A Better Cub Borrowed Wings Contactors Flying Other People’S Planes OCTOBER 2015 BELVOIR Engine Basics Shaped for Flight in the Shop

Going Glass: Making the Switch KITPLANES

OCTOBER

2015

® Carbon Cub

EX-2 CubCrafters • Flight Time • Glass Carbon Cub Panel EX-2 Upgrade • Engine Layouts • Other People’s Planes • Error Chain–Decisions • Recapped Tires •

Electrical A Better Cub Borrowed Wings Contactors Flying Other People’s Planes OCTOBER 2015 BELVOIR Engine Basics Shaped for Flight In the Shop:

PUBLICATIONS • Retreads Error Chain • Joining Small Wires Decision Making • Beefing it Up

Taming the Lancair IV www.kitplanes.com

October 2015 | Volume 32, Number 10 Flight Review 4 Carbon Cub EX-2: A good backcountry airplane gets even better. By Dave Prizio. Builder Spotlight 10 navigate the Glass Transition: Learning to use an EFIS. By Katie Bosman Krotje. 14 taming the Lancair IV: Vortecx winglets make a glass speedster faster, slower, and safer. By Lewis Bjork. 22 Flying Other People’s Planes: Yes, it’s fun—but beware of unexpected problems. By Paul Dye. 30 30 g lass Panel Upgrade: Adding a Garmin G3X Touch to a Wheeler Express. By Reinhard Metz. 36 Who’s Got the Time? Are you logging pilot flight time and aircraft time in service correctly? By Owen C. Baker. 40 ENGINE THEORY: Engine basics and layouts—why our engines are shaped the way they are. By Tom Wilson. 47 Error Chain: Aeronautical decision making—it seemed like a good idea at the time. By Michael Robinson. 75 a sk the DAR: Lost logbooks and airworthiness certificate, confusion about Light Sport Aircraft. By Mel Asberry. Shop Talk 52 aircraft Wiring: Electrical system contactors for Experimental aircraft. By Marc Ausman. 54 Maintenance Matters: Recapped tires—save money without sacrificing quality. By Dave Prizio. 61 Home Shop Machinist: Boring on the vertical. By Bob Hadley. 64 The New Guy: Getting the spark back. By David Boeshaar. 78 Aero ’Lectrics: Beachball bingo. By Jim Weir. Shop Tip 29 Joining Two Small Wires: By David Boeshaar. Designer’s Notebook 76 Wind Tunnel: Beefing it up. By Barnaby Wainfan. 4 Exploring 3 Editor’s Log: Have you asked why? By Paul Dye. 58 risky Business: Mission planning—stick to the plan. By Sid Mayeux. 66 Checkpoints: Living the dream. By Vic Syracuse. Kit Bits 2 Letters 69 list of Advertisers 70 builders’ Marketplace 80 kit StufF: Drawing on experience. By cartoonist Robrucha. 14 On the cover: CubCrafters Carbon Cub EX-2 ready to leap skyward. Photographed by Richard VanderMeulen near Lakeland, Florida. For subscription information, contact KITPLANES® at 800/622-1065 or visit www.kitplanes.com/cs. KITPLANES October 2015 1 EDITORIAL Editor in Chief paul Dye [email protected] Magic Hole Finder encourage him to write more of those Managing Editor mark Schrimmer I would like to offer one more simple “hints and kinks” columns. Thanks! Art Direction Dan Maher method for finding hidden holes [“Find- David Mulholland Editorial Director paul Bertorelli ing Hidden Holes,” August 2015]: Buy Contributing Editors larry Anglisano, Marc Ausman, a pair of 3/8 x 3/8-inch ring magnets that roy Beisswenger, Chuck Berthe, We’ve passed your thoughts on to Jim. David Boeshaar, LeRoy Cook, have a 3/16-inch hole in the middle. Place We’re never sure what is going to come out robert Hadley, Dan Horton, one magnet on the back side of any non- of his workshop or computer next, but like louise Hose, Amy Laboda, Dave martin, Sid Mayeux, David Paule, magnetic bulkhead and the other mag- you, we almost always find the results to be Dave Prizio, Dean Sigler, Dick net will align concentrally on the blind interesting! —Ed. starks, Eric Stewart, Vic Syracuse, barnaby Wainfan, Jim Weir, side. Mark with a non-magnetic (i.e., tom Wilson. stainless steel drill rod) transfer punch, SubSonex and Blériot Web Editor Omar Filipovic and you’re done. Purchase from K&J August was another great issue! I was Cartoonist Robrucha Magnetics, part #R636, $1.28 each. particularily impressed with the article ADVERTISING Dave Barker on the SubSonex practical jet posi- Sr. Advertising Manager Chuck Preston tioned right next door to the article on 805/382-3363 Heli-Coil Alternative the 1909 Blériot XI. Wonderful. The [email protected] I recently read the article on the Heli- tech articles were also really good and BUSINESS OFFICE Coil [“Home Shop Machinist,” July helpful. Thanks for a great magazine Belvoir Media Group, LLC 535 Connecticut Avenue 2015] as a thread reinforcer or replacer. with very fine articles and information. Norwalk, CT 06854-1713 I have had good results with Time-Serts steve neal EDITORIAL OFFICE (www.timesert.com). I use them exclu- 535 Connecticut Avenue sively in my Porsche for areas that strip We hoped readers would enjoy the juxta- Norwalk, CT 06854-1713 out. I have found them to be, in my position of the old and the new—the entire 832/851-6665 [email protected] applications, far superior to Heli-Coils spectrum of Experimental aviation!—Ed. for repairs of threads. Just wanted to CIRCULATION pass along another alternative. More Beachballs Circulation Manager Laura McMann Jeff Spahn I read the letter in the July issue asking SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT about “Beachball.” My guess is that the 800/622-1065 term for frequency 123.45 MHz (or 1, www.kitplanes.com/cs Builders are always looking for alter- P.O. Box 8535, Big Sandy, TX 75755-8535 natives, and we encourage everyone to 2, 3, 4, 5) is how a beachball is counted For Canada: Box 7820 STN Main, London, ON N5Y5W1 research what works best for their particu- as it is being bounced around a group on REPRINTS FOR PUBLICATION lar application.—Ed. the beach or in the pool. Just my guess! AND WEB POSTING AVAILABLE Dan Giebel Minimum Order: 500 Hints and Kinks Contact Jennifer Jimolka, 203/857-3144 Thank you for an excellent magazine. Thanks for all the letters we received on I read it cover to cover every month. this. Several readers also mentioned the Change of address? In the July issue, Jim Weir asked if we term “fingers.” When counting on your Missing issue? prefer multiple short tips in his “Aero Subscription Question? fingers, you would say “one, two, three, ’lectrics” column, or the entire column four, five,” hence 123.45 MHz. If you hear Visit www.kitplanes.com/cs. dedicated to one subject. I do enjoy the “fingers,” you go to the frequency to talk— Or call 800/622-1065 from the U.S. and Canada. “hints and kinks” columns he does, or maybe not. For Jim Weir’s thoughts on rather than dedicated columns to one the use of the frequency, see this month’s Foreign 903/636-1112 or fax subject, but they are all good. Please 203/857-3100. Aero ’lectrics column on page 78.—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.

2 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Editor’s log Have you asked why? A few issues back, we presented a If all you know is generation to generation. nicely illustrated article on oil coolers. how to do a thing, but Hangar flying sessions Many of the pictures came from a visit don’t understand the are full of statements to a large and popular oil cooler spe- why, you can never about how something is cialty shop on the West Coast—folks expand on the knowl- done—but not why it is who work with coolers every single day edge, never develop a way done that way. for both the certified and Experimental to go further, get better per- So…why no Teflon tape? market. In one of those pictures, a tech- formance, fly faster, fly farther. It’s not because it doesn’t nician was installing an oil fitting into a Without the why, we are stuck work as a sealant—in fact, it cooler—and wrapping the threads with in our current place—forever. works quite well. The reason we Teflon tape to seal the joint. In fact, we—as a society, as a advise against it is that if you apply Of course, we received letters on group—are often stuck in one it incorrectly (over the end of the this—because one thing that seems to place simply because we don’t fitting), you can cut off a sliver that be taught everywhere in the aviation understand how to step ahead. can plug a small port in a carbure- world is that you shouldn’t use Teflon And that is usually because we have not tor or fuel servo on a gas line. In an oil tape on oil or fuel fittings! This is one of walked ourselves through the why. system, it can clog a tiny passage and those pieces of wisdom passed down At KITPLANES®, I expect that no one starve a single piston for lubrication. So from one mechanic to another, from should take what we write as gospel with- instead of teaching people how to apply instructor to student, and documented out understanding. I expect our readers it correctly and carefully, we simply tell in a number of books. But here was a to ask “Why?” on everything we do— people, “Don’t use it!” and don’t give respected shop—breaking the “rule.” and therefore, I expect our authors to them the whole picture so that they The obvious question is, “Why?” present the answer within their articles. can understand the risks and make their That question (Why?) is, in fact, the I am not satisfied with training people own decisions. If you apply it properly, it most important question in aviation— to build and fly Experimental aircraft—I is perfectly acceptable—but you have to and maybe in life. It is the difference want them to learn how to build and fly know how to do it right. between training a person to do some- Experimental aircraft. Experimenting is People need to be taught how to thing and educating them in a field. We what we do, and you can’t do that with- make good decisions in Experimen- often teach people to do things by rote out understanding the big picture. tal aviation. The books aren’t all writ- (“You do it this way soldier because it has Aviation, because it grew up so much ten—there are many things that need always been done that way!”), showing during the big wars, has always been a to be figured out. People want to make them a technique that we were shown place where there was a lot of training changes to a design—but do they know years before. Yet so very often, we forget and not as much educating. Young men why the design was built the way it was? to stop and ask why. Knowing the why by the thousands had to be trained to If not, they might not understand the of a thing is the first and most important build and maintain aircraft in wartime ramifications of their change. Experi- part of understanding the thing—and in a few short months—and creativity mental aviation is a thinking person’s understanding is true learning, some- was not important. This attitude has game, and here at KITPLANES®, we will thing that allows us to grow beyond carried on quite naturally for decades always strive to tell you the why. If we where we are. as techniques were handed down from don’t, please write us a note. J 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 Paul Dye he built with his pilot wife. Currently, they are building a Xenos motorglider. A commercially licensed pilot, he has logged over 4800 hours in many different types of aircraft. He consults and collaborates in aerospace operations and flight-testing projects across the country.

Photo: Bigstock KITPLANES October 2015 3 Carbon Cub EX-2 A good backcountry airplane gets even better. By Dave Prizio

4 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes For the last several years, the Carbon Cub EX has maintained a foot- hold at the top of the list of Super Cub-like backcountry airplane kits, but everyone knows that you don’t stay on top by resting on your laurels. Determined to keep delivering its customers the best building and flying experiences it can, CubCrafters introduced the new Carbon Cub EX-2 at this year’s Sun ’n Fun. At a casual glance the differences between old and new are easy to miss, but once the throttle moves forward and the EX-2 takes flight, it becomes obvious very quickly that this is a new and improved airplane. For this article we were treated to a head-to-head comparison of the EX and the EX-2 flown back-to-back from a pretty grass strip called South Lakeland (X49). As the Cub flies it is only four miles southeast of Lakeland Linder Airport (Sun ’n Fun), but in another way it is a world apart—no tower, no pavement, no crowds. This was the perfect spot to fly two planes that were born to land off pavement. The Carbon Cub EX For those of you who are not familiar with the Carbon Cub EX and its brother, the SLSA-certified Carbon Cub SS, they have set the standard for performance and quality in their category for the past several years. As a kit airplane the Carbon Cub EX has earned high praise for its com- pleteness and ease of construction from many satisfied builders. The kit does not include two required batteries or an ELT, but otherwise, this is a plane that can be built from beginning to end without ever once cracking open the Aircraft Spruce catalog and ordering so much as a bolt that isn’t included in the original kit. CubCrafters introduced the first kit for the predecessor of the Carbon Cub EX in May 2008, but their trademark CC340 engine was not available until the following year. In January 2010 the name Carbon Cub EX became official with the SLSA version becoming the Carbon Cub SS. These planes, or rather a kit and a plane, were aimed at builders and pilots who wanted to comply with the Light Sport rules and still have a plane that could deliver superior backcountry performance. The fact that both versions have sold well is proof that customers have found good performance and good value in the Carbon Cub name. Experimental builders, our readers, can assemble a Carbon Cub EX with various options including big tires and various pre-wired instrument panels (and soon amphibious floats). Empty weights start at about 930 pounds, which still allows for a 390-pound useful load for those builders limited to the Light Sport gross weight of 1320 pounds. For those not so constrained, a higher gross weight of 1865 pounds gives them a more Super Cub-like useful load of 900+ pounds. Either way, takeoff and landing performance is truly impressive, as proved by consistent high placings at various STOL competitions including Valdez.

Photos: Richard VanderMeulen and Dave Prizio KITPLANES October 2015 5 Optional Airstreak tires and Alpha Omega suspension. Smooth The new EX-2 features redesigned ailerons with curved top landings were fairly easy with this gear and tire combination, surfaces. These make the ailerons much lighter and more especially on grass. responsive.

The Fly-Off plane. It is relatively stable with aileron hard to find much to complain about Paul Dye, KITPLANES® editor-in- forces that were firm, but not excessive. after flying the EX. chief, and I began the day with flights There was a bit of adverse yaw in turns, in the Carbon Cub EX to regain some but not too much. Stalls were unevent- The New EX-2 familiarity with the feel of that plane. ful power-on and power-off. The deck Randy walked us around the EX-2 to CubCrafters president Randy Lervold angle in a departure stall—full power point out the improvements they had would ride with each of us to make sure with one notch of flaps—was unnerv- made. To the untrained eye the changes we didn’t have so much fun flying that ingly high, but recovery was uneventful were all but invisible at first. The shape we forgot to come back with his plane. with no tendency to spin if recovery was of the ailerons had been changed with It had been some time since either of initiated promptly. the top surface curved up a bit to lighten us had flown a Cub, so I for one didn’t Landings went well in both three- their feel. The slots between the wings mind the company. With one notch of point and wheel versions. The 26-inch and the ailerons were slightly larger now. flaps and full power, it only took a few Airstreaks on grass made smooth touch- Flaps were also different with the hinge seconds to be airborne. The 180-hp downs fairly easy. There was plenty points lowered to produce larger slots engine and Catto prop pulled us sky- of elevator for a three-point landing, between the flaps and the wing trailing ward at about 2000 fpm, but the morn- although it should be noted that this EX edges. The cove skins are also slightly dif- ing clouds limited us to less than 1000 had elevator gap seals installed. We did ferent, again to change the slots between feet agl. That was plenty of room for not try any hang-it-on-the-prop super- aileron and wings. At first we thought some Cub flying, so Randy and I pointed short landings because it seemed so that it might be fairly easy to retrofit the nose southward and put the EX unnecessary. Normal landing rolls were these changes to the older EX, but then through its paces. No surprises here, the only a few hundred feet. In short, the EX we saw that the flap pivots at the fuselage EX has good manners for a Cub-type flew like a Super Cub, only better. It was would have to be relocated. This could be

6 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Carbon Cub EX-2

Kit Price ...... $135,430 Estimated completed price ...... $145,500 Estimated build time ...... 800–1000 hours Number flying (at press time) ...... 1 EX-2, 65 EX Powerplant ...... CC340, 180 hp @ 2700 rpm Propeller ...... Catto 2-blade, fixed pitch Powerplant options . . . . .Continental O-200, 100 hp

AIRFRAME Wingspan ...... 34 ft 3 in Wing loading ...... 7.4 lb/sq ft at 1320 lb, ...... 10.4 lb/sq ft @ 1865 lb Fuel capacity ...... 25 gal (44 gal optional) CubCrafters changed the flap cove skins as part of their effort to reshape the flap-to-wing Maximum gross weight . . . . 1,320 LSA (1865 E/A-B) slot. This is one of those subtle, but effective, tweaks that makes the EX-2 fly even better Typical empty weight ...... 936 lb than the original EX. Typical useful load ...... 384 lb LSA (929 E/A-B) Full-fuel payload ...... 240 lb LSA done, but it would be a challenge to get I am not sure what that translated to ...... (689 E/A-B with 44 gal fuel) Seating capacity ...... 2 it precisely located and may well require in feet, but it wasn’t much. Easing off Cabin width ...... 30 in some welding to make it all work. Thus the flaps had us once again climbing at Baggage capacity ...... 120 lb a retrofit is likely possible, but not easy. 2000 fpm. Leveling off quickly showed In addition to the aileron and flap us the difference in the ailerons—they PERFORMANCE changes, the tail feathers have been were noticeably lighter and crisper. The Cruise speed ...... 115 kt Maximum rate of climb ...... 2100 fpm enlarged for greater authority at slow difference was not subtle. Stall speed (landing configuration) ...... 28 kt speeds. Flying would later prove that Stalls were similar to the EX, but we Stall speed (clean) ...... 35 kt the old EX elevator with gap seals was were unable to get the power-off stall to Takeoff distance ...... 60 ft actually more effective than the new break when gently pulling the stick back Landing distance . . . . .245 ft (53 ft in competition)

EX-2 elevator without seals, but no to the stop. I could feel that it was almost Specifications are manufacturer’s estimates and are based on the doubt the EX-2 elevator with gap seals there, but it would have taken some extra configuration of the demonstrator aircraft. would be better still. However, we were effort to actually get the nose to drop in unable to verify that. this configuration. Aileron effectiveness Landings were every bit as gratifying As they say, the proof is in the pud- remained good in slow flight, even as at they had been in the EX. Without ding, so we were anxious to get in the indicated airspeed dropped to 40 mph pushing the plane harder than we did air with the EX-2. I was not disap- and below. Gentle turns could be made and taking some actual measurements, it pointed. With two notches of flaps and without trepidation at amazingly slow is hard to say whether the EX-2 actually a bit of back pressure we were off the speeds. The EX-2’s handling instilled landed shorter than the EX. But it was ground in two seconds with no wind. confidence at every turn. every bit as easy to land with very short

No bending down to find a flap handle with the EX-2. Its overhead CubCrafters’ optional Executive Glass Touch instrument panel with flap handle (also found in the EX) works well and allows the pilot 2-axis autopilot is very nice, but hardcore Super Cub pilots may to keep his or her head up when deploying the flaps. give you a rough time for indulging in such luxury.

KITPLANES October 2015 7 Under the EX-2’s cowling is the CC340, a 340-cubic-inch 180-hp CubCrafters changed the tail feathers on the EX-2 to increase the size engine driving a fixed-pitch Catto composite propeller. Notice the and effectiveness of these controls. Gap seals for the elevator seem to carbon fiber spinner, intake scoops and cowl flaps. make quite a difference. These seals are a $200 option on the EX-2. ground rolls. The large and effective it is pretty good in the world of Super be built with a gross weight of 1865 flaps also made steep approaches with Cubs and other similar planes. These pounds. Depending on how your plane slips easy work. An impressive plane has speeds were achieved with 26-inch Air- is equipped, you will have a useful load now become even more impressive. streak tires and a climb prop, so smaller of 850 to 929 pounds. A minimally Even though the Carbon Cub is not tires and a more cruise-pitched prop equipped Carbon Cub EX-2 will weigh designed for speed, there are times that would surely yield better speeds, but at about 936 pounds empty, but our demo it is nice to be able to make reasonable the expense of some backcountry utility. plane with Garmin G3X Touch, two- progress between backcountry strips. At axis autopilot, and 40 gallons of fuel sea level and 2500 rpm the EX-2 indi- Light Sport Eligibility capacity came in at 1012 pounds empty, cated 122 mph. At 7500 feet it is reason- For builders who want no-compromise negating any possibility of it being a able to expect a true airspeed of about 10 Super Cub performance with Super practical plane under Light Sport rules. mph faster. This is not exactly fast, but Cub load carrying ability, the EX-2 can On the other hand, it is possible using a 24-gallon fuel capacity, a VFR panel, and 8.00x6 tires, to build a Carbon Cub What’s in the Box? EX-2 at the minimum weight. A 384- Normally this is a question with a fairly long answer. In the case of the Carbon Cub EX-2 the pound useful load is not generous, but answer is rather short: pretty much everything including pre-stitched covering materials. Here it does make Light Sport flying possible is what’s not in the box, assuming you buy the items listed above. You will need to get an ELT. unless you are particularly large. The You will also need to buy two batteries—one main and one backup for the electronic ignition. nice thing is that you do not have to Lastly you will need to buy your own finish paint materials or have someone paint it for you. settle for Light Sport performance when Everything else is there. Of course, if you want to, you can provide your own engine and pro- you have 180 hp on tap. peller and your own instrument panel. CubCrafters even has an option of a blank panel that you can customize if you like. In addition there are a lot of options shown on their web site. The CC340 Engine —D.P. CubCrafters is most unusual in that they actually “manufacture” their own engine. This allows them to specify operating parameters that permit the use of a 180-hp engine in an SLSA airplane. They allow full power for takeoff and then scale back to 80 hp for continuous use. This artful application of the SLSA rules allows them to retain their relatively heavy empty weight and high power output that would otherwise not be possible. In truth the engine is assembled by Aero Sport Power in Canada at the direction of CubCraft- ers using mostly ECi parts, including their stroker crankshaft. This makes an engine that would ordinarily be a The Carbon Cub EX-2 kit. Everything you need to build your airplane is in one big 320-cubic-inch 160-hp engine into a box. (Photo: Courtesy of CubCrafters) 340-cubic-inch 180-hp engine. Special

8 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes lightweight parts developed by Cub- time for inexperienced builders. It is Carbon Cub EX-2 Kit Pricing Crafters and ECi complete this unique amazing how much time can be spent Item Price engine package and allow them to be just trying to figure out what to do or Fuselage Kit $25,000 considered the engine’s manufacturer. what part to buy with many other kits. Wing Kit $25,000 Since this engine is designed from the It is worth noting that the Carbon Finishing Kit $25,000 beginning as a part of the Carbon Cub, Cub kit has been approved by the FAA it fits seamlessly into the airplane. National Kit Evaluation Team for ama- CC340 Engine $29,500 teur-built status as it comes from the Firewall Forward Kit $8,990 Building a Carbon Cub EX-2 factory. It did not pass by a wide margin, Catto 80” x 50” Prop $2,950 With options, the Carbon Cub EX-2 so there is little room for the use of com- Basic VFR Instrument Panel $18,990 kit is just about as complete as a kit can mercial assistance if you want to remain Total $135,430 be. The table shows how the various kit within the legal guidelines, which of Selected Options components break down. course you do. On the other hand, there (Other items also available) You also need to add the cost of a is nothing wrong with getting some pro- Instrument Panel with Garmin G3X $9,000 add paint job, which would range from fessional instruction to show you how $1500 or so for material only, to around to do fabric work, for example. You just Airstreak 26-inch tires and wheels $2,000 add $9,000 for a not-too-elaborate profes- can’t hire them to do it for you. 40 gallon Long Range Fuel $3,500 add sional paint job. You will also want to add in the cost of two batteries and an The Cost to any of its competition. So why does ELT, which will run about $1000 or so. No conversation about the Carbon CubCrafters continue to outsell so Detailed assembly instructions and Cub ever ends without the issue of cost many of the others? an extremely complete kit make the coming up at some point. There are a The bottom line is that it is more Carbon Cub EX-2 fairly easy to assem- number of somewhat similar kits that money because it is more airplane. That ble, even for a first-time builder. A build are much less expensive. For instance, combination of seamless integration of time of less than 1000 hours is realistic. the Light Sport-compliant Kitfox, the design, comfort, quality, handling, Experienced builders could expect to RANS S-7S, and Just Highlander can and performance are just not matched do significantly better than that. What all be built for around $80,000, or by anyone else. It costs more because it is harder to quantify, but nonetheless even less by a frugal builder. The Super is worth it. If you don’t believe me, go fly important, is the reduction of non- Legend can be completed for just over one for yourself. Just be forewarned. Once building time that is saved with this kit. $100,000. As we move away from the you do, you won’t want anything else. J There is no shopping for parts that are Light Sport kits to full-sized Super Cub not included. Clear instructions and kits, the completed airplane price gap For more information visit www.cubcrafters parts readily at hand really cut down closes quite a bit, but the Carbon Cub .com/carboncubex or call 509-248-9491 for on what you might call head-scratching never becomes the low-cost alternative the number of a sales center near you.

