LIABILITY 101 Reduce Your Risk When You Sell STRUTS & STUFF Wag-Aero’s Sporty Cub Clone An Exclusive First Look Inside! LANCAIR’S TURBINE SCREAMER 750-hp Pratt & Whitney PT6A • 380-mph Cruise • 4 Seats September 2007 Demon Tweaks Builder Paul Lipps Shares His Experiments $4.99US $5.99CAN 09 Strong, Sticky Stuff Home Machine Shop Basic Building With Carbon Fiber Composites Tune Up Your Tools Wiring In A Tangle? 0 09281 03883 2 An Innovative Box Bundles It…And Much More the evolution continues Oshkosh 2007 www.lancairevolution.com CONTENTS September 2007 | Volume 24, Number 9 On the cover: An artist’s rendering of the Lancair Evolution comes with something of a pedigree, as it’s based on detailed computer- aided-design drawings. Builder Spotlight 10 LANCAIR EVOLUTION Here’s an inside look at the next big turboprop thing from Redmond; by Marc Cook. 16 WAG-AERO SUPER SPORT Here’s a Piper Cub-alike that you can build; by Bob Grimstead. 16 25 A SIGN OF THE ZODIAC O ff in all directions at the same time; by Rick Lindstrom. 32 A FUTURISTIC ANACHRONISM Paul Lipps is an experimenter down to the nth detail; by Bob Fritz. 36 BUILD YOUR SKILLS: COMPOSITES Part 5: working with carbon fi ber; by Bob Fritz. 42 ALL ABOUT AVIONICS For fair-weather fl iers on a budget, a VFR panel-mount or portable GPS might be just the ticket; by Stein Bruch. 50 VERTICAL POWER A new experience in power management; by Marc Cook. 53 EXTREME GLEAM It’s easy being green…and clean; by Bob Fritz. 70 COMPLETIONS Builders share their successes. Shop Talk 54 THE HOME MACHINIST Tuning up the equipment; by Bob Fritz. 60 ENGINE BEAT Exhaust tech is both art and science; by Tim Kern. 62 AERO ’LECTRICS Flash yourself, Part 3; by Jim Weir. Designer’s Notebook 68 WIND TUNNEL Th e value of a constant-speed prop; by Barnaby Wainfan. 10 Exploring 2 AROUND THE PATCH Let’s unplug the Wayback Machine; by Marc Cook. 8 WHAT’S NEW Smart welding helmets, a folding mobility scooter, relays to protect your radios and more; edited by Mary Bernard. 22 BUILDER LIABILITY AND YOU Avoiding a close encounter in court; by Dave Higdon. 72 LIGHT STUFF Kappa KP-5: conventional excellence; by Dave Martin. Kit Bits 4 CONTRIBUTORS 6 LETTERS 64 LIST OF ADVERTISERS 65 BUILDERS’ MARKETPLACE 75 THE CLASSIFIED BUILDER 32 80 KIT STUFF Drawing on experience; by cartoonist Robrucha. KITPLANES September 2007 1 AROUND the Patch MARCBY COOK Let’s unplug the data logging to the EMS-D120. I’ve been hugely impressed by Dynon’s approach to developing new features, which are Wayback Machine. vetted in the lab, then among a small number of aircraft “in the family,” and y morning ritual probably isn’t a lot diff erent than most. With a hot then fi nally with a group of public beta mug of life-giving caff eine in front of me, I take a virtual tour through testers of which I am a member. Th is last the world of homebuilding. In addition to the handful of builder soft ware version didn’t get to the public lists that fl ood my email inbox every day—many of them from Matt group until Beta 8, and had four more MDralle’s Matronics Aircraft Email Forums—I scan several more web forums. updates in six weeks until arriving at a Almost without exception, I’ll fi nd a thread dealing with new technology—glass- release candidate around the middle of panel fl ight instruments and electronic ignition are oft en the topics—in which a June. In each version there were bugs, poster has asked about fi eld experience, reliability, ease of installation or any num- sure, but minor ones, and a dozen subtle ber of other subtopics germane to the subject. And, almost without exception, a self- improvements were implemented in part described realist will pop up encouraging at the very least caution toward the new based on feedback from the group. technology, though sometimes it bleeds over into an “I’ll never use equipment like One of those improvements is a peak- that myself and if you do you’ll die.” OK, maybe not that strident, but we’ve all seen EGT detector coupled to a percent-of- something close to this kind of remark. power calculator that’s done properly, in What I fi nd most interesting is that the issuer of such comments oft en has lit- my view. It fairly accurately determines tle to no personal experi- when you are rich or lean of peak EGT ence with the equipment and uses diff erent algorithms to deter- and, sometimes, feels com- mine power based on which side of peak pelled to post news reports the engine’s operating on. of some Russian satellite So for those whose suspicions of new- having massive soft ware fangled technology might be based on problems