airplanes I'm building..

[ME_flyboy]

Hi all,
I've promised Ranch Dog I'd start a new thread, in the proper section,
as my intro;
< [SOLVED] FMJ's no longer fit? Say wha?? >

was getting to stray, way off topic...

So here we are.

See RD? I keep a promise...

OK for all that didn't read my intro about crushed cartridges in a Lee turret...
The subject strayed to airplanes and the one in particular that I'm building, and it's issues
and accomplishments along the way. I will continue the subject of home made airplane building here,
for all those interested.

There's no feeling in the world that can match your first solo flight! You are, "akin to the birds" !

1 spring project.jpeg

Which with the above incantations has come to look similar to this,
but, without the wings (...yet)

on the wheels down under_comic_small.jpeg

I'm a displaced city boy, (by choice) and a builder for many years, but I am learning new skills,
like gas welding thin wall ( roughly 3/32" ) steel tubing. Heat management is the key!
and that takes a bit of time to get under control. and I made quite a few burn thru's while practicing.
But, those are common and I made my share, while practicing, before kinda getting the hang of it.

But before all that... let me explain what and why.. I have been interested in aviation, since I was a kid,
that being not quite 3/4 of a century ago.. I flew on and off since joining a glider club in Germany, while
serving in the Army in the early 60's. when I got out, I got married, and life took a turn. Wife was anti aviation, as far as I was concerned. So...no flying for many years... A divorce ended that. But other life's issues always seemed to get in the way... .

But now being retired, I am free to go and do as I please. So I moved out of the Northeast, to Texas,
where there seems to be an airport of some kind nearly everywhere you look!

I counted 25 of them listed on an aviation chart (map) of the area, in just a 50 mile radius, west of Houston.
Now you may not know this, but Pilots are only 7 percent of the total population.
That's only 7 pilots in every 100 people. We need more pilots! The age of most are very close to retirement, so who is going to fly you to your Hawaiian vacation in the future, or Deliver your UPS overnight / Fedex Air packages?? or how about the US Mail? Do you eat veggies? Well, Insect control and fertilizer are applied
by Pilots in Crop Dusters
Oh you might say Drones will do that... Well possibly, but who is going to fly the drones?
Yep, it takes a trained pilot.

No Mary, it isn't the same as your kids playing with Radio Controlled toy drones.
There's qualifications, proficiency training, and testing, rules and regulations, stiff fines, and penalties for offenses. But you can look that up elsewhere.

OK! ...OFF MY

The aircraft lumber, light weight but extremely strong Sitka Spruce, has arrived. and I have begun
milling the lumber to sizes needed. Mostly one quarter inch, x one quarter inch square.
With some of that done ( I'm cutting as needed) I began to build the ribs that will shape the wings,
just like your ribs shape your chest...

WING RIBS .jpeg

There are 43 individual pieces there for each rib, precision cut, and epoxied together..
I need to make a total of 26 ribs. that's 1118 pieces, cut placed, checked, epoxied and clamped, separately.
time consuming.... Definitely!! I do a rib a day, given the structural epoxy has a pot life of only 30 minutes, but needs a few hours to cure, before being released from the wing rib JIG.

Till next time....

Charlie

[Ranch Dog]

Charlie, you have your work cut out for you. As a retired airline pilot, I appreciated the complexity of what you are accomplishing.

[ME_flyboy]

Charlie, you have your work cut out for you. As a retired airline pilot, I appreciated the complexity of what you are accomplishing.

[ Note:
See everyone?? Another retired pilot... How many more are there, on this forum??]


Thank you Michael.
I only hope that others will enjoy this trek along with me, as I move it into the completion phase.

Then on to testing, and first flights with her. Following that, I plan to make install some additional features. (Currently taking applications for stewardess's, and Waist Gunners)
But first things first.

Charlie

[klr]

Very interesting! Is that a Legal Eagle?

[RBHarter]

Not a pilot just an A&P .