KITPLANES October 2015 9 Navigate the Glass Transition Learning to use an EFIS. By Katie Bosman Krotje You’ve spent five years building your your first flight. This is not something engineer for in-depth tech questions. airplane, and now you’re climbing away to blow off lightly. Airline pilots train With enough button pushing, one sys- from the runway on your first flight. for weeks when they transition to glass. tem will just make more sense to your Woohoo! You’re trying to remember what But how can you make the switch, and brain, while others might seem non- climb airspeed to use from your transi- where do you start? Aside from the obvi- intuitive or require too many button tion training three months ago. You ous answers of finding a good transition presses. For a quick comparison of what’s think it was 75 knots, but in your adren- CFI and downloading manufacturers’ available, you can see multiple manufac- alin-crazed visual scan, you can’t find the manuals and training materials, here are turers’ screens at once by visiting the airspeed indicator on the crowded glass some ideas for making the move from booths of professional panel builders panel display. You think it’s the left verti- steam gauges to glass. such as Aerotronics and SteinAir. cal tape, but your brain isn’t seeing an air- One thing you will learn in the ven- speed needle, so it’s not processing what Study Now, Buy Later dors’ booths is that as long as you stay the rolling digits really mean. A yellow Ideally, your training should start before out of the setup menu pages, you don’t light keeps blinking on the screen. Maybe you ever whip out the plastic to buy your have to be afraid of breaking the box by you should have taken the extra time to new system. One of the best things you pushing the wrong button. Screen swip- calibrate your fuel probes before the first can do for yourself is to travel to one of ing and button pushing is the best way to flight. Is that it? The warning light turns the big shows like AirVenture or Sun ’n learn how it works. If you do get stuck, red. Wait—is it terrain? There’s a grow- Fun, and spend time at every Experimen- the sales people will be there to show you ing vibration under the floorboards and tal EFIS manufacturer’s booth. Don’t how to get back to a familiar screen. you’re having trouble holding the wings just ask the sales people about features, level because the airplane seems out of pricing, and shipping dates. Find out Buy Your Flying Buddy rig. Is it the engine? Where’s the tach, how to do common tasks in the airplane, Breakfast Somewhere anyway? What should you do? You don’t from setting the altimeter to tuning Flying buddies are more than just han- even know your altitude! remote radios. If your airplane is to be gar-flying tale spinners. They can be your Obviously, the time to learn how to IFR capable, ask how to load and activate best ally in the mission of designing your use a glass cockpit EFIS (Electronic an instrument approach. You might even new panel. Of course, everyone wants to Flight Instrument System) is before be able to talk to a product development think the EFIS they bought is the stuff.

10 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Feeling overwhelmed? Take a breath. In under two minutes, the G3X Touch display can be boiled down from feature-rich brain chaos (left) to the pure essentials for safe local flight (right). Now, isn’t that relaxing?

But if you have a friend that has one, see in the background. Close your eyes and down for simple VFR local flying: air- if you can get into the air with them to point to the different data boxes, includ- speed, altitude, heading, slip/skid ball, try it out. Have them show you how it ing the engine instruments and active distance from the airport, and critical works, how they like to use it, and what GPS waypoint, until you know exactly engine gauges. Know how to acknowl- they don’t like about it. You might just where they are. This way, you can actu- edge any warnings and how to get back fall in love with it—and maybe your ally accomplish something when you sit to your home screen if you do press any friend will help you wire it, too. in your unfinished fuselage and make buttons. Once you’re comfortable fly- airplane noises. (Tell your spouse not to ing the airplane with the basics, you can Get an iPad worry; it’s perfectly normal…Really.) start turning on extra features one or You can learn the basics of moving maps, two at a time. charts, ADS-B weather, and even a pri- After Installation, Simplify mary flight display by using an iPad or If you can, turn off extra features that Quiet Time on Trickle Charge Android tablet with a good flight plan- are not necessary for local flying. Some- If you have a trickle charger, it will be ning app such as WingX, ForeFlight, or times the manufacturers get so caught your best friend during this time of the free Avare for Android. Use some up in including every possible feature, intense learning. Why burn a tank of caution, though—while it may help you they end up with a crowd of data on avgas when you can park the plane near feel more comfortable with electronics, the screen that will make your eyes the open hangar door (for GPS recep- don’t get too set in your screen swipes. cross. Whether you’re upgrading your tion), plug in the trickle charger, and sit While some skills will transfer to your existing airplane or building a new air- in front of your EFIS punching buttons EFIS user experience, others will inter- plane, you will likely stay local for the or swiping the touchscreen? Grab your fere with it. Your EFIS will have differ- first few flights. Pick one screen layout EFIS user guide and checklist and go ent controls, so be prepared to unlearn as your primary home screen and boil it to work. Enter and manipulate flight some habits. Chair Flying You may feel like a dweeb doing this, but I’m telling you, it works. It’s a proven technique used by rookie airline pilots in late-night study sessions during initial company training—you know, those intense, drink-from-a-fire hose, pass-or-go-flip-burgers kind of classes. Most EFIS manufacturers offer full-size color PFD (Primary Flight Display) pictures or panel planners. Tape one on your computer screen at work—or better yet—your instrument panel and visualize yourself flying the airplane by the tapes. Train your eyes to follow the new instrument scan: air- Placing a full-size photo of your EFIS over your computer screen can be a really effective speed, altitude, heading, with attitude training tool—and a surefire way to annoy your boss.

Photos: Courtesy of Katie Bosman Krotje KITPLANES October 2015 11 Allow Your Brain Time to Cope If you’ve spent a lot of time flying on round dials, your brain will need some time to adjust to the digital readout of the airspeed and altitude tapes. I only had about 250 hours total time when I switched from round dials to Garmin G1000 glass, but I found myself glanc- ing up at the analog backup airspeed indicator on final approach just to be sure. I realized that my instrument scan on final approach had relied upon a needle position, not the actual number on the dial, so it took my brain a few hours to get used to interpreting the digital Even with an EFIS, it’s nice to have backup. In addition to round gauges, the hula girl readout. Because the digital airspeed is in this RV-6A serves as a slip/skid indicator, vibration gauge, and turbulence monitor. When her skirt hides her ukulele, the plane is pulling some serious negative Gs! sensitive and can fluctuate, you may find yourself chasing one particular number. plans, turn features on and off, and get first few hours, and your engine moni- Stop that—just trim the airplane and to know your system without the stress tor is the first and best source of poten- relax! Your old analog needle was about and expense of trying to fly the plane tially life-saving information. It’s critical 3 knots wide on the dial anyway, so at the same time. Ideally, do this before that all electronic functions work on shoot for a block of airspeed instead of you even fly it. the ground before first flight, especially a single number. If your approach speed engine and flight instruments. If it’s lit is 57 knots, then keep it as steady as you Know Your Systems up with false warnings all the time, you can between 55 and 60. You will be less Know the limitations of your system won’t be able to tell when you have a real likely to overcontrol your pitch on the inside and out. If you install it yourself, warning. Connect all the probes to the way down the approach path, and there- you will already know how it’s wired, engine monitor, program them if neces- fore more stable and less stressed-out. but you might not know how each com- sary, and test them out on the first taxi Some EFIS manufacturers offer a ponent relates to the others. This infor- runs. Fuel quantity senders should be round-dial primary flight display view mation is critical if you fly IFR, and it calibrated before flight to avoid unnec- as an alternative to the digital tapes. If should all be found in the installation essary warning messages. GPS is usu- you are really frustrated with the tapes, or user manuals. What instruments are ally important for attitude data and switch over to the round-dial screen for affected by the loss of GPS or the mag- other EFIS calculations, so even though a while and see if it helps you to relax. netometer? Will the attitude indication you’re going to stay local, make sure the Be sure to try the tapes, though. They go bad if the pitot tube is blocked? Do antenna is properly installed. were designed to have a smaller scan area you have an emergency backup battery? If so, how is it activated, and how long will it last? If one screen fails, what avionics will you have left? Will the autopilot keep working if either screen fails? All of these are important questions to ask as you design your panel. The answers will help you prioritize your electrical power or navigate home if the stinky stuff ever hits the fan. Personal weather minimums, risk management, and smart aeronautical decision making are beyond the scope of this article, but they will also tie into these questions as you begin flying cross-country. No Shortcuts Before the First Flight If you have an engine problem in your The round dial screen might make you feel more at home, but give the tapes a chance. After a new airplane, it will likely happen in the few hours, you’ll probably like them better.

12 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Park your plane near the open hangar door (for GPS reception), and get to know your system without the stress and expense of trying to fly the plane at the same time. that allows your brain to quickly inter- pret trends of motion. Round dials are more compartmentalized and actually require more work to scan. Old Dogs Can Get It Done I don’t have to tell you all the advantages of a glass cockpit. The EFIS manufacturers have been preaching that stuff for years. The thing you should realize is that no matter how old you are or how long you’ve been flying round dials, you can learn a glass panel. You might never use all the features…and that’s perfectly OK. Once you get comfortable using the new tools made possible by this amazing technology, flying will be more fun— and safer—for you in the long run. Just break it into manageable chunks, and like everything else you’ve learned in aviation, practice it one flight at a time.J Katie Bosman Krotje Katie Bosman Krotje is a commercial pilot, CFI, and technical writer for a Light Sport Aircraft company in Tennessee. She holds a master’s degree in aerospace education and is well into the throes of rebuilding a tornado- tossed Van’s RV-3B.

KITPLANES October 2015 13 Taming the Lancair IV It’s almost unheard of to make a plane faster, slower, and safer with the same mod, but that’s what Vortecx winglets can do. By Lewis Bjork

Spinning a Lancair IV is not recom- tufted the wing and observed a power- picture we’ve all seen from the begin- mended. Few pilots have lived through ful inward flow, from wingtip to fuse- ning—airflow passing over an airfoil, the experience. Not one of them would lage, along the trailing edge, just prior the airplane feeling solid and fast. As the care to repeat it. Having spent 42 months to the stall. This span-wise flow would stall approached, however, individual of hard labor on a Lancair IV project in become turbulent near the wingroot, tufts of yarn began to twist and point Salt Lake City, my brother and I were in then abruptly spread across the entire in surprising directions—most inward, no mood to commute that into a death wing like a big tablecloth, all the yarn some straight up or even forward! The sentence. We approached each stall gin- tufts swirling and twisting like fur on a majority of turbulence began at the gerly, from level flight, one knot at a time. cat rubbed the wrong way. wingroot and burbled away to strike the Despite being one of the lightest of the The presence of the yarn tufts added tail, felt as a mild buffet. Shortly after, type to fly, we grumbled at a seemingly visual drama to the very complex airflow and a few knots slower, the right wing high stall speed—72 knots. The stall over the wing near the stall. In level flight, would fall away as though it were sliced always broke sharply to the right, with a the yarn pointed steadfastly aft, barely off. With a quick response and a typi- subtle warning a few knots before. We wiggling at all, uniformly painting the cal stall recovery technique, the wing

14 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes drop could be controlled to less than 60 landing short of the runway. The owner On this older glider, clever winglets degrees. Caught unawares, a pilot could survived, but the plane was a total loss. improved performance enough to match easily find himself inverted. The FAA expressed alarm at the the most competitive sailplanes. We guessed the span-wise flow seeded disproportionate number of stall/spin the turbulence that led to the full stall. loss-of-control accidents in the type slowing down by a slew of stall comput- Prevent the span-wise flow, and maybe and issued a letter suggesting instal- ers, stick shakers, and control pushers. the stall could be delayed? This resulted lation of angle of attack measuring/ These work collectively to bring a speed in some nifty looking fences on top of warning equipment. This is not a bad issue to the pilot’s attention—sort of a the wing, positioned between the aile- idea, considering the type’s atrocious big red light and blaring horn to affirm ron and flap. Flight testing proved the stall behavior. A combination of good the old adage, “Thou shalt maintain stall came four knots slower, but with- stall warning equipment and careful thine airspeed, lest the earth rise up and out any warning at all. Aileron control pilot technique may easily prevent the smite thee.” authority seemed to improve leading stall/spin accident. Similar tools have up to the stall, then wham! Over she worked for decades in most airliners. Help From Sailplane Enthusiasts goes. We debated the merits of slower Very few of them have decent stall char- Vortecx Industries, LLC has devel- speed against lack of warning, eventu- acteristics, and are thus prohibited from oped a better solution. John Neel and ally keeping the fences in place, with the understanding that under any circumstances, the plane could bite hard if allowed to stall. Different Plane, Same Results A short time later, another Lancair IV owner asked me to perform a stall series on his airplane. We found the same results: little warning, and a sudden break with a pronounced right wing drop. Literature from Lancair suggests that asymmetric stall behavior might be corrected with careful application of stall strips, at the expense of a slightly higher stall speed. Twenty years later, that first Lancair IV has flown about 1500 hours, taking its owner to and from his several properties in pressurized comfort. It is surprisingly economical, reliable, and as the advertising suggests, very fast. The second Lancair had an unfortunate accident a few years after construction These winglets, offered by the Lancair factory, enhance fuel tank ventilation, but slow when an engine failure led to a forced the plane four knots.

Photos: Lewis Bjork KITPLANES October 2015 15 The interface between wing and winglet varies from one This one incorporates a spar extension, additional nut plates design to the next. and some careful wiring.

York Zentner, two gentleman pilots this little change in angle resulted in an degree, of factory-built airplanes, as with a soaring background, and David unexpected increase in performance. well. As such, York and John faced the Colling, an aero-engineer, wanted bet- Flight characteristics improved drasti- problem of achieving perfect alignment ter performance from their sailplanes. cally, to include better yaw stability and on an airplane with no flat surfaces and From a design standpoint, a sailplane greater aileron authority. Although at unknown construction accuracy. has far fewer variables than powered air- first teased about the tall tips (“Com- To begin, the wingtip required craft. No propellers, P-factor, exhaust, pensating for something?”), the client reinforcement. This particular plane cooling, fuel tanks, fire concerns, pres- found delight soaring right along with allowed for a small spar extension to surization, range/endurance, anti-ice competition sailplanes costing three fit, grafting the large winglet loads systems, radar, and the like to concern times as much. His modified glider into the path already carried by the with—just wings, control surfaces and could climb, turn, and run with the main wingspar. On other aircraft, the a place to sit. Package everything in the best. Vortecx obtained a patent on the wingtip flange itself might be rein- lowest-drag shape imaginable and hope concept and went to market. forced with liberal use of carbon fiber for some lift. Soaring is one of the last until able to sustain loads generated by bastions of the aeronautical purist. Installation on a Lancair IV-P a large vertical surface. Traditionally, increased soaring per- When Roland Manarin of Omaha, Curious about exactly how much formance has been directly proportional Nebraska, requested winglets for his load the wingtip mount screws could to wingspan. Longer wings equal better beautiful Lancair IV-P, Vortecx Indus- take, Cal Poly University composite labs lift to drag. Practically, however, longer tries went to work. David ran comput- tested several examples to destruction. wings make trouble of their own kind: erized finite element analyses on the Simply banking into a turn becomes a winglet as applied to the Lancair, using sort of argument, with the pilot madly state-of-the-art software. The winglet is chasing errant yaw strings all over the a complex mix of different airfoils and sky. One of the most competitive cat- fixed incidence angles carefully tuned egories limits the sailplane wingspan to an individual airplane. The wing- to 15 meters—fairly sporty to fly, but let needs to be perfectly aligned with somewhat lacking in performance when the wing and airflow in order to work compared to open class gliders. When effectively. The limits are tight, just challenged to improve an older 15-meter two tenths of a degree. Simply bolting sailplane for equivalent performance to the winglet to the tip might result in modern (expensive!) ships, Neel and truly terrible consequences, and make Zentner found solutions in a clever set the airplane difficult to fly. The Lancair of winglets. They planned for the opti- is nicely modeled on the computer— mum outward cant of each winglet, only basic information like wing loading, to discover the tips reached slightly past horsepower and the overall shape of the the 15-meter limit. Rather than shorten aircraft are easy enough. The plot thick- the wing, they built a secondary break ens considerably, however, with the in the winglet, a sort of polyhedral evi- fact that no two homebuilt aircraft are Oil flow tests paint a nice picture of dent in the pictures. Serendipitously, exactly the same. This is true, to a lesser mostly laminar flow on this sailplane.

16 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes John Neel (left) and York Zentner adjust a winglet installation. Each installation is carefully tuned to the wing. Alignment is critical before drilling all these holes.

In each case, the screws failed before the team arrived at the wingtips with adjustment at this point helps dial in the composite material, with each #10 a good sense of local airflow as pertain- optimum performance. Figure 1 shows screw withstanding about 1100 pounds ing to that particular aircraft. Some measured performance on Roland’s before shearing. With screws every few educated guessing followed, involving airplane before and after the winglet inches, all the way around the wing- several custom protractors and mea- installation. Video of one of the perfor- tip, the winglet effectively becomes a suring tools, as to perfect placement mance flights is posted online; search structural extension of the wing and of the winglet. From there the winglet Vortecx winglet. can take tremendous flight loads with- was painstakingly cut to fit. The pro- While lowering the stall speed sig- out failure. cess is iterative, with each cut followed nificantly, the winglet seems to have With the plane leveled and blocked by more measuring, another cut, more little detrimental effect at high speed. in a clean, enclosed hangar. York and measuring, and so on, until the align- Indeed, with increasing altitude, the John carefully measured the airframe ment falls within the .2 degree allow- winglet enhances both rate of climb using lasers, trammels, and plumb ance, roughly the width of a Sharpie and cruise speed. Above FL200, the bobs to determine an accurate center- line drawn on the floor. performance gains become very sig- line reference, which they marked on nificant—20 percent faster cruise and the hangar floor. More measuring to Flight Testing near doubling the rate of climb! These determine wing alignment and inci- Flight testing followed, with oil flow are remarkable numbers, consider- dence, with corresponding marks on tests and video recording to examine ing the Lancair IV is already one of the floor, followed. Moving outward, actual airflow across the winglet. Subtle the highest-performing Experimental types available. Throttled back slightly, the winglets enable substantial fuel savings with no loss of speed over the stock aircraft. This might translate into significant fuel savings year over year. York indicated that these results are typical of most aircraft fitted with the Vortecx winglet. My Turn After hearing all the hype, I looked forward to the opportunity to fly a set of these winglets myself. No stranger to the Lancair IV-P, I felt confident evaluating its performance and handling, particularly in relation to stall behavior as affected by the new winglets. York felt confident, too. He brought his son Parker along for the demonstration. They A few examples of the Cal Poly test strips. The screws withstand up to 1100 lbs! arrived at South Valley Regional Airport

KITPLANES October 2015 17 (near Salt Lake City) looking and sound- ing very much like any other Lancair. As the plane slowed on approach, however, the distinctive winglets seem to grow bigger and taller. They are not small. I wondered if they disturbed the view from the cockpit. I also wondered if they affected handling much at high-yaw conditions in flight. York assured me that they could handle any side load in flight without failure, and that I could play with the rudder all I wanted. Roland Manarin’s airplane is beautiful. Very well finished with excellent paint and a lovely interior, it is typical of the high-dollar efforts most builders put into their Lancairs. The winglets blend perfectly into the wings, tastefully painted to match a fairly elaborate paint Appearing large from the outside, the winglets are not intrusive viewed from the cockpit. scheme. A delightfully complicated pattern of LED lights crown the tips for nav intrude into the field of view. They sit far dial—unusual and better than a stock and strobe functions, and the leading enough to the side that you have to turn Lancair. Immediately apparent, how- edge sports landing lights on both sides. your head a bit to see them. Even looking ever, was a degradation in control har- The winglets are beautifully made, with at them directly, they do not seem as big mony. The Lancair IV controls do not excellent fit and finish to match the best from inside the plane. harmonize well. It is light and sensitive of composite construction. The instru- in pitch with relatively heavy ailerons. ment panel carries a mix of old and new, Takeoff and Basic Maneuvers Winglets make the ailerons more pow- with a Dynon EFIS replacing the altime- Loaded with some fuel and three erful, but they feel heavier, exacerbat- ter in an otherwise standard flight direc- occupants in an already heavy air- ing the unbalanced relationship of the tor/HSI instrument package. All the plane, I expected to roll for a good controls. Putting some muscle into the instrumentation, finish, and finery adds long while on the pavement. Lifting side stick, the same roll rates could be up in weight—about 438 pounds more the nosewheel slightly, the airplane achieved as without winglets, but I sus- than the plane we tested 20 years ago. surprised me by floating off the run- pect an airplane with winglets would Winglets might be especially advanta- way and climbing much sooner than be rolled slower in general due to the geous in this circumstance, as they help I expected. The wing felt powerful heavier feel. This is not a major issue, the wing fly more efficiently. From the from the beginning, climbing strongly as the airplane is not aerobatic. The cockpit, I observed the winglets do not before we had much speed on the heavier ailerons lead to a feel of greater roll stability, and the plane seems to want to go straight—just like a proper traveling machine should. As usual, any change in attitude, speed, or power setting sent the rudder ball to one side or another, and required near-constant adjustment of the electric rudder trim during maneuvers. This is common to airplanes with big, high-torque engines. Once set up for cruise and carefully trimmed, however, the plane is easily managed for long flights. I sampled the rudder during our cruise to the flight-test area. I suspected the big winglets might develop notice- able side forces at high angles of yaw, or beta. They certainly increased the Figure 1: Airspeed vs altitude plot. roll coupling with rudder input. The

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28176 ADS-B Experimental Ad-Kitplane.indd 1 6/11/15 8:08 AM as usual, but a good deal less than I remember. With practice, I could make it break straight ahead—a huge improvement over the “stock” Lancair IV. This particular plane stalled a little over 70 knots—about the same as the plane we flew 20 years ago. York indicated that the increased weight of the empty airplane had it stalling quite fast to begin with—over 80 knots, and that the winglets in general seem to offer a 10-knot stall speed reduction with improved control authority and better warning, to boot. Not a bad solution. Delighted with the improved stall behavior, I probed a little further with York’s enthusiastic approval. A 2 G turn to the left resulted in an accelerated stall These LEDs are molded in place, draw very little power, and have an indefinite service life. that broke back to level flight as it recovered. Astounded, I performed the same plane could roll on rudder alone, if you of the control response with reduced maneuver in a right turn… didn’t mind the inclinometer diving speed, the airplane continued as it off to the side. It was much like a sail- had before. At 75 knots and carrying There It Goes! plane, in fact. We noticed some insta- a little power, the plane began to buf- At stall, the airplane immediately bility at high beta. At some point, the fet audibly and through the controls. snapped to the right, spinning rap- plane wanted to break away on its own, Surprisingly, the ailerons continued to idly without provocation. The spin trying to rapidly increase yaw with no be effective, with gentle control inputs continued despite the application of further input from the pilot. I suspect able to bank left and right at will. Full full opposite rudder and lowering the this is caused when the winglet on the stall came with a break to the right, nose. We rotated about four times to side dragging behind reaches sufficient angle of attack to generate lift across its outboard surface. From the cockpit it feels like a little parachute suddenly deploys on the wingtip. I could correct the attitude immediately by releasing rudder pressure, but the tendency to snatch to one side surprised me. York noted that this occurs at angles of beta much higher than normal. I agree, but suspect the plane might benefit from a big ventral fin and rudder extension to improve yaw stability. We observed no speed degradation in level flight at high speed. With so much increased area out there, I felt that something had to slow down. Apparently not. The winglet contributes a little thrust component of lift, negating any increase in form drag. Stalls We climbed to 9000 feet msl to sample stall behavior. I made a gentle reduction in speed, gingerly feeling out the controls. Aside from a general softening Figure 2: Altitude vs. rate of climb plot.

