the airframe is therefore simplified; an adequate inlet and oil cooler. Firewall mountings are popular cowl flaps are typically sufficient. when tight cowlings or large oil coolers don’t allow mounting the cooler directly on the cooling baffles. superior strategy, but obviously imprac- a conventional wet sump Continental or tical on air-cooled engines. Lycoming. Rotax’s are also water-cooled, equivalents seem to survive such barbar- Similarly to exhaust systems, the meaning less cylinder head heat ends up ity. But as engine performance goes up, remotely-mounted Lycoming oil cooler in the oil in the first place. avoiding high-load, cold-oil operation lives in the gray boundary between the makes a difference in engine longevity. engine maker’s and the airframe manu- Oil Analysis Maximum oil temperature is con- facturer’s responsibilities, and therefore Critically examining drain oil gives an trolled by an oil cooler, and on aircraft, many applications leave much to be excellent window into what’s going on these are inevitably oil-to-air radiators. desired. As Experimental aircraft build- inside the engine. Specialized labs offer Water-cooled engines mean oil heat can ers, we are responsible for everything, such services; they use spectroscopy and be shed to the water coolant via an oil- and dealing with the many variables in other advanced methods to accurately to-water heat exchanger; it’s likely the constructing an efficient oil cooling sys- detail in minute quantities what’s in the tem is a major creative area for us. oil, and thus the engine. Continental engines incorporate the Excessive amounts of steel could fore- oil cooler directly onto the engine and tell cam and lifter failure for example. therefore rely on the airframe maker to High aluminum counts might be piston supply adequate engine cooling airflow or piston plug wear, iron is likely from through the cowling. piston rings, tin is normally from bear- Rotax engines are supplied and ings, and so on. The oil’s composition is typically run without a thermostat (ver- also easily tracked, so additive depletion natherm). But the popular Rotax four- or contaminations are easily spotted. strokes are also dry sumped, which we’ll Oil analysis is a powerful tool, espe- detail next month. For now we’ll note cially when used regularly so changes dry sumping means there is a larger oil can be quickly and accurately identified. supply, so the oil spends relatively more Of course, it’s also an added expense, so time outside of the engine in a tank and most private operators use it occasion- therefore naturally sheds more heat than ally or when problems are suspected. At the least it’s another tool to be aware of, Rotax engines are water-cooled and share at best it’s a regular part of a thorough their engine oil with the propeller speed engine operation program that gives reduction unit, along with a safety clutch. peace of mind, looks good at resale, and This puts different temperature, plus extra friction and high-pressure, requirements just might catch impending disaster. on the oil. Therefore only Rotax-specific Next month we’ll examine lubrica- oils should be used. tion system hardware. J

54 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Got Wings? Here’s what you get in EVERY ISSUE of KITPLANES ® • Aircraft Flight Reviews • Construction Hints & Tips • Hands-On Projects • The Latest in Avionics • New Products for Experimentals • Real-World Builder Experience

Expert advice on how to plan, build and complete your own aircraft!

Subscribe to KITPLANES® and receive these extras: • Unlimited online access at www.KITPLANES.COM • FREE access to our Editorial Archive of articles • FREE searchable Aircraft Buyer’s Guide • FREE searchable Supplier Directory

For fastest service, visit us at www.kitplanes.com/subscribe or call us toll free at 800/622-1065 High-Desert Tales Nuke it! When I took off to break Lee Behel’s out the objective. If used properly, limits The Green Dragon three-kilometer closed-course record of allow the intricate relationships between It is not uncommon in Mojave for the 378 mph that was set in April of 2014 at all the systems of the airplane to be winds to be blowing at 10 knots two the Mojave Experimental Fly-In, it was quantified with an easily referenced hours before sunrise, but then get calm the most difficult of the four records value. Sometimes in the heat of battle, a for the half hour to hour right after sun- we had planned to attempt that week. test pilot may find himself in an artificial rise. Like most things, if you depend on it Luckily, it was also the last. Since it was corner built by poorly conceived limits, you get bit. During the buildup to the first the final record, and the one we wanted and sometimes a pilot may get busy and flight for the Aerochia economy Super most, I had been cleared to set the power miss a runaway needle before it blows Legacy N357AW, The Green Dragon, this required to meet our goal of 385 mph through the associated limit. But when got to be a real problem. Typically for a and ignore all engine instrumentation. done properly, a limit allows the bulk of first flight you set particularly conserva- During my 18 months flying for Andy the decision-making work to be done on tive cross and total wind limits, and while Chiavetta, I had spent the bulk of my time the ground on a comfortable timetable, Mojave is the best place on the planet developing and strictly holding myself to maximizing the chances for success. As to test airplanes, it is not uncommon for a series of limits that had been debated Wasabi Air Racing test pilot Justin Gillen winds to be over 40 knots. So if you have and eventually agreed upon by the says, “Set the limit, honor the limit.” been pushing hard to get a first flight off, group. First were the Continental limits, which were viewed as suggestions. Then there were the “peacetime” limits—we used these for the domesticated Super Legacies and the baseline testing that we did early on in programs. During the week of the Mojave Experimental Fly-In, we set out to break records, so the limits had been moved up to the “wartime” limits based on Reno race maximums. But with all the goals met and one flight to go, the team had decided to set the power (the highest power I had ever run) and ignore all limits. “Nuke it,” Andy said, as we got ready to start the engine. Limits are the heart of flight test, the most technical and uncompromising portion of the contract between a test pilot, a flight-test engineer, and a crew chief. A well-written test card describes, using limits, the bounds to the problem, Aerochia economy Super Legacy N357AW, The Green Dragon, flown by Elliot Seguin during within which the pilot works to carry a test flight over Mojave Airport. (Photo: Andy Chiavetta)

Elliot Seguin is a homebuilder, engineer, and test pilot based at the Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center in California. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and each year he competes in Wasabi, the IF1 racer he designed, at the Reno National Cham- pionship Air Races. Elliott is currently a test pilot for Aerochia Performance Aircraft and Elliot Seguin Mooney International on the new M10 program. He was also a project engineer and flight test engineer at Scaled Composites, founded by Burt Rutan.

56 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes you are using conservative wind limits (typically 10 knots total), and since you are flying out of Mojave you can find yourself in a bit of a bind. At 4 a.m. my alarm went off, and I opened the blinds over my bed to look at the tops of the trees across the street. The light from the street lamp wasn’t spectacular, but it looked like they were remaining relatively still, good news, so I called the Mojave AWOS. The winds were calling 7 knots gusting to 12 knots. On mornings like this before a flight at Scaled Composites, we have a flight test hotline set up. Someone (typically the flight-test engineer) can call the phone number and leave a message that plays on a loop, Elliot pushes out Lynn Farnsworth’s Aerochia Super Legacy for a test sortie during the buildup to the record attempts at the 2015 Mojave Experimental Fly-In. so when you wake up at the ridiculous hour required to make the 4 a.m. brief group text. So I texted Justin Gillen: 7g12 think…blah, blah, blah. As his responses (or the 2 o’clock maintenance show), the what do you think? Because Justin lives got shorter and shorter, I could tell he first thing you do is call the hotline. If the much farther from the airport, he was was getting annoyed. weather has turned or the night team already up and had checked the weather, The problem was that Justin saw our found an issue with the airplane, the so his response was quick, “Yeah out of published flight limit of 10 knots total hotline tells you that and you go back to limits—call your flight.” I responded that as exceeded when we checked the bed. On these little Wasabi programs, we the winds would likely calm down, so I weather two hours before the flight and don’t have a hotline; typically we use a thought we should press on, what did he the winds were gusting to 12; therefore

