Marty d's CH-701 build log

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 6 January 2014

 

A while ago I bought a set of wheels and brakes off a crashed Savannah. The seller was in Adelaide, so I asked a bloke who lives nearby and who bought the engine from the same plane to pick them up for me. The seller told me he'd throw in any other Savannah bits in the hangar.

 

Well, he delivered them today, and not just the wheels - but the main gear, the nosewheel fork, the rudder pedals with toe brakes and master cylinders, the flaperon mixer, Y-stick... and doors!

 

It was an excellent post-Xmas present... it's going to save me a hell of a lot of time and money.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 20 February 2014

 

Last week I disassembled the wing, deburred everything and primed the joint surfaces.

 

I decided to rivet the rear structure - rear spars to rear ribs, rear strut bracket etc - but not to rivet the ribs to the main spar at this stage, in case any shims were needed to pack out the nose ribs.

 

Riveted the lower trailing edges and lower rear skin to the framework, turned the wing over (carefully!) and clecoed the nose ribs back on.

 

This week I clecoed the nose skin onto the lower spar and bent it over - very nervously - and was relieved that it all fits correctly. Drilled & clecoed to the nose ribs, then spar.

 

Tonight I finished spar drilling & clecoing, also the row of holes in the spar web doubler and the ones beside the slat brackets.

 

According to the photo guides I'm now up to the tank installation, so will have to wait until I get the tanks - am arranging to buy a couple of new Savannah tanks so hopefully will get those sent shortly. Might skip over to the wing tip next and get that done while waiting!

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 28 February 2014

 

Completed the right tip. I've decided not to install lights, as far as I know they're not required for RAAus rego and I don't plan to fly at dusk. In any case, I can always make an access point in the tip later if required.

 

Really don't know why they didn't make the entire tip out of plastic, it would have been much easier to install than a separate nose tip!

 

 

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 14 March 2014

 

Slotted in the Savannah tank last night. Fits like a dream! I made up a couple of brackets fitted to the ribs to support the rear of the tank, clecoed on the front brackets that bolt to the tank, and ran fuel line through grommets in the tank channel and rib #1.

 

The tank feels well supported and pretty much immovable, and the top surface looks like it will be very close to the top skin. I'll run a straight edge over the ribs and pack out the top of the tank with cork strips or something so the skin fits tight.

 

Have ordered some panel mount quick release fittings from Aircraft Spruce, will fit them on the root rib and fit the fuel lines to them (2 each side - line to header tank and return line to top of tank).

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 23 March 2014

 

Based on some excellent suggestions from others, I bought some lightweight 7mm corrugated conduit (used to tidy up wires in car engine bays) with clamps to suit.

 

My wife assisted in running a lightweight string through the conduit, I then installed it using some home made 0.025" brackets and taped the ends of the string to the root rib and tip spar. Now, if I decide to install tip lights, just a matter of taping the wires to the string and pulling them through.

 

Although it looks close, the conduit doesn't touch the fuel tank.

 

 

[nomadpete]

Good onya Marty.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

 

[rgmwa]

Any idea when it will be finished Marty?

 

rgmwa

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 2 April 2014

 

Thread sealed the return fitting and tightened up. Removed the tank from the wing, added a small section of fuel line to the return and clamped it off. Clamped the end of the main line too. Added 20 litres of unleaded to test (placed the tank in the carport next to the car, figured after the test I can just drain it into the car!)

 

Seems to be no leaks around the fitting at the moment, will give it a full 24 hours or more just to make sure.

 

Received the quick-disconnect fittings and installed them on the root rib, however I think the lines will be blocked by the cabin frame - might have to create a mounting position just inside the root rib in order to give the line enough room to miss the cabin frame.

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

Any idea when it will be finished Marty?rgmwa

My eldest son is now 8... I hope to have this ready by the time he's old enough to learn to fly....!

 

But seriously, no idea. At the moment I'm about to rivet up the last 2 flaperon segments so by the end of this year I hope to be working on the rear fuselage. There's a massive amount left to do. My usual method is to just concentrate on the bit I'm making and not think of the plane as a whole, that way I may actually end up with enough bits to make a whole plane.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 20 April 2014

 

Milestone reached today - finished the right wing. (Well, as finished as you can get without a fuselage). Skins riveted, trailing edge is solid riveted, flaperon bracket supports riveted, fuel tank installed.

 

Made a wing stand out of timber and carpet (the idea came from someone on the CH701.com site) and my workbench is now clear for the other wing...

 

 

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 7 April 2015

 

Well this is embarrassing, I just realised I haven't posted an update for almost a year!

 

Left wing is upside down on the bench. Had a good day on it today, drilled all the pilot holes out to 1/8", clecoed in the front strut fitting, made the strut angle bracket and attached the fitting doubler, and made a start on the flaperon brackets.