20 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes the right in a strange unloaded spin, Conclusion designers do an excellent job with the as speed degraded. York said, rather The Lancair is a very high-performance wing already, but they are the minor- calmly, “Get the nose down,” about the airplane with a bit of a reputation. The ity. Vortecx modifications are aimed at same time I applied full forward eleva- Vortecx winglet offers significant perfor- designs where money is left on the table, tor. We had some success lowering the mance gains at both ends of the envelope, so to speak, where performance enhance- nose, when the plane promptly snapped while taming the stall behavior. The mod- ments pay big dividends. Their services over to the left for a couple of rotations ification adds 20% to the high-altitude are not cheap. A great deal of design work and assumed a near vertical attitude. cruise, a 10-knot reduction in stall speed, and labor, and a couple of weeks with the Shortly afterwards, using very aggres- better takeoff, landing, and climb perfor- airplane, add up in costs. J sive control inputs and a little patience, mance, and better stall warning. Vortecx we recovered with a loss of 4000 feet. plans to develop a larger fin and rudder, Call John Neel at 435-632-2917 for pricing. Throughout the unexpected event, the which might tame the airplane’s low-speed Lewis Bjork Bjork Lewis atmosphere in the cockpit was very behavior entirely. It’s almost unheard of to Lewis Bjork has constructed calm, almost casual, although it had make a plane faster, slower, and safer with many airplanes, authored our full attention. When everything the same mod, but there it is. settled, we felt quite rattled. Vortecx has been developing winglets a few books and numerous In retrospect, that was a near worst- for years, each improving on the last. articles. He enjoyed flying case scenario. We were heavy, with an The next generation will accomplish the for SkyWest Airlines the occupant in the back seat. I doubt the same performance gains at about 70% last twenty years, and is average Lancair IV could have recov- the current size. They have installed cus- married to Linda, a very ered in time. The winglets, then, made tom winglets on a number of aircraft, patient wife. a difference between life and death, including various homebuilts, sailplanes, but are not foolproof. This fool went and even a Citation jet. In each case, sub- They are the poking around the stall with too stantial performance gains occurred. parents of much confidence in the new handling Not every airplane type is a good five children. and got bit. candidate for winglets, however. Some

KITPLANES October 2015 21 Flying Other People’s Planes Yes, it’s fun–but beware of unexpected problems. By Paul Dye

22 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes A good ground cockpit checkout is essential when preparing to fly a single-seat airplane for the first time. Pay particular attention to secondary controls.

One of the benefits I have found of wants me to fly it and tell him how it Companies for which we fly airplanes being in the aviation writing business is compares to others of the type. When- are less likely to worry about the insur- that I get the chance to fly a fair number ever we consent to take the controls, ance issue. They are either confident in of other people’s planes. Whether I am we have to think about our qualifica- their self-insurance, or know that it can doing it to write a flight review on the tions, the condition of the airplane, the be tough to get coverage for a new pilot type, test or check out new avionics, or known flight characteristics, and what in an Experimental aircraft. In this case, am simply offered the chance to go fly- we can realistically do with the airplane they accept the financial risk in order ing, I enter a lot of strange N-numbers on the intended flight. to have the airplane reviewed or simply in my log. Sometimes, the airplane is a tested by another pilot. Insurance is one type I’m familiar with. Sometimes it Insurance way to mitigate risk, and some simply is completely new to me. Regardless of Insurance is one of those logistical choose to accept the financial risk if which category the craft falls into, there considerations that is too important they believe the chances of an untoward are many things to consider when flying to ignore. For some, we simply agree event are small. We all hope that is the a borrowed airplane. that we are responsible for the craft. case, especially the pilot that is about to For others, we formally submit paper- put their little pink body in the seat. Safety and Mission Success work and get coverage. This is mostly The important thing is that whether In my old job conducting space shuttle decided by the owner, and it is more you are borrowing a friend’s airplane, flights, our goal was safety and mission common for a private owner to want flying a demo aircraft from a factory, success—in that order. That’s the way I to add the casual pilot to their insur- or testing an airplane for a corporation, approach any flight—especially one in ance than it is for a corporate concern make sure that you discuss the financial an unfamiliar aircraft. My first prior- asking for a flight review. Even when obligations in advance. ity is that the airplane and I come back it is simply the case of a friend throw- together and intact. I am also cognizant ing me the keys to “take it around the Magazine Flight Reviews of the fact that someone cares a great patch,” it is always a good idea to ask When we fly a new airplane for a maga- deal about the airplane (as I do about the insurance question—just to be zine review, the best situation is when my own), and that while fun is impor- polite and make sure there is no misun- it is a two (or more) seat aircraft, and tant, safety is always paramount. derstanding. In some cases, the owner we can take along a factory pilot or the The mission might be, as I mentioned, may not have thought about it, and owner. In fact, in that case, it is more a flight evaluation, a photo hop, avionics bringing it up is a responsible thing to correct to say that they are taking us testing, a checkout in type, or training do. Of course, sometimes the response along. There is little worry about flight for some specific piloting task. It might is, “Well Paul, I have your plane here safety, so long as we brief beforehand also be that I am simply borrowing the on the ground, and I’ll enjoy flying it on who is pilot in command, and who airplane to go on a trip, or the owner while you get mine repaired…” will do what in the case of an emergency.

Photos: Courtesy of Paul Dye KITPLANES October 2015 23 Demo and test flights such as these are sometimes the most fun—so long as the demo pilot is experienced, we can trust them to get the airplane up and back, and we can concentrate on evaluating and flying, knowing that we have a safety net if something odd were to occur. It is easier to take notes, capture photos, and dedicate 100% of our attention to what we are doing, rather than having a few brain cells worrying about survival all the time. Two-seat airplanes can provide a more challenging time when the owner is asking us to help them get used to the machine, do transition training, or When flying a new airplane that is still in a test program—like this Panther proto- type—we frequently wear full protective equipment, including a parachute, often at help them learn their avionics. In this the suggestion of the owner. Everyone is concerned about safety. case, it is usually not a factory-trained demo pilot with whom we are flying, but rather a novice owner that may not have to be confident that you can fly knowing how to land with the type of be very experienced in type, and toward the airplane and bring it back safely, gear (tricycle or taildragger) that the whom we will have to dedicate some of alone and unassisted. For pilots who type presents. Good fundamentals our attention. In short, now we not only have always checked out in a new air- apply to any machine, and the mark of a have to worry about flying the airplane, plane with a CFI or safety pilot, that pilot who is ready for this type of flying but also about giving the other pilot first time crawling into a machine with is that they don’t just learn airplanes by attention. The new Additional Pilot only one seat can be very intimidating. rote (memorizing speeds at points in the Program allows an experienced pilot Good fundamental piloting skills are pattern, relying on specific altitude cues to go along with one less experienced important here. So long as the airplane for checklist steps, etc.), but rather look during Phase 1 training (under specific type has flown before and the previ- outside (as well as at the airspeed), feel guidelines). This program formalizes ous pilots have not ended up scream- the aircraft, and find where it fits within the process and gives some good guide- ing or muttering to themselves as they their experience continuum. lines for this type of activity. hug the earth post-landing, you can be With single-seat airplanes, you simply reasonably certain that it will “fly like can’t afford to wonder if you are going Single-Seat Aircraft an airplane,” and you can bring it back to make it back—you have to know Single-seat airplanes are, of course, safely to the earth. Fundamental skills that you will, and that while you might another matter. In these, you don’t include staying above stall speed, keep- bounce it, there will never be any doubt have to divide your attention—but you ing it within the flight envelope, and about the safe and successful outcome of the mission. Having made this transition into numerous single-seat airplanes myself, and seeing others never take that step, I suggest doing initial solo flights in benign airplanes that have straight- forward characteristics similar to other types that the pilot has flown, regardless of the number of seats. They might think that taking a machine aloft with a qualified pilot who promises never to touch the controls might be a good idea—but the psychological environ- ment is different. You know that they aren’t going to let you take them to their death, so it really isn’t being alone. The single-seat airplanes many of us The author finds that his first landing in a type (in this case, the original RV-1 after its are familiar with are usually small, close- restoration) is often his best. coupled, nimble, and can be intimidating

24 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Designs such as the Cassutt often have many custom systems and parts. The canopy latch on this ship required careful attention to make sure it was secure. with their speed—and reputation. Others might be large (a single-seat fighter or replica) with actual intimidating speed and flight characteristics. In truth, size shouldn’t matter—flight characteristics should. Stall speed is the first big indicator of the challenge the pilot faces. The faster it stalls, the faster the approach, and the quicker you’ll have to be on the controls on landing. Bigger, with more engine torque? Bet- ter be prepared for a boot full of rudder on the takeoff roll. Many pilots, used to docile aircraft, are scared of quick and nimble—until they find out that it is more a question of how stable the airplane is than how quickly it maneuvers. Instability is a problem, but quickness in itself is just a delight. Unusual Flight Characteristics Unique design aspects of an airplane can affect how it handles, and how it lands. It is good to find out in advance if it pitches up or pitches down with flap deployment. Those big Tundra tires on a wild new bush plane—how do they react if you land hard? Is the CG forward or aft in the configuration you’re going to fly? This will greatly affect -sta bility and control. And if it is too far one way or another, you might run out of control on landing—or be pushing on the stick to prevent an over-flare. If this is a new airplane with few hours, and the owner is asking you to test or evaluate it,

KITPLANES October 2015 25 you need to be on your toes and be honest with yourself: How much experience do you really have in oddly configured aircraft? Practicing flying out of trim (in an airplane you are familiar with) is a good way to prepare for the unexpected in a test airplane. Expect the Unexpected Aside from being able to actually fly and land the airplane, there are far more trivial things that can potentially get you into trouble when hopping in another person’s airplane for a quick spin around the patch—and most of them would surprise you. Especially in the homebuilt New to a type? Find a written checklist and follow it meticulously—especially if it has world, no two aircraft are exactly alike, a jet engine (like this TsT-14 sailplane). and the small differences can provide big surprises. Our biggest problems, in flight and having a mental—or better age, our flexibility decreases. Have you fact, arise when flying an aircraft similar yet, a written—checklist of items that got full motion everywhere? to what we fly all the time. “Hey Paul, you always check before flying a new you’ve got over 2000 hours in the RV-8; airplane. These things, if missed, could Canopy and Door Latches could you take mine up and tell me how cause major distractions or endanger Canopy and door latches are some of it compares to others?” Well sure—that flight directly. When I sit in a new type, the greatest “gotchas” in the homebuilt should be simple. But gee, this fellow has I move all the controls to full travel, world. They can be finicky, they can be the tall-man option, which pushes the including engine controls, both primary marginal—and sometimes, we have to seat back a couple of inches, and since (throttle, mixture, prop) and second- line up three different things in order I can just barely reach the fuel selector ary (fuel selectors, ignition switches, to get them to work. I have learned in my own airplane with the harnesses carb heat, etc.). I put on the harness through hard experience to have the tight, now I can’t reach it at all. The and make sure that I have good reach to owner/designer/builder go through the question is—did I discover that on the everything critical—and move my head latching sequence and pitfalls with me ground, or in the air? around to find potential blind spots. before we ever get to “how do I start the This illustrates the importance of Don’t forget to try the brakes. Some engine?” I have seen two-piece doors knowing exactly what is critical to rudder pedals are awkward, and as we that can really cook your noodle—and

New configurations require that we reset our visual landmarks. If you have never flown a canard, you’ll find that the view can be quite different.

26 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes A good post-flight debrief while things are fresh in your mind will help bring out the details of a flight in a new airplane. some latches that simply didn’t work, or wouldn’t work if the airplane flexed a little. While it is true that in most certified aircraft, an open door in flight is almost always survivable, in many homebuilts, the loss of a door or canopy can result in tail damage—and loss of control, no matter how cool you remain in the cockpit. Electrical Gremlins and Oddball Fuel Systems Homebuilts have other issues, often related to electrical systems. I flew one airplane that had a five-by-five matrix of toggle switches that controlled all of the electrical items in the airplane, including multiple buses and the electronic ignition. While they were labeled, it was in some esoteric language that made sense only to the builder, and the current owner basically set things up “by rote,” making sure that the switches were on and off in the same pattern for every flight. I declined to fly that one solo, by the way. And then there are fuel systems. Creative fuel systems might have their place if you’re building an airplane with enough tankage to fly around the world, but multiple tanks, valves, and fuel pumps to transfer go- juice around the airplane can give a new pilot headaches, and if you’re going to take a plane with such a system aloft, you need to make sure you fully understand where the gas is, and how to get it to the engine.

KITPLANES October 2015 27 This Spitfire replica had 450 horsepower, requiring more than a little rudder on takeoff. But it was a delight to fly!

Where Am I ? when you are all alone in an aircraft two airplanes ever seem configured By the way—have you got a map? It can and working hard just to adapt to its the same. Don’t get me wrong—I am be more than just inconvenient to strap flying qualities. It is easy to reach task all for advanced displays that make into a new airplane at an airport in an saturation and then have a little extra a pilot’s job easier and have been area you have never flown, then take annoyance push you over the edge—so involved in their development for off—only to find out that you have no make sure not to take off in a hurry— decades. However, the user interfaces idea where you are. Many, if not most, take the time to ask questions and get are far from standard at this point in airplanes today have a GPS somewhere good answers. If, at any time, you find time, and once you start pushing but- in the cockpit. But some of those hand- yourself rushing to get in the air (“Hey, tons, you can end up with no usable helds can be mighty tricky to operate, you can fly my plane, but I need to leave displays at all—or worse, end up with even if it is just to bring up a map! Make in 45 minutes, so make sure you have guidance that is taking you someplace sure that you either know how to work it back by then!”), it’s probably time to you don’t want to go. There are four or the fancy hardware before you go aloft stop, pass on the opportunity, and come five major brands of EFIS out there in or have a good local map in your pocket. back when you have more time. the homebuilt world today, and while all of them have similar displays, when Don’t Ignore the Small Stuff Unfamiliar Avionics it comes to critical parameters (such as Seat and control adjustments, how to Avionics are another huge area of airspeed, altitude, and attitude), the turn on (or off) the heater—these are all complication these days. With the button-pushing and knob-twisting trivial items that can become significant proliferation of glass cockpits, no that you have to do to change a page or set the altimeter is different from brand to brand. Once again, know what you have to do to fly a safe mission, and then “keepa-your-hands-off” the rest! If your goal is to experiment with, and experience, the EFIS, then have at it—but do a lot more ground prep with the manuals and with the system before you go aloft—and take a safety pilot. When I am flying/testing/evaluating an airframe, I make sure that I know how to bring up the primary flight display, bring up a moving map, and set

Given the opportunity, we’ll give any new airplane a try—even from the right seat. Safety first—and then enjoy the ride!

28 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes the altimeter. If I have to control radios and the transponder through the EFIS, I make sure I can do that as well. I rarely use the navigation or guidance features of an EFIS in an airframe evaluation, so I leave those alone—or I have a handheld or iPad that I know how to use along for the ride. Many accidents have happened due to distractions in the cockpit—which is a good reminder to always check on how to cancel visi- ble and audible alerts before you go flying! Also make sure you ask the owner if there are any engine parameters that they are still “working out” in their EFIS or engine instrumentation.

Should I Do This? Sometimes it takes a little help to get going. It’s always nice to have the owner there to help Flying other people’s planes is a great start things up. way to grow as a pilot, and it is an honor to reach the point in one’s career with yourself before you accept an thought. I have never met an airplane when such offers are made. Yet, it is offer (or assignment) to fly a new type. that was worth dying for—and while probably some of the most subtly haz- Is your experience base broad enough some specific opportunities might ardous flying you might do—simply to accept? I have turned down remark- never come again, it is better to be because there are so many little things able offers to fly some fascinating air- around later for other opportunities to learn about a particular Experimen- planes because I just didn’t feel like I than to take one that you shouldn’t tal aircraft. Always be brutally honest was qualified—despite what the owner and make it your last. J

Joining Two Small Wires SHOP By David Boeshaar TIPS

Wires too small for regular PIDG crimp-on connectors can be soldered, but here is a nice alternative that does not involve heat, smoke, or burned fingers. You can use pins from a D-sub connector and heat shrink tubing to create a solid, gas-tight connection. This method is fast, easy, and can be disassembled if needed. This will work on wire up to 20 gauge. 1. Strip and crimp pins as you normally would. Be sure to use the correct crimper for D-sub pins. This is a 4-position crimper that automatically sets the correct depth for the crimp. 2. Slip about 3 inches of 3/32-inch heat shrink onto the wire and connect the pins. 3. Center the heat shrink so you have equal tube over each side of the pins. 4. Verify the pins are fully inserted and shrink the tube. It is D-sub pins and heat shrink Be sure the tubing is tight important to verify that the pins are fully inserted. tubing. around pins, and the pins are 5. Review the shrink to be sure it is fully connected. J fully inserted.