Photos: Elliot Seguin KITPLANES April 2016 57 my pondering was only cutting into his sleep. I saw the limit as a flight limit, so based on the weather at 4 o’clock, we would guess what the weather would be at 6 o’clock. Out of all this came a new second wind limit, a “wake up wind limit.” If the purpose of an operating limi- tation is to front-load the decision making—effectively making the decision on the ground—then pondering a weather forecast at 4 a.m. while still half asleep didn’t make a whole lot of sense. So by setting a specific limit, we saved ourselves all that figuring. The Green Dragon was the first Legacy that Andy had asked us to do the entire phase one test program for, and by Aerochia frontman and crew chief Andy Chiavetta during field engine rebuild of the design the bulk of the testing would be highly modified TSIO-550 on Lynn Farnsworth’s Race 44. This was during the build-up to the record runs at the 2015 Mojave Experimental Fly-In. done at Mojave, away from the owner, and away from Andy. As a result, I was group of people, a responsibility that I turned the cylinder spray bars on, and very worried about damaging the air- believe is most fundamental to being confirmed we had water pressure. I then plane and finding out, “The CHT limit is a test pilot. This is why it was such a turned on the methanol anti-detona- 375 not 400—no wonder you destroyed strange sensation when I taxied out for tion injection (ADI), confirmed ADI pres- my engine.” So I spent a lot of time the three kilometer with all those limits sure, and rolled the prop to the forward talking to Andy, the owner, the engine temporarily suspended. stop. By this time I needed to turn back builder, and the folks at Lancair about toward the course. As I pulled the nose what the limits for the airplane were No Limits back to start down the chute, I started and where they came from. As I got After a casual 300-horsepower takeoff, I to roll in the boost pressure, trimming more time in the airplane, we moved pointed the airplane south and started with the mixture control as I stepped to higher power testing, which meant to add power. At 550 horsepower and through the horsepower. Before this more challenges for operating the air- 2700 rpm, I confirmed the fuel selector week I had never been over 650 horse- plane as an extension of the will of this was set to the tank filled with race gas, power; now I slid past it like it was nothing. I set the power required and could see very quickly that the engine was not happy. The temps started to rise. I was already headed downhill towards the course and I could see the start gate. I ran through my checklist one more time: Water on, pressure good, ADI on, pressure good, boost is set to the appropriate number, prop is set, mixture is trimmed; everything was where it was supposed to be. With the start gate fast approaching, the temperatures were getting high enough that the engine was starting to complain. The John Jackson and Chris Padilla (Pacific Continental) prepared TSIO-550 will buck at you when it doesn’t like what you are doing to it. I had experienced this at 400 horsepower, but never at these power settings or going this fast. I was confident the engine would Elliot snaps a selfie in the cockpit of Race 44 after a record attempt at the 2015 Mojave not survive the first of the four passes Experimental Fly-In. required to take Lee’s record, but I had

58 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes made a deal with the team and I was committed to that agreement. As I passed through the traps after my first pass, I had time to look at the engine gauges again. The temps were so high I got lost on the EFIS and couldn’t tell what I was looking at. As I started the second pass, the bucking frequency had increased and I found myself more focused on the engine than anything else. I was sure it was about to let go and when it did, I didn’t want to waste any time getting the airplane pointed back toward the runway. This was without a doubt the most intense moment of my flying career; things were getting worse faster and with more at stake than I had ever expe- Lynn Farnsworth, Brian Utley, Ardy Williams, and Andy Chiavetta drain the fuel from Race 44 to begin fueling it for the record attempts. rienced. I was just waiting for an excuse to abort, to surrender to Lee Behel—the my fiancé watching, I thought of Lee, just seem to mind. I was glad that they had best racer I have ever known—and the for a moment and then I went back to the meant it when they said, “Nuke it,” or engine just…got better. Halfway through business at hand. maybe (because it hadn’t broke) we my second pass, the pressures came up The engine held together for the two didn’t have to have the hard conversa- just a little, the temperatures came down remaining passes, and the final speed tion about what “Nuke it” really meant. just a little, and the horrendous buck- came in at 387 mph. I taxied back and Either way it was freaking awesome. ing slowed. In that moment of ferocious told Andy and Lynn what terrible things I This is good work that we do—cold and intensity, with Andy, the film crew, and had done to the airplane, but they didn’t unforgiving—but good. J Kitplanes subscriber alert! several of our Kitplanes subscribers have received what appear to be “renewal notices” or “automatic renewal notices” from a company known as preMier subscriptiOn serVice, 5star subscriptiOns, rapiD MaGaZine cOllectiOn, MaGaZine billinG serVices, publisHer’s billinG serVices, circulatiOn billinG center or other similar names. Addresses for these firms include Dallas, tX; lincoln, ne; Omaha, ne; san luis Obispo, ca; salt lake city, ut; White city, Or and prescott, Fl. These firms have nOt been authorized by us to sell subscriptions or renewals for Kitplanes and we cannOt Guarantee that any order or payment sent to them will be forwarded to us. Kitplanes does nOt offer a subscription term of more than 2 years, nor do we retain your bank account information. if you see an offer for 3 or more years or if you receive a notice that references your subscription anD your banking information, it is nOt an authorized offer. We urge you to report these notices to us, as well as to your state’s attorney General and better business bureau. any offer you receive that does not bear our company logo or corporate/customer service address or 800 numbers should not be considered approved by us. the only autHOriZeD inFOrMatiOn for Kitplanes is: toll free via telephone 1-800-622-1065, Dial america renewal telemarketing, or www.kitplanes.com/cs Our texas customer service center: 1-800-622-1065, pO box 8535, big sandy tX 75755 Or our corporate offices at: belvoir Media Group, llc. aviation publishing Group 535 connecticut ave norwalk ct 06854 should you have any questions at all about mail that you receive, please contact us at our web site: www.kitplanes.com/cs or call us toll free to speak to customer service.

KITPLANES April 2016 59 Home Shop Machinist Drill guide for canard install. Neighbor Phil Hooper’s Velocity RG project is making serious progress. With the installation of the canard, it’s now almost a complete airplane (sans engine, interior, instruments, etc.)! The canard main anchors are two hardpoints in the forward bulkhead. It’s up to the builder to position the canard, mark and drill the pilot holes, then epoxy the mounting bushings in place. It sounds simple, but it’s a critical step that should not be messed up! The canard has to be centered, leveled, and the angle of incidence set. Using a plethora of tools, including a laser, tape measure, protrac- Phil Hooper beaming with pride after the successful fitting of the canard attachments on tor jig, and a bubble level to check and his Velocity RG. recheck the position of the canard, Phil was ready to mark and drill the pilot holes hole at an angle, then drill the hole from Measuring and marking were consid- for the bushing. Only one problem: There the cockpit side, correcting for the angle ered, but the top of the bulkhead was wasn’t room to drill the pilot holes owing and hoping to get in the ballpark. Ballpark the only reference plane; all the other to the proximity of the walls of the ever- might be fine for a home repair, but for a surfaces in the vicinity were curved. The narrowing nose cone. Even with a stub flying machine, it’s not good enough. solution: a drill guide. bit in a right-angle, close-quarter drill, we That holes needed to be drilled from Drill guides are common tools for could not get lined-up square to the bulk- the cockpit side of the bulkhead was metal airplanes. They are available com- head. One option was to drill a small pilot clear. How to do this was a head scratcher. mercially as strap duplicators or hole

Guide bolt 1/2-13 x 1-1/2 drilled 0.250 all way through 1/2-13 thin nut

1.500 .750 .325

2.200 0.250 .05 File to point .750 1.575 2.250 2.075 TRANSFER 0.250 Drill thru using bolt as guide 1.450 0.500 PUNCH

.450 Drill guide frame, guide bushing, fixing nut and transfer punch.

Bob Hadley is the R&D manager for a California-based consumer products company. He holds a Sport Pilot certificate and a Light-Sport Repairman certificate with inspection authorization Bob Hadley for his Jabiru J250-SP.