as evidence that the belief that one guy sits in a lab and we should all go back to cranks out code for immediate release needle-ball-airspeed fl y- to the public, guess again. My experi- ing. Maybe it’s just me, ence in this regard says that, for Dynon but these Luddite com- at least, the development process is care- ments couched in the tone ful, measured and conservative. Oh, and of fatherly concern strike on the subject of soft ware, the problems Beta-testing Dynon’s new-look software. Despite running me as just a bit out of place I had with my GPS talking to the EFIS, all manner of beta-test and release-candidate software, in our world of forward- autopilot and Garmin SL30 nav/com this suite has been as reliable as fi stfi ghts in a biker bar. looking aircraft . through the RS-232 serial stream seem I’m all for taking a to have been cured by an update to the measured, conservative Garmin 496’s operating system. approach to the development of new technologies—it partly explains why I still have a pair of big old Bendix magnetos on the Sportsman—but let’s rely on genuine, Such a Deal! relevant data and real-world experience before skewering anything beyond the insect- Th ere’s good news for KITPLANES® in-amber tech familiar to pilots. Sherman and Peabody can go back. I won’t. subscribers. By the time you read this, As you can see from the panel shot above, I’ve been fl ying with the new Dynon soft - the contents of our web site, including ware that improves data presentation on the EFIS-D100 and D10A, and that adds magazine back issues and aircraft direc- tories, will be available to subscribers Marc Cook has been in aviation journalism for 19 years and in magazine work for 25. free of charge. In addition, the cost of He is a 3800-hour instrument-rated, multi-engine pilot with experience in nearly 150 types. He’s completed two kit aircraft , an Aero Designs Pulsar XP and a Glastar Sportsman 2+2. the electronic-only subscription will be reduced to $26.95 a year. 2 KITPLANES September 2007 Photo: Marc Cook ©2007 Garmin Ltd or its subsidiaries Yes, there are other glass cockpit displays for kitbuilts. End of comparison. Announcing Garmin’s new G900X™ kitplane installation program. Now do-it-yourselfers don’t have to settle for semi-suite avionics. With the launch of Garmin’s new G900X series – and its installation network of factory-approved avionics dealers – builders of the popular Lancair and Van’s RV series* aircraft can now step up to the most proven, most capable, most fully integrated “glass cockpit” ever to fly in any kitbuilt airframe. The dealer-supplied package comes with everything you need: from GPS/Comm, transponder and AHRS sensors to audio panel, wiring harness, and drawings. So, you simply add the finishing touches. Garmin’s new G900X: For your next kitplane cockpit, the choice is clear as glass. To explore the possibilities, go to www.garmin.com *Garmin G900X packages are available for all new 4-place Lancair piston models, as well as all Van’s RV series products configured for 2-across seating. For a list of approved avionics dealers, visit Garmin’s website. NASDAQ GRMN CONTRIBUTORS EDITORIAL BOB GRIMSTEAD Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook Widely experienced author—and Aussie—Bob Grim- [email protected] Managing Editor Mary Bernard stead has been a regular contributor to KITPLANES® Art Director Suzanne Stackle over the years. Th is month he takes fl ight in friend Rob Technical Editor Ed Wischmeyer Senior Editor Dave Higdon Felton’s Wag-Aero Super Sport. For pilots with fondness Contributing Editors Ken Armstrong, Walter Atkinson for the Piper Cub series, the Super Sport (and its stable- Stein Bruch, Dan Checkoway, mate the Sport Trainer) are excellent kitbuilt choices. In Cory Emberson, Bob Fritz Geoffrey Jones, Tim Kern, fact, they can be built from plans or purchased in a variety Howard Levy, Rick Lindstrom, of subkits. Bob’s story begins on Page 16. Dave Martin, Dick Starks, Barnaby Wainfan, Jim Weir Webmaster/Data Manager Julia Downie Cartoonist Robrucha BOB FRITZ ADVERTISING Bob poked his head out of the shop this month to spend Publisher/Ad Director Cindy Pedersen time with inveterate tinkerer Paul Lipps, whose ideas range [email protected] Sr. Advertising Manager Chuck Preston from the sublimely simple to the nearly outlandish. Th e [email protected] indefatigable Mr. Lipps has always carried on, shall we say, BUSINESS OFFICE a vocal commentary with KITPLANES®, so it seemed time 531 Encinitas Blvd., Suite 105, Encinitas, CA 92024 to return the favor and fi nd out just what makes him tick.