KITPLANES October 2015 29 Glass Panel Upgrade Adding a Garmin G3X Touch to a Wheeler Express. By Reinhard Metz

My guess is most homebuilt owners Now I was on a collision course with with capabilities so far out ahead of with steam gauges have been seriously some lingering concerns: Is a glass panel their certified counterparts. tempted by a glass panel upgrade—even really better? Is it just a tempting distrac- Many homebuilders will be hesitant if only to convince themselves that they tion? Are some pilots seriously better off to perform substantial panel installa- really like steam better! I certainly had with steam gauges? To some extent it’s a tions on their own. By all means, if you been contemplating an upgrade for personal decision, a comfort zone issue. are not comfortable soldering, crimp- many years. Having become accustomed To be honest, when I began the project, ing, routing wires, etc., seek profes- to a Garmin GNS 530 in my Wheeler I wasn’t completely sure, but in the end, sional help. On the other hand, there’s Express, followed by a recent upgrade the old dog was able to learn some new nothing like accomplishing a challeng- to a GTN 750, I was inclined toward tricks, and I have come to see the light ing task, and hopefully in what follows, Garmin as the upgrade path. For the (so to speak!)…but more on that later. some may find enough useful ideas and longest time my only option in terms of inspiration to do it themselves. To me, panel space was the G500/600, but that System Choices it’s very satisfying, as well as confidence was out of my budget. When the G3X While there are clearly other excellent building to know as many details of came out, it didn’t fit my panel well. And alternatives, the Garmin G3X Touch your airplane as possible. then—along comes the G3X Touch, at fit both my comfort zone and panel. nearly the same time my vacuum pump I already had an S-TEC 30 autopi- Planning For Redundancy was about due for replacement and the lot, but decided at the same time to The first step was to decide what stays, DG started precessing. I was already replace it with the Garmin integrated what goes, and how to provide redun- enamored with the GTN touchscreen. autopilot, which has much greater dancy with the new arrangement. In It was a perfect storm—a couple thou- functionality, and yes, it provided the the panel right before the upgrade, in sand dollars in potential repairs avoided opportunity to sell a certified piece addition to the six-pack, there was the and the upgrade siren called out to me: of equipment to help finance this gig. S-TEC AP/TC, a Rocky Mountain “You can do this! And at almost no extra This is an amazing time in the world Instruments microEncoder serving cost, considering the resale value of what of homebuilding, given the recent double duty as a VSI, a Strike Finder, comes out of the panel.” I had to do it! appearance of non-certified avionics and two indicators for the Garmin GPS

30 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes and KX-155. (Note the affirmation on the panel above the six fault indicator lights: “In God and Lycoming we trust.” That originated during an IFR flight passing over the Great Smoky Moun- tains, looking out the windows in sheer terror while weaving under a controller’s guidance through towering cumu- lus and lightning, watching the tops of mountains going by underneath!) We’ve all been taught, and indeed there are regulatory requirements, to provide backups for key functionality, especially when flying IFR. I’m a big fan of doing what’s necessary and sufficient, and keeping it simple. Just because it N49EX on a Chicago winter outing…Brrrrr! can be done, doesn’t mean you should. I’m talking about glass panel designs which direction you are pointed. I’m and sudden battery failure is highly that go to extremes—now all of a sud- also not building a commercial airliner, unlikely, but alternator failures do hap- den there are three huge LCD displays! and beyond redundancy, they have so pen. In fact, I have experienced one What’s that all about? Planning to open much glass because they have two pilots under IFR conditions. So, I chose to stay a stock brokerage in the sky? I contend seated five feet apart, and each would with a single battery, but added a backup that’s more of a distraction than useful really like to see the same thing. That’s alternator mounted on the conveniently functionality or backup. the long way of saying that one display vacated vacuum-pump pad. It’s easy to forget where we came from: unit is enough for me. Similarly, a total bus failure is highly The backup used to be the electric turn Still, you need a backup. So, the simple unlikely, and individual loads are pro- coordinator taking over for the vacuum approach to glass cockpit redundancy in tected and isolated via their circuit break- instruments in case the vacuum failed. the early days was to keep the vacuum ers anyway. For simplicity, I chose to stay And of course, that was the most likely pump and the mechanical airspeed, alti- with a single main and avionics bus struc- scenario—graphite vanes in that notori- tude, and attitude. But once you adopt ture. If you were to have a bus short, you ous pump suddenly deciding they would glass, going all electric seems inevitable. would have a much bigger problem than rather just be particles again! Then the question becomes what electri- loss of power—think fire and smoke! Well, that turn coordinator is a pretty cal backup scheme to pursue. Also, a dual bus structure with simplex minimal beast, just enough to keep the Here’s where I’m a staunch believer loads requires ORing diodes, which I am dirty side down. And along with the in keeping things simple. My electrical not particularly fond of. compass, you might just barely know engineering sense is that an outright A better investment is in care of how buses are mechanically placed and protected from shorting possibilities. On the topic of circuit breakers, as part of this upgrade I changed to all pull breakers, which allow you to isolate or shed load on demand. Items in the avionics block on top are on the avionics bus seg- ment, while all the rest are on the main bus, the two being connected by the avionics switch. This isolates the avionics from engine-start transients. Note that both alternators power the main bus, and can therefore power everything. Normal bus loads will stay within the capacity of the backup alternator, but just in an emergency, load can be shed as needed by pulling breakers. With this approach, switching to backup is automatic, as the Steam gauge panel before upgrades. backup alternator regulation threshold is

Photos: Reinhard Metz KITPLANES October 2015 31 Dismembered panel viewed through windshield and from the front—not for the faint-hearted! set just a bit below the normal charging questions. There were, however, several to the G3xpert folks was, “I’ve found the regulation voltage of the main alternator. aspects of the job that provided particu- ideal location: back in the hangar.” If the main alternator fails, the backup lar challenges. The truth be known, it’s not quite as takes over automatically, and the swi- First was where to mount the mag- onerous as the manual makes it out to tchover is annunciated by an LED in netometer. If you follow the guidelines be. In testing, I found that wires carry- the fault indication display at the top in the Garmin manual strictly—what ing currents were not nearly as great a of the panel. wires with what current levels to avoid concern as proximity of ferrous metal. The next key redundancy question is with what spacing, etc.—you pretty I opted to go with a wingtip installa- how to back up the PFD and associated quickly come to the conclusion there is tion, and to my surprise, found a coun- ADAHRS functions, and for that mat- nowhere acceptable. My joke in writing terweight arm on the aileron that I had ter, the G3X Touch display itself. Here again, the popular approach is to duplicate or triplicate the primary display. Instead, I chose to install a GRT Mini as the backup. OK, I admit it: I also didn’t really have enough room for an additional G3X Touch display. But the GRT Mini as the backup provides some additional advantages. It presents software diver- sity, along with a completely independent ADAHRS and magnetometer, while having its own internal backup battery. This makes it completely independent of other aircraft systems in a pinch. If you choose to directly duplicate the G3X display, then it should be accompanied by duplication of the ADAHRS and power input to be truly effective redundancy and create fully separate fault groups. Key Challenges and Insights From the G3X Touch OK, now that the system decisions have been made, it’s time to plan and execute the job. The G3X Touch installation is superbly documented in the Garmin installation manual. I cannot overemphasize the outstanding support the G3X team provides when you have Example mark-up of connector diagram for termination guidance and installation verification.

32 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes completely overlooked. It is made of steel, and being within six inches of the magnetometer was a significant violation. Garmin has an excellent accep- tance test in the G3X maintenance mode that quickly identifies such problems. My suggestion is to run it soon, with the magnetometer only temporarily in a proposed location. A move of the magnetometer only about a foot farther forward in my wingtip eliminated the problem. Another somewhat challenging task is the location of the ADAHRS module. In its favor, the module is conveniently small and flexible in orientation, but the location must be very stable and devoid of vibration. In particular, tempting as it may be, the instrument panel is highly discouraged. While the display unit itself offers a backside mounting for the ADAHRS, ending up on the instrument panel is not a good location. My chosen location on the wingspar carry-through handily passed the vibration test. Wiring Techniques Location of the remaining components is not so critical. Once they are decided, it’s time to plan the wiring. Pseudo-physical unit An upgrade clearly has some unique layout and wire routing diagram, top view of plane. characteristics that differentiate it from a clean-slate, brand-new installation. To start with, a bunch of stuff gets ripped creation off the plane and on a bench retained as a handy reference for any out, and that warrants some careful as possible. We’ve all seen the pictures future modifications, or God forbid, planning. I made a list of all the wiring of a fully equipped and harnessed new troubleshooting. to be removed. Wires that are associ- panel on a workbench, looking pretty Using the physical drawing as a ated only with the removed equipment as can be. But in an upgrade, that’s just guide, I made a rough measurement are easy. Others, such as the connec- not possible—a great deal of wiring will in the plane of every run, giving each tions into the remaining GPS, are more need to be done in place. a bit extra just in case (There’s an old complicated. I listed all the connector The approach I took was to make a German saying: Three times cut off identifications and pin numbers to be wiring diagram that included all new and still too short!). For any particular removed. Then I carefully checked them and existing equipment, along with a route, say from the G3X display unit to off as I went along. rough physical placement and expected the ADAHRS, the same measurement Some wiring, such as power feeds, physical routing of the wiring. Indi- is valid for all wires in that run. These can be re-used, so tagging them clearly vidual wiring runs were assigned a num- lengths were entered into the wiring is most helpful when the new wiring ber. (For example, wire trough along table, which was also used to calculate begins. Existing harnesses get unlaced the right side of the fuselage, the center how much of each type of wire to buy. along the way, and by the time the route from panel to console, etc.) To further assist when actually build- removal process is complete, you have Next, I made a detailed list of every ing the harnesses, as well as checking one heck of a frightening rat’s nest. But wire to be installed in tabular form, the job later, I took Garmin’s connector don’t despair—it will all go together including check-off boxes, the “run diagrams and marked them up with the again very nicely! number” from the wiring diagram, wiring that would be done at each one. Conventional wisdom is to do as wire type, colors, connector numbers, It’s somewhat redundant, but that often much, if not all, wiring and harness pin numbers, and notes. This can be helps catch slip-ups.

KITPLANES October 2015 33 Aux power connector under panel—enables learning the complexities of new avionics without running the engine or running down the battery.

Checking, Testing, and Bring-Up also checked every new wire connecting This is where the real fun begins! The into the GTN 750—too many dollars New circuit breaker layout—upper block one thing you really do not want to do involved there to take any chances! is on the avionics bus—all pull breakers is let the smoke out of these wonderful Now it’s time for the big moment of except for the main alternator output. new (expensive) toys. Now’s the time to reckoning. Start with individual circuit Now, we’re ready to start the wiring. take your time, relax, and check every- breakers and the display unit, and see Since most of the wiring will become thing very carefully. Here’s where the that it initializes properly. Here again part of an existing harness, final end-to- mark-ups of the connectors from the it’s virtually a necessity to have an exter- end lengths will need to be determined Garmin installation manual come in nal power supply so that you can lei- in place, if you would like your finished again. As such, this is somewhat of an surely perform the variety of bring-up harness to look somewhat neat. Going independent audit that will catch any tests and configurations. I find it useful down the wiring list, terminate only one errors in the wiring table. also for just sitting in the plane to learn end of each wiring run at a connector I made a set of probe wires from left- your new electronics, play with them, associated with the new equipment. The over connector pins or sleeves, and used enter flight plans, etc. My auxiliary Garmin instructions are quite clear and them to check connections at each con- power connector is located under the comprehensive on best practices here; nector, using the LRU connector dia- right bottom of the instrument panel. it’s interesting to see the carry-over of grams again as the guide. First thing at Once everything powers up, it’s time discipline and style from the Garmin each connector is to verify the proper to perform unit and data link con- certified product documentation. pin populations, then move on to check figurations so all the pieces can talk to Once these partial harnesses are connectivity, the first being power. I each other. This can be a bit tricky. The ready, it’s time to head for the plane. At have a line power supply that I can plug Garmin manual specifies the configura- this point, I temporarily plugged each into my airplane bus to not run the tions on each page of their general wir- connector into its LRU (line-replace- battery down, and I used it to energize ing diagrams for each LRU. able unit)—the GDU 460 display, plane power. To organize the process, I copied each GSU 25 ADAHRS, both GA 28s, the Start with all the breakers pulled. of the applicable pages and marked the magnetometer, GMC 305, GAD29, Then at each LRU connector, verify the pertinent items, as well as made a table and GDL 39A. power pins and correct associated cir- For each run already terminated at cuit breaker with a voltmeter and check one connector, I systematically went ground connections with a buzz to down the list and ran the wire in its ground. These are the most impor- bundle, cut it to length, and terminated tant connections to check, but it in the other connector. Power feeds verification of other wiring is from the circuit breaker block were sim- important to avoid damage ilarly laid into their bundles to deter- and at least minimize or mine length, then cut and terminated. eliminate any later diffi- One last thing at each connector is to cult troubleshooting. At a give each wire a decent—but not dam- minimum, I recommend aging—tug to ensure that the crimp is checking the full CAN solid and the pin is properly seated in (controller area network) bus the connector shell. connectivity. In my case, I Male and female connector verification probes.

34 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Garmin and GRT magnetometers mounted in the right wingtip— ADAHRS mounted on wingspar carrythrough, a pretty vibration-proof all fiberglass, aluminum and brass mounting and hardware. and central location—under/behind pilot seat, seat rails to either side. of all the configuration data. While on takeoff rotation and landing. It takes many certified craft. If you have a pitot being a duplicate, it is a good future con- a bit of practice to develop the intuitive tube that includes the static ports, you solidated reference of how the system sense of critical airspeeds and altitudes may encounter the same problem. was configured. The tricky part is that from the tape presentations that were Now that I have become used to fly- this requires you to ensure that all con- captured in a glance at the round instru- ing with the new glass, here are a few nected existing equipment is up to the ments. However, it didn’t take long to final thoughts: This stuff is so pretty and latest software version, and also that you become comfortable and realize the enticing that I suggest you make a con- verify both the connections and con- many advantages of the new technology. certed effort to teach yourself to keep figuration associated with connected Once you train yourself to absorb key your eyes outside the plane as much as LRUs that seem a bit questionable as information at a glance from the differ- possible and use the glass only as is func- you look at the Garmin diagrams. ent presentation, it becomes clear how tionally needed, not as is possible. Back For example, the connections and much more is packed into a tighter space in 1964, Marshall McLuhan warned configuration of my recently installed and how it simplifies the scan. about television that, “The medium is GTX 327 transponder were not correct One additional challenge I encoun- the message.” It applies as much today to in the current installation manual. New tered was in tuning the autopilot. For the glass panels in airplanes. transponders do not need a direct con- most part, its performance was immedi- Finally, with a radically different nection from the ADAHRS for air data, ately excellent with minor tweaks to the redundancy scheme, practice failure but rather will get it automatically via gains, except for an altitude hunt of some modes. Whatever backup scheme you the ARINC 429 link through the GPS. +/- 30 feet that I could not get rid of. chose, become comfortable with reduced These nuances may vary depending on It turns out that the ADAHRS pres- configurations and alternate displays.J your installation, and I encourage you to sure sensors are exceptionally sensitive, seek clarification with the Garmin folks and the static pressure delivered by my Reinhard can be reached at [email protected]

where necessary. pitot tube static ports was not stable Reinha enough. In other words, slight pitch Reinhard built his Wheeler Flying It changes to hold altitude resulted in Express over an eight-year Everything up and running? Passed the disproportionate pressure changes due period and has been flying vibration and magnetic interference to the angle changes of the pitot tube, it for 16 years. He is a tests? Ground calibrated the magne- resulting in an altitude oscillation. retired Bell Labs electrical tometer? OK, time to fly! This problem was never apparent engineer and has a second I have to admit, the first flights in the altimeter before, but certainly career in commercial food involved a certain amount of trepida- noticed by the new autopilot. As a test, r equipment. Reinhard lives

tion, especially since I started out not using cockpit air stabilized the altitude Metz d completely sure of this whole thing. In hold of the AP, but was unacceptable as in Wheaton, Illinois, and fact, I made my first flights with the old a permanent solution due to not being often flies out of DuPage ASI and altimeter temporarily patched the correct outside pressure and thus Airport with into the pitot/static system and taped delivering incorrect altitude and air- his aviation to the bottom of the panel, as a transi- speed readings at flying speed. So, psy- enthusiastic tion aid. And I have to admit, the first chologically hard as it was, I had to drill daughter couple of flights I couldn’t help but look some holes in the fuselage and add side Ashley. down to them occasionally, especially static ports, similar to what you find on

KITPLANES October 2015 35 Who’s Got the Time? Are you logging pilot flight time and aircraft time in service correctly? By Owen C. Baker

For the first powered airplane flight, of flight time per flight and total flight time, federal regulations require it. Cer- flown by the Wright brothers in Decem- time to date is considered such a standard tain flight-time records must be kept in ber 1903, historical records show both the measuring criteria of piloting experience order to qualify for higher ratings, to fly distance flown, 162 feet, and the elapsed and qualifications that every pilot wants certain types of aircraft, or to fly in cer- flight time, 12 seconds. Not many pilots to keep some reasonably permanent tain flight conditions such as at night or today keep an ongoing record of how far record of that time. under instrument flight rules. they have flown in any given flight, or the Beyond an individual pilot’s personal It is also necessary to keep track total distance flown to date. But a record desire to maintain a record of flight of airframe and engine time in ser-

36 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes vice. Without this information, it is extremely difficult—if not impos- sible—to properly maintain an aircraft and keep it in airworthy condition. Let’s take a look at some of the most common devices used to keep track of pilot and aircraft time. Hobbs Meters John Weston Hobbs (1889–1968) invented the Hobbs meter, an electrically driven, elapsed time recording device. There are still indeed actual Hobbs meters that can be obtained for installation in homebuilt aircraft. The generic Hobbs meters are quite common in rental aircraft, but the time they record is not term, Hobbs meter, is also used for simi- exactly in synch with pilot flight time as defined by the FARs. lar devices from other manufacturers. A Hobbs meter is commonly turned for all components on the aircraft, such and (b), which state that a tachometer on and off by sensors that detect engine as the engine and prop, that require a must be installed. oil pressure, air pressure, or landing record of time in service. The primary purpose of the tachom- gear contact with the ground. Hobbs It might also be convenient and rea- eter is to inform the pilot of engine meters can also be controlled with a sonable for the pilot to use that very rpm at any given moment. But some- manual switch. same recorded airborne time as pilot where along the line, tachometers Time in service, with respect to flight time, but it will not be pilot flight also began to display the total time maintenance records, is defined in the time as defined by the federal regula- of engine operation. The elapsed time FARs as the time from the moment an tions (see sidebar). display on the instrument requires aircraft leaves the surface of the earth Creating a record of engine or aircraft a conversion ratio of instantaneous until it touches down at the next point time in service by having the Hobbs engine rpm into elapsed time of engine of landing. Therefore, if a Hobbs meter meter record elapsed time whenever operation. If, say, 2000 rpm were cho- is installed so that it runs and records the engine is producing oil pressure is sen as the standard mechanical revolu- elapsed time whenever the aircraft is air- a very common practice for rental air- tion rate to convert into one minute of borne, i.e., landing gear not in contact craft. However, it is not in compliance elapsed engine operating time, then with the ground, it will provide an accu- with the federal regulation for time in any engine operation at less than 2000 rate and regulatory compliant record service. It will also hasten the arrival of rpm would generate less than one min- the time due for overhaul of the engine ute of elapsed engine operating time, or the work on any aircraft compo- and any operation at an rpm greater nents that require maintenance than 2000 would generate more than based on time in service. one minute of elapsed engine operating time. Therefore, any mechanically Tachometers driven engine tachometer that includes A common device for a time readout can’t accurately record recording elapsed time either pilot flight time or time in ser- for service purposes vice as defined by the regulations. is a tachometer that is mechanically driven by EFIS and EMS engine rpm. An Experi- Now we examine what the digital age mental/Amateur-Built has to offer for meeting the home- aircraft operating under day builder’s automatic time recording VFR conditions only is not desires. There is a wide variety of digi- required to have a tachometer. tal EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument But the operating limitations System), EIS (Engine Information Sys- of that same aircraft operat- tem) and their associated displays and The mechanically driven hour meter on a tachometer ing at night or under IFR do software available to the homebuilder. is unable to accurately record either pilot flight time require compliance with FAR That variety, along with the ability or time in service as defined by the regulations. Section 91.205 paragraphs (a) to modify the manufacturer’s initial

Photos: Notley Hawkins, Owen C. Baker, and Paul Dye KITPLANES October 2015 37 The probability that either an EFIS or EIS could be programmed to automatically record elapsed pilot flight time in exact compliance with the defining federal regulation is very remote. software in some cases, makes an exact offer a convenient means of automati- comparison of one airplane’s time in cally recording time in service. With the Garmin G3X Touch, engine hours service or pilot’s flight time record to So what can the homebuilder and and total hours are both shown on the another airplane’s time in service or pilot do? Here are some suggestions: main engine page. pilot’s flight time record a very difficult Don’t obsess about creating and com- and complex problem. The probability paring elapsed time records with other or complex, that seem to reasonably that either an EFIS or EIS could be airplanes and pilots. Many people are fit both your, and the federal govern- programmed to automatically record not recording pilot flight time or time ment’s, elapsed time record needs, and elapsed pilot flight time in exact com- in service the same way that you are, stick with them. Be consistent in how pliance with the defining federal regu- and neither are they in exact compliance you gather and record elapsed time so lation is very remote. However, with with the defining regulations. that you can view and show the results research and understanding, an EFIS, Do explore the sophisticated record with some confidence. and even an associated transponder keeping systems that are available One example: The choice for the that incorporated an elapsed time and then select equipment and a pilot of one digital EIS-equipped air- recording capability, could possibly method of documentation, simple plane was to just record “tach time” from the EIS for both pilot flight time and time in service. The EIS software What is Pilot Flight Time? generated zero elapsed time anytime the engine rpm was less than 1500 There are many devices that can accurately record elapsed time. But exactly what elapsed rpm and real clock time in hours and time record is being kept, and for what purpose, can be a confusing subject. tenths any time the engine rpm was The official FAA interpretation of the start of pilot flight time is the moment the wheels above 1500 rpm. Recording the EIS- start to roll as the aircraft leaves the parking area under its own power in order to go flying. provided elapsed tach time for both Accordingly, time that is spent taxiing, doing engine runup, and waiting for takeoff clear- pilot flight time and engine time in ance at the end of the runway should all be recorded as flight time. Considering the delays service short-changed both of these involved in operating at some airports, a pilot could become a multi-thousand-hour pilot times since for some amount of air- pretty quickly using that official interpretation. borne time while practicing landings On the other hand, pilots are certainly exercising some very important pilot-in-command in the pattern, the engine was below duties from the time they leave the parking space until starting takeoff roll. Should all of 1500 rpm and the EIS was therefore that time be ignored and not recognized in some fashion? not generating any elapsing time. After flying, official pilot flight time ends when the aircraft first arrives at a location These inaccuracies were considered from which it will no longer move under its own power, i.e., “comes to rest,”—even minor and acceptable because the though the engines may still be running and there may be several minutes of very impor- method was consistent and greatly tant shutdown procedures for the pilot to go through. simplified the record keeping in both There are many individual pilots, commercial operators, and airlines that do not record elapsed time categories. pilot flight time in exact conformance with FAA regulations. Homebuilt pilots face the Finally, be both wary and charita- same dilemma because there is no readily available device that automatically keeps track ble of someone else’s time claims and of officially defined pilot flight time. You’re on your own to start, stop, calculate, and don’t make a big deal of it unless you record flight time in a reasonable manner. are billing or getting paid by the hour —O.B. and minute. J

38 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes

ENGINE THEORY

Engine Basics & Layouts Why our engines are shaped the way they are. By Tom Wilson

Change being inevitable, the edi- Pumping Air Nothing says “airplane engine” quite as tor in chief has declared I should write Before getting into why all the Lycoming, loudly as a radial. And in the case of this 2400+ hp R-2800 Pratt & Whitney on a series on engine anatomy for those Continental, and Rotax engines are hori- homebuilt air racer Wildfire, you can take moderns deprived of shop class and zontally opposed, let’s start at the begin- the loud part literally. A very successful robbed of self-realization by all the plas- ning to establish that piston engines are engine, the R-2800 owes much to its ability tic shrouding under modern car hoods. air pumps. Their working fluid is air, to efficiently shed waste heat via advanced You’ve been warned. which is aspirated into a closed cylinder, forged (not cast) cylinder heads with numerous, thin, machined fins. Modern This being a multi-article enterprise, let’s expanded many times to increase its pres- Lycoming and Continental cylinders pale define the objective as introducing piston sure and thus push the piston into doing in comparison. engine fundamentals to you, the aviation some work such as turning a propeller. experimentalist. This will be more lecture Expanding the air is the only reason we air—is a fundamental function driv- hall than lab work, with hope that a bet- add fuel and then set it on fire—simply to ing its ability to do work. The other ter understanding of the why of piston heat and thus expand the air. basic is how well the engine expands engines will aid you in the how of their Remember that breathing—the abil- the air it breathes. More air mass and selection, installation, and upkeep. ity of an engine to inhale and exhale more expansion mean more power. It