60 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes (Left) Fly-cutting to true up the blank. (Center) Using the bandsaw to rough out the frame. (Right) Using a long-reach end-mill and light passes to clean up the sides and bottom. Note the scribe lines. locators, but the concept is the same: You line up a dimple in the tool with an existing hole on one side (usually hid- den) and, with the sheet to be drilled or dimpled in place, you bring the tool faces together and mark or drill the part. In the case of Phil’s Velocity, the bulkhead is more than an inch thick, so a locator for sheet metal wouldn’t work. That meant a trip to my home shop to whip out a drill guide. The design parameters: Keep it simple. The tool consists of four parts (or three if, as I explain later, you thread the hole for the guide bushing): The frame, the guide bushing and fixing nut, and the stubby transfer punch. The frame was made from a block of aluminum that was bandsawed and then fly-cut to square up the sides. The (Left) Facing and spot drilling the stainless bolt. (Right) Drilling the ¼-inch guide hole. area for the opening was scribed using a height gauge, then roughed out on the bandsaw. The notch was cleaned up on the vertical milling machine using a long- reach (2½ inches), two-flute, ½-inch end mill. If you have a 3+ hp milling machine, you can skip the bandsaw and hog out the material on the mill with a few passes. But my milling machine is less than 1 hp, so that meant light passes and slow feeds. With the notch complete, I marked and drilled the ½-inch hole for the guide bushing. Alternately you could drill and tap this hole for the bolt used for the guide bushing. In retrospect, I wish I had tapped the hole, as it would have made clamping the guide in place a little easier. (Left) Drilling the “transfer” hole. (Right) The finished drill guide ready for service.

Photos: Bob Hadley KITPLANES April 2016 61 (Left) The punch mark indicating the correct location to drill (red arrow). (Center) The punch mark and punch used to align the frame. (Right) The guide clamped in place for drilling. (Note: these photo examples are illustrative and not the actual airplane.)

The guide bushing is nothing more punch mark because we’re also using considering the amount of time Phil than a ½-inch stainless steel bolt with that punch mark—and the punch—to Hooper and builder-buddy Robert Rice a ¼-inch hole drilled down the center. locate the guide. had spent getting the canard in posi- This is easy work on the lathe. Like most To help distinguish them on the tion. It had taken the better part of three bolts, our example had embossed mark- rough texture of the composite skin, work sessions measuring, adjusting, test ings on the top. I faced these markings the punch marks were circled and a clamping, leveling, and so on to get it off and then spot-drilled the center. The vertical reference line drawn with felt right. The last thing they wanted was to through hole was peck-drilled 0.1 inch tip pen. The drill guide was then posi- mis-drill the tabs and have a big repair at a time, with cutting oil to prevent tioned using the transfer punch to find job on their hands. As for the tool, it’s overheating. Pecking (retracting the the dimple mark and clamped in place. a one-and-done item, at least for Phil’s drill to keep the chips from clogging) Once we visually confirmed the guide Velocity. He’s often mentioned how also helps prevent the drill from wan- was centered (Phil used a small mirror), much help he gets from the Velocity dering off line. You’ll note in the pho- we drilled the hole. community, so in classic pay-it-forward tos that I used the 3-jaw chuck. There’s The guide worked like a charm. The style, the drill guide will be made avail- a slight risk to damaging the threads canard tabs lined right up with the able to anyone building a Velocity. Sim- when drilling or turning a bolt this way. mounting holes and made the next step ply send an e-mail to editorial@kitplanes. The trick is to tighten the chuck firmly of adding the hardpoints a cinch. com with Bob Hadley and Velocity Drill enough to clamp the part and keep it This may seem like a lot of work to Guide in the subject line, and we’ll from slipping, but not enough to ding drill two holes! But it really wasn’t, arrange everything. J the threads. I turned down a 3/8-inch stainless steel bolt to make the stubby transfer punch. The final operation was to install the guide bushing in the frame, clamp the bushing tight with the jam nut, and using a hand drill, make the ¼-inch through hole in the frame. I deburred all the edges and then sandblasted the frame to obliterate the machining marks. With the addition of a coat of clear acrylic, our tool has a “factory” look to it! With the canard clamped in place (leveled, centered, inclined, etc.), both hole locations are center-punched through the mounting tabs using the Drilling the Velocity bulkhead for the canard mounts. The upper edge of the bulkhead has stub-length ¼-inch transfer punch about a ½-inch overhang toward the cockpit side. The drill guide made all the difference we made. It’s important to get a good getting the holes to line-up with the mounting tabs.

62 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes CHECKPOINTS Never too experienced to learn. Most pilots I know are all well aware Within the next few days, the seller Ungrounded Magneto of the clichés about “every flight being a and the buyer came to an agreement, This RV-4 had one electronic ignition learning experience,” and “don’t let the and the new owner asked if I would be and one magneto. It is not uncommon bag of luck run out before you fill up the willing to pick up the airplane, thor- when doing an ignition check with this bag of experience.” In fact, most of the oughly inspect it, replace whatever setup to see the rpm indication go to pilots I fly around with really exemplify was necessary, and then deliver it to zero when switching off the magneto. their commitment to safety and strive to his home base in Florida. I agreed to do The practice is to listen to the engine learn from others’ mistakes. And some- the work and the stage was set. A friend for smoothness and a check of EGTs times a chain of events that could lead and I flew his RV-8 to North Georgia to will indicate a rise in temps. I didn’t to an accident has a better outcome, pick up the airplane. After a thorough notice any engine roughness at all, and sometimes through luck, and sometimes preflight, runup, and a couple of circles I don’t remember checking the EGT through best practices. In this column I over the airport to verify all was normal, indications. My bad. It was very hot this am going to share with you several recent we departed for my place. Here’s where day, as it had been in the high 90s for events that happened to me, the first of the chain started. weeks. Sitting on the ground in the which had Lady Luck and best practices clearly working overtime for me. It’s been a busy year for pre-purchase inspections, and it’s a part of my business that I really enjoy, as I get to meet new people and see lots of different airplanes. A little over a week ago, I performed an inspection on an RV-4 that had been built in 2000. It turned out to be a well-built airplane with a really fancy paint job. The only area that gave me pause was that the engine compartment really needed some TLC. All of the hoses were at least original from the build in 2000, and some were perhaps even older, as the engine had 1600 hours on it SMOH, 900 of it on this RV-4. It turns out the builder had scavenged the engine from a Cessna Cardinal that had been in an off-runway accident, totaling the aircraft. My recommenda- tion was that the new owner have a (Left) The offending item. Look closely and you will see that the only two wires to the switch knowledgeable person replace the life- are the P-lead and the tach lead to the VPX. (Right) The same switch properly wired with a limited components in the engine com- ground. Also note that the switch is turned around so that an “up” on the panel side is really partment immediately. an open switch. The magneto is switched to ground when the switch is in the down position.

Vic is a Commercial Pilot and CFII with ASMEL/ASES ratings, an A&P, DAR, and EAA Technical Advisor and Flight Counselor. Passionately involved in aviation for over 39 years, he has built 10 award-winning aircraft and has logged over 8000 hours in 70 different kinds of aircraft. Vic Vic Syracuse had a career in technology as a senior-level executive and volunteers as a Young Eagle pilot and Angel Flight pilot. He also has his own sport aviation business called Base Leg Aviation.

