Mark Neubauer, GlaStar.  Inspection on November 6, 2003.  The airframe is complete.  Mark will use the Superior XP-360 engine with dual Lightspeed Engineering ignition, a standard carburetor and a fixed pitch metal prop.  Mark will go to the Superior plant and observe the engine being assembled.  The electronic ignition will be installed by Superior and the engine will go through a break-in test run in their facility and should be delivered by the end of November.  We reviewed the instrument panel installation in some detail.  The panel was developed using the panel development tool available at http://panelbuilder.com.  The airplane will be all electric and no vacuum system will be installed.  It will be set up for IFR operations.  We reviewed: (1) the intelligent switching system that controls the pumps that transfer fuel from the aux tanks to the main tanks, ( 2) the angle of attack system, (3) the antenna mounting, and (4) the battery mounting structure (ask Mark where he is getting his battery).  Mark has utilized the Aero Electric Connection as the main source for his electrical system design and has developed very detailed wiring diagrams.  Very nice.  We discussed getting the plane out of the basement workshop and prop selection.  Mark is looking for guidance on how to assemble the dyna-focal shock mounts.  I recall the process was covered in a Vans newsletter awhile back but so far have not found it.  Mark is doing a thoughtful and high quality job of construction and is planning for future maintenance access.

Keane Shockley, Vans RV-7A.  Inspection on October 15, 2003.  Keane started work on this kit on September 1, 2003.  In less than 60 hours he had the empennage completed and requested the inspection to have his riveting technique checked.  Since Keane has taken a SportAir RV builders class, he had a head start and is doing a good job.  You will be able to follow the progress of this project in detail since Keane is going to use his web site as his builders log.  Go to www.shockleys.net.  There are lots of photos and details of the building process and the supplies, like the self-etching primer, he is using on the non-alclad parts.
 

Jerry Hellmann, Fisher Youngster V.  Inspection on October 1, 2003.  This is one of the last kits shipped from the Fisher plant in Portsmouth, Ohio.  The plane is the same one featured on a TV program about building a plane in 30 days.  It is a single seat, all wood, fabric covered, V W powered biplane.  Really cute.  The wings have geodetic internal structure that take the drag-antidrag loads and also provide torsional strength.  The upper wings, which have no ailerons, weigh about 11 pounds each (without cover).  They are amazingly light and strong structures.  The engine was temporarily mounted to work out control arrangements.  Jerry is considering changing the rather primitive wheels/brakes provided with the kit to Azuza aluminum wheels and brakes from the Go Cart world.  That is the wheel/brake system used by Monnett on the Sonex.  All the wings and control surfaces are ready for cover.  Jerry has worked out many unique techniques to bend wood – to make tip bows for instance.  The airframe is built with T-88 which seems to be an excellent glue for the homebuilder.

Roger Morello, Kitfox Sport. Inspection on Sept. 9, 2003. The airframe is essentially complete and was assembled to install control cables and fuel lines and electrical wiring to the wings. Roger’s goal is to build it as light as possible and to that end has deleted wing tips and was discussing the need for the kit supplied header tank. He would prefer a Cessna type system with right, left, both and off and elimination of the header tank. We looked at rudder pedal/brake assembly and possible control tube interference in the rear fuselage. Roger is giving thought to access during future inspections and doing very good work.

Scott Hersha, Vans RV-6.  Inspection on June 11, 2003.  Most time was spent on inspection of the engine/prop installation.  The engine has one magneto and one electronic ignition system.  The timing of the magneto was checked and the process of confirming the electronic system is properly set up was reviewed.  This airplane has no vacuum system - all instrumentation is electric.  To document the electronics, Scott has detailed wiring diagrams of each separate system, something that will be very valuable for future trouble shooting.  The plane is set up for IFR flying and has Navaid Devices autopilot.  The 0-360 Lycoming is the engine that was originally in Carl Pieper’s VariViggen.  Scott disassembled it, caught up on some service bulletins and AD notes and put it back together with new bearings and piston rings.  The engine has less than 120 hours since new.  The plane was weighed and it is very light for an RV-6 with the 0-360 and constant speed prop.  Unpainted, it weighs 1040 pounds.  The light weight was achieved in part, by use of a Dynon electronic flight display in place of gyroscopic flight instruments and a graphite three blade prop.  Most of the antennas are in the fiberglass wing tips so there are only two external antennas, the transponder and one com antenna.  Being so clean externally and so light,  I expect the plane will be a great performer.  Scott, at the request of the FAA inspector developed equipment lists and a condition inspection checklist.  In many ways this is the most sophisticated homebuilt airplane produced by a member of our chapter.  We had quite a discussion about how limits are depicted using electronic displays.  Example - how do you depict rpm limits, oil temperature limits, airspeed limits if there is no instrument to put lines on?  The final inspection by the FAA was scheduled for July 3 so the plane may be flying very soon.