40 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes also follows that it takes fuel to make voluminous 90 cubic inches. That’s 1474 It also worked in old car engines—one power; how much fuel an engine uses is cubic centimeters (1.5 liters) or roughly of the first four-valves was the dominant a surprisingly useful rule of thumb to the displacement of an entire air-cooled 1912 Peugeot grand prix car—and high- how much power it is making. VW engine per cylinder! A comparable achieving aircraft engines such as the 360-cubic-inch automotive engine would Allison and Rolls-Royce V-12s of WW-II The Cylinder turn higher rpm and use eight cylinders. fame were four-valve designs. But four It’s useful to consider an aircraft One upper limit on cylinder diameter valves cost more than two valves, and it’s engine as a collection of cylinders fly- is the time necessary for the combustion certainly less expensive initially—if per- ing in formation. The cylinder is the flame front to travel across the bore. In haps not as efficient in the long run—to basic unit of engine design; it’s where practice 6 inches is the limit at any con- make a slightly larger displacement cylin- the engineer makes his first sketches— ventional engine rpm and piston stroke, der to obtain the same power. and compromises. and this is with two spark plugs mounted Somewhat related to the number A primary selection is how large to across from each other. Single-plug of valves is the shape of the combus- make the cylinder. Larger cylinders— combustion chambers must be smaller, tion chamber formed by the cylinder greater diameter, piston stroke, or both— one reason auto-engine cylinders rarely head and top of the piston. The short make more power, but when all the exceed 4.5 inches. Still, large-bore cylin- story here is legacy Continental and physics are considered, one huge cylinder ders have strong advantages, mainly in Lycoming chambers are open as barns doesn’t cut it. Scaling up an .049 Cox allowing larger valves and letting those and out of date as omni navigation, Thimble Drone to lift an RV-10 would valves breath better because they aren’t while the Rotax offers a more advanced lead to teeth-buzzing balance issues, hor- shrouded by narrow cylinder walls. quench-type chamber. It’s the same rible friction, tremendous fuel waste, and Speaking of which, our engineer defi- story with the intake and exhaust ports. be rather difficult to prop start. nitely establishes the basics of cylinder Another basic is how fast the cylinder Furthermore, because general avia- breathing. Traditionally this is accom- will operate, that is, what is the engine’s tion engines have little need to turn high plished via two relatively large poppet rpm range. Consider the primary rea- rpm as we’ll see, it’s less expensive and valves: one each intake and exhaust. son to have a piston engine in a plane is less weight to use fewer, larger cylinders Four smaller valves—two intake and to turn a propeller (thrust is what we’re than in a car. Lycoming’s ubiquitous two exhaust—package a considerably really after), so accommodating the pro- O-360/540/720 cylinder (the O-360 larger “window” of valve area in a given peller’s needs is smart policy. And it turns uses four, the O-540 six and the O-720 size cylinder, and in many modern car out propeller efficiency is best at very low eight, of the same cylinder) displaces a engines this provides superior breathing. rpm, so unless the daunting engineering,

Engine design begins with the cylinder because it’s where the airflow meets combustion. Once the cylinder is designed, such as this Lycoming 360/540/720 parallel We find much of the bellyaching in hangar flying bull sessions regarding “ancient” valve unit, the rest is selecting the number engine technology a little over-blown, but we must say there is room for improvement of cylinders, their mechanical arrangement, in combustion chamber design. At least the two spark plugs are widely spaced (at 1 and and providing the resulting breathing, 7 o’clock in this photo); that and superior gasoline have helped these large, sort of lazy lubrication, cooling, and other systems. airflow chambers get by for decades.

Photos: Tom Wilson KITPLANES October 2015 41 cost, and weight of a prop speed reduction unit are deemed unavoidable, low engine rpm is advantageous. Friction from the bearings, piston rings, and so on are all reduced in low-rpm engines as well. Most practically that’s a boon to fuel economy, but it also means less heat rejection is necessary. Duty cycle is another fundamental driving aircraft engine design. The term is engineer-speak for what percentage of time the engine spends producing maximum power. For example, auto engines are sprinters, rarely asked to put out max power and spending well over 95% of their life loafing around 30% of their Inverted inlines fit aircraft well. Their narrow frontal area is inherently aerodynamic, maximum capability. Aviation engines and putting the crankshaft at the top of the fuselage gives the propeller maximum are more akin to marine engines, where possible clearance. Originally fitted with a four-cylinder inverted Menasco inline, this relatively short periods of maximum Ryan now wears a six-cylinder inverted Ranger. effort are followed by endless hours at a high percentage of maximum power. The familiar 75% power setting comes Torque and Horsepower to mind. So, while checking weight Engine output is rated in torque and horsepower. Interestingly, torque is a measurement of growth always hangs over the engine force only; it does not consider time or distance. Think of a locked doorknob. If you grasp the designer, robustness of what he does knob and try to turn it, the force you exert could be stated as so many pound-feet of torque. put in the engine is a necessity. And yet the doorknob hasn’t budged. Horsepower is a calculated number that considers torque through time. In our doorknob L, V, W and X’s example there is zero horsepower until the doorknob begins to rotate. We won’t get into the As the designer begins to arrange his cyl- math, other than to say torque is measured directly by engine dynamometers and horse- inders into an engine he is confronted power is never measured, only calculated, by plugging torque into a formula that introduces with more realities and endless com- time. In practice this unit is one minute as introduced by rpm, revolutions per minute. promises. Above all an aircraft engine As an aircraft builder you’ll want to know the math behind calculating horsepower results must be reliable—no need to belabor in parity between torque and horsepower at 5252 rpm. Below that rpm torque is the larger that—but in aircraft, mechanical integ- number (given in pound-feet) and above that number power is always the larger number rity is a prime directive, so good balance (given in horsepower). At exactly 5252 rpm the torque and power curves should cross. basics and inherent mechanical strength It’s fairly obvious additional rpm is the easy path to horsepower as long as torque doesn’t of the architecture matter. The engine drop off too steeply with rpm. Not so obvious perhaps is peak torque coincides with an absolutely must be lightweight, both as engine’s peak fuel efficiency. In other words, peak torque is where the engine is turning an engine and as a part of the propulsion enough rpm to breathe efficiently, but not so fast that friction from bearings and piston system where the prop, reduction unit, rings, plus losses to pumping air, oil, water, and accessories has built-up to absorb some of and fuel consumption are considered. the power released by burning fuel. Minimal frontal area is a plus, as is tight As a consequence, traditional light aircraft engines are “tuned” by their designing engi- packaging to help with CG calculations. neers to emphasize torque, and cruise at their peak torque rpm, especially if no prop speed In the end simplicity is an admirable goal. reduction unit is involved. If you’re an engine enthusiast familiar with automotive prac- Traditionally the trend has been to tices, the resulting large-displacement, low-rpm, torque-oriented aircraft engines utilize fewer, larger, slower cylinders—except basic, tractor-like tuning parameters. However, much of the advanced techniques needed for when the power requirements are by higher-rpm, horsepower-oriented engines are wasted on low-rpm torque monsters, and, huge and the cylinder count goes way in fact, asking a smaller, higher-rpm, horsepower-oriented engine to efficiently make gobs up, and lately, when smaller, higher- of torque (force) to turn a low-speed propeller results in appreciation of how lightweight, speed engines sometimes offer increased simple and efficient a big, dumb, slow, air-cooled airplane engine can be. efficiencies. This tradition started with On the other hand, as the smaller, high-speed Rotax and a few Chevy LS conversions the Wright brothers and their helper show, advances in breathing, efficient combustion chambers, water cooling, fueling, and Taylor, who started with four cylin- sparking can make smaller, faster, lighter engines competitive. ders in a row. Their 12-hp inline-4 gave —T.W. just enough displacement at 201 cubic

42 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Unlimited P-51 racer Strega shows off its Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 during pre-race repairs. At about 140 cubic inches each, Merlin cylinders are just 16 cubic inches smaller than the contemporary R-2800 radial’s jugs. Better balanced and inherently less stressed around the crankshaft, the Merlin can safely turn 15% higher rpm. Advantage V-12 in sprint applications, but the extra rpm isn’t much help in long-haul cruising. inches. That’s horrible volumetric effi- A major benefit of the inline-4 archi- ciency by today’s standards, and wasn’t tecture the Wrights selected is a short, exceptionally good even in 1903, but it stiff crankshaft, yet another concept was superb for a home workshop effort playing a surprisingly important and and got the job done, if just barely. reoccurring part in aviation engine Their key propulsion accomplishment design. Large-displacement cylinders was limiting engine weight to 180 place a premium on crankshaft torsional pounds and developing impressively rigidity because the fewer, but stronger, efficient propellers. By comparison, power strokes twist the crankshaft with today’s Rotax 912 iS gives 100 hp from each cylinder’s firing. Shorter crank- 83 cubic inches in a 140-pound pack- shafts are inherently stiffer and need less age (includes PSRU, but not exhaust or reinforcing mass. alternator). That’s over eight times the Adding two cylinders, we arrive at the horsepower from not quite one and a beautifully balanced inline 6-cylinder. third times less weight, and almost two Narrow, these package nicely in single- and a half times less displacement. seat airplanes, and Mercedes and BMW

Oberursel and Siemens rotaries hang on the Deutsches Museum wall. Imagine all this mass rotating with the propeller and a tiny rudder out back. Light and powerful, such rotaries had their day in WW-I but were eclipsed by V-8s by war’s end.

KITPLANES October 2015 43 An engine’s form and airframe installation are deeply intertwined. Almost too obvious to note, radials present billboard frontal area. This 1938 Grumman F3F-2’s huge cooling inlet area, no cowl flaps, Late WW-II research showed all of this can be mitigated by careful and downward facing collected exhaust were all old ideas five cowling design employing minimal inlet area plus exhaust pipe years later. The Grumman’s 1000-hp R-1820 Wright radial gave 250 energy on the exit as this racing Yak shows. But the engineering mph, almost as fast as today’s Reno biplane racer Phantom with needed to efficiently mate a radial to its cowling and airframe is one-third the muscle. seemingly beyond most homebuilders’ interest or abilities.

built excellent examples during WW-I (180 hp and 675 pound-feet of torque How Many Spark Plugs Is That? at 1400 rpm), with the form remaining Piston aircraft engines took on amazing popular with Menasco and others until dimensions as designers struggled for WW-II. But crankshaft rigidity is a fac- power during the big-engine peak prior tor, plus the overall engine is relatively to turbines taking over in commercial and long in small general aviation craft, and military aircraft. Pratt & Whitney reached worst of all, gathers weight quickly. the mainstream radial engine pinnacle with Joining a pair of inline 4-cylinders their 28-cylinder R-4360. With 4-rows of 7 to make a vee arrives at one of the great cylinders, it defines the limits of multi-row engine layouts: the V-8. The crankshaft air-cooled radial possibilities. Even larger is shorter than an inline-6’s because the radials were on the boards using water cylinders can be somewhat overlapped, cooling and marshalling 7755 cubic inches in and large displacement is possible with Lycoming’s case, or had even reached limited Even with the complexity of two relatively small frontal area. The more production as the 4300-hp, 24-cylinder, air- crankshafts and 24 cylinders, Allison’s frequent power impulses help with bal- cooled Soviet VD-4K; but by then 15,000-hp V-3420 “double vee” was competitive ancing and torsional concerns as well. turbines were on the way. with the big radials and made one hp The same is true but more so by join- per pound in the early 1940s. Thanks But for imaginative packaging, what to high cylinder pressures enabled ing a pair of inline-6’s into a V-12. That’s engineers did with the basic V-12 architec- by water cooling, early V-3420s made because a V-8 balances with the cylinder ture takes the rag off the bush. Of course 2600 hp, and studies showed 4800 hp banks separated by 90 degrees, whereas they had turned it upside down (Daimler possible using the latest Allison parts the V-12 needs a narrower 60 degrees Benz 600 series) and put a second behind a and GE turbos in 1945. Compared for less frontal area. The more frequent to a P&W R-4360, this was a smaller, first to make a V-24 (Fiat AS.6). But Allison higher-speed engine, much as a Rotax power impulses of the V-12 help with also joined two V-12s side-by-side driving is to a Lycoming. the admittedly long crankshaft’s tor- a common gear reduction unit to form the sional rigidity needs, and all considered, quite successful V-3420 “double vee.” They even proposed doubling the double vee to the form remains an elegant way to form a V-6840! package large displacement engines. Join a V-12 to an inverted V-12 and you get an X-24 (Daimler Benz, Packard, Rolls-Royce Upward spiraling weight and friction and many others). Getting the Siamesed connecting rods in these engines to live doomed characteristics make the V-12 less ten- most of these early examples. The same issue was sometimes present in W engines; those able in small displacements. are typically three banks of four cylinders to form a W-12. Napier, among others, was successful in the 1920s with this layout, known in England as a broad arrow. Rotaries & Radials Other layouts include the H, which is two horizontally opposed engines stacked one over Cooling was a major issue of pre-WW-I the other—using two crankshafts—and joined by a common gearbox. The H-24 Napier engine designers, leading Clerget, Sabre is the best known of the breed. Gnome, Le Rhone and others to the —T.W. rotary layout. Here the cylinders resemble

44 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Simplicity, and thus reduced weight and low cost, are flat-engine virtues. This Lycoming 540 looks especially lean without its visually bulky baffling, and it’s no illusion. Hot-rod- ded with 10:1 pistons, this example dynoed 320 hp and 640 pound-feet of torque at 2700 rpm, but weighs just 400 pounds. The offset of the cylinders is also readily apparent here. Each bulky, finned cylinder has its own crank throw; with narrower water-cooled cylinders, the engine could be even shorter. spokes emanating from a hub, the hub being the crankcase. The authenticating characteristic is the crankshaft is bolted to the airframe, the propeller is bolted to the front of the crankcase, and the entire engine and propeller spin around the stationary crankshaft! This provided adequate cooling airflow when mounted to the painfully slow aircraft of the day. An extreme design, rotaries produced nasty gyroscopic forces and allowed only primitive intake and exhaust systems, but provided good power to weight. Approaching 200 hp their mass and resulting gyroscopic forces became over- powering, making the type obsolete before the end of WW-I. Outwardly radials look like rotaries, but get the cart behind the horse by bolting the crankcase to the airframe and letting the crankshaft rotate. Like ...and leave your engine rotaries, radials can have multiple rows monitoring to EIS. of an odd number of cylinders; one Trusted with everything from 2-strokes and two rows are common, but Pratt & to turbines for over two decades. Whitney’s R-4360 had four rows. The number of cylinders per row is always odd. Seven- and 9-cylinder single-row, plus 14- and 18-cylinder twin-rows FLY IT were popular. like you stole it... Radials obviously differ substantially in detail from vee and flat engines, but major radial advantages are they can www.grtavionics.com • (616) 245-7700 package huge cubic inch displacement Proud sponsor of Tiger Airshows and airplane “thief” extraordinaire, Hotwire Harry!

KITPLANES October 2015 45 O-145, and rival Franklin released a flat- four of their own. At the time radials and inlines prevailed, but it’s no coincidence these manufacturers simultaneously pio- neered the flat layout as the design offers compelling advantages. If you think of the flat engine as an inline with the cylinders vee’d so far they’re 180-degrees apart, it’s easy to see the flat engine is a little shorter than an inline because the cylinders can be overlapped. Again, a stiffer Horizontally-opposed engines may be near perfect technically for light aircraft but, ugh, crankshaft results. Once cowled and the looks. The late, great Mira Slovak’s Bucker Jüngmann went from inverted inline Hirth to baffled, the flat layout, even when over- horizontally-opposed Lycoming for many practical reasons, but it turned the Jüngmann’s all a bit long in 6- or even 8-cylinder original narrow nose into an ugly nostrilled box. form, nevertheless air-cools well. Fron- in an arguably compact and definitely rod, bearings and so on, all of which tal area is rather small, and if bulged weight-conscious format. Radials enjoy discourage high rpm. So do the large cowl cheeks, and especially a prop very compact crankshafts, but all the pistons and typically long strokes. extension, are utilized, a relatively fine cylinders per bank attach to a single Another radial characteristic is entry is easily achieved. From a bal- connecting rod throw on that crank. complicated rotating forces. Only the ance perspective the flat layout is iden- This leads to a humongous connecting one master connecting rod attaches tical or better than an inline-4 or -6, directly to the crankshaft, while the and no heavy or expensive crankshaft other link rods connect the remaining counterweights are required at lower Engine Decoding pistons to the single master rod. The engine speeds. The form even lends Time-honored labeling protocol for air- result is a riot of oscillating weight, rod itself to water cooling if desired—see craft engines uses a letter prefix to denote geometries, and thus complex balanc- Continental’s Voyager series. the engine layout followed by numerals ing issues as reciprocating weight rises Definitely not least of its virtues, the giving the engine displacement in cubic in larger radials. flat engine can be quite lightweight. inches. Thus, Lycoming’s O-320 decodes All told, radials are traditionally The compact cylinder arrangement, as O = opposed layout (flat) of 320 cubic larger displacement and turn pedes- and thus shorter overall length, is the inches; Allison’s WW-II V-12 is a V-1710 (vee trian rpm. Add in their Henry VIII primary reason, but also a good amount layout, 1710 cubic inches). Continental’s frontal area and manly cubic inches of the cylinder and crankcase hardware familiar 220-hp radial is an R-670. to get a healthy appetite for gasoline, can do double duty. Besides not need- Below are common engine designator albeit in a light, muscular package. ing crankshaft counterweights, the prefixes: Even so, in the pre-dog whistle era, big balanced forces and shorter crankshaft O = Opposed radials financially outperformed high- naturally support large-displacement R =Radial strung inlines in airline (and even cylinders on a light crankcase. L = Inline bomber) duty, even if the inlines held In short, the horizontally-opposed I = Injected speed and fuel efficiency advantages. engine landed in a happy spot just S = Supercharged Today general aviation airframes are prior to WW-II and has been the de TS = Turbo-Supercharged too small to make use of a couple thou- facto general aviation engine since. G = Geared sand cubic inches the radial architec- That has lead to economies of scale for AE = Aerobatic ture is best at, and so the small Rotec several generations of pilots, the result L = Left-hand rotation radials satisfy an important nostalgic being the light-plane world under- H = Helicopter niche, while the Soviet-era M14P pro- stands the layout to the point that try- Multiple prefixes are often used, vides tight CG packaging in powering anything else today smacks of wild making a TSIO-540 a Turbo-Supercharged, hungry aerobatic aircraft. enthusiasm for the untried. That’s fine Injected, Opposed, 540-cubic-inch engine. for what it may have done for us in Alphanumeric suffixes identify detail Flat and Happy cost containment, but it’s stifling too change to the core engine. They’re beyond Continental can lay claim to the first as the ubiquity of flat engines has led the scope of this article, but useful when horizontally opposed 4-cylinder aircraft to a sameness in airframe shape that’s detailing an engine’s exact configuration engine—the 37-hp, 143-pound A40— frankly a little boring. with accessories. dating from 1930. By 1938 Harold More- Next time we’ll detail engine breath- —T.W. house at Lycoming designed the similar ing on the intake side. J

46 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Aeronautical Decision Making

It seemed like a good idea at the time. By Michael Robinson

When a non-pilot asks me about fly- late December morning weather was anyway. Per procedure, I contacted ing, they are often surprised when I tell IFR at DTS, with areas of low ceilings ATC, received a squawk code prior to them it’s as much a mental exercise as a and light rain/mist with a few isolated departure, and established radar contact physical skill. Pilots know that flying is patches of moderate/heavy rain. As the immediately after takeoff. ATC asked a constant game of assigning probability morning wore on, I watched this nar- for my normal cruise altitude and I to “what if” scenarios and the search for row system slide across the airport and responded, “7500 after I pass under potential outs if things go wrong. Near- move east. I compared the radar imag- the weather.” ATC acknowledged and ing 1000 hours as a private pilot, I felt ery on the iPad with what I saw out the instructed me to remain VFR. I engaged pretty adept at navigating this process. window and decided that it wasn’t that the autopilot and focused on managing A recent flight has reset that assessment, bad, and I should be able to pick my way the aircraft, traffic, and weather. Initial however, and I want to share with you through and remain VFR. cruise under occasional rain showers how, using logic and reason, I talked DTS was VFR around noon, so was accomplished just as expected— myself into a situation that nearly took my wife and I boarded our Harmon slightly challenging, but VFR. two lives. This story involves equipment Rocket II, confident in the knowl- failure, but I hope that the slippery slope edge I could turn around and return EFIS and Pitot Problems of poor decision making is what shines if needed. The Rocket is a strong per- Eventually the cloud base lowered and through as the true cause. former, but this particular example rain became more frequent, bringing is not equipped for IMC with only a the first hint of trouble in the form of It Didn’t Look That Bad single EFIS as an attitude reference. lost communication between the EFIS The incident flight was planned from This lack of redundancy was not a con- and the magnetometer located way Destin, Florida (DTS) to Key West cern as I intended to remain strictly back in the tail. Loss of magnetic head- roughly following the coastline. The visual, and I’m not instrument rated ing indication was not an immediate

