Modern Classic • Continental O-200 or Jabiru 3300 BuildBuild YYourselfourself A Texas Sport CuCubb • Steam Gauges or A Full-House EFIS Suite • Traditional Cub Yellow...or Something Else! Old School or High Tech! March 2008 Know Thy Engine $5.99CANADA 03 Our Engine Monitor Roundup Can Help That ’Ole Paint A Composite Primer: Prep to Finish Coat Holey Panel, Batman! 0 74820 08883 8 Make The Cut Right The First Time March 2008 | Volume 25, Number 3 On the cover: Kevin Wing photographed the Texas Sport Cub at the American Legend Aircraft factory in Sulphur Springs, Texas. 2008 Engine Directory 16 A comprehensive listing of traditional and alternative engines plus PSRUs; compiled by Julia Downie. Flight Reports 8 TEXAS SPORT CUB Classic Cub perfection that you can now build yourself; 16 by Marc Cook. Builder Spotlight 32 SYNERGY AIR ENERGIZES BUILDERS Wally Anderson’s new course quickens RV quickbuilding; by Dave Martin. 37 ALL ABOUT AVIONICS You should know what’s happening in front of the fi rewall. Here’s how; by Stein Bruch. 45 BUILD YOUR SKILLS: COMPOSITES Part 11: Painting the beast. Understand the subtleties of methods and materials before trying them on the real thing; by Bob Fritz. 52 COMPLETIONS Builders share their successes. Shop Talk 54 THE HOME MACHINIST Need to cut a precise hole? No problem—it’s easier than you think; by Bob Fritz. 7 0 AERO ’LECTRICS Solarize the battery; by Jim Weir. Designer’s Notebook 61 WIND TUNNEL Further fl ight testing and analyzing the data; by Barnaby Wainfan. 8 Exploring 2 AROUND THE PATCH Let go the carburetor; by Marc Cook. 6 WHAT’S NEW Debut of the Cheetah LSA, Jeppesen updates and a new paint sprayer/respirator; edited by Mary Bernard. 68 DOWN TO EARTH In the middle of our midlife crisis, or “I started it!” By Amy Laboda. 72 LIGHT STUFF LSAs and the Rotax factor; by Dave Martin. Kit Bits 4 CONTRIBUTORS 5 LETTERS 64 LIST OF ADVERTISERS 65 BUILDERS’ MARKETPLACE 75 THE CLASSIFIED BUILDER 32 80 KIT STUFF Drawing on experience; by cartoonist Robrucha. KITPLANES March 2008 1 Let go the carburetor. News came as we were working But, for me, the bigger question is: ability issues pressed the carburetor on this, our annual engine directory Do we really need the carburetor for aside—two things not a concern in air- issue, that Precision Airmotive, owner new installations? Does its supposed craft. In my own motorcycle fl eet, there of the rights and tooling to the old Mar- simplicity make up for its well-known remains one with carburetors, and vel-Schebler carburetor line, had ceased shortcomings—poor mixture distribu- getting the pair of ’em to work prop- production because it could no longer tion, propensity for separations of the erly has always been a chore, a set of obtain liability insurance. Understand body and fl oat bowl, tendency to form unhappy compromises. When the bike that it was not because the company ice with nothing more than a sideways doesn’t get ridden, their tiny passages couldn’t aff ord the insurance; it couldn’t glance? clog. My fuel-injected bike, thanks get it at any cost. to an overlay fuel computer called a I saw this coming. In February 2006, Power Commander, can be adjusted I was checking out of an Arlington, to near perfection, all through the USB Washington, hotel and saw then-pres- port of a laptop computer. It can sit for ident of Superior Air Parts, Tim Archer, weeks unaff ected. Once a big fan of the in the lobby. He said he was in town “to carb on motorcycles for its more “natu- see why it costs us as much to buy a ral” throttle response, I’ve changed my carburetor as fuel injection.” The price tune. With patience, fuel injection can of the simple, time-honored carbure- be tuned much better. tor was shooting through the roof just Fans of the carb say fuel injection as fuel injection was steady. is more complicated and suff ers from On the heels of Precision’s news hot-start issues. Bunk. When you add comes more, that Aero Accessories had in the need for carb heat (with a heat purchased the line and would soon muff , fl apper door, cables) I think you move it into the Tempest line. That’s Compare