Howard Plevyak Jr., Glastar.  Inspection on April 23, 2003.  The wings, ailerons, flaps and rudder had been previously inspected.  Howard had bought the quick build fuselage from New Glastar which comes with the fiberglass shells installed and mated over the steel tube cage.  We went over the fuselage in detail, looking at bulkhead installation in the tail cone and control cable alignment.  All of our Glastar builder have had some issues with rudder pedal/brake installation and Howard did too.  The issue is that the toe brake cylinders are attached to the fiberglass shell according to the plans.  All our Glastar builder worry about the integrity of the fiberglass over time since a lot of force can be applied through the feet to the brakes and all solved the problem slightly differently but made the plane better by their thoughtful modifications.  It appeared that at the travel extremes, the elevator cable was getting misaligned.  But the horizontal stabilizer and elevator were not installed and when they are hooked up we think movement will be limited and the misalignment will not be a problem.  Howard was concerned about control cable fabrication, not wanting to invest in a tool to make 8 or 10 crimps.  Several members have such tools and builders should contact a tech counselor before buying special tools for a small number of uses.  Howard is beginning to think about engines with the Lycoming 0-360 or the Superior version of that engine, the XP-360, the most likely candidate.  The other option is a firewall forward package based on a Subaru auto engine.

Tom Scherder, RV-8.  Inspection on March 20, 2003.  Tom is building from a Quickbuild Kit and is quite far along.  All components of the plane are done.  The sliding canopy is fitted and the I0-360 engine and constant speed prop are installed.  The ostrich leather interior is complete.  He was just completing the engine baffle system.  The engine has a smoke system and is set up for inverted flight.  Tom has designed and built the instrument panel which is complete except for the last expensive instrument – the electrical attitude gyro.  He is deep into the wiring of everything.  The panel is painted and Tom plans to do his own paint job which will be complete with nose art.  Wing tip strobes are installed as are landing lights.

Curtis Hoffman, RV-9.  Inspection on March 26, 2003.  This was our initial inspection of this project.  The new Vans kits are amazing - the parts will assemble with clecos right out of the box.  Curtis has completed the wings, ailerons and flaps and was just beginning work on the tail parts.  We looked at electrical wire routing near the aileron hinge and discussed options.  This plane is being built to last - all parts are alodined and then primed with epoxy primer.  It appeared to us that the specified rivet was slightly short on some of the wing skins and we discussed how to determine proper length.  You have to use not what the plans call for but what is correct, so some judgement is required.  There is some variation in metal thickness.  So if the ribs were made out of thick material and the skins were of thick material it is possible that the specified rivet might be a bit short.

Mark Neubauer, Glastar. Inspection on Feb 22, 2003.  Mark is making good progress.  The wing structure is complete.  The top skin is not installed pending installation of fuel tanks and auto pilot servos.  Control cable fabrication, routing and retention over pulleys was inspected.  Routing of brake lines and parking brake modification reviewed.  Mark has made a few minor modifications to the standard design and he asked us to review them to make sure he was not creating a problem.  He added quick drains to the fuel system at the lowest point in the system and valves that permit selecting the right tank, left tank or both tanks.  These changes looked good.  We discussed engine options, final painting, instrument panel options, auto pilot and aux fuel tank installation.  Mark is doing excellent and thoughtful work with good planning for future access.

Neil Hulin, Zenith Zodiac 601XL.  Inspection on January 21, 2003.  Neil has completed the horizontal stabilizer, flaps, rudder and ailerons.  The metal work looks good.   The wings were underway and we discussed plumbing the four fuel tanks that Neil will install.  This is not a standard installation.  Neil wants enough fuel to fly out into the outback of Australia (home) and get back to where fuel is available.  All the welded tanks provided by Zenith were well made.  We discussed corrosion protection of the 6061 aluminum alloy used by Zenith.  Neil is evaluating the possibility of using a Corvair auto engine in the plane.  They are getting hard to find and only certain models are suitable but the final cost would be much below the cost of a Rotax 912 or a Jabiru 3300 which most builders use.
 

Richard St. Onge Jr., Vans RV-7.  Inspection on January 21, 2003.  Inspected wing structure and fuel tanks prior to closing.  Reviewed tail structure which had previously been inspected.  After spin testing, Vans is recommending the RV-7 use the larger rudder of the RV-9.  The parts for the new rudder were supplied at no charge.  We discussed riveting issues and potential engines.  A Lycoming or the new Superior engine built using certified parts is most likely.  The quality of the Vans kits is always impressive and just gets better.  Now all the flat skins are covered in blue plastic film to help control scratching the surface during construction.