Photos: Michael Robinson KITPLANES October 2015 47 concern to me considering the multiple without reference to airspeed. Besides, I climb for a “few more miles” seemed GPS sources available displaying course just need to go “a few more miles…” safer than a low-altitude 180 with and heading. I convinced myself that An important factor I overlooked, obstructions. Decision made, I con- this was a temporary condition anyway, however, was that this failure removed fessed to ATC that I was now IMC and figuring that the magnetometer would the autopilot function and, like it or not, starting a climb on course. As much as I come back after I found dry weather I’d be hand flying from here on. A very feared an enforcement action, I feared a just a few miles ahead—so I pressed on. effective tool (automation in inadvertent midair collision more. After continuing on a few more min- IMC) was gone, and I didn’t even give ATC replied with the query, “Are you utes, lower ceilings and isolated patches it a second thought. The situation was instrument equipped and trained?” of low hanging clouds drove me to dis- unraveling slowly, but like a frog in a pot My reply was, “Negative.” engage the autopilot and maneuver of water warming up on the stove, I didn’t “Do you need assistance?” slightly to remain VFR. While hand fly- recognize how bad things were getting. “Not at this time, but keep an eye ing in the slowly deteriorating, but still on me.” VFR weather, the pitot tube apparently Into the Clouds My confidence that I was capable of swallowed a slug of water as my airspeed I was in marginal but visual weather hand flying in solid IMC turned out and angle of attack (AoA) display sud- and down to a still relatively safe 1200 to be justified, as I made it up to 7500 denly lit up like a Christmas tree. Indi- feet agl when things went from uncom- feet and on course with little difficulty. cated airspeed was hovering around fortable to legitimately bad in the blink Though my confidence in my own ability 500 knots, and the AoA (also driven off of an eye—I plunged headlong into a was still being proven, I never questioned the pitot) was bouncing up and down cloud hiding in plain sight. Suppress- the reliability of the modern electronic the full scale. Though disconcerting ing mild panic, I quickly weighed my marvel on the instrument panel that was and certainly unwelcome, I once again options between a 180-degree turn and making it all possible. Single-point fail- rationalized this away as a non-critical a climb straight ahead and convinced ure, yes, but I reasoned the possibility of element, as I was in cruise, could see the myself of a seemingly well-reasoned a failure of the EFIS in the brief time I ground, and had multiple GPS ground- decision: Despite my lack of instrument really needed it was remote at best. speed displays. Finally, I was practiced training and extensive guidance that My approach to risk management and comfortable flying the airplane 180 is the thing to do, a straight-ahead was about to change. I was still in hard IMC and about to level off when that incalculable random internal failure materialized: The EFIS screen flashed once and went dark, removing my only useful reference to the horizon. I have read enough accident summaries to know that my inner ear would betray me in seconds, and I would be power- less to prevent the inevitable. I froze all control input in an attempt to lock out any inner ear influence and hopefully maintain an even keel. My 1000-fpm climb rate continued, and I thought for a brief moment that I might just beat the odds. Reality struck quickly, however, when the VSI needle reversed direction, passed through zero, and settled firmly against the mechanical stop at 4000 fpm—all without any perceptible control input. I knew at this moment that I was going to be dead, and soon. Sixty Seconds to Live Recalling the adage to fly the airplane as far into the crash as possible, I jerked The Plan the throttle to idle and input a touch of left aileron (knowing this particular VFR flight from Destin, Florida, to Key West. Estimated time en route was 2.8 hours. airplane to be slightly right wing heavy)

48 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes while pulling back on the stick. It was a desperate and ineffective move as the altimeter continued to unwind at an alarming rate. As I stared at the instrument, confused by my inability to control the airplane, as well as accepting the stupidity of my actions, I came to the sobering realization that the unwinding altimeter was a graphic illustration of our time left to live: 7000…6000…5000… Despite the closed throttle, the increasing wind noise howling over The panel included useful VFR instrumentation—but no real backups for IMC flight. the airframe and stiffening controls were an unmistakable indication be ready for anything because it was like an eternity, but the plummet from that airspeed was building quickly. A going to be low. 7500 feet took less than 60 seconds. glance at the GPS groundspeed pro- 4000…3000…2000… vided stark confirmation: 240 knots With the end near, I strained to see Trapped and climbing. I found cold comfort through the murk and came to realize Elation quickly faded as we discovered with the realization that death would the walls of my vision were closing in. we were now trapped in a small pocket be instantaneous and my innocent, I was still unconsciously pulling the about a mile in diameter. All around us trusting wife would not suffer. It is a stick hard enough to initiate G-LOC the cloud base was sitting in the tree- bad day of flying when thebest spin (G-force induced Loss of Conscious- tops while above, wispy tentacles hung you can put on the situation is, “We’re ness). Fighting the primitive instinct from an unstable sub-1000-foot ceiling. going to die, but it won’t hurt.” to survive by pulling up, I relaxed the Worse, below us was nothing but an Completely due to my own actions, back pressure, restoring my vision just unbroken carpet of 75-foot-tall pine trees a simple VFR flight had quickly dete- as the featureless gray in the windscreen growing three feet apart. Slowly orbiting riorated to the point where I was now changed to vivid green forest, and I in light rain at 300 feet agl, I had enough moments from death. I had a wind- burst out the bottom at 1000 feet. A fuel to carry me through the afternoon screen filled with featureless gray and little aileron and 6 G pull took most of and into darkness—both a blessing and a rapidly unwinding altimeter, yet the available room between the clouds a curse. I contemplated a scenario involv- all I could do was watch and wait for and trees, but there was no impact, the ing a radio call to dispatch a rescue team, whatever was next. I did know that wings stayed on, and I was once again followed by a controlled crash into the if I was going to break out, I’d better in visual, controlled flight. It seemed trees, but burning to death in twisted wreckage seemed a likely outcome. I was in no rush to exercise this option. A few more minutes surveying my surroundings and the EFIS screen inexplicably came back to life—albeit still without heading or airspeed. Once again, with an incalculable swing of luck, my situation was suddenly improved with the addition of a second, yet equally frightening option: plunge back into the murk, trusting our lives to the attitude information presented on an instrument that would likely fail at any second. There could be no way to expect another miraculous recovery if the screen went dark again. About this time ATC gave me a call and said he noticed I was “maneuver- The Decision ing” and asked if I was OK. I told him I was visual, in a small clearing, trying Fly under 90 miles of rain and marginal VFR. to find a way through. He next offered

KITPLANES October 2015 49 Simply flying through air doesn’t usually remove paint. The horizontal tail shows evidence of high-speed precipitation impact. the location of the nearest airports and checked the stick forward to break the finally catch a glimpse of blue sky the direction of better weather —both stall and stomped on the rudder to level above. Instead I saw an opaque layer of pieces of information I had at hand the wings, but recovery was far too soon ice on the windshield and also noticed thanks to the GPS and weather displays. and I experienced an immediate post the ailerons were becoming sticky. Not I didn’t tell him about the failed attitude recovery stall. This scenario repeated good: I’m flying a VFR airplane with no indicator or the fact that my plunge twice more until on the final recovery I anti-ice capabilities of any kind in hard from 7500 feet moments before was held forward stick until I saw 130 knots IMC, icing, and near the flight levels. I not by choice. I also didn’t declare an groundspeed on the GPS. Groundspeed leveled off and pondered my next move emergency, though I’m certain he knew now joined my rudimentary instrument when I heard a nearby IFR aircraft I was in trouble. I knew exactly where I scan, and I made sure to balance for- check in with ATC at 17.5. Hopeful wanted to go—I just couldn’t get there ward progress with climb rate from then for a positive report, I asked if he was from here. The situation was clear— on. Back in controlled flight I droned “on top,” but he responded that he was aside from traffic separation, the voice on through the gray in a shallow climb still IMC. Realizing that I was going to on the radio was not going to save me. and apparently started to relax enough have to drive out the side of the weather, to notice a numbing cold. The canopy I informed ATC that I was going to No Good Options was fogged over on the inside, but what descend to 11.5 and headed for warmer Reduced to the choice between likely good would clearing it do? I couldn’t air. Back at 11,500 I was still IMC, but death in a forced landing or possible see past the wingtip anyway. I was at least dry, free of ice, and the death in IMC, I chose the latter and EFIS was still bright. For the first time announced to ATC that I was once Icing in IMC in more than an hour, I allowed myself again IMC and climbing. I plunged into I continued up to 15,200 feet and the luxury of believing we might sur- the cloud wall climbing at 1000 fpm, wiped the canopy clear, hoping I could vive. A few more minutes of cruise and strongly motivated to distance myself from the trees and towers below. My desire to climb was almost overwhelm- ing as I focused intently on the EFIS screen, searching for any sign of failure, and praying to the Lord with every fiber of my being for the screen to stay lit. Climbing on course, I passed through light, dark, dry, heavy rain, a few lightning flashes, and moments of severe The Result turbulence until things started to calm down around 9000 feet. Without an airspeed indication I focused on maintaining a 1000-fpm climb, and in my intense concentration, I overlooked the fact that even a 1250-pound airplane with 260 hp on the nose eventually runs out of climb performance. I was unknowingly trading airspeed for climb rate. At about 11,500 feet, the airplane shud- dered and stalled hard. I immediately Recording instrumentation—and a radar shot—tells the harrowing tale.

50 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes the solid mass enveloping us lightened, started to break up and slowly offered glimpses of the Gulf of Mexico below. After 1.2 hours in IMC, I now found myself nearing the coastline and finally in bright afternoon sunshine. Calling It Quits Once again legitimately VFR, I hit my waypoint and turned southbound along Florida’s west coast. Taking stock revealed the airplane was performing well; we were not injured, and though the Keys were no longer in range, we still had plenty of fuel. A visual survey of the aircraft showed no damage, so we pressed on to Punta Gorda for fuel and a possible relaunch to the Keys. The landing and long taxi to the fuel pumps were anti-climactic, but were as welcome as the warmth of the Florida afternoon sun. Careful inspection of the airplane at the fuel pumps revealed no damage except for some missing paint, but power-on checks of the airplane presented a dark EFIS. This unwelcome sight provided the clarity to finally call it quits for the day. With a new appreciation for how quickly your “outs” can disappear, the choice to tie the airplane down and get a hotel room was an easy one. J Michael Robinson Robinson Michael Michael Robinson is a second-generation pilot, A&P, and was a U.S. Air Force aircraft technician for 10 years. He holds a private pilot certificate and currently flies his Harmon Rocket II and a friend’s RV-8, which he also main- tains. Both aircraft are used for cross-countries, aero- Print & batics, and a developing interest in formation work. Digital And yes, an instrument rat- ing is high on the agenda. Either Format– Great Savings! Subscribe now at www.kitplanes.com/subscribe

KITPLANES October 2015 51 Aircr aft Wiring Electrical System Contactors for Experimental Aircraft By Marc Ausman This month we’ll discuss battery and starter contactors. Contactors are used Power (+) IN Power OUT to switch high-current loads on the aircraft. Think of them as a big relay. A coil, Coil when energized, creates a magnetic field and pulls the mechanical switch closed. Threaded post: switch to ground to activate The coil only draws a little bit of cur- Generic Contactor rent, but allows you to switch very high- Figure 1: A generic contactor. The coil draws a little bit of current, but it allows you to current loads like the starter. Figure 1 switch very high current loads like the starter. is a diagram showing a generic contactor. Figure 2 shows how the contactors are wired in a typical electrical system. Battery There are two types of contactors gener- Contactor - + STARTER ally used in Experimental aircraft: Battery Main Bus Starter Type Duty Cycle Controlled By Contactor Starter Intermittent Duty +12/24 volts Figure 2: Typical wiring for battery and starter contactors. contactor Battery Continuous Duty Ground contactor One Post Two Post

2 2 3 Battery Contactors 3 From 4 From The battery contactor (also known as a 1 battery master relay, master contactor, or master 1 battery solenoid) is a continuous-duty contactor, and it does become quite warm during normal operations. It comes with either Ground this Ground this Connect post to post to one or two posts for the coil. It typically engage posts 3 and draws about 0.7 amps at 14 volts. This engage 4 with short 18 ga wire. contactor is switched with a wire that It is then comes from the master switch in the electrically same as cockpit. The master switch is wired to single-post ground. When you turn on the master contactor switch, the wire to the battery contactor becomes grounded and then the contac- Figure 3: Single-post and double-post master contactors. Internal wiring is shown at bottom. tor closes, which then provides power to the bus and starter contactor. Starter Contactors You’ll see in Figure 4 that the contac- The battery contactor is used to isolate The starter contactor (also known as tor coil is grounded via the bracket on the battery from the rest of the aircraft. a starter relay) is an intermittent-duty the back of the contactor. The starter Shutting it off (via the master switch) relay that is designed to operate for only coil is energized when +12/24 volts is generally removes power from the air- short periods of time. This contactor applied to the “S” post (which controls craft and cockpit in case of an emergency. draws about 4 amps at 14 volts. the coil).

52 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Coil gets ground from rear mounting bracket. The starter contactor provides power “S” Terminal “I” Terminal to the starter cable and starter only Positive power from the Bus voltage is on this starter switch activates coil post when the contactor during start. This way, there is not an (closes contactor). is closed. immediate problem if the starter cable shorts against the engine during flight. Figure 4: Typical starter contactor.

Additionally, the starter contactor is to master switch to master switch designed “upside down” so that the internal contact stays open during high Battery Battery positive-G maneuvers. I recommend installing a diode across Note direction of diode the coil on each contactor used in the aircraft (master, starter, landing gear, air One Post Two Post conditioning, etc.). You can use a com- Figure 5: Diode on battery contactor. mon 1N5400 diode available from any electronics supply house. Use ring terminal to Why is it best to install a diode fasten to mounting bolt (ground) across the contactor coil? Doing so minimizes arcing across the control switch contacts (master and starter switches), extending switch life. All of From battery contactor To starter the energy stored in the coil has to go somewhere when the coil is de-ener- “S” terminal gized, and the diode provides a way to Figure 6: Starter contactor, viewed from Figure 7: Diode on starter contactor. bleed off the excess energy. Figure 8 the top. shows the effect of mounting a diode on contactor coil. Contactors are also used for air conditioning systems, hydraulic pumps, and to tie buses together. Since these are sel- dom used in Experimental aircraft they are not covered here. Starter Annunciator If the starter welds itself closed, the starter motor can remain engaged to Figure 8: Effect of mounting diode on contactor coil. the crankshaft while the engine is run- Firewall Starter ning. You can’t hear when this happens, Master Contactor but you may see a big repair bill in the Switch future. It can be useful to wire a starter Battery + indicator lamp on the panel that lights while the starter contactor is closed. Battery Contactor ALT Rear-mounted Batteries Main Bus Electrical considerations for rear-mounted batteries are minimal, but important. Cabin area Be aware of the following: Figure 9: Layout of rear-mounted battery and contactors. Fuse and shunt not shown • The battery contactor should be on alternator b-lead. mounted near the battery itself. If there is a short on the main power • Attach the alternator b-lead and the Read the Book cable that runs to the front, it can main bus cables to the un-switched Hopefully this article has helped you be corrected by turning off the mas- side of the starter contactor (where understand electrical system contac- ter switch. the cable comes forward from the bat- tors. It is an excerpt from my new book • The starter contactor is typically tery contactor). The main bus is then entitled Aircraft Wiring Guide. For mounted on the firewall in the run back through the firewall to the more information, or to order a copy, engine compartment. bus bars or Vertical Power system. J visit www.aircraftwiringguide.com.

Illustrations: Marc Ausman KITPLANES October 2015 53 maintenance matters Recapped tires: Save money without sacrificing quality. Major tire users, from over-the-road you can send in your good used tire and times, but this is not typical for smaller truckers, to the airlines, to general avia- save even more. Desser pays the freight general aviation tires. tion flight schools, know that retread back to you if you use the exchange pro- Your long-term savings will be the tires can save big money over time and gram. You will have to pay to ship your average cost of the original new tire do not hesitate to use them. Some indi- used tires to them. The table on the next plus the recapping costs. For example, vidual airplane owners are in on their page shows a comparison of Desser say you purchase a new 6.00 x 6, 6-ply secret, but many others aren’t. There is retreads and some name brand tires. Goodyear Flight Special II, a medium no reason why you can’t reap some of Of course, you will need a reusable quality and competitively priced tire, and the savings others have been collecting tire to exchange or have recapped if you get two recaps out of it, a conservative for themselves, especially when Desser wish to take advantage of the exchange goal. The original tire costs $119. Each Tire & Rubber Company, the number one price. Desser will reject any used tire recap costs $47 each, so the total cost aviation tire retreader, makes it so easy. that it does not feel will be 100% reliable over three tires’ worth of use comes to after recapping. Used tires can usually $119+$47+$47=$213, for an average cost Cost Savings be recapped at least once, and some- of $71. This saves you an average of $48 Most people look to retread tires first times up to three or four times with a per tire use or $144 overall. This is more to save money, and that is a very good good quality core tire. The more money than enough to buy a new tire again. reason to do so. They are definitely less you spend to get a good tire the first expensive and not by just a few dollars. time, the more likely you are to get mul- Quality Desser retreads can be purchased out- tiple recaps out of the original tire. Some There was a time when people thought right without a core tire in exchange, or airline tires have been recapped 17 or 18 of retread tires as substandard, and the

Desser retreads tires of all sizes from 4-inch Cub tires to massive After a visual inspection, each tire is subject to inspection by laser airliner tires weighing hundreds of pounds. shearography. Any imperfections show up on the computer screens.

Dave Prizio is a Southern California native who has been plying the skies of the L.A. basin and beyond since 1973. Born into a family of builders, it was only natural that he would make his living as a contractor and spend his leisure time building airplanes. He has so far completed three—a GlaStar, a Glasair Sportsman, and a Texas Sport Cub—and he is helping a friend Dave Prizio build a fourth, an RV-8. When he isn’t building something, he likes to share his love of aviation with others by flying Young Eagles or volunteering as an EAA Technical Counselor. He is also a licensed A&P mechanic and a member of the EAA Homebuilt Aircraft Council.

54 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes occasional truck tire tread left along Desser Retread Tire Prices Vs. New Tires the side of the road is a reminder that Size Brand Retail Price there are still some low quality retreads out there. However, Desser recaps have 5.00 x 5, 6-ply Michelin Air $129.85 many years of proven performance Goodyear Flight Special II $99.75 among a number of major airline and Desser Aero Retread, outright $52.75 flight school users. These people would Desser Retread, exchange $42.00 not be using Desser retreads if they were 6.00 x 6, 6-ply Michelin Air $184.95 not having good results. Tire failures cost big money to these people. They are not Goodyear Flight Special II $119.00 interested in saving a few bucks on a Desser Aero Retread, outright $68.75 tire, only to have an airplane out of ser- Desser Retread, exchange $47.00 vice unexpectedly and possibly at some 8.00 x 6, 6-ply Michelin Air $189.75 remote location. Goodyear Flight Special II $189.75 Desser insures quality by first visually inspecting every tire that comes in for Desser Aero Retread, outright $109.00 recapping. If any cuts or excessive side- Desser Retread, exchange $85.00 wall cracking is found, the tire is rejected. The same applies to any tire with cord takeoffs and landings. Desser also makes New Aero Classic Tires showing. These tires are rejected before what they call a Monster Retread that Desser also sells new tires under the they even begin the process. Next Desser has 60% more tread on it than a stan- Aero Classic name. They have some new uses a process called laser shearography dard tire. They claim that it is the lon- tires that may be of some interest to to examine every casing before it gets gest wearing tire at any price. Monster our readers. Those who fly taildraggers retreaded and every retread tire before Retreads are larger in overall diameter, know that the standard 2.80/2.50x4, it leaves their factory. The laser shearog- though, so they may not be suitable for 4-ply tailwheel tires do not hold up well. raphy process will show damage to side- use with tight fitting wheelpants or for Desser has a solution to this problem in walls that may not be obvious in a visual planes with retractable gear. Their stan- their Aero Classic 280/250-4, 6-ply tire. inspection. There is 100% inspection of dard retreads will work with close fitting For about $14 more you get a much stur- every tire twice. Bad tires simply do not wheelpants and retractable gear systems dier tire that will by far outlast the typi- make it through the process. in almost every case. cal 4-ply tailwheel tire. The next question is, how do they Desser Tire is an FAA-authorized repair Desser has recently come out with the wear? Desser says the rubber they use is station, so their retread tires come with Aero Classic 8.50x6, 4-ply smooth tire for denser than the typical rubber used on FAA paperwork to show that they are off-airport use in planes of 3200 pounds new tires. The downside to this is that usable on certificated aircraft. Experi- or less gross weight. This tire only weighs their retread tires are a bit heavier than mental owners may not care about 10 pounds, about 5 pounds less than the new tires, but the upside is that they will this, but not everyone who reads this typical 8.50x6, 6-ply tire. It is 22 inches outlast most new tires in service, espe- magazine flies an Experimental airplane, tall overall when inflated to 22 psi. They cially for heavy users who make a lot of although we hope they will someday. run $225 each plus tube. There are a few

Retread tires just out of the mold get trimmed and prepared for These tires have been ground down to eliminate their old tread in shipping. preparation for retreading.

Photos: Dave Prizio KITPLANES October 2015 55 Tires with new rubber in place await their turn in the heated tire This mold is in the process of making a 6.00x6 Monster Retread. molds. The heat bonds the rubber to the tire casing and forms a These tires have 60% more tread depth to provide long-lasting new tread pattern into the tire. tires for operators such as flight schools. other smooth tires currently available, advantage of the exchange price, you so they won’t come off, even under the with more likely to come in the future. will need to send Desser a good used harshest conditions. They will also install tire for a core, and you will need to pay firesleeve for you during hose assembly. How to Get Desser Retread Tires shipping to get the tire to them. When They use Stratoflex products exclusively. Desser retread tires are available from your tire is finished Desser will pay the Every hose is carefully cleaned and Aircraft Spruce, but the name Desser shipping back to you. If you have any tested for two minutes at twice the rated does not appear in their catalog. Rather doubt about whether or not your tire pressure. This gives a level of confidence AERO Wheel and Brake Service, an affili- can be recapped, please feel free to in these hoses that is not available with ated company, is shown as the supplier. call Desser and ask for their assistance. hoses you make up yourself. When order- They are the same tires despite the They would much rather talk to you ing hoses be sure to talk to the hose man name. Unfortunately Aircraft Spruce than have you send them a tire that is at Desser about how he wants the length only carries a few sizes and only sells not suitable for retreading. measured. No one wants to throw away retread tires outright. an expensive hose because it came out Desser retread tires are also avail- Desser Aircraft Hoses and the wrong length. able directly from Desser in Monte- Windshields Desser also makes acrylic windshields bello, California. You can call them or Desser also makes FAA-approved aircraft for certificated and Experimental air- go to their web site for ordering forms hoses to suit most any aviation need, planes under the Cee Bailey’s name. Their and more information. Their web site from low-pressure rubber hoses to high- products can be found in Glasair and is at www.desser.com or call 800-247- pressure Teflon hoses. All of their fittings Zenith kits, as well as the Van’s RV-10. They 8473. As was mentioned before, to take are hydraulically swaged onto the hoses, can also do custom work on request. J

Newly retreaded tires bristle with sprues left from the molding Desser’s hose man demonstrates the pressure testing equipment process. These will be trimmed off in the next step of the manu- in his shop. Every hose is tested to twice its rated pressure before facturing process. he lets it out of his hands.

