old man emu

I heard that the early aviators could tell which way they were side slipping by the feel of the wind on their cheek. That's why they all wore flying helmets .... to eliminate the whistling sound as the air went in one ear and out the other.

OME

How are you going to keep a Pietenpol in the air for eight days?

OME

The EAA has published a booklet dealing with the mainenance of aging airplanes. At the end there is a checklist to identify areas of concern. The checklist would be useful to any prospective buyer of an airplane, be it on teh Casa or RAA register.

Here's the link:

http://www.vintageaircraft.org/informational_articles/Best%20Practices%20Guide%20for%20Maintaining%20Aging%20General%20Aviation%20Airplanes.pdf

OME

Some of us like to build Pietenpols, and some Gere Sport Biplanes. One poor fool even gave thought to building a Powell PH Racer. The plans for these airplanes were first published between 1929 and 1933 in pulp publication called Flying and Glider Manual.

In the 1950s and again in 1990, the Experimental Aircraft Association published these plans in a series of booklets (which are still available from the EAA bookshop). The reason for the EAA publishing the plans was one of historical interest and research. However, some people decided to use them to build a plane from scratch.

But beware! The plans contain both drawing and design errors that have the potential to make a "sweet little ship" into a Coroner's guerney. When first published by the EAA, the Founder of the Association, Paul Poberezney cautioned, "These old designs in many cases lack the technical progress made between the 1930s and today."

The June 2011 issue of the EAA magazine, Vintage Airplane, reprints an article from the September 1991 EAA Experimenter that provides illustrations of incorrect drawings and poor structural design that appeared in these plans.

While the 2011 article does not advise anyone to walk away from these old plans, it does strongly recommend that before you follow the plans blindly, you have a good long talk to someone who has a lot of experience in airplane design, building and repair. You should also consider modifying the build to replace archaic design with modern design.

Will replacing the old with the new detract from the end result? That's highly unlikely as any such changes will usually be hidden under coverings and cowls, or be accepted as a better idea (eg using a six cylinder, air-cooled Corvair engine instead of a water-cooled four cylinder Ford A Model engine). I'm even considering using the bungee-sprung floating axle undercarriage from the Powell Racer instead of relying on the bounce of the tyres in the original Gere design.

So, if the mood takes you to produce your dream machine from the plans found in a musty old publication, go ahead and give it a go, BUT have a really experienced aircraft engineer go over the plans with you to identify any unsuitable designs.

Old Man Emu

The shop wasn't open, so no luck. I could also try Aviation Salvage out at Caringbah.

No sweat about the tutorial. It was fun. I'm going now to look at how to trace a picture onto the workspace.

OME

No I don't think so. we no need to train media because they know very well that what they are doing? what they want to do? and how can they do? they know their work and they are doing their work properly.

OME

It was forum spam from India but has gone now - mod

Brett,

That's a public record document and would be essential if the owner of the aircraft wanted to sell the plane. It would be the right thing to do to try to contact the owner to return it. The aircraft was only built in 1996. I suspect that the logbook might have been the proceeds of a burglary if it has wound up with a 2nd hand dealer.

OME

Scotty,

I'll try a shop at Bankstown tomorrow if I go in there.

OME

GPS mount?

OME

The fuel guage will be a sight tube, or a cork attached to a stick through the fuel cap. I suppose I could fit an ammeter and an hour meter. I might hide the hourmeter under the engine cowls. I will probably need a power outlet for the radio, too. Darn modern do-dads!

OME

How's this for an instrument panel?

OME

Hmmm. Incident occurred in December 2009.

Must've been a slow news day when this story hit the wires.

OME

You Luucky, luucky bast^rd.

OME

Well I've got the drawing done. I think it's pretty neat.

If anyone wants .dxf files for the large and small instruments to add to their drawings, just give me a Co-eee.

OME

It is well worth spending a couple of grand on air fares to go to the US to have checked out any plane one would like to buy. The money thus spent is a good insurance premium against nasty surprises when the plane gets here. This is the time that to involve the LAME or L2 who is going to do the maintenance for you.

You really must research all ADs and Service Bulletins relating to both the airframe, the engine and the prop. It is the owner of the airplane who is responsible for ensuring its airworthiness, not the LAME.

OME

I heard some news about Phil Unicombe today. Apparently he had an operation on his back very soon after the prang. The surgeons repaired teh broken bones by injecting some sort of glue to bind them together. I heard that the procedure did not involved cutting his back open. We'll have to start calling him Arald Luscombe now.

Anyway. I heard that he is up and about. He won't be fully recovered for a few months when he will have completed his physiotherapy.

A hint at the cause of the prang is that Luskintyre is 100 ft AMSL and Barrabra isn't.

OME

Why Arald? You ever heard of Araldite?

Yeah, Sorry about teh size of the pix. I'll take some more tomorrow and make the files bigger than the ones above.

It's normal to have a 6 cylinder in a two hole Pitts.

OME

Ha Ha Ha,

Take a look at the pix of the new one we are assembling. One of the pix shows two Pitts. We have just rebuilt the red one after a ground loop and the orange one has had a prang in the past.

OME

Well, we've got her together and the rigging is done. I've just got to pick up the compass from the instrument man (checked for Southern Hemishpere dip) and once that is installed we can call the owner to pick it up. It is staying on the US register and will live in Queensland, whereabouts unknown.

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We have just been asked to quote on the repair job. The engine will need a bulk strip, and the prop will have to be replaced. Don't know yet how bad teh fuselage is bent, or how much wing rebuild there will be. The plnae may prove uneconomical to repair. That's not to say that is irrepairable as a Project.

OME

NOooooooooooooo!Not another engine mod for Jabirus:crying:

Ailerons on upper and lower wings - a Pittski?

OME

Reported on the TV news this morning was the death of an aerobatic pilot during a routine at a Polish Air Show. Looked like a high speed stall coming out of a low level loop.

If you happen to see the story come up on the TV, mute the sound. The Australian voice over I heard was such a load of BS, as usual.

RIP an aerial entertainer

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Old Man Emu