Savannah S dream machine

[Guest Maj Millard]

Hooef

 

Colin Chapman, the man who set up Lotus cars, told his designers the following: "Simplify, then add lightness".In aviation, we should follow this principle even more. Is drilling holes in the rim a good weight saving measure?

 

 

This brings up another question: I wonder how much heavier Savannah's adjustable seats are compared to the fixed seats that they replace?

Hopefully they'd be a lot more comfortable.....

 

 

[Guy s]

Oh no, there goes the pool table:gaah:

Was never any good at pool but the rest of the mob aren't real happy about me taking over the table, short term I told them 1-2months

 

 

[Guy s]

About the tires, I had the same issue and did the same.In the end I bought high quality Beringer wheels instead.

Had a look at the Beringer and they do look pretty good.

 

 

[Skee]

Had a look at the Beringer and they do look pretty good.

Saw a guy in a Zenith 601 come and land and the brake disc had come loose, wasnt so fond of the standard wheels after that.

Mailman was here with them today but i was at work, will pick them up tomorrow and mount this weekend =) its almost like pure porn ;) and now im ready to mount skiis =)

 

 

[bobcharl]

Love the look of those adjustable seats. Anyone know if the would retro fit to a VG XL?

 

 

[rankamateur]

The wheel rims were another story and the instructions telling you to drill a hole for the inner tube nibble which the ones supplied have the nibble offset and when there is already a hole in the center of the rim which they give you a plug to fill that hole. Upon drilling the hole I found I couldn't get the tire on enough to get the nibble in- 2 hours of trying and cursing and then when that fail I took the rims into my local tire mob they couldn't get the tire on either but said I should've just got new inner tubes with the nibble in the center and use the existing hole, be easy then. Have since welded up the hole I made. Just making mention for future Savannah builders.

This is one we should have talked about. Took all of an hour to mount all three tyres. Only risk is pinching the tube as you do up the bolts to pull the two halves together, avoided by adding just enough air to pull the tube into shape BUT little enough to not push the tube out between the two halves of the rim.

 

 

[rick morawski]

Love the look of those adjustable seats. Anyone know if the would retro fit to a VG XL?

I don't think you would retrofit the sliding seats. The seat front is maybe 50-60 mm lower, major work to change that, plus seat pan is different. I don't think the sliding seats are worth having anyway, just my opinion.

Cheers

 

Rick

 

 

[Litespeed]

Not sure of the weight difference eightyknots between the fix and adjustable seats but being able to adjust rather than one size fits all and being able to easy take the seat out is worth the extra weight in my book.Seats ready for covering and me taking them for a quick test flight.

mate the seats look great..

 

Love the pic sitting in the seat, notice your shirt is your shitty one and the joy stick is as well.

 

 

[rankamateur]

I don't think you would retrofit the sliding seats. The seat front is maybe 50-60 mm lower, major work to change that, plus seat pan is different. I don't think the sliding seats are worth having anyway, just my opinion.Cheers

Rick

All that structure weighs very much the same in both models, then those very neat, extensively riveted seat bucket weigh about 4 kilos each. They are a genius example of 3D computer design and manufacture, but the stainless steel seat runners are the heaviest duty bit of gear in the whole airframe.

 

 

[rankamateur]

On the tyre fitting thing, even if you do get the holes in the right place to fit the standard tyres, the thicker bead on the Condor type tyres won't fit if you upgrade, so you are back to welding up the hole again. Can't for the life of me understand why ICP don't supply centre stem tubes with the bent stem and all the difficulties go away.

 

 

[Guy s]

On the tyre fitting thing, even if you do get the holes in the right place to fit the standard tyres, the thicker bead on the Condor type tyres won't fit if you upgrade, so you are back to welding up the hole again. Can't for the life of me understand why ICP don't supply centre stem tubes with the bent stem and all the difficulties go away.

Me neither Steve, I like to get the bloke who decided to make it difficult by the scuff of the neck and ask him what the bloody hell were you thinking.

 

Was playing with the idea of having a crack at painting the plane myself, but many didn't seem to have confidence in me and me not having any experience what so ever with spray painting thinking maybe they're right and a good way to stuff up a good build.

