Dick King, Glastar.  Inspections on May 19, 2002 and November 21, 2002.  At the first inspection the rudder was complete and the horizontal stabilizer was in the jig.  The metal work looked very good.  The Glastar has a steel tube cage around the cabin to which the landing gear, wings and engine mount attach.  The nice fuselage shape is provided by two fiberglass shells the attach by 3/16 bolts to the steel cage.  Fiberglass tends to slowly distort if not supported and Dick had experienced this.  It is possible to pull the fiberglass back with gentle pressure over a period of days or less if the temperature can be raised sufficiently.  The main problem Dick had was getting the metal spar at the rear of the vertical fin to mate properly with the fiberglass.  With patience he did get it done.  Other attach points need to be carefully shimmed so that a “dent” is not pulled into the fiberglass shell when the attaching bolt is tightened.  By November the vertical fin and hinges to the rudder were complete, the rudder pedals and brake lines were installed.  Dick, following experience of earlier builders, modified the mounting of the rudder pedals to provide more support, a good modification.  We had a discussion of control cable retention straps or other means of keeping cables on pulleys.  We discussed engine options and quick build wing kit options. Dick is carefully documenting his work with photos and a work log. It seems to me that the Glastar is a good looking and useful airplane but it is not one that builds quickly, however, the new factory is making quick build components available that will help.  It is one of the biggest homebuilts.

Art West, Great Lakes Biplane.  Inspection on October 25, 2002.  This is the largest, most complex project that I have inspected.  It is essentially a replica of the 1930s and 1980s factory built Great Lakes.  Art purchased the project last spring with many if not most of the airframe parts completed but not assembled.  Ribs, spars and most fittings were completed for all four wings.  The fuselage frame was welded but none of the wood formers had been installed.  Art has put on a major effort over the summer, getting expert assistance where needed and at this point all major parts have been assembled.  The wings are ready for cover and that was the primary focus of this inspection.  A factory major overhauled 6 cylinder LOM engine has been mounted and the cowling is partly constructed.  (I left my notes at Art's house so I don't have the engine model designation.)  The vertical fin off-set has been modified for the left turning engine.  Seat pans have been built and installed.  Wheels and brakes have been installed and are functional.  He has a pretty new propeller and a custom mounting flange to fit it to the LOM.  All major components are on hand except the flying wires.  As homebuilts go, this will be a big two seat airplane and will be set up for aerobatics.  The LOM is fuel injected and Art has set it up to get oil in the inverted position.  A special header tank will supply fuel for about 15 minutes inverted.  This is a big, complex project and Art seems to have it organized into functional parts and is moving along in an organized way at a remarkable clip.  He says things will slow down a bit as he has used up most of his annual leave at this point.  He has lots of questions about the Great Lakes and would like to hear from any of you who knew and flew the originals.

Kevin Kinney, Zenith Zodiac XL.  Inspection on July 25, 2002.  Kevin has completed the empennage, flaps, ailerons and is well along on the wings of his airplane.  The Zodiac is made of 6061 alloy which is not alclad.  We had quite a discussion related to corrosion protection and the upshot is that 6061 is less prone to corrosion than 2024.  Most 2024 is alclad which is an attempt to prevent corrosion by adding a layer of pure aluminum to the surface of the alloyed base metal. The Zodiac kit seems very complete.  To get started correctly, Kevin and his wife went to the factory in Mexico, MO to get some basic sheet metal training and over a long weekend, they built the all-moving vertical tail.   That is probably a very good way to get a project underway. Kevin had a tool any metal project builder would appreciate–a pneumatic cleco tool.  It makes installing and removing the dozens of clecos very fast and easy.  While it is some time away yet, Kevin is leaning toward the Jabiru 3200 or a Rotax 912 to power his plane.
 

