Friday, April 30, 2010

Friday, April 30, 2010 Check Out the Wing Spars

Went up to the airport and brought down the keel spar and left leading-edge spar. The more I research the opinions of others who work with aluminum the more I’ve convinced myself that they are compromised and really should be replaced, not just straightened. I took the keel to Victoria Repair thinking that the main spar was made up of two pieces with an oversleeve splicing them together. The old guy at the shop tried to extricate the forward piece only to figure out that the spar was one whole piece. He cut the spar at my request just ahead of the oversleeve and looking down the length, determined that it is in fact one solid piece. The oversleeve is 18” long and wasn’t bent, so should be able to reuse it.

At the same time, I picked up the box that had the front wheel bracket and the two wheels with the hubs removed. Looks like they turned out well. I need to research the loads these wheels can tolerate to see if they’ll work on the Jetwing.

According to the Demon wing manual, there is an inner sleeve inside the keel spar someplace. I didn’t see any evidence of that for the spar I have. I don’t know if there was none, or most likely it’s a partial sleeve that is buried in the aft section that I couldn’t see. I will measure the length to get the exact measurement and then have Victoria Repair cut up the spar to see if we can find the inner sleeve and determine its dimension. I don’t think it would be a good idea to guess on the configuration of the keel and position the inner sleeve without knowing the exact specifications since it could affect the weight and balance of the wing. I also sent an e-mail to Larry Miller asking him if he knew anything about that. I also found a couple of places in MPLS that might inventory the larger tubing I need for the replacement of the spars. Anxious to see when they come back with.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 Second Dual Flight

Don Lindemann called and said our scheduled flying day, Thursday, would not be good weather so suggested we fly Tuesday at 6:30PM. I drove to New Richmond after work at about 5PM and arrived about 10 minutes late because of rush hour traffic. Don forgave me and we flew for an hour all T&G’s at New Richmond airport. It felt good. Don thought I did OK, but when he endorsed my log book and saw that this was only the second time out, he was amazed that I had done that well. Should be able to do some greasers next time.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010 More Machine Work

Took the box of parts back to Victoria Repair. The left side foot peg had not been welded on, and I also wanted him to try to get the hubs out of the bicycle wheels and see if they can be used on the Jetwing.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Friday, April 16, 2010 Machining Work Done

Tuesday a week ago I had located a new machine shop in Victoria (Victoria Welding and Repair) and took the small broken parts to Jim there to see if he would be able to do the repair job that was needed. I went to the shop at noon hour and found that everything appeared to be done very well. With any luck at all, maybe this shop will be able to do the work that I need. I’ll take the tubing that needs holes drilled there and maybe he can even get the hub out of the wheel and solve my wheel problem. We’ll see.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 Spar Repair is Done

A guy from Linders Speciality called today and notified me that the wing spars have been straightened and I could come pick them up. I did that and dropped off the spars at the airport on the way home. So one more project accomplished.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sunday, April 11, 2010 Found the Cable Ends

As I sat around the following Sunday afternoon, a thought dawned in my muddled brain. I wonder if the lost ends of the upper engine cables might still be attached to the upper frame plate. I checked it out and sure enough! The cable ends were there. I quickly unbolted them and included them in the cable bundle. So one hurdle has been breached.

I still don’t know the function of the two short light-weight cable ends I found. I hope I can determine as I assemble the wing for the first time after the spars have been straightened.

Don Lindemann, the flight instructor who instructs in trikes, had called earlier in the week and told me that if the weather held, we could get in some dual time in his trike. It worked out as planned; after an hour of driving to the New Richmond, WI, Municipal Airport, I arrived and we proceeded to fly around the Wisconsin countryside. It was a incredible experience. When taking up a new student, Don usually flies the first time in the front (the pilot’s seat), but after we talked, he convinced him that I could fly in the front seat.

The first take-off was frightening because of what I had previously experienced when the JetWing crashed. Because of the way the trike is configured, with the pilot so close to the nose, the climb-out seems much more vertical than a conventional light aircraft. I applied full power, and immediately experienced a clear flashback of my accidental take-off in the JetWInig back in September. The sensation was identical and that experience and my initial reaction was to back off the power, which was the exact thing that caused the devastating crash in the JetWing. But this time I resisted the temptation and we climbed out with full power. Of course had I given in to my temptation, Don would have overridden the power setting. But it was not seriously an issue and even had I been alone, I’m sure I would have known better and carried the proper power setting. It was just a brief surreal feeling.

We flew for about an hour and a quarter, did several T&G’s and a little airport nearby, Amery, and also did some turns and roll-outs and other maneuvers, and after the time was over, I think I have a good feeling about attitude flying in the trike. It was chilly, but the experience out in the open air was unforgettable. We’ll be doing that again soon, I hope.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 A New Machine Shop

After spending some time on the net, I found a place in Victoria called Victoria Welding and Repair. He seems to be willing to work on my various machining needs. I retrieved the box of parts I had given to the previous machine shop and took them out to this new shop. Those projects include; 1) extracting the plug end of one of the front down-tube ends that had fused, 2) straightening the right rear axle brackets, and 3) repairing the nose-wheel bracket. We’ll see how he does.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Friday, April 2, 2010 Trip to the Airport

John decided to close our office on Good Friday also, so I took advantage of the time off and went early up to the airport. I wanted to do a couple of small things--measure the engine pulley and re-drive pulley to calculate the reduction ratio to find the most efficient propeller to replace the broken wooden one. Also, I wanted to find all the pieces of cable so I could get the cables and flying wires replaced. Mission was accomplished with no problems.

While I was there, I looked over the situation with the fuel tank support sling and the seat. Both of them will have to be repaired because the straps had been cut, either by the EMT’s or by me in the process of disassembling the carriage. I found that both of the straps were attached to the rear axle in such a way that the axle assembly will have to be disassembled to take them off and then back on once they are repaired. I had hoped to not have to do that, but it won’t be difficult, just add to the time to re-assemble the JetWing carriage.

After getting home, I found that the small pulley is 3 ¼” in diameter, and the re-drive pulley is 6 ½”, which means the reduction ratio was exactly 2:1. I also was able to account for all of the cables, except that I found that I am missing one end of each of the upper engine support cables, which means if I can’t find those ends somewhere then whatever machine shop will work with me will have to fabricate two new end connectors (which should not be difficult), and I will have to determine the length of the cables. I may want to use turnbuckles to make sure the engine is suspended top and bottom tightly and securely. Something for future determination.

One strange thing was that I also found two cable ends that I can’t account for. They are definitely not the ends of the engine cables I am missing because the cable is not as heavy as the engine cables. They are each about 8” or so in length with eyelets on one end. If the ends are put together, which looks like they should be, they are 17” long. Don’t know what they’re used for, but it’s obvious that they have a purpose. It’s possible they are ends of two of the flying wires for the wing; I hope that’s not the case. I e-mailed both Dave Engle and Tom Kennedy to ask them if they had any ideas, and to get me the measurements of the engine cables.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010 Spars to Linders Speciality

I called over to Linders Specialty and talked with a guy who wasn’t very helpful. I then found the name of the owner and e-mailed him. He was moderately encouraging and told me I should bring the spars over and let them look them over. I did that the next day and dealt with another man who was very helpful. He said they could straighten the spars to within 1/16” tolerance, which I was very satisfied with. I left them there with the promise they would have them done within a week or so. They were observing Good Friday and wouldn’t be working again until the following week.