[ME_flyboy]

Very interesting! Is that a Legal Eagle?

The one in the photo is, but not mine. as I said it is similar though...

Given that there are only so many ways to build an airplane
2 wings,a fuselage, tail feathers... wheels etc.
they all start to look alike...

I actually took the US Army's" M.A.S.H." helicopter, the BELL 47, turned it
upside down so the wider part is on the bottom, and copied the fuselage from that.
Then added some other stuff to make it fly...
like a Kawasaki Snowmobile engine, bicycle wheels, 2 wings tail feathers, etc...

Then one day I see a video of the Legal Eagle and say to myself uh oh....
But my airplane, is "The Mongoose" no designs on making it a kit, or selling plans.

But I read somewhere that even the Legal Eagle is based on another airplane,
I think it is called a MiniMax, cause it has the same wings

I just want to have fun with it.

Thanks for the Reply!
Charlie

[ME_flyboy]

Not a pilot just an A&P .

And just where would Pilots be without A & P's

GROUNDED THATS WHERE!
.

{ For the uninitiated " A&P " isn't an old Tea company...or supermarket...
it's the acronym given to Airframe and Powerplant mechanics. We don't allow just anyone to maintain our planes!
A & P's go thru an arduous training regimen and have to pass difficult technical tests, and have to work
for I believe 1500 hours on the job, training to become certified mechanics. And are limited to
which kind (type class) of airplane they can work on.}

I'm sure RBHarter can attest to that, or correct me if I'm in error.

Charlie

[GasGuzzler]

I steered a Cessna at age five for a few minutes over Galveston Bay.

I work near an airplane seat manufacturer.

A fellow Boys Baseball of Cooke County Board Member is a contract repair facilitator.

When I'm in the area (rare) I go to the lookout just NNW of DFWIA to watch the traffic. It's one of the largest and busiest airports, right?

[ME_flyboy]

I steered a Cessna at age five for a few minutes over Galveston Bay.

I work near an airplane seat manufacturer.

A fellow Boys Baseball of Cooke County Board Member is a contract repair facilitator.

When I'm in the area (rare) I go to the lookout just NNW of DFWIA to watch the traffic. It's one of the largest and busiest airports, right?

Hmmm, FAA says: if you are the sole manipulator of the controls, you are the Pilot...!

that reminds me I have to get started on my seat too! Just so I can sit in her, and make airplane noises!!!
My seat will be made of Cordura fabric.( that's what they're making luggage, and backpacks, out of these days.)
No foam, no springs, no frame... Just like the old Beach recliners,

chair_.jpeg

of the 1950's, hooked up, at top and bottom.

Cockpit Mock-up_small.jpg

Yes, this one is mine, as of last April ...

Ok you saw the manly color... It is supposed to represent the primer that was used during WW2
"Zinc Chromate." Zinc chromate was a vile poisonous substance that had anti corrosion properties.
it has been banned of late, for being highly toxic, and this is a custom made enamel color to emulate it.

WW2 aircraft interiors, were not painted with a topcoat color. They were left in the primer stage, to save money.
I remember this color and relate it to aircraft of the era, and later. The paint scheme I intend to use is
a semi gloss WW2 Olive drab exterior, with US Army markings and Invasion stripes.

Hawker Tempest Mk_V .jpeg

.
These stripes were the black and white stripes painted on all D-Day aircraft. Reason being, there were so many aircraft in the skies that day, that the era technology would become unable to handle all the friend or foe data. But this marking scheme worked once before in Spain, so it was decided that every plane in the theatre, of operations, would be painted with them, with the exception of some easily recognized heavy bombers.

OK .....so the surprise is out.....

Charlie

[farmerjim]

US private, Canadian commercial . Haven't flown in 30 years. A friend has a 1,700 ft dirt strip and an empty hanger (Nauga Field) around the corner from me. He says I can use them if I get a airplane. I may take him up on it.
I will be watching your build.