Marty d's CH-701 build log

[skippydiesel]

White is the most boring but all round functional colour ie relativly high viz, cooler than most others, less vulnerable to UV, shows the dirt/scratches less, usually easier to colour match/repair.

 

If I repaint my white Sonex, I think I will go for "Burnt Sienna" otherwise known as high viz yellow/orange.😈

[sfGnome]

11 hours ago, Marty_d said:

The 701 also has rounded pop rivet heads all over it so that's probably not good for vinyl either.

I was able to line up my numbers to miss the rivet heads, but the logo on the tail hit about 20 of them on each side. They form a bubble when first applying the vinyl, but a pin hole allows the air out and the vinyl stretches a bit to sit down over the shape of the head. Having said that, I wouldn’t want to do it over hundreds of heads if applying large areas of vinyl. 

[Blueadventures]

On 02/06/2026 at 10:20 PM, Marty_d said:

On the weekend I bought a second hand inflatable spray booth. This saves me from having to build my own inside the shed the plane is in, and I should be able to resell it for about the same price.

This means the plane is coming home again - which makes it easier to work on than jumping in the car and going up to where it is, only to realise the tool I need is still at home...

 

Anyway - I know we're going into exactly the wrong time of year for painting, but I figure by the time I get ready it'll be summer again!

 

Started off today by doing a couple of tentative colour schemes on some printed out 3 views.

I think I'll end up doing 3 colours - white, "Marker yellow" and black trim.

Idea attached.

Also attached is my son's preference, which seems a bit complicated for me...

This is another nice design.

 

[IBob]

It's a slab-sided aircraft, I find I like layouts that reduce that slab-sided appearance. Most schemes don't do that, and some even emphasise it.
For me, ZK-JUG works well:

[Marty_d]

She's home again 😊

 

[IBob]

Not for too long, we hope..........)

[Marty_d]

Brought down the wings and hung them from ratchet straps.

All my toys together 😊 

[sfGnome]

I tried to do that and dropped one when my assistants misunderstood an instruction (or I was less than clear, depending on who is telling the story 🫤). Thus, my wings now take up valuable floor space in cradles I made for them. 

[Marty_d]

The further Savification of my 701 - my father's day present is the handbrake kit.

Had to fabricate an extra bracket as the 701 panel is a bit different to the Sav. Went in okay.

Now will have to get some more tubing, then I can hook up the brakes.

 

[IBob]

Marty, as I recall there was a little oddity in fitting the tubes, in that there was no real 'feel' to indicate when tight enough.
The way it works is that the tube is pushed into place, then as the fitting is tightened it deforms the tube end into an olive. However, if you continue tightening, it then greatly thins and maybe separates that olive. To avoid this, I first practised on a spare bit of pipe to work out how many tightening turns were required.