56 KITPLANES October 2015 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

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For fastest service, visit us at www.kitplanes.com/subscribe or call us toll free at 800/622-1065 Risky Business Mission planning– stick to the plan. I flew my RV-7A for the first time a few cross-country to an airport surrounded in sight and figured he had a 2000 foot months ago! Actually, I flew her twice by high terrain. As he approached his ceiling. However, lighting conditions that morning. She flew straight and true, destination, the underlying scattered were far darker underneath the clouds. and climbed like a bat out of hell. No clouds thickened into a broken deck. At He tried several times to activate the squawks, no heavy wing, no overtemps, the same time, the setting sun made vis- pilot-controlled runway lights on Uni- no leaks. I logged a 1.0, and everything ibility ever more challenging. com, but could not see a runway. was just awesome! Prudently, the pilot requested the Unsure whether to climb or circle the Well, that is, it was awesome for the GPS-A approach and navigated his way runway to try keying-on the runway second flight. to the IAF (Initial Approach Fix) to inter- lights, he maintained his last heading, The first flight was not awesome. It cept the inbound course. Stated differ- which he thought would keep him clear was Abby-Normal from the get-go. Right ently, he implemented and executed the of the rocks. However, he unknowingly at liftoff I noticed I had no airspeed on continuation of his IFR plan. However, entered a slight right turn and flew into the Dynon SkyView PFD speed tape (hey, before he reached the IAF, he observed rising terrain. The aircraft struck trees and what can I say, I was looking forward what looked like a clear visual path to the terrain, suffering considerable damage. at my rotation sight picture, flying the arrival airport. At the same time, ATC told Thankfully, everyone aboard survived. plane). As the ground dropped away and him to expect to hold because of another If you know me well enough by now, my mind processed the lack of indicated arriving aircraft. you know I tend to hang my hat on old airspeed, the lovely SkyView lady twice The pilot changed his plan: He told adages. They’re the lessons that stick whispered into my ear, “Cylinder Head ATC that he would continue visually with me; I remember them when I need Temperature.” Number 3 was at 396° F due to VMC conditions, and he turned, them. This RV-10 pilot had an IFR flight (202° C) and in the red. descended, and crossed final inside the plan—a plan that would have taken him I had a plan for this. And I stuck to it. final approach fix. He had the local town safely to his destination. There weren’t

Plan the Flight, Fly the Plan There’s no denying that many pilots and builders, for whatever reason, walk to the aircraft with a plan, but then get into trouble when they decide to do something completely different. Often they’re reacting to some circumstance or influence that confronted them in the air, something they should have learned about during their planning stage. Per- haps they didn’t perceive its importance. Perhaps they chose to ignore it. Or perhaps they didn’t even investigate the contingency. The author preparing to launch his RV-7A on its maiden flight. Moments later, immediately Several winters ago, an RV-10 pilot after takeoff, he discovered he had zero indicated airspeed and a high CHT reading. Are filed an IFR flight plan for a late afternoon these problems incorporated into your plan?

Sid “Scroll” Mayeux has over 25 years of experience in aviation training, safety, and risk management in the military, civilian, airline, and general aviation sectors. He Sidney Mayeux currently trains Boeing 777 pilots, and he is building a Van’s RV-7A.

58 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Loving it when a plan comes together. many good reasons for him to change the pilot either didn’t fully think through that plan. Several good adages apply to their plan, or it was ultimately unsuited to this RV-10 event and its lessons. the circumstances surrounding its execu- “Plan the flight, and fly the plan” is one tion. It may even mean the pilot never of the first lessons my flight instructors really had faith in the plan itself, and was taught me long ago as a young second more inclined to make up the final plan lieutenant learning how to fly in the on the fly. Did that mean the original U.S. Air Force. It applied not only to the “plan” was really just a square-filler—a day’s flight, but also to the mission plan plan created solely for the sake of creat- when engaging the enemy. It was usu- ing and having a plan? ally followed by “stick to the plan.” Once Or did the pilot build and execute the you’ve got your plan in action, it should best possible plan given all pre-flight take something really important to drag information available, then demonstrate you off the plan, because “if it ain’t broke, brilliant flexibility in the face of ever- don’t fix it.” changing circumstances to save the day The same lessons have helped me in with a new plan? Or was it skill and luck? the shop building my RV-7A. OK, maybe When it comes to flight planning, I’ve got ADHD. Sometimes I have walked we’ve all learned and implemented some into my hangar with an idea of what form of structured planning process. For I wanted to accomplish that day, but a VFR cross-country, it’s probably some- something bright, shiny, or glaringly out thing like this: Choose a destination; of place grabs my attention. Whoosh! Off review the weather, NOTAMs, airspace, I go, off track without a plan, and both and TFRs; select a route; choose a cruise efficiency and productivity plummet. profile and altitude; compute times, dis- I learned to enter the shop with a spe- tances, and speeds; get familiar with the cifically defined plan for the day’s build destination and alternate airports; check activities. Today, I will finish drilling, your equipment; update your briefings; deburring, dimpling, and priming the and file a flight plan. Throughout it all, elevator skin and doublers. If I finish early, prepare for the unexpected. or something prevents me from accom- Kitbuilding can follow the same plishing that task, I will look forward and sort of process. Choose a sub-assem- study the rudder build. That’s my plan. bly; select a plans diagram and build Fits Your Budget Make your plan, and stick to it. instructions chapter, and review them; and and YourYour select your tools and materials; mea- Garage!Garage! Plans Change sure the cuts and holes as required; Noun, verb, period. “Plans change.” update the measurements; make the Well, yes, sometimes they do. However, cut/bend/rivet; test fit; then evaluate I always wince whenever I hear a pilot any unexpected problems. utter that phrase because I can’t help So in both cases, it’s at this point that but feel a little suspicious. It often means I have heard pilots and kitbuilders utter Visit www.SonexAircraft.com or call: 920.231.8297

Photos: Sid Mayeux KITPLANES October 2015 59 downwind pattern settings. These were based on my transition training. The CHTs simmered down. After downwind, base and final calls, I floated to a successful no-flap landing using the full stretch of pavement. I logged a 0.1. To me, this short first hop didn’t count toward the RV grin (back in the chocks, my wife noted that I was sort of all business). However, after finding the swapped AoA (angle of attack) and pitot lines, and resetting my EMS CHT values and thresh- olds to match my Lycoming manual (oops, my bad for forgetting that), the second hop was the real counter. I’m proud of my airplane’s performance on that second ride, and my RV grin still hurts. But I’m more satisfied by my own performance on that first short hop. I had a plan, and I stuck to it. Aftermath of an IFR RV-10 pilot’s decision to approach and land visually in IMC conditions. J Everyone survived. (Photo: Courtesy of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) Note: All references to actual crashes are that troublesome phrase: “Plans change.” airplane, to the point that I wished the based on official final publically-released I can’t help but feel skeptical. Why did test flight to stop. I had chair-flown this NTSB and Air Force Accident Investiga- they have to change? scenario repeatedly, so executing the tion Board reports of the accidents, and The real question is why weren’t these contingency portion of my plan came are intended to draw applicable aviation deviations part of the plan all along? automatically. I transitioned my airspeed safety lessons from details, analysis, and Well-constructed and well-considered reference to the GPS groundspeed, conclusions contained in those reports. It planning spends equal or more time on which I was confident would function is not our intent to deliberate the causes, the contingencies than on the primary reasonably since it worked fine in my judge or reach any definitive conclusions plan. The pilot/builder then presents taxi tests. I retarded the throttle out of about the ability or capacity of any person, him- or herself with sufficient contin- the takeoff range and back to normal living or dead, or any aircraft or accessory. gency plans to cover whatever surprises that arise. By executing the contingency (if the contingency plan became necessary), it was not a matter of creating a new plan; it was always part of the plan, and pulling the trigger on the plan becomes easy and drama-free—and with a greater chance for success. So there I was, that spring Sunday, only seconds after my baby-new RV-7A had unstuck itself from the runway and slipped its first surly bonds, with my mind processing the absence of indicated airspeed and the presence of a #3 CHT number bathed in red. I admit that I didn’t really take any time to gauge whether the high reading was even out of tolerance; what was important is that it was in the red, and it made my new SkyView girlfriend unhappy. This exact scenario was one aspect of my overall plan, and the scenario Recovery crews lift a crashed RV-10 from the woods after the IFR pilot attempted a visual was this: Things were not right with the approach in IMC. (Photo: Courtesy of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation)

60 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Home Shop Machinist Boring on the vertical. The terms drilling and boring are often interchanged, but in the context A typical boring head shown with various of metalworking, they are not the same. boring bars and the adjustable slide. Drilling is how we create a hole, and boring is how we enlarge and true an existing hole. In previous columns I have shown various boring operations on the lathe [“Home Shop Machinist,” September 2014, November 2014, and August 2015]. This month we’ll look at boring on the vertical milling machine and two common ways to bore precision holes.

End Mill Boring Boring a small hole (up to ¾-inch) is greatly simplified if the design calls for a standard-size end mill diameter. End mills are more rigid than drill bits and To make a 1/4-inch bored hole, for have to raise or lower the knee (or raise more precise. An end mill in a collet or example, start by drilling a clearance the head if you have a mini mill) to facili- tool holder has very little run-out com- hole that is slightly undersized, such as tate the tool change. While any Z-axis pared to a drill bit in a Jacobs chuck. This with a 3/16- or 7/32-inch twist drill. Then, movement will not alter the alignment makes them an excellent choice for pre- swap out the drill chuck for an end mill for final boring, it’s a good practice to use cise bores. to make the final size. You will probably the table locks to prevent inadvertent X- or Y-axis movements. If for some reason you have to make an X or Y move, simply zero the dials on the handles before you traverse the table. That way you can “zero in” to the original location after the tool change. If you get lost, or don’t trust your repositioning accuracy, an edge finder can be used to re-establish the center of the hole. It’s possible to use a center-cutting end mill without drilling a clearance hole. But it will not be as accurate or have as nice a finish. With a clearance hole, the Pre-drilling a clearance hole, then plunging with an end mill is a fast and easy way to end mill is removing very little material. precision bore a hole—as long as the size matches something in your end mill collection. A lighter cut makes for a smoother finish.

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.

Photos and illustration: Bob Hadley KITPLANES October 2015 61 It also generates less heat, which results in a more accurate bore. For most home shops, the drill and end mill method will be practical up to ¾-inch, simply because ¾-inch will be the largest diameter end mill in the collection. To make larger bores, or bores other than end mill sizes, an adjustable boring head is the ticket.

Using a Boring Head Boring heads come in many sizes, from micro to behemoth. A good size for the home shop is a two-inch boring head like the ones in the photos. Look to pay Thread-on shanks allow boring heads to be adapted to fit any type spindle. around $100 to $130 for an import set that includes a small assortment of bor- inches up to whatever length boring bar of slide movement (or depth of cut), we ing bars and the appropriate shank or you have, or whatever you have the guts get 2x change in diameter. Therefore, taper for your machine (usually R8 for to try! Keep in mind that each setup will to enlarge my ½-inch clearance hole to most knee mills or MT3 for the mini mill). have its own practical limit for rpm, bal- 0.860 inch, I need a slide movement of I purchased mine at LittleMachineShop. ance, and tool chatter. Note that some about 0.180 inch (0.180 x 2 = 0.360). com, but similar sets are available from boring heads, especially smaller ones, I say “about” because I like to make a Enco, KB Tools, and Amazon. may have only one tool position, but light first cut, check the result, and adjust At first glance, the boring head might they all have some method, typically a accordingly. In this case I set the slide to appear a little intimidating. It’s actually graduated dial with a hex key socket, to remove 0.030 inch. The cutting went quite basic: There’s one or more sockets adjust the slide offset. very smoothly and resulted in a cleanly to clamp the boring bar, jib-clamping To bore a 0.860-inch hole for the machined hole that measured 0.569 screws, and an adjusting dial. example, I started with a ½-inch clear- inch. This told me the touch-off point My two-inch boring head has three ance hole. Since the minimum size for my in the clearance hole was 0.509 inches. tool positions: The center-vertical posi- boring head is 5/16-inch diameter, starting With the new dimension noted, I did two tion is used for small holes, 5/16 inch with ½-inch gave ample room for the tool passes removing 0.070 inch (0.070 on being the minimum (depending on to go in the hole without touching. I then the dial = 0.140 diameter increase) and the boring bar used) and adjustable up adjusted the slide until the cutter tip just measured to confirm. This left me with to about 1 inch. The outside-vertical touched the inside of the hole and noted a 0.005-inch final pass to “clean up” the position is for holes from about 11/8 to the dial reading. The dial is graduated in bore and hit the target dimension. Upon about 23/8 inches (again, depending on 0.002-inch increments. Each full turn of inspection with my bore gauge, the the boring bar used). The horizontal the dial moves the slide 0.050 inch. Since hole was 0.861 inch. All in all, this was an tool position can make bores from 21/2 we’re working with diameters, for every x excellent result considering I didn’t use

The key features of a typical adjustable boring Using the boring head to make small, medium, or large bores. Note when using the head. horizontal position, you need to use a “left-hand” boring bar.

62 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Opening the ½-inch pilot hole with a 0.030-inch initial cut (left). Tightening the jib clamping screws after adjusting the offset (right). anything fancier than my 8-inch caliper Final Thoughts It’s possible to open a ½-inch hole to check the bore between passes. Boring can be a slow and tedious pro- to a 3-inch hole with our 2-inch boring The goal of boring is to achieve an cess (no pun intended). To get good head. You start in the middle socket, accurate size with a smooth finish. If the results, you have to be patient and move the bar to the outside socket, then first pass or test cut results in chatter, meticulous. Making a series of light install a bar in the horizontal socket. Cut, then the depth of cut, spindle rpm, and passes will give you better results than then measure, and so on, until you land choice of boring bar may be contribut- pushing large, heavy cuts. on the desired dimension. ing factors. The example part was 7075 Note also that to maintain a good fin- Be patient! J aluminum and the spindle rpm was set at ish, you must feed the cutter back out of 900. For steel I would have set the rpm to the hole at the same rate that you feed it 500, and possibly reduced the depth of in. There is always some deflection in the cut to around 0.020 inch. boring bar, so the feed-out pass is what The spindle rpm and feed rate depend actually determines the size of the bore. on the material, the size of hole you are You should measure the bore after making, and how much the slide is offset. each pass to confirm that your adjust- If you end up with a lot of slide offset, the ments correspond with the expected or boring head will be out-of-balance and target dimension. can cause the machine to vibrate. Your Every time you move the slide to set a only choice is to lower the rpm until the new depth of cut, you must retighten the vibration is eliminated or, at least, mini- jib clamping screws that secure the slide. mized. As you lower the rpm, the feed The offset adjustment is finite: about rate needs to be slower as well to main- one-third of the head diameter is as far tain a smooth finish. as you can go and safely clamp the head.

The hole on the left was bored using an end mill and the one on the right using the boring head. Both are good examples of a cleanly machined surface made by boring.

KITPLANES October 2015 63 Getting the Spark

BackBy David Boeshaar

I’m not talking about magnetos here. a bathroom, planting a new lawn, build- progress you have made to date and I’m talking about a stalled project. In ing a tree house, or even developing the celebrate a bit. every major project, there is always a next great million-dollar app, we all hit 2. List current roadblocks. This includes time when you suddenly look around this wall. The secret to success is getting budget, space, skill limitations, and and ask: “What was I thinking? I can’t past the block and moving on. equipment requirements. Try to do this! I’ll never get this done!” This Here are my 10 tips for getting your list one or more solutions for each can stop all progress and lead to ED project back on track: roadblock. Remember, thousands (Experimental Devaluation) and pre- 1. Open and review all documenta- of projects have been completed mature sale of a project at a significant tion you have for your project. This before yours. Even Orville and loss. This project stall is not just unique includes any project plan you have, Wilbur got stalled. to Experimental aviation. Whether you calendars, plans, instruction books 3. Clean the shop. Organize your tools, are restoring an antique car, remodeling and your builder’s log. Review all the parts, equipment, workspace and

I’m going to convert this stuff into an airplane? What was I thinking! My recent block: Making the big cut to separate the windshield from the aft portion of the canopy.

64 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes supplies. Double-check your inven- tory. Getting rid of the cobwebs in the shop will get rid of the cobwebs in your head, too. 4. Visit a project. Spend a little time visiting a project similar to yours, but one that is six months to a year ahead of you. Do not visit another stalled project! 5. Get a ride in a completed project. Nothing is more motivating than getting airborne! 6. If you are blocked by a major step, complete some smaller sub-projects. Every rivet you buck is one more you do not have to do later. 7. Go to an airshow, fly-in or breakfast. Get the smell of avgas and dripping oil back in your life. 8. Reconnect with the Experimental aviation world. Read some maga- zines, surf your favorite Internet sites, attend an EAA meeting, go to the EAA web site and wander around. Watch a few EAA videos. 9. If you are reading this article in a bookstore, renew your subscription to Kitplanes®. 10. Have your project visited. Find an EAA tech counselor who will stop by and see what you have done. Even if you are early in your project, a pair of experienced eyes will help you get going. Every project can hit a block. Often you can hit a block more than once. Getting past the blocks are how projects get completed. J Davi David Boeshaar is a systems analyst for corporate Disney. A former mechanic,

d teacher, and computer help desk guru at a major Boeshaar university, he is now building a Van’s RV-9A for fun with his brother-in-law. As the new guy in aviation, Dave has learned lots, both good and expensive, and hopes to pass along a little help to the builders coming up behind him.

Photos: David Boeshaar KITPLANES October 2015 65 CHECKPOINTS Living the dream. I really don’t remember when I first It soon became clear that the aircraft construction process of the RV-4, I heated heard about them or perhaps first saw TLC department was suffering a little. the two-car detached garage workshop. one. It could have been on one of my Later on I noticed that when we got back I think better when I am warm, and early cross-country flights that I hap- from a flight, Carol was anxious to go working with aluminum seems to cre- pened to notice airplanes parked in home, while I was more wanting to do ate more chill in the winter. On Christ- backyards. I do know that once discov- a post-flight and clean the airplane. And mas Eve Day, the planned day for the ered, it became a dream—that of living as the family grew to four and we moved move to the airport, it was bright blue in an aviation community. And it came into bigger airplanes, the scenario was skies when we got up, so we went and true. Twice now. And it is all I ever hoped the same. We would land, everyone rented a flatbed trailer. Unfortunately, it could be. Those of you who happen to wanted to go home, and I wanted to tidy by the time we were done loading, an be living in an aviation community can up the airplane. Of course, I could always unforecast, typical lakefront snowstorm understand what I am referring to, but go back to the airport, and I did, but had moved in. It was a very stressful for those aviators who aren’t, perhaps I that was time away from the family. And drive to the airport, luckily without any can help you to dream as well. there was always something at home problems. However, back at the garage, For the past 12 years we have been liv- that I needed or vice versa; I would end I had turned the heat off as we loaded ing at Mallard’s Landing in Locust Grove, up leaving something at the airport that the last items. A propane torpedo heater Georgia, just south of Atlanta. For five I needed at home. provided the heat, and it kept the temps years prior to that, we resided at another Here’s a little funny event that didn’t nice and toasty. Later that night, as I was community called Stoney Point Field, on seem so funny at the time. During the in bed, I heard water running, but didn’t the north side of Atlanta. Here’s my reply to those who ask about living with our airplane: “When we die, if we get to go to Heaven, it will be a lateral move.” Let me tell you why.

No Drive to the Airport One of the things I noticed early on with airplane ownership was that the airplane was located at an airport some distance away from home. This became very apparent when the RV-4 was first relocated to the airport after two years of construction at home. And of course we moved it during one of the coldest winters I ever remembered. It was below zero every day for weeks! So not only was I reluctant to go to an unheated hangar, the drive time to/from the airport was certainly non-pro- Here’s the RV-4 loaded on a trailer for the move to the airport, just as an unforecast snow ductive and time-consuming. storm moved in.

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 36 years, he has built 10 award-winning aircraft and has logged over 7800 hours in 69 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.

66 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes make the connection until I got up in the morning and went out to the garage and saw the huge mess. The water line had Give Us Your frozen (-10°F will do that) and the busted pipe was now spewing water across the garage, workbench, and all of my tools, and freezing solid. What a disaster! Best Shot! ® After the RV-4, I trailered the Kitfox for nine years to various airports. The folding Enter the KITPLANES “Best Of…” wings on the Kitfox saved on hangar rent and the TLC factor went back up. Having contest for a chance to win a it at home in a drive-under basement was fun. Of course, access to local air- $25 gift card from Aircraft Spruce. ports was a whole lot easier before 9/11. There is nothing like a little contest The Good and Not-So-Good to help folks share more and better A lot of that has changed with having ideas about Experimental aviation. the airplane right at home, some for the Each month, we’re asking for pictures good, and some for the not-so-good. on a specific topic like: The not-so-good is really small and has • Best example of aircraft wiring to do more with self-discipline than • Best VFR panel anything else. Of course, as pilots we all • Best tool storage idea know how addictive airplanes can be. • Best homebuilt on a beach It can be really hard sometimes to not • Best small workshop go out to the hangar. After all, there is always something to mess around with. • Best “workshop extraction” (getting A really funny thing happened to make an airplane out of a basement or loft) this point clear to me. One day we took There’s a new topic every month, our 3-year-old granddaughter for her so enter the contest often. first airplane ride in the RV-10, and afterwards we were all looking at the pictures. It was a typical discussion with a You Be The Judge 3-year-old of showing pictures and ask- Each month, our editors will pick ing questions. One picture showed her three finalists from all photos in front of the RV-10 and our house was submitted. Then it’s your turn in the background. When Carol asked whose house that was, she responded, to vote for the best of the best. “Grandma’s.” We all hung on the reply to The winner will receive a $25 gift the next question, “Where does Grandpa card from Aircraft Spruce, and the live?” Without missing a beat, the answer winning photo will appear on the was, “The hangar.” Busted by a 3-year- KITPLANES® web site. old! Oh, did I tell you—our oldest son and his family (7-year-old granddaughter and 1-month-old grandson) live right We All Win across the runway from us? Taking her Only one Aircraft Spruce gift card will flying in the Kitfox to see the Christmas be awarded each month. But when lights sure is a lot of fun. we share ideas, everybody comes out As for the good, I could go on for- ahead by learning how to do a better ever. Clearly the airplanes get a whole job of constructing, maintaining, lot more TLC than they ever did. They and flying homebuilt aircraft. are usually in tip-top shape and always ready to go. And there is no need to Visit www.kitplanes.com for more information. arrive early to pre-heat if required. It’s just a matter of plugging it in the night By entering the contest, you grant KITPLANES® magazine the right to use your image in print, before on the way to bed. I also don’t online, and for promotional purposes.