them for size: The Marvel/Preci- end up about even with an injected great news for owners of carbureted sion carburetor next to the tiny throttle setup, whose main complication is a engines because they’ll continue to body in the prototype Engine Compo- more sophisticated fuel boost pump. nents injection. have support. It remains to be seen Even though the 390 is available only if Tempest will be an original-equip- injected, had I opted for a parallel- ment manufacturer for Continental I don’t think so. In fact, this may be valve 360, it would have been injected, and Lycoming; in particular, the O-200 just the right trigger to force us to no discussion needed. has found a new following among move on. Hot starts? It’s a matter of tech- LSA manufacturers, and it would be Without external infl uences, tech- nique. I never had trouble with my a shame to crunch that project under nology moves slowly. In cars and old Bonanza, and after a summer try- foot for want of a carburetor. (Jabiru motorcycles, the carburetor has ing various techniques, now have the and Rotax are in protected waters become the most minor of players, Airfl ow Performance system in my IO- because they use Bing carburetors, used only on the cheapest, lowest- 390-powered Sportsman knocked. themselves vastly more advanced than performance bikes and on no new car So, tears for the carburetor’s passing the very rudimentary Marvel device.) that I can think of. Emissions and driv- in aviation? Not from me. has been in aviation journalism for 19 years and in magazine work for 25. Marc Cook He is a 3900-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. 2 KITPLANES March 2008 www.kitplanes.com ©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 BOB FRITZ EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Marc Cook In recognition of Bob’s major contributions to this mag- [email protected] azine, he has been moved up the masthead to join Dave Managing Editor Mary Bernard Art Director Suzanne Stackle Higdon as Senior Editor. What does he get as a result? A Senior Editors Bob Fritz, Dave Higdon special parking place, thicker pay packet? Ah, no, but he Contributing Editors Ken Armstrong, Walter Atkinson has our undying appreciation for continuing the “Home Stein Bruch, Dan Checkoway, Cory Emberson, Geoffrey Jones, Machinist” series and for shepherding the “Build Your Tim Kern, Amy Laboda Skills: Composites” series, which concludes this month. Howard Levy, Rick Lindstrom, Dave Martin, Dick Starks, You can fi nd the last installment on Page 45. Barnaby Wainfan, Jim Weir, Ed Wischmeyer Webmaster/Data Manager Julia Downie Cartoonist Robrucha AMY LABODA Longtime aviation journalist Amy Laboda joins our ranks ADVERTISING Publisher/Ad Director Cindy Pedersen this month, opening her every-other-month column [email protected] called “Down to Earth.” Th ere, she’ll get to talk about the Sr. Advertising Manager Chuck Preston [email protected] Van’s RV-10 she and her husband are building—or, if you ask him, the airplane she’s watching him build—as well BUSINESS OFFICE 531 Encinitas Blvd., Suite 105, Encinitas, CA 92024 as many other topics of interest to aircraft builders. Her Main Number: 760/436-4747, Fax 760/436-4644 fl ight-training background will give her important per- Editorial: 562/608-8251 spective on piloting. Her column starts on Page 68. PRODUCTION & CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Production Manager Marsha Blessing 717/433-7985 [email protected] KEVIN WING Classified Advertising Allyson Patton 717/982-0744 [email protected] California-based photographer Wing joined the Editor- in-Chief last fall to shoot this month’s cover subject, the CIRCULATION Circulation Director Lisa Evans Texas Sport Cub. When off ered a dramatic landscape on Circulation Manager Laura McMann the airport’s turf strip, he was awed. Accustomed to shoot- ing motorcycle action sequences on public roads, where SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT 800/622-1065; 386/447-6318 you have to be quite canny, Wing said, “Wow, is this www.kitplanes.com/cs heaven?” No, Kevin, it’s Sulphur Springs, Texas.