Photos: Vic Syracuse KITPLANES April 2016 63 sun in an RV-4 bubble canopy is not sure enough, the timing was advanced weights, and the airplane is tied down exactly pleasant, so I had performed a way too far. The new owner also wanted if I am doing it solo. cockpit familiarity check in the shaded some avionics additions, so I completed The actual cause was very interest- hangar in order to reduce ground time. those as well. About five days later, I was ing to me, and you can see it in the pic- Once airborne another distraction ready to run the engine and test-fly it. tures. This particular airplane was never occurred—the cockpit heater was not The startup and systems checks were wired properly from the beginning. In fully closing! Even a climb to 5500 feet normal until I performed the ground- fact, there never even was a ground wire did not alleviate the ridiculously hot ing check on the ignition systems. installed to the magneto switch. The cockpit. I couldn’t wait to land, and The engine remained running when I P-lead from the magneto was wired to when I finally did, I couldn’t get the switched the magneto to the off posi- the switch, and that switch was wired canopy open fast enough to extricate tion! Yep. No matter how many times only to the VPX (Vertical Power) rpm myself from the cockpit. Because of I switched it off, it remained running. input signal. I realized I wasn’t the only my discomfort, I rushed the shutdown You can probably imagine how badly I lucky one here! I could only imagine how and neglected to perform my usual wanted it to quit running when I flipped many people throughout the 15-year life ignition grounding check. Can you see that switch. It stubbornly refused to quit! of this airplane had Lady Luck smiling on what’s coming? I wasn’t quite shaking, but I assure them and they didn’t even know it. And Over the course of the next few days, you, I was shaken. For the last few days, shame on the pilots for never doing a I replaced just about everything on the I had moved that prop multiple times. grounding check! forward side of the firewall, including This is where best practices worked. I wired the switch properly and made hoses, plugs, spark plug wires, etc. I even I am always careful to never be in the a pleasant call to the seller explaining it performed a prop balance and prop- prop arc when moving it. This is espe- to him just in case he ever wires another erly set the ignition timing, all of which cially critical when timing the engine, as airplane. This is now my second time required rotating the propeller. During the ignition is switched on in order to experiencing an ungrounded magneto the ferry flight, I thought the engine ran time the magneto, as well as the elec- in my life. I really hope I never experience a little hot for a 1600-hour engine and tronic ignition. And when doing a prop a third one! balance, I visually verify the ignition is By the way, this same RV-4 was giv- off before I ever touch the prop, I rotate ing intermittent VPX errors until I found the prop backwards when adding the cause: a really poorly stripped serial

The owner was complaining of intermittent VPX errors. Upon chasing the signal wire down, I found it to be really poorly stripped and shorted. It’s now properly fixed, and all is well!

64 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes data signal line. Once I repaired that, it was nice and solid. The second recent learning experience is almost funny after the fact, but really had me confused while it was occurring. I had flown my RV-10 to Flor- ida to license a couple of new airplanes and was heading back home. I was in South Georgia at 12,000 feet on an IFR flight plan listening to JAX center, when all of a sudden I hear Atlanta Tower just as clear as if I was on final approach to KATL. They were their usual beehive of activity, and I also heard them talking to Falcon Flight, which happens to be a group of RV guys at Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Georgia, that I fly with. At first I started wondering what function was happening at KATL with the Falcon Squadron that I didn’t know about. So I continued to listen to the ...and leave your engine conversation, but after a few minutes, I monitoring to EIS. realized there was so much chatter that Trusted with everything from 2-strokes I was having a hard time discerning the to turbines for over two decades. radio calls from JAX Center. I informed JAX that I was getting bleed over from Atlanta Tower, and they gave me a new frequency. Interestingly enough, I could FLY IT still hear Atlanta! like you stole it... iPhone Interference? One of the axioms I try to practice in the www.grtavionics.com • (616) 245-7700 cockpit when something goes awry is to Proud sponsor of Tiger Airshows and airplane “thief” extraordinaire, Hotwire Harry! take a breath and look at my watch. Not really to check the time, but just to pause before doing anything rash. In this case I asked myself from where could the interference be originating. I tried both com Print and Digital radios with the same results, and when I turned the volume down on each radio it was still loud and clear. Hmm…the only other electronics in the cockpit were my iPhone and the iPad running ForeFlight. Perhaps this is why we aren’t allowed to use phones on commercial airlines, I thought to myself. So I proceeded to power off the iPhone and instantly I ceased to hear Atlanta tower. I waited awhile to be sure, and then I turned the phone back on. Still nothing from Atlanta Tower. Well, that was interesting, I thought. I then restarted iTunes, which I had been listening to, and immediately Atlanta Tower was back! A quick glance at Either Format – Great Savings! the iPhone, and the culprit revealed itself. Subscribe Now at www.kitplanes.com/subscribe

KITPLANES April 2016 65 Last fall Delta was having their annual Maintenance Appreciation Day, and the Falcon Squadron was invited to display aircraft in one of the Delta hangars. It was a real fun experience to say the least. We took 17 Amateur-Built aircraft into Atlanta Hartsfield, and I took my Kitfox. What a hoot! Well, after the event someone had sent us the audio file of ATC in an email. Somehow that audio file ended up in my iTunes library and was now playing! I chuckled once I discov- ered it, but was embarrassed nonethe- less. No one asked, and I didn’t volunteer any information, but I was happy when I got handed over to Atlanta!

NOTAMs As we are preparing for our trip to OSH this year, I was reminded of another lesson I learned last year on the flight home. We like to fly down the shore of Lake Michigan below the Class B and enjoy The Chicago skyline really gets your attention, but one must be vigilant for the airliner traffic into Midway approaching from the east below the Class B. The routes are depicted the beautiful Chicago skyline when the on the area charts. weather permits. One has to remember to keep the head on a swivel and watch was a really big 767 airliner right there! No able to connect. This is where the lesson for other traffic, especially big traffic. We time to look at my watch for this one—I was learned again, and as an Instructor, I were headed south and enjoying the view quickly dove down a few hundred feet, knew this. The Class B only separates the when I heard a traffic warning from the and I’m sure it looked closer than it was. traffic going in and out of the primary air- ADS-B. I looked and it showed traffic at I quickly started reviewing our position port (O’Hare International). This airliner 10 o’clock and very close. Hmm…I hadn’t on all 3 GPSes and confirmed visually was headed to Midway. And a review of seen anything over there, so I moved my that we were below the Class B. While I the NOTAMs showed that Chicago Tra- head a little better forward to improve usually use flight following, Chicago was con had made a note for all OSH traffic the view around the doorpost, and there very busy that day, and we hadn’t been to be aware of the new VFR approaches for heavy jets in and out of Midway. The Notam was there, but really buried in a very long list. I will be paying closer attention this year! Non-Marring So there you have it. In the first example I really pressed Lady Luck to keep looking out for me. I also think it SHOP Fluting Pliers continues to give credence to my belief that someone other than the builder By Larry Larson TIPS should look over the airplane using a checklist during the first year. I am willing to bet that this is not the only air- Are your fluting pliers leav- craft wired this way. ing scratches in the aluminum? As for the iTunes and Chicago events, Here’s an easy and quick fix. I’ll just file them in the experience bucket Cut three pieces of shrink-wrap. under the “There I Was” category. I’d also Place one on each pin. Heat bet that some of you have similar stories until they shrink nice and tight. with no harm/no foul that presented a Cut the ends. Heat again and lesson learned, and perhaps you have press the ends with a piece of never told anyone. wood to make them round. J Talk to you next month. J

66 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Vernon Little’s Harmon Rocket Harmon Rocket C-GVRL is my second completion. The first was an RV-9A, C-FVRL. Both are hangared at Victoria International Airport (CYYJ). On August 21, 2013, I flew the Rocket for the first time. Per- fect day, almost perfect flight with just a few snags. The Rocket is a test mule for several avionics devices that I designed and put into the public domain through MakerPlane. It flies like a racehorse, not a mule! Spe- cial features include modifications to use the sliding canopy from the F1 Rocket and oversize tires for rough fields. Victoria, Canada www.vx-aviation.com/sprocket