Photos: Vic Syracuse KITPLANES October 2015 67 mind doing projects that might spread out over a couple of days, if necessary, spending a few hours each day, as opposed to spending a whole day at the airport, or making several trips to get more tools. Oh yes, I do have some duplicate tools because Sears or Home Depot were closer to the airport than home. And now it is so nice that when we come back from a trip, I get to finish up putting the airplane away just about the time dinner is ready. And here’s something that happens The Kitfox’s folding wings sure helped to save on hangar costs, as well as increasing the much more often than it ever did when TLC factor on the airplane. Maintenance at home was much easier. the airplanes were based at the airport: short local flights, sometimes just to of aircraft construction and repair con- Saturday Aviation event where we invite see the sunset. Once in a while (actu- stantly occurring. It is a bustle of activity, family, friends, local neighborhoods and ally quite often in Georgia, especially in and if you aren’t careful about when to schools to participate in a day of flying the fall), just after dinner, the air is really leave your hangar door open or closed, and eating—all for free. Luckily, we have calm, the sky is beautiful, and it just begs you will get all kinds of visitors. lots of volunteers who cook and serve you to go flying. No problem when the A long time ago we decided that the food, along with pilots who volun- airplane is only a few steps away. And the community would also be family- teer their aircraft. Throughout the years the family also seems more willing to oriented. After all, we can’t fly all of the I have sometimes flown for eight hours go along since the ride to the airport is time, and it is nice to have the family in the Stearman, giving rides to lots of no longer required. Sometimes I swear around! So, we put in a nice commu- Young Eagles and their parents. It is very it is the airplane that pops up with the nity pool, upgraded the tennis courts, rewarding to see all of the smiles on the idea. I know if I were an airplane, I would and added a playground—mostly with kids, but the most rewarding is that twice certainly want to be getting out of the volunteer work! It’s been really cool so far, a Young Eagle has returned and hangar. At least that is my story, and I’m watching the families grow, and espe- told me that they got their license after sticking to it. cially seeing kids solo, and even go off that flight with me. Hearing “Mr. Vic, I got to aviation schools or the military. This my license!” was way cool. I sure wish this A Family-Oriented Community summer one of the kids was accepted had happened when I was young. There’s a much larger aspect of living into Naval Aviator Flight School. His par- I know we have inspired some kids to in an aviation community that I want ents sure are proud! The rest of us are begin their own fun journey in aviation. to share with you, especially from what jealous, of course. And it is nice when our friends drop in I have seen in ours that has over 120 It seems pilots of all walks are into to see us and park their airplane in our families residing here. There is a wealth sharing, from Angel Flight organiza- backyard. If someone had told me when I of information across many segments of tions to Pilots N Paws. Pilots at Mal- was a kid that this would happen, I would aviation, from military, corporate, airline, lard’s aren’t any different. Twice a year, have thought I was dreaming. I guess and general aviation, along with lots usually in May and October, we have a some dreams can become reality! J

The Community Fly-In At Mallard’s Landing usually has lots of airplanes in the author’s backyard—a dream come true!

68 KITPLANES October 2015 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 Aircraft Spruce & Specialty CV4 877-4SPRUCE Builders’ Marketplace (a big savings for our international customers) Aerotrek Aircraft 73 812-384-4972 eBooks download as a single, full size, Aircraft Tool Supply Co. 65 800-248-0638 Airflow Performance 71 864-576-4512 full color .pdf document which you can view Avemco Insurance Company 45 888-241-7890 on your desktop, laptop or tablet computer. Bearhawk Aircraft 71 877-528-4776 Beringer 27 708-667-7890 PDF eMagazine issues are fully searchable Bede Corp. 70 See Advertisement and are compatible with all Adobe Acrobat California Power Systems 63 800-AIRWOLF Better Half VW 70 281-383-0113 functions such as highlighting, page notes Cozy 27 877-4SPRUCE Falconar Avia Inc 70 780-465-2024 and spoken word audio. CubCrafters 21 509-248-9491 Flight Data Systems 71 831-325-3131 O Individual monthly issues are $6.95 Flight Grip 73 800-204-7625 Dynon Avionics CV2 425-402-0433 O A compiled Aircraft Buyer’s Guide Glen-L 72 888-700-5007 is $12.95 Garmin International 19 913-397-8200 Grove Aircraft 72 619-562-1268 Garmin International 39 913-397-8200 Visit: Homebuilt Help 71 See Advertisement Grand Rapids Technologies 25 616-245-7700 www.kitplanesbooks.com INFINITY Aerospace 70 See Advertisement to order Grand Rapids Technologies 45 616-245-7700 Kuntzleman Electronics Inc. 71 610-326-9068

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74 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes Lost logbooks and airworthiness certificate, confusion about Light Sport Aircraft. By Mel AsbeRry

Question: I purchased an Experi- has been amateur-built—i.e., not built There are many ways to register an mental airplane with over 500 flight with excessive commercial assistance. aircraft. An aircraft may be registered as hours. The granddaughter who There is no formal format for this, just Experimental/Amateur-Built, Experi- inherited the plane had a garage something to convince the inspector mental Light Sport, Special Light Sport, sale and sold the container with all of the amateur-built status. This state- Experimental Exhibition, Standard cat- the aircraft records in it, including ment, along with the builder’s log for egory, and others. There are three ways the airworthiness certificate. How your portion of the build, and an eli- a Light-Sport aircraft may be registered: do I get a new one from the FAA? gibility statement, FAA form 8130-12, 1. Light Sport category—this is an Answer: This is really pretty simple will be presented to your FAA inspec- aircraft built by a factory and is known once the research is done. First, you tor or DAR at the time of the airwor- as a Special Light Sport Aircraft. will need to “re-create” new logbooks thiness inspection. 2. Experimental Light Sport Air- using information that you can obtain Now, let’s try to clear up some confu- craft—this is an aircraft built from a cer- from anyone who has worked on the sion about Light Sport Aircraft—there tificated ELSA kit and assembledexactly aircraft—i.e., annual condition inspec- is no such thing as an Experimental/ according to the manufacturer’s instructions, transponder certifications, etc. Amateur-Built LSA! It’s either an tions. It may be modified after certifica- Then add a statement that this informa- Experimental/Amateur-Built aircraft, tion as long as the modification does not tion is “to the best of my knowledge.” an Experimental Light Sport Aircraft, take the aircraft out of LSA parameters. This entry will need to be notarized. or a Light Sport category aircraft. 3. Special Light Sport Aircraft con- Next, you can apply to the local LSA is a definition of aircraft charac- verted to an ELSA—this process allows FSDO or a DAR for a replacement air- teristics. It does not refer to how an air- the owner to modify the aircraft within worthiness certificate and operating craft is registered. Your project will be LSA parameters, but the aircraft may no limitations. The new operating limita- registered as an Experimental/Amateur- longer be used for commercial purposes. tions will be the latest edition. Built aircraft—and as long as it meets It seems like the FAA went out of their Question: I recently purchased an the definition of an LSA as defined in way to make this extremely confusing. If incomplete Star-Lite project with no 14 CFR § 1.1, it will be eligible to be so, they were successful. In my opinion, logs or builder’s info. How do I pro- flown by a Sport Pilot. However, that the definition in Part 1.1 should read ceed to complete the project as an does not make it a Light Sport Aircraft. LSC as in Light Sport Compatible. J Experimental/Amateur-Built LSA? Even a vintage Piper Cub may meet the Answer: You will need to get some definition, and therefore be eligible to Please send your questions for DAR kind of statement from someone who be flown by a Sport Pilot. But again, that Asberry to [email protected] with knows that the project, to this point, doesn’t make it a Light Sport Aircraft. “Ask the DAR” in the subject line.

Photo: Mel Asberry KITPLANES October 2015 75 Beefing it up. When homebuilders describe their as well as strong. Adding weight to the a good airplane structure is to make projects, they often mention structural structure will hurt the performance of it strong enough without making it too beef-ups or modifications intended to the airplane. heavy. Once the designer has achieved make the airplane stronger. When we Adding weight to an airplane can trig- this, poorly thought out modifications fly, our lives depend on the structural ger a rapidly diverging nightmare. Any will usually do more harm than good. As strength of our airplanes. It is natural to modification that adds weight to one a rough rule of thumb, adding one pound want to make it stronger to get that extra part makes it necessary to modify other of arbitrary dead weight to an airplane little secure feeling. components to carry the newly added increases the takeoff gross weight about Unfortunately, many of these changes weight. These modifications will also five pounds, if the performance of the have no positive effect on the airplane, add weight. The final weight growth is airplane is held constant, and all of the and some are actually detrimental to far greater than the weight added by the changes necessary to accommodate the either the performance or safety of initial modification. initial pound of weight increase are made. the machine. For example, if a builder beefs up the An alternative approach is to compen- Modifying the structure of an airplane fuselage structure, the wing must now sate for the weight increase of beef-ups is a non-trivial undertaking. Changes carry more weight. In order to keep by reducing the payload or fuel load of should only be incorporated if they really the limit load factor (Gs) the same, the the airplane. One must ask, at this point, do make a meaningful improvement to wingspars must get stronger, making if the airplane has really been improved safety or performance. the wing structure heavier. Since the The first question to ask before any airplane is now heavier, the landing change to an airplane structure is, “Is gear must also get stronger to handle this modification really necessary?” If the increased landing loads, and the the structure is already strong enough structure the landing gear attaches to to handle the loads it will encounter must be strengthened, adding still more in flight, there is no virtue in making it weight. This process cascades through stronger. Beefing it up will not make the the entire airplane. airplane safer. The increased weight will hurt per- The second question to ask before formance. If the builder wants to retain modifying an airplane structurally (or any the same range, payload, and speed in other way for that matter) is, “Do I know his modified, heavier airplane, he must enough to make sure that the modifica- increase its fuel capacity and horse- tions I make will have the desired effect power. Of course, both the extra fuel and and be safe?” the bigger engine add still more weight, This is vitally important. There are and so it goes. Each added bit of weight many ways a builder can inadvertently imposes extra loads on other parts of the do harm with structural modifications airplane, and they must each be rein- These spar doublers have been tapered to intended to add strength. forced in turn. prevent stress concentrations where the Runaway weight growth has hurt ends of the doublers would otherwise form a step with the spar. If the doublers weren’t Weight many airplanes, and the rate of weight tapered, the spar would likely fail at a Weight is the enemy of performance. A growth once the process has started is lower load with the doublers than it would good airplane structure must be light surprisingly high. The art to designing without them.

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.

76 KITPLANES October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes by modifications that made it heavier and reduced payload and/or range.

Stress Risers and Unintentional Weak Spots High local stress concentrates here as the load carried by the Sometimes an attempt to strengthen a doublers is suddenly dumped into the mainspar element. structure will actually weaken it. There Attempting to strengthen a spar by adding doublers can actually make it weaker if the are many ways this can happen, but we doublers end abruptly. The notch between the doubler and the mainspar causes a stress will look at two of them. concentration at the end of the doubler. Stress concentrations: There is a phenomenon called a “stress concentra- Flutter: Changing the stiffness and/or CG enough to cause flutter. I have seen tion” or “stress riser,” which is a matter of the mass distribution of an airplane struc- more than one case where builders concern for all structural designers. If a ture changes the critical flutter speed. added plies to “strengthen” the control loaded member has a hole or a notch in Which way it changes depends on the surfaces of a composite airplane. This it, or changes cross-section suddenly, very details of how the modification affects type of modification actually makes high stresses will be induced locally in the the natural frequencies and mode shapes the airplane much less safe. The control material right near the shape discontinuity. of the flutter modes of the airplane. surfaces as designed are already strong The load being carried by the part Changes that increase the stiffness of a enough and stiff enough to handle of the member that was cut away must fixed flying surface (wing or tail) will usu- any loads they will experience over the suddenly find another load path. If the ally increase the critical flutter speed. This is approved flight envelope. Adding plies cut is abrupt, as is the case with a notch not a guarantee of safety. It is possible that, to the control surface skins moves the or a step, the load does not have room while increasing the stiffness of the surface, center of gravity of the control surface to smoothly redistribute itself uniformly the modification will also change how it aft, and makes the surface heavier. Both across the member, and most of it ends deflects, and cause other problems. At of these mass properties changes make up being borne by the material right near least one airplane I know of has had wing the surface more flutter prone. At best, the base of the notch or step. This mate- failures caused by stiffening the structure if the builder adds extra mass balance to rial is very highly stressed and may fail in the wrong place, which changed the compensate, the airplane will be unnec- at a relatively low overall member load. way the wing twisted under load. essarily heavier. Without the additional A good structure should be designed to This kind of change can also, in rare mass balance, the airplane will be much avoid such stress concentrations. cases, cause a new, unexpected flutter more likely to encounter flutter within One major risk in a structural beef-up mode to appear. I have encountered this its previously approved flight envelope. attempt is that the beef-up modification once in my career, when a change in the This is very dangerous, and the possibil- may create a stress concentration that stiffness of a landing gear door caused a ity of flutter should be treated with the was not present in the unmodified struc- large change in the way the door moved utmost seriousness and care. ture. If this happens in a highly loaded under air loads. This change introduced point of the structure, the modified a previously insignificant flutter mode. Feeling Lucky? structure will likely fail at a lower total On its first flight, the airplane lost a land- Modifying the structure of an airplane is a load than the unmodified structure. ing gear door when it fluttered off. For- major step. It can have many effects, not A common form of this error is adding tunately, the door did not hit anything all of which are obvious. Some of these doublers to reinforce spar caps or webs. vital as it departed, and the airplane effects can be very dangerous, since they Many builders add doublers, or extra landed safely. Had it been a tail surface may significantly weaken the structure. plies to the inboard portions of spars, instead of a landing gear door that flut- If the structure of the airplane you are to make them stronger. If the doublers tered, the story would not have had as building is adequate to take the expected are not properly tapered, there will be a happy an ending. flight loads, it is a good idea to leave it stress concentration where the end of the Changes to control surfaces are par- alone, and build it as designed. If you doubler forms a step in the spar material. ticularly likely to cause problems. One feel you must modify the structure, make The spar will probably fail just outboard thing that should always be avoided is sure that the effects of the modifications of the end of the doubler, at a lower load any modification that moves the center are carefully analyzed by a properly quali- than a spar without the doubler. of gravity of a control surface aft. This is fied person before you make them. Proof- Stress risers can also occur around bolt almost sure to reduce the critical flutter loading of a modified structure before holes and lightening holes. If a modifica- speed. Flutter speed is so sensitive to flight is a safety must. Modifying an air- tion involves adding fasteners in a place control surface mass distribution that on plane structure by eyeball estimation and where there were none before, the stress some production airplanes (notably the guesswork is a form of aeronautical Rus- concentrations around the fastener holes V-tailed Bonanza), an improperly done sian roulette, and you never know when can be a significant problem. paint job can move the control surface there is a round in the chamber. J

Photo: Mark Schrimmer, Illustration: Barnaby Wainfan KITPLANES October 2015 77 Beachball bingo. Back in the days when dinosaurs there are some international conventions the ground test station. Since testing roamed the earth and Narco was the air- that allow overseas chatter on 123.40 and takes a rather large investment in test craft radio manufacturer, both aircraft 123.45. Colloquially, airliners adopted equipment, receivers, antennas, and and pilots needed FCC radio licenses. It the term “finger” and “fingers” for these mountains of test data from these two was little more than a paperwork shuffle, two frequencies. For the most part, the frequencies, we who were licensed on but woe to the student that showed airlines stayed silent on finger(s) while four/five many years ago simply kept our up for a flight exam without these little inside this country. Although the airlines authorization for these two frequencies. scraps of paper. To boot, the “radio” in follow FCC regulations, private (and a lot One might conclude that a homebrew those aircraft used continuous-receive of homebuilt aircraft) have decided that aircraft builder is a “manufacturer of air- tuning from 108 to 126 megacycles via these so-called “Beachball” frequencies craft” in accordance with 87.301 (a)(1), and the “coffee grinder” handle and had gasp are great chatter frequencies, whether or I won’t argue with that. However, 87.305 12 transmit crystals installed. not they are legal to use. (et seq.) requires that the builder apply Sometime in the mid-’70s the FCC for a separate FCC license for one of the came to its bureaucratic senses and Rant On frequencies in 87.303 and go through the eliminated the paper station license for Inside this country, Beachball frequen- Frequency Coordination Council for the the airplane and the paper-restricted cies 123.4 and 123.45 (called from here region in which they propose to operate. third-class radiotelephone certificate for on “four/five”) are only authorized to Note well that this only gives them the the pilot. In their stead, the FCC formal- flight test stations for aircraft and air- ized “authorized frequencies” on which craft component manufacturers. At one the aircraft transmitter could be used in time four/five were the only two VHF the territory of the USA. Along about this frequencies available, and those of us time, the crystal-less 90-channel trans- who applied for and received test sta- mitter became the standard, followed tion licenses had these two to pick from. shortly by the 180-channel, 360-channel, Generally, we used .4 for voice coordi- 720-channel, and today’s 760-channel nation and .45 as a beacon frequency radio transceivers. or to telemeter real time data down to As I said, the FCC has rules about which of those 760 channels we can use and what we can use them for. You may wish to visit www.ecfr.gov and then choose Title 47, then browse Part 87. If you go to 87.187 you can see the general frequencies that we can use. If you go down to (j), you can see that “chatter frequency” 122.75 is the autho- Antenna pattern test range at RST Labs. rized channel for fixed-wing aircraft Understand that when BillyBob and Bubba start talking near the end of a multi-hour (123.025 for ‘copters). test, the person sitting in the hot sun While international flights are not The venerable old Narco Superhomer. doing the testing might get a little testy bound to FCC rules outside the USA, (Photo courtesy of www.cessna172club.com) when they have to run the test over again.

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 October 2015 www.kitplanes.com & www.facebook.com/kitplanes authorization to communicate with their all up and it is about a thou$and bucks an a chance. Most of them know they are own ground test station, not another test hour. An hour and a half into the test, Bil- doing wrong and couldn’t care less how aircraft in flight. This does require a sepa- lyBob and Bubba come onto the channel it impacts those of us trying to do our job. rate paper license and the fee is about chattering about the corn fritters over at $100 every ten years. Rosie Beanbag’s Airport Cafe. There went Rant Off Not only that, but any test flight must a rather expensive test down the drain, Now that we know that Beachball four/ be coordinated with other test stations and we wait until they get out of range to five are not legal to use, let’s look at what within a 200-mile radius to determine try the whole thing all over again. Been we might be able to legitimately use for whether or not any interference will there, done that. And once it was three air-to-air chatter. occur and, if so, how to coordinate the tests in a row. a. As stated above, 122.75 for fixed testing to mitigate any interference. The general fine for any violation of wing and 123.025 for fling-wings I’ve heard the old argument that since Part 87 is $10,000 and a year in the slam- anywhere in the USA. our aircraft radios have these two fre- mer for each violation. Each push of the b. 121.95, 122.85, and 127.05 for aircraft quencies installed, we can use them as PTT switch is a separate violation. Don’t flying around the Grand Canyon. we see fit. I answer as follows: believe me? Talk to the pilots at the c. Several frequencies in Arizona, a. We also have 121.5 installed. Try Watsonville, California, airshow that off the coast of California, and chattering on that frequency and got nailed for using four/five as their off the coast in Hawaii (don’t ask, see what happens. “Oh, no—that’s personal airshow frequency. I have no idea why). See Section the emergency frequency. We can’t I don’t speak for all the manufacturers, 87.187 for a list of these frequen- do that.” Why not, isn’t it installed? but I do tell you that it doesn’t bother me cies and locations. Same logic. in the least, once I’ve asked politely for d. 122.925 for forestry and fish & b. My speedometer on the Miata chatter to move to the legal 122.75 and game operations. goes to 120 mph. Try making this the chatter continues, to call the cops e. 121.95, 122.775, 122.85, 123.30, and argument to the nice officer that (in this case the FCC office over in Liver- 123.50 for pilot training operations. clocked you at 120 on the freeway. more, California) and ask that they have a f. 122.9 for practice search and rescue Finally, consider the consequences. friendly little chat with the aircraft(s) and and 123.1 for actual S&R. I have an aircraft in flight that I am run- pilot(s) in question. Enough of all this chatter about “chat- ning a test on—let’s say a new antenna If you think that these pilots don’t know ter” and back to the good stuff next design. It takes perhaps two hours to run that what they are doing is wrong, I ask you month. I should have some ideas about the test, so we’ve got aircraft time, pilot to monitor four/five and see how often power supplies, dimmers, and a lot more time, engineer time, and all the rest of the these aircraft give either their N-number interesting things coming up. Until then, supporting services to do the test. Add it call sign or where they are going. Not stay tuned. J Forbidden Frequencies Because they are easy to remember, 123.400 and 123.450 are the fre- §87.305 Frequency Coordination quencies most abused. But they aren’t the only frequencies you should (a)(1) Each application for a new station license, renewal or avoid. There are others, shown below, that are also reserved for testing. modification of an existing license concerning flight test frequencies, except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, must be §87.303 Frequencies You Can’t Use accompanied by a statement from a frequency advisory committee. (a) These frequencies are available for assignment to flight test land The committee must comment on the frequencies requested or and aircraft stations: the proposed changes in the authorized station and the probable interference to existing stations. The committee must consider all kHz MHz MHz MHz stations operating on the frequencies requested or assigned within 3281.0 123.175 123.225 123.400 320 km (200 mi) of the proposed area of operation and all prior 123.200 123.375 123.450 coordinations and assignments on the proposed frequency(ies). The committee must also recommend frequencies resulting in the (b) These additional frequencies are available for assignment only to minimum interference. flight test stations of aircraft manufacturers: §87.187 Frequencies You Can Use MHz MHz MHz MHz (j) The frequency 122.750 MHz is authorized for use by 123.150 123.325 123.475 123.575 private fixed wing aircraft for air-air communications. The 123.250 123.350 123.525 frequency 123.025 MHz is authorized for use by helicopters for air-air communications. 123.275 123.425 123.550 —J.W.

Photos: Jim Weir KITPLANES October 2015 79 By Robrucha

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