 

Going to get some prices this week on paint jobs, been in 2 minds whether to leave the undercarriage off till painted so the channel gets painted or put it on mmm

 

 

[Litespeed]

Painting is not really hard to do.

 

If you trust yourself to build a aircraft, then painting is for you.

 

I assume you have a compressor handy for the riveting- or a very sore wrist. So use that.

 

A good HVLP gun is cheap and practice on some spare material, until you are happy with the result.

 

Any mistakes can be sanded or buffed out.

 

The saved money goes a long way to fuel, electro gizmos or even keeping wifey happy.

 

Or my personal preference- a gliding ticket for extra fun and makes us all much better pilots esp if you ever have a engine out.

 

Phil

 

 

[Guy s]

Thanks Phil and even though I like the idea of painting it myself but after talking to a few people who have done a little spray painting, they have got me spook so getting a couple of quotes.

 

The price might shock me and maybe painting it myself could be on the cards. Another problem is time and not enough of it to go round. Dilemmas

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

6 to 8 grand is the norm from what I have seen Guy. Doing it yourself is not hard. Get Tommo on the job to help you. He needs something other than working on his jets

 

 

[Litespeed]

$6-8,000 is a lot of money after tax that has to be earned, so a lot of time to earn as extra spare cash.

 

It is not that hard to do seriously.

 

Most peeps would not build a aircraft either and would say you are mad. What does that tell you?

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

I painted my Sav but I do have some experience though. But 30 mins spraying some old tin and other junk around the place you will get the hang of it. Youtube has some great video instruction on it too. Guy its not that hard. Just better to err on the less paint side than making runs all over the place. The biggest job and the worst is to do the prep although you have alodined it all so it will need very little prep. Dont get carried away with 2 pack either...PPG makes a good aircraft paint that is like a base coat system. Easy to use and then you can spray a clear over it if you want. paint adds a lot of weight too so keep that in mind. See Tommo he will give you some good tips and probably give you a hand

 

 

[Guy s]

Thanks for the tips Mark and Phil am probably just half mad at this stage:cheezy grin:. Will let you how I go.

 

 

[Litespeed]

Yes paint adds weight, so use quality paint with high pigment solids and the colour will be better with less paint used.

 

Keep in mind-it is not rocket science and many a good painter drives a expensive car and lives in a big house.

 

 

[rankamateur]

Use a good respirator system if you do use two pack. Reg poisoned himself pretty badly doing the last one he built, and my fuselage, after having painted about 8 others. It sneaks up on you if your gear isn't doing the job. Worse than sucking apricot seeds!

 

 

[Guy s]

Wings painted and tail plane being done next week then onto the fuselage, can't wait to start putting it together Decided against doing it myself and got professional spraypainters that were recommended to me doing the job but it's a slow process with them having plenty of work on.

 

 

[Guy s]

Wings painted and tail plane being done next week then onto the fuselage, can't wait to start putting it together Decided against doing it myself and got professional spraypainters that were recommended to me doing the job but it's a slow process with them having plenty of work on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Skee]

Really interesting new panel they have, makes it allot easier and nicer.

 

The extended luggage compartment I wish I had, can you use the rescue chute in that configuration?

 

Is the front wheel of different kind than the rear?

 

 

[Skee]

Really interesting new panel they have, makes it allot easier and nicer.

 

The extended luggage compartment I wish I had, can you use the rescue chute in that configuration?

 

Is the front wheel of different kind than the rear?

 

 

[Guy s]

Hi Skee,

 

All wheels are identical and I think it a case of having the extended luggage and no chute or if you have the chute you have to do away with the extended luggage compartment. I was playing with he idea of putting a chute in but decided on the extended luggage. If i decided to put a chute in at a later date then I guess I'll have to put a false wall in.

 

 

[Guy s]

Hi Skee,

 

All wheels are identical and I think it a case of having the extended luggage and no chute or if you have the chute you have to do away with the extended luggage compartment. I was playing with he idea of putting a chute in but decided on the extended luggage. If i decided to put a chute in at a later date then I guess I'll have to put a false wall in.