Charles McCluggage’s RV-8 I finished N188DW and the inspection was completed in the fall of 2012. First flight was November 6. All went well, and the plane has been a delight to fly. It is powered by an Aero Sport Power IO-375 with dual P-Mags turning a WhirlWind 200RV. An all-Garmin IFR panel, including the G3X, makes navigation and engine management straightforward and adds to the fun. My first cross-country was to Oshkosh 2013, fulfilling a goal I have long held: to fly a plane built with my own hands and park it at the show. Thanks to the great sport aviation community here in Houston, with a special shout-out to Doug Knab for his help and encouragement. And a final very special thanks to my wife Susan, who is always supportive of whatever I want to do. When a task produced less than pleasing results and I was a bit down, it was her encouragement that kept me going. Houston, Texas [email protected]

Jerry Loeffelbein’s Sonex Sonex N1320X took to the air March 29, 2013 after three years (1500 hours) of cutting, drilling, asking, learning, and riveting. N1320X is the culmination of a lifelong dream of building and flying my own airplane. Sonex plans are easy to use. The factory’s builders’ workshop and assistance after the sale was fantastic, too. The plane flew great from the first flight, the AeroVee moving it smoothly at about 125 mph. Many thanks for the help and encouragement of friends, family, and EAA Chapter 424 (Home of Miss Veedol) in East Wenatchee, Washington. Cashmere, Washington [email protected]

Richard Yerian’s GlaStar I started building the GlaStar in 1996 with the help of my wife Judy. The time to complete it was 17 years. The project started in a two-car garage in Phoenix, AZ, and later moved to a hangar. From time to time, the project took a backseat to other things, which explains the long build time. The kit was purchased before quickbuild kits; therefore, all the work except the paint and upholstery was completed by the builders. I stopped counting at 3000 hours. The engine is a Lycoming O-320 with a three-blade wood prop. Top speed is about 135 knots. Independence, Oregon [email protected]

KITPLANES April 2016 67 Larry Long’s Sonex My first-time project N635LL was flown on December 5, 2012 by my mentor/hangar mate, Wayne Andrews, at Siler City, North Caroli- na Airport. The kit was started even before my first ride in a Sonex. I soloed a J3 Cub in 1957, however, life got in the way, and I am just now working on a Sport Pilot ticket at 771/2 years old. The Sonex is powered with a Jabiru 2200 engine and has dual controls. The paint is Sun Yel- low Krylon from a rattle can! I received great help from all my RC bud- dies, especially Chris Bobo and Wayne Andrews. Candor, North Carolina [email protected]

Tom Robertson’s Glasair This aircraft combines the lighter airframe of the Glasair IIS/R aft of the firewall, Glasair III components forward of the firewall, and a modified Lycoming IO-540. At 300 pounds lighter than the Glasair III, it approximates the performance of the Lancair Legacy with 6G+/4G- stressing. The wing airfoil was modified to approximate the NLF airfoil on the P51D Mustang with consulting assist by Ed Horki, chief aerody- namist of the Mustang in WW-II. Other consulting contributors were Jeff Viken at NASA Langley, and Roy Lopresti. Over the last 15+ years, it has accumulated over 1300 hours on numerous long flights. [email protected] Tony Tomasulo’s RV-4 My RV-4 took 121/2 years of building. It has a new Lycoming O-360- A1A with roller lifters and a fixed-pitch Sensenich prop. The panel includes a Dynon EFIS, Dynon EMS, Garmin SL40 com radio and Garmin GTX 327 transponder. A Garmin GPSMAP 196 runs the autopilot with altitude hold. Vortex generators bring the stall speed in landing configuration down to 41 knots and 46 knots without flaps. The paint job was done by Lancaster Aero. [email protected] West Seneca, New York

Daniel MacPherson’s WindFire Helicopter My Windfire is powered by a Subaru EA81 short block, rebuilt by Ron at RAM Performance. It has an excellent ECU (EM5) from Simple Digital Systems and a 5-gph average fuel burn using non-ethanol premium auto fuel. The MGL Voyager screens and V10 com radio are controlled and tuned by buttons on cyclic control. The cabin and cowls are carbon fiber. The tail cone is one-part uni carbon prepreg, and the fuel tank is a one-part carbon-kevlar lay-up. The time consumed fabricating and assembling parts was thousands of hours! Murphy, Idaho [email protected] J

Submissions to “Completions” should include a description (250 words maximum) of the project and the finished aircraft. Also include a digital image of the aircraft. Minimum digital image size is 1500 pixels wide x 900 pixels high (5 x 3 print size at 300 dpi). Please include a daytime phone number where we can contact you if necessary. Also indicate whether we may publish your address in case other builders would like to contact you. Email text and photos to [email protected] with a subject line of “Completions.” You may also submit electronically at www.kitplanes.com, just click on “Completions: Add Yours” in the upper right corner of the home page.

68 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes BACK ISSUES List of Advertisers O NEW eBOOK O Please tell them you saw their ad in KITPLANES® Magazine. eBook download is exactly the KITPLANES® interactive makes it quick and easy for you to receive instant same magazine as on the newsstand. information about products or services directly from our advertisers’ web sites. The difference is: ➥ Go to: www.kitplanes.com/links for a virtual shopping tour via links to their web sites. you get it now! ➥ Call the phone numbers listed below and be sure to tell them you saw their ad & in KITPLANES® Magazine. no shipping costs for e-books! Advertiser page # telephone Advertiser page # telephone Aero Conversions 49 920-231-8297 (a big savings for our international customers) Builders’ Marketplace Aircraft Spruce & Specialty CV4 877-4SPRUCE Aerotrek Aircraft 72 812-384-4972

eBooks download as a single, full size, Avemco Insurance Company 21 888-241-7890 Airflow Performance 71 864-576-4512 full color .pdf document which you can view Bearhawk Aircraft 31 877-528-4776 on your desktop, laptop or tablet computer. Alturair 71 619-449-1570 Belite Aircraft 41 316-253-6746 Arion Aircraft 70 931-680-1781 PDF eMagazine issues are fully searchable Better Aircraft Fabric 65 907-229-6792 Bede Corp. 71 See Advertisement and are compatible with all Adobe Acrobat California Power Systems 41 800-AIRWOLF functions such as highlighting, page notes Beringer 73 708-667-7891 and spoken word audio. Continental Motors 5 210-820-8140 Better Half VW 70 281-383-0113 CubCrafters 57 509-248-9491 Falconar Avia Inc 72 780-465-2024 O Individual monthly issues are $6.95 O A compiled Aircraft Buyer’s Guide David Clark Company 27 800-298-6235 Flight Data Systems 72 831-325-3131 is $12.95 Dynon Avionics CV2 425-402-0433 Flight Grip 70 800-204-7625 Garmin International 13 913-397-8200 Glen-L 71 888-700-5007 Visit: Experimental Aircraft Association 11 See Advertisement Grove Aircraft 70 619-562-1268 www.kitplanesbooks.com Grand Rapids Technologies 31 616-245-7700 Homebuilt Help 70 See Advertisement to order Grand Rapids Technologies 65 616-245-7700 INFINITY Aerospace 73 See Advertisement Ivoprop 11 800-FOR PROP Kuntzleman Electronics Inc. 70 610-326-9068 ❏ March 2016 Carbon Cub EX on Amphibious Floats, Audio Control Panels, Bendix and Beyond Kitfox Aircraft 3 208-337-5111 Matco Manufacturing 71 801-335-0582