 

Almost bought a Continental C-85 until someone pointed out a forum post on this site advising against it. Will wait until a good 912 comes along for the right price.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 21 April 2015

 

Had a little marathon effort last night and got the entire bottom skin riveted. Remembered to first pop the rivets that sit underneath other objects (eg jury strut brackets), which made it all go smoothly. Drilled a hole in the tank channel for fuel hose (easier with it out of the structure) and positioned the Savannah fuel tank support before riveting.

 

Tomorrow I'll ask my wife to assist with flipping the wing. Then it'll be time for playing around with the tank installation (always fun).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 27 April 2015

 

Nose skin clecoed.

 

Got to that lovely stage where you tension up the ratchet straps and suddenly a collection of aluminium starts looking like a wing.

 

 

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

Originally posted 14 September 2015

 

Both wings done!

 

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

Up to date!

 

 

I obviously hadn't posted anything for over a year...

 

So what's happened since?

 

At christmas time 2015 we were over in Bendigo again and I put out the call that I'd like to meet any forum members who happened to be in the area. Well Neil_S flew up in his lovely Sav and we were having a chat, when up comes another local Sav owner. In the course of the conversation he mentioned that he had a set of Savannah leading edge slats, and that he'd be prepared to sell them. Long story short, we went to his place, bought the slats and bolted them to the roof racks for the trip back to Tassie.

 

It turned out that the only modification needed was the removal of about 400mm of slat on each wing, and they fitted perfectly - more proof of the similarity between 701 and Sav! So they're mounted on the front brackets and there's a new wing stand which holds both wings horizontally, as opposed to leaning on the leading edge.

 

The flaperons are made in two pieces per wing, as the outer one is higher at the TE by about 16mm than the inner, to provide washout. I made both halves for the right wing, and more recently have been working on both halves for the left wing, and they're pretty much ready to rivet.

 

 

 

Last two ready to rivet. In the background are the wings, covered with various old sheets & tablecloths for protection.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Great stuff.

 

Are you aware of what a completed wing weighs?

 

 

[Marty_d]

Actually I've never weighed them. Guess I should!

 

The Sav tanks would have added a couple of kg, the 701 generally has welded 0.025" tanks which would weigh less than a fly's fart.

 

 

[rmorton]

Actually I've never weighed them. Guess I should!The Sav tanks would have added a couple of kg, the 701 generally has welded 0.025" tanks which would weigh less than a fly's fart.

Would it be worth making Ali tanks for the Savannah? Any idea what sort of weight saving if any there would be?

 

 

[Marty_d]

Would it be worth making Ali tanks for the Savannah? Any idea what sort of weight saving if any there would be?

Depends how good you are at aluminium welding. 0.025" is very thin. You'd definitely save some weight, exactly how much I don't know. The reason I got a pair of Sav tanks (second hand, but unused) was that it would have cost me over $1,000 to get the aluminium ones from Zenith, and I thought that was a bit much.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Status update 5/11/16

 

Last two flaperon segments have been riveted, plus the trailing edge solid rivets done on one of them. Drilled and prepped the TE for the other, just have to squeeze those rivets. Only other thing to do is mount and rivet the plastic tip on the outer flaperon segment.

 

I'll leave the joining plates and root ribs, along with hinge point doubler, until final assembly - really need the fuselage and wings to be together for that bit.

 

 

[eightyknots]

Status update 5/11/16Last two flaperon segments have been riveted, plus the trailing edge solid rivets done on one of them. Drilled and prepped the TE for the other, just have to squeeze those rivets. Only other thing to do is mount and rivet the plastic tip on the outer flaperon segment.

 

I'll leave the joining plates and root ribs, along with hinge point doubler, until final assembly - really need the fuselage and wings to be together for that bit.

I wonder if the Zenith ones would fit in a Savannah?

 

I also wonder how much lighter the Zenith tanks really are compared to the plastic Savannah tanks? Are we talking about a few hundred grams?

 

 

[Marty_d]

I wonder if the Zenith ones would fit in a Savannah?I also wonder how much lighter the Zenith tanks really are compared to the plastic Savannah tanks? Are we talking about a few hundred grams?

Well the Sav ones slotted straight into a 701 wing, so I'd be very surprised if the Zenith ones wouldn't fit a Sav wing. As far as I can tell, the front and rear wing spars are the same dimensions in both planes, and so's the spacing between the ribs.

 

I don't know what the weight difference is as I've never even seen an original Zenith one.

 

 

[nomadpete]

Hey Marty, please stop all these progress posts. I'm getting the guilts. At this rate you'll be flying before I get the Lightwing finished.

 

 

[M61A1]

Hey Marty, please stop all these progress posts. I'm getting the guilts. At this rate you'll be flying before I get the Lightwing finished.

Ahhhh, don't you worry about that....while he's on the computer, he's not building.

Oops....pot....kettle....black?

 

 

[Marty_d]

Pete, I'll just be happy to be flying this before I get my Senior's card. It ain't a race!