Peter Freeman, RANS-S12XL.  Inspection on July 23, 2002.   (See report of April 24, 2002)  Peter was able to move the fuselage to one side of his one-car garage and build the wings (one at a time) in the remaining space.  This was a precover inspection.  The cover is dacron sail cloth and is provided to match the painted parts—in this case black and yellow.  There only two fixed ribs on each wing, a tip rib and a butt rib.  After the cover is pulled over the structure, preformed top and bottom "ribs" are inserted into channels sewed into the cover.  The ribs have special plastic ends that rest on the leading and trailing edge spars which are 6061 aluminum tubes.  Once all the ribs are in place, the whole "sock" is pulled tight by a mechanism in the butt rib.  A very simple, light weight, rugged wing is the result.  Peter was debugging his electrical system and was nearly ready to start test running the Rotax 912 engine.  The plane will be moved to Lebanon-Warren County airport soon and will be based there.  Peter is doing excellent work.

Peter Freeman, RANS-S12XL.  Inspection on April 24, 2002.  Peter has the complete quick-build kit and has completed the fuselage and all systems that can be done in a one-car garage.  This is my first look at a RANS kit and it is impressive.  The S12 is a side-by-side two seater that uses engines in the 80-100 hp range.  The Rotax 912 and all its systems are installed.  The empenage and trim system is done except for covering the surfaces.  The fuselage steel cage is powder coated and covered with a full enclosure, much of it plexiglass.  See the May 2002 Experimenter for an article on the S12S a very similar derivative of the S12XL.  I particularly like the trim system which uses a push-pull control as in an RV but the cabin end has been cleverly modified to operate with a conventional trim wheel compete with indicator.  The flying surfaces on this plane will be covered with dacron “socks” that are not doped or painted.  Painting is an option but it adds weight and raises lots of issues for the builder.  All other parts of this quick-build kit came painted.  Peter was anxious for us to inspect the fuselage so he can move it out of the garage and get started on the wings which may only take a couple of months. The butt rib on each wing has a tensioning mechanism that keeps the fabric tight on the wing.  This looks like a contender in the new Sport Plane category.

Mark Neubauer, Glastar.  Inspection on March 16, 2002.  The basic structure is complete and by some innovative use of basement space, was fully assembled.  The folding wing leads to some interesting issues with fuel venting and control cable routing which Mark has studied and found solutions.  Mark is giving thought to future maintenance issues.  It is surprising that some kits close up important parts that will need regular inspection and lubrication. The engine decision is looming.  Lycoming was getting competition from Subaru the day we were there.  Mark has done very nice work on this kit.  The Glastar kit is back in production and is a very nice airplane but probably not one the average builder will complete in 2 or 3 years.
 

Robert Sultzbach, RV-8A.  Inspection on March 16, 2002.  Bob has the complete kit on hand and this inspection was on the wings and fuel tanks.  The fuselage former containing the wing center section is preassembled by the factory and mated to the (also preassembled) wing spars.  The former/center section was damaged in shipment and he had to reassemble it with new parts and had questions about the assembly process.  This is the second RV-8 kit I have seen and the degree of accuracy in the preformed parts is amazing.  All steel parts come powder coated.  Bob is doing a good job.
 

Steve Gordon, RV-9A.  Inspection on March 27, 2002.  Steve has the tail kit and wanted a critique of his work before he closed the horizontal stabilizer.  This is the first RV-9A project I have seen.  The rather large stabilizer has two spars and is constant chord, not tapered like the other RVs.  The fit of the ribs to the skin and spars is amazing.  Rivet holes are in all parts as delivered from Van’s.  He confirmed what I have read – the stabilizer can be clecoed together right out of the box.  Steve alodyned and then painted the ribs, spars and inner skin surface with zinc chromate.  I wish Cessna had done the same with my 170.  Steve is doing good work.

Cal Bugbee, Titan Tornado II.  Inspection on Feb. 13, 2002.  The airplane is essentially complete.  The inspection focused on systems, the engine installation (Rotax 912) and the propeller (variable pitch-Ivoprop).  This is the first Titan Tornado I have seen.  While it looks like an ultralight it is a sophisticated, two seat airplane.  The wing is all metal and full cantilever.  It would fit in the new Sport Plane category except it may be too fast.  Cal has done a good job with this kit and has given much thought to future serviceability.  Cal will probably have this plane in the EAA hangar for final assembly by the time you read this.