❏ February 2016 2016 Engine Buyer’s Guide, RV-14 Taildragger, Kitplanes® Bookstore 43 800-780-4115 Osprey Aircraft 73 See Advertisement Aircraft Wiring Mistakes, Repairing Loose Rivets Lockwood Aviation 77 863-655-5100 Recreational Power Engineering 71 800-583-3306 ❏ January 2016 SuperSTOL Stretch XL, ULPower, On a Wing and a Whim, Fuel System Design, Aircraft Wiring Lycoming 23 See Advertisement Sky Ox 72 800-253-0800 ❏ December 2015 2016 Homebuilt Aircraft Directory, Light Aircraft MGL Avionics 21 877-835-9464 Smoking Airplanes 71 661-713-9050 Fuel System Design, Vortex Generators for Cooling Sportsman’s Market 71 800-SPORTYS ❏ November 2015 Pole to Pole, Lady Bug’s Story, Viperjet, Spirit Quad City Ultralights 19 309-764-3515 of St. Louis, How to Use Your Oxygen System Sonex Aircraft, LLC 77 920-231-8297 TCW Technologies 72 See Advertisement ❏ October 2015 Carbon Cub EX-2, Taming the Lancair, Flying Other People’s Planes, Glass Panel Upgrade Stewart Systems 35 888-356-3490 Tormach LLC 72 See Advertisement

❏ September 2015 Ten Years With a Time Machine, Becoming a Van’s Aircraft 15 503-678-6545 Tosten Manufacturing 71 760-803-6034 Test Pilot, Family Affair, The Motivated Builder Vertical Power 49 See Advertisement UMA Instruments 73 800-842-5578 ❏ August 2015 SubSonex, 1909 Blériot XI, Carving Fiberglass, Fully Inverted Pocket System, Aircraft Wiring Wag Aero 64 800-558-6868 VAL Avionics 72 800-255-1511

❏ July 2015 Searey LSX, The First Grand Champion, Wicks Wicks Aircraft Supply 3 800-221-9425 Viking Aircraft Engines 73 386-566-2616 Aircraft Supply, APP in the Real World Zenith Aircraft Co. CV3 573-581-9000 WhirlWind Propellers 73 619-562-3725 ❏ June 2015 Turbine-Powered RV-10, Bearhawk Factory, Crewing at Reno, Legalities of Fly-Ins

KITPLANES April 2016 69

builders’ marketplace CUSTOMIZE OUR GRIP Working with FOR YOUR AIRCRAFT LANDING GEAR Your Complete Source a Tight Budget? Easy Installation for Wheels, Brakes Comfortable & Landing Gear Rocker (shown) or push button trigger style Thumb Switches: Push Button, Toggle and/or 4-Way Trim Fit to 5/8" thru 1-1/8" sticks Next day shipping for virtually Builders’ Marketplace reaches any conﬁ guration you desire. tens of thousands of homebuilders and pilots who are eager to buy Factory Direct new products and services. www.groveaircraft.com 812 Jacquelyn St. • Milton-Freewater, Oregon 97862 1800 Joe Crosson Dr. Call 805-382-3363 or Grove El Cajon, CA 92020 800-204-7625 • 541-938-0533 • Fax: 541-938-7242 Aircraft Landing Gear Systems Inc. 619.562.1268 email: [email protected]

INTRODUCING THE “DOUBLE EAGLE”

2 Place Sports Plane powered by reliable 4 cyl. VW. Empty wt. 385#. Plans, videos, propeller hubs: L.E. MILHOLLAND PO Box 747, Brookshire, TX 77423 Email: [email protected] • www.betterhalfvw.com Kits & materials pkgs., welded fuselages: John Bolding, 281-383-0113. Estimated cost $5,000-$7,500.

70 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes 1204-8 Airflow 1/10/05 2:35 PM Page 1

Aircraft Multi-point Fuel Injection • Operates all engines from 65 to 800 HP • Applications for V6/V8 engines • Manual Mixture Control • Bolt on Kits for Lycoming Engines • No Carburetor heat required • Instant throttle response • All Mechanical, No Electronics • Increases mid-range HP • Approved for Aerobatic use • Compatible with all Fuels • Precise Fuel Metering under all conditions

111 Airflow Drive Spartanburg, SC 29306 (864) 576-4512 (864) 576-0201 (Fax) www.airflowperformance.com Email: [email protected]

HIRTH AIRCRAFT ENGINES 15 thru 110 hp. 1000 hour rated TBO. One year warranty. Sales, service, and parts. Highest power to weight ratio in the industry. BlueMax 2-cycle aviation oil. Contact: RECREATIONAL POWER ENGINEERING 5479 East County Rd. 38, Tiffin, Ohio 44883 Tel: 800-583-3306 • Fax: 419-585-6004. Visit us on the web at www.recpower.com

® Have You Seen Us Lately? The KITPLANES® web site is now better than ever! KITPLANES.COM is YOUR guide to the most comprehensive homebuilt information available, and access to our archives and aircraft database are FREE to registered subscribers!

Highlights: • Revamped and expanded Aircraft Buyer’s Guide for quicker, better search results • All New Classiﬁ ed Ads section for deals on aircraft and accessories • Unlimited access to back issues as an easy- to-use, tablet-friendly downloadable PDF It’s easy to register. Just visit WWW.KITPLANES.COM and click on GET WEB ACCESS.

“Like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and get an RSS feed from our Newsline

KITPLANES April 2016 71

builders’ marketplace continued

or visit us at Sun-n-Fun Booth # B-62

The must-read for the GA Community! Log-in for FREE News Alerts www.avweb.com/kit

PLANS - KITS - PARTS

2/3 Mustang F12 Cruiser and 10 other all wood designs Info Packs $10/ea + $3 Postage HIPEC Covering System - no ribstitching, no taping. Lo cost — Lo labor — proven www.falconaravia.com Email: [email protected] FALCONAR AVIA INC. Ph: 780-465-2024

72 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes GROUND ADJUSTABLE Buy a Plane COMPOSITE PROPELLERS

• ROTAX or Sell a • JABIRU Plane with

• CONTINENTAL a FREE • LYCOMING ad online.

619-562-3725

www.whirlwindpropellers.com

“GP-4” MORE SPEED, LESS MONEY

240 MPH cruise on 200 HP. All wood, 2-Place, Oshkosh Grand Champion. Full builder support. Info Pak $15 ($18 overseas). Plans $385 ($430 overseas). OSPREY AIRCRAFT 3741 El Ricon Way, Sacramento, CA 95864 Email: [email protected]

Can’t Get Enough ? Get the latest. Follow us on Twitter at #Kitplanes.

Any individual may post a flying homebuilt or partial project complete with photos at no cost for quick global response.

www.kitplanes.com/classifieds

KITPLANES April 2016 73 Highlander gross weight increase, using certified parts in a plansbuilt Cub. By Mel Asberry

Question: I built a Just Aircraft Question: I recently acquired a Cub. Can I decline and go the E/A-B Highlander and registered it as plansbuilt project. The original route? This is all new to me and any Experimental/Amateur-Built. I set builder used Wag Aero J-3 Cub plans advice would be appreciated. the gross weight at 1320 pounds to and built the fuselage from scratch. Answer: Some parts from a certifi- comply with the requirements of A builder’s log was used with some cated aircraft may be used to build an flying it as an LSA. If the Pilots Bill documentation and pictures. Amateur-Built aircraft. Now, I’m talk- of Rights 2 passes, is it possible for The builder had access to an old ing about parts like wing ribs, landing me to change the gross weight from J-3, and I assume some of the parts gear components, etc. Major subassem- 1320 to 1500 pounds? I believe 1500 from it were used, such as wing blies such as wings, control surfaces, pounds is the designed max weight ribs, landing gear, and the tube etc., such as used to be used to build a for the Highlander, but I have to ver- frames for the control surfaces. Breezy or similar aircraft, maynot be ify that with the designer. Can I consider this project to be used. If parts from a certificated air- Answer: Your question will probably Experimental/Amateur-Built? craft are used, they donot count toward be quite common if the PBOR 2 actu- My second concern is this: When the amateur-built portion. Also, if any ally passes. Just remember that even if it the first builder started the proj- certificated parts are used, you must passes, it will not go into effect for a year ect, he immediately registered the complete and submit the amateur-built unless the FAA approves it earlier. plane in the Standard category as fabrication and assembly checklist You may increase the gross weight of a certified airplane. When he real- found in Appendix 8 of AC 20-27G your amateur-built aircraft if you can ized how much work he was hav- when applying for certification. show either the designer’s approval or ing to do, he bought the Wag Aero As far as the aircraft being registered engineering data to justify the increase. plans and continued the project. as a Standard category 1946 Piper J-3 In either case, you will need to place the Somehow it has a serial number Cub, that is something you will have aircraft back into phase I and complete for an E/A-B project, but it is also to work out with the FAA registration flight testing to the new maximum registered with the FAA as a 1946 branch in Oklahoma City. Somehow gross weight. You also need to remem- Piper J-3 Cub. that has to go away. J ber that after the change, the aircraft It is obvious that this is a can never again be flown by a Sport homebuilt project. However, the Please send your questions for DAR Pilot or any other pilot operating under FAA has contacted me and asked Asberry to [email protected] with Sport Pilot privileges. me to register the 1946 Piper J-3 “Ask the DAR” in the subject line.

74 KITPLANES April 2016 Photo: Mel Asberry Blade inflow angle. It’s easy to think of a propeller blade propeller rotation), which is normal to the the tangential velocity and the airspeed. as a wing flying around in a circle, but in propeller axis of rotation. The forward air- This is independent of the absolute value real life, propeller blade aerodynamics speed of the airplane produces a velocity of these two speeds. As long as the ratio is are more complicated than wing aerody- component that is parallel to the propel- the same, the angle is the same. Because namics because the flow conditions vary ler shaft. The local helix angle is deter- of this, engineers have defined a quantity dramatically over the span of the blade. mined by the relative magnitude of the called the “advance ratio” of a propeller, On a wing, every element along the axial velocity (due to airspeed) and the which is used in calculations of propeller span sees the same oncoming air flow. tangential velocity (due to rotation). The characteristics. It is also a fundamental This is not true for propeller blades. The propeller blade element sees an incom- parameter against which experimental prop is spinning around its shaft, while ing airflow approaching at the local helix propeller performance data are plotted. also moving though the air. The flow angle. Note that the lift generated by the For reasons undoubtedly long lost in his- conditions at any point along the blades propeller blade element is normal to the tory, the symbol for the advance ratio is are the result of the combination of the incoming flow, rather than parallel to the a capital “J.” velocity due to the spin of the propel- propeller axis of rotation. The helix angle The advance ratio (J) is given by: ler and the velocity due to the forward is always 90 degrees at the center of the J = V/(nD) motion of the airplane. These cause large prop hub, where the tangential veloc- Where: variations of both airspeed and inflow ity is zero. As we move outboard on the V is the airspeed in feet per second angle over the length of the blade. blade, the angle decreases. D is the propeller diameter in feet A properly designed propeller needs n is the propeller rotation rate in to take both of these effects into account. The Advance Ratio revolutions per second Last month, we looked at the effect of the The helix angle described by any point As its name implies, the advance ratio variation of airspeed and Mach number on the blade is determined by the ratio of is proportional to the ratio between the along the blades. This month, we turn our attention to the apparent incident angle of the oncoming air each blade element sees, and why propeller blades are twisted.

Blade Inflow Angle As the propeller moves through the air, each point on the blade follows a heli- cal path. The angle of this helix is determined by the rotational speed of the propeller, the forward airspeed, and the radial distance from the axis of rotation. The angle is different at every radial station on the blade. Figure 1 shows how the local helix angle is determined. The blade element Figure 1: The helix angle at each point on the blade is determined by the tangential has a tangential velocity (velocity due to velocity due to prop rotation and the free stream velocity (airspeed) of the airplane.

is a principal aerodynamics engineer for Northrop Grumman’s Advanced Design organization. A private pilot with single engine and glider ratings, Barnaby has been involved in the design of Barnaby Wainfan unconventional airplanes including canards, joined wings, flying wings, and some too strange to fall into any known category.

Illustrations: Barnaby Wainfan KITPLANES April 2016 75 tangential speed of the propeller blade tip and the forward speed of the airplane. For a given propeller diameter and rotation rate, the advance ratio is proportional to the airspeed. Figure 2 shows the value of advance ratio for a 6-foot (72- inch) diameter propeller as a function of airspeed for two values of rpm. Note that for the low airspeeds typical of ultralights (50 knots) the advance ratio is less that 0.5, while for fast airplanes it is typically 1.0 or above.

Inflow Angle and Blade Twist One reason advance ratio is an important consideration when designing or selecting a propeller is that both the Figure 2: Advance ratio (J) for a 6-foot prop. magnitude and the distribution of inflow angles along the blade change with the same lift coefficient. Ideally, the airflow, the blade would need about 8 advance ratio. Figure 3 shows the local whole blade is operating at the lift degrees of twist from the 20% radial sta- helix angles over the blade plotted for a coefficient at which the blade airfoil tion outboard. range of advance ratios. achieves its maximum lift-to-drag ratio. Inboard of 20% we would need a lot of The first thing we note looking at the We achieve this uniform angle of attack twist, and the blade should theoretically curves is that as advance ratio increases, distribution by twisting the propeller have an incidence of 90 degrees at the the whole curve moves up, indicating a blades properly. root. Fortunately, the inner 10% to 20% steeper helix angle for the propeller. This Look at the bottom curve, which is of a propeller blade is usually either part is not surprising. What it is telling us is that for a very low advance ratio. Notice that of the hub or inside the spinner. as airspeed increases (higher advance although the inflow angle is very high Now let’s turn our attention to the ratio), we need a higher-pitch propeller. at the root, it falls off very rapidly, and top curve on Figure 3. This curve is The curves also illustrate a second, by 20% of the radius, it is down to just for a propeller operating at a much more subtle phenomenon. For a pro- under 10 degrees. Over the remain- higher advance ratio than the previous peller to operate efficiently, it is desir- ing 80% of the blade length, the inflow example. At 20% of radius out from the able to have the majority of the blade angle drops to about 2 degrees. If we center, the local flow angle is about 70 at the same angle of attack relative to wanted to keep all of the sections on the degrees. At the tip, it has dropped to the local incident airflow. This causes blade of this propeller at the same angle about 28 degrees. To achieve uniform most of the blade to be operating at of attack relative to the local incident blade-element angle of attack, this prop would need about 42 degrees of twist between the 20% radius station and the tip. This is quite a difference from the 8 degrees needed for the very low advance ratio prop. Figure 4 shows the twist required to achieve uniform blade angle of attack as a function of advance ratio. If we com- pare an ultralight-like value of 0.3 for “J” to the 1.0 to 1.5 typical of faster airplanes, we can see that there is a dramatic difference in the twist distribution required for an efficient propeller. If the twist in the propeller blades does not match the advance ratio at which it is flying, part of the blade will be at a non-optimum angle of attack. Consider a ground-adjustable or Figure 3: Effect of advance ratio (J) on inflow angle. controllable-pitch propeller designed

76 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Figure 4: Effect of advance ratio on propeller blade twist. to fly at low speed (low advance ratio). At the other end of the blade, the tips Suppose we decided to use this pro- are too highly loaded, and are operating peller on an airplane that flies faster at a lift coefficient that is higher than the than the design speed of the prop. To best L/D lift coefficient of the blade air- get thrust out of the propeller, we add foil. Once again, too much blade drag is pitch by rotating the whole blades. being paid for too little thrust. The blades are twisted for low speeds One important lesson comes from and do not have enough twist for high this. It is common for propeller manufac- speeds. After the pitch change, the tips turers, particularly those who sell to the will have too high an angle of attack, ultralight community, to advertise how and the roots will be at too low an much static thrust their prop produces. angle of attack. A static propeller is at the lowest of This situation is very inefficient for two advance ratios: zero. Static thrust might reasons. The inner portions of the blades be a valid figure of merit for propellers might actually be operating at nega- for very slow flying airplanes, but it is tive angle of attack, producing negative essentially meaningless as a measure of thrust at high speed. Even if they are not, how good the prop will be on a faster- they are not producing their share of flying machine. thrust. They are still producing drag that If the situation is reversed, and the opposes the rotation of the propeller and blade is twisted for higher advance soaks up engine power without doing ratio, but de-pitched and flown slowly, anything useful. During early flight tests once again we find some inefficiency. on my Facetmobile, I was using a propel- The inner portion of the blade is at too ler designed for ultralights. It pulled very high an angle of attack, and the tip is at well during the takeoff roll and initial a lower-than optimum angle of attack. climb, but cruise performance was disap- The loss of efficiency is less severe than pointing. After a few flights, I noticed that the case we just discussed. The outer I was getting bug strikes on the forward portion of the blade will be closer to its face of the inner third of the propeller optimum angle of attack, and while the blades. Obviously, this was not an effi- inner portion of the blade is operating cient situation. at too high an angle of attack, it is at This does not mean that the propeller least producing thrust. For a variable- was a bad design. It was designed to pro- pitch propeller, it is much better to twist duce a lot of thrust at low airspeed. It did the blade for optimum performance at this well. Unfortunately for me, it was not cruise and accept the loss of efficiency well suited to the higher-than-ultralight at low speed, than to fail to put suffi- cruise speed of the Facetmobile. cient twist in the blades. J

KITPLANES April 2016 77 Let’s stay current. A few months ago, we took a look at Feed it a voltage of just 2.8 volts, and it much. So, using one of the old analog using LED lights on the wingtips and tail will be too dim to see. The problem then engineer tricks, you turn the voltage feathers, and said we’d look at power sup- resolves itself to finding a current regula- regulator into a current regulator. Not so plies for the wingtips and landing/taxi tor instead of a voltage regulator. hard as you might imagine. lights at a later date. This is that later date. But each of the nav light positions (two Remember, Ohm said that a constant Let’s do a little bit of a recap, and then I wings and a tail) have two diodes each to voltage with a constant resistance is con- have a confession to make. We did a lot of give us the optical light pattern we need. stant current. The wizened old engineer work on the optics of the nav lights, but The clever designer then says, “Aha, I can says, take a voltage regulator and turn precious little on the electronics of the put the two diodes in series since Ohm it into a current regulator with a known lights. I did a lot of handwaving and said told us the current in a series circuit is resistance (see the schematic). Know- that “all will be revealed” at a later time. equal everywhere.” ing that the internal precision regulator This is that later time. Now we are getting somewhere. Each keeps the “reference” of the LM317 pre- So, here we go. The LEDs that I used of the two-diode pairs needs a regulated cisely 1.25 volts below the output volt- on the nav lights were individual “dice,” current source to feed it a constant 800 age, if we put in a resistor of 1.5 ohms which means that it was just one diode milliamps no matter what the aircraft (1.5625 to be exact, but we can’t buy that (LED means Light Emitting Diode) on battery voltage is. That poses a problem exact a resistor), the output current will a ceramic PC board. Each wingtip and because you can buy voltage regulators be 800 milliamps for input battery bus the tail feathers each had two of these dime-a-dozen; current regulators, not so voltages from 8 to 15 volts. diodes: two red on the port wing, two green on the starboard wing, and two on the tail. Let’s then just talk about these diodes individually. Whether they be red, green, or white, they mostly all have the same characteristic. They are current-driven devices. Let me say that again for reasons that will be apparent: They are current- driven devices. That is, you don’t feed them with a particular voltage (like you do an incandescent), you feed them with a current—in amperes (or milliamperes), not volts. Each one of these diodes likes to be fed with a current of about 800 milliamperes (0.8 ampere), and if you measure the voltage across the diode at 800 milliamperes, Close-up of the left wing fore and side LEDs. Note that the camera flash “excited” the it is about 3 volts. But feed it a voltage of LEDs in the little square in the center of the round ceramic substrate and caused them to just 3.2 volts, and it will be conducting a glow slightly red. The LED itself is inside of the little ceramic square marked (+ + and – –). burnout current of well over an ampere. For size, the black screws are #4, and the red/white wire is #24.

is the chief avioniker at RST Engineering. He answers avionics questions in the Internet news- group www.pilotsofamerica.com–Maintenance. His technical advisor, Cyndi Weir, got her Masters degree in English and Journalism and keeps Jim on the straight and narrow. Check Jim Weir out their web site at www.rst-engr.com/kitplanes for previous articles and supplements.

78 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes The basic 2-LED power supply with an Replacing the 800 mA current source in the previous schematic with a real current source 800 mA current source. Note that each using an LM317 and current setting resistor. LED is a 3-watt radiator that corresponds to an approximately 20- to 40-watt of those little diode circuit boards will be Oshkosh across the aircraft band, and incandescent light. generating power at the rate of 3 volts there were birds and tweets from one times 0.8 of an ampere times 85% loss end of the band to the other from the The resistor is going to have some (15% efficiency turning electrons into switching supply. Not exactly conducive power considerations. Ohm told us that light). That means each of the little diode to good communications practices. the power dissipated in a resistor is the PC boards will have to get rid of 2 watts Could I clean up the supplies to get current (squared) times the resistance. of heat. The LM317 itself will have to get rid of the birds? Of course. A little shield- 800 milliamps squared is 640 milliamps, rid of a maximum of (15 volts of maximum ing here, a little filtering there, and we times a 1.5 ohm resistor, is 960 milliwatts battery volts minus 6 volts of diodes) are home free. Can I tell you how to do (0.96 watts). Engineering practice is to times 800 milliamps of current or another it on an individual basis? Of course not. round the wattage up to the next avail- 7 watts of heat. That’s not a lot of heat So we waste a couple of amps of alterna- able level (1 watt) and then double it for (relative to a normal 25 watt incandescent tor doing it without a switching supply reliability. Now we have our current reg- nav light), but you have to deal with it. Alu- and doing it with a linear power-wasting ulated source completely designed. An minum structure is your friend. supply. What did that cost? A couple of LM317 voltage regulator combined with Now I have a confession to make. amps of excess current times 12 volts is a 1.5 ohm 2-watt current regulator resis- When I did this design for Oshkosh ’15, 24 watts. Divided by 746 watts per horse- tor gives us exactly what we need. I did each of the power supplies for the power means you are losing exactly Almost. We’ve got another consid- four lights (three nav and the landing 0.032 horsepower doing it this “clean” eration to make, and I leave it to you to light) using a switching power supply way. Pretty good tradeoff, I say. make the design, as it will be different for that was slightly modified to make it But the landing and taxi lights, Jim? Ah, each different aircraft. Heat. That nasty a current supply. I did not do a full EMI but we’ve come to the end of the page stuff that takes battery/alternator energy (electromagnetic interference) test on it and still no mention of that. Rest assured, and wastes it into the atmosphere. Each before I took it to the show. Guess what? in the next couple of months we’ll finish The little power supplies sang like a bird. up the LEDing of your airplane. That is, I listened when I got home from Until then, stay tuned… J VOUT

Adj VIN

VOUT Front View

LM317 pinout diagram. Close-up of the white lights on the rear tail feathers.

Photos: Jim Weir KITPLANES April 2016 79 By Robrucha

80 KITPLANES April 2016 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes