Marty d's CH-701 build log

[onetrack]

Does this now mean the aircraft will need to be renamed a MaZenith, or a ZeniMaz?

[Marty_d]

She's got lots of Sav bits in her but I hesitate to call her MaZenSav.

Edited November 21, 2023 by Marty_d

[Marty_d]

Over the xmas break I finished the last bit of concreting - a ramp in front of the shed - so now the plane can finally leave the womb!

I went to pull her out the other day - racking my brains to think of a flat spot on the property where I can set up to put the wings on.  When I got the main wheels on the flat bit outside the shed I realised the wings would fit there, so she didn't have to go any further.

I struggled a bit with the left wing, the skin near the root still needs a bit of trimming and the cabin frame bracket is a REALLY tight fit.  Will have to get her out again next weekend if it's sunny and try again.   

Also need to make another wing support for the other side, which will be taller as there's a drop off after the concrete.

 

[sfGnome]

Looking at your pictures, it seems that ‘flat’ is definitely in short supply! As an aside, I see that you’ve purchased one of those new, ultra-low efficiency props… 😝

[Marty_d]

Yep, it's low efficiency, but far better on the glide!

[Aero28]

I was wondering how you were progressing Marty,  we are about at the same stage I reckon

[Marty_d]

Looks like it!  I had both wings on (with supports) last weekend but need to do a fraction more skin trimming around the rear mounts, at the moment it's got a tiny bit of forward sweep.

Looking forward to getting the wings set up properly so I can work on the struts.

[Aero28]

It is time consuming to get both wings square to the fuselage center line, lot of measuring and I put a drone up and took photo's.that worked 🙂

[Marty_d]

I actually measured from TE wingtip of each wing to the opposite LE tip of the HS, and it was within 1 mm - so I must have had the same amount of forward sweep on each wing!

[Marty_d]

FINALLY my rivets arrived... only 4 months since ordering, the company had somehow lost the original order and had to redo it.  

 

So I bought some windscreen mastic, masked off the edges of the windscreen and top screen, and screwed / riveted it all together.  It's strange seeing it now without the clecoes that have been there for the last couple of years - she's had a haircut!

 

 

[Marty_d]

This is something I should have done a long time ago, even before I built the wings.  (Mind you I didn't have a 3d printer back then, but there'd be ways of doing it the old-fashioned wood way!)

 

I've made 2 wooden cradles for the wings, which have printed plastic LE shape to support the LE of the wing and clamps at the back to keep the TE secure.  On the bottom of the cradles are steel L's with a bolt through.  The cradles and clamps have 6mm self adhesive foam rubber on all surfaces touching the wings. 

 

The cradles can be sat vertically, as shown in the pics, on a wheeled dolly which has a vertical post that the bolts go through.  They can also be sat at the top of some wing stands that I've also made (haven't got a pic as they're stored under the plane at the moment) with the same bolts.  These stands comprise some heavy duty tripod stands from a drum kit (from the tip shop) combined with 2" diameter aluminium tube.

 

 

[IBob]

Nice looking job, Marty!
Another option is to have the the LE sitting in a sling, webbing or I used a strip of carpet, attached at a centre high point of the frame then passing down and under the LE, with the other end attached at a raised point over where your casters are. So the wing is sitting in a pair of slings, which conform to the shape of the LE, and are not resting on anything hard or solid.
I copied mine from a pic I saw somewhere, passed it to another builder who has beefed it up and added wheels, it has now passed to a third builder...........)

[Marty_d]

1 hour ago, IBob said:

Nice looking job, Marty!
Another option is to have the the LE sitting in a sling, webbing or I used a strip of carpet, attached at a centre high point of the frame then passing down and under the LE, with the other end attached at a raised point over where your casters are. So the wing is sitting in a pair of slings, which conform to the shape of the LE, and are not resting on anything hard or solid.
I copied mine from a pic I saw somewhere, passed it to another builder who has beefed it up and added wheels, it has now passed to a third builder...........)

That's what I was going to do, but I wanted to be able to leave the cradles on the wing and lift them onto the wing stands.  The front supports are printed to the same profile as the leading edge (6mm bigger to allow for the foam rubber) so hopefully they won't impact the wing.

It's certainly far easier to move the wings around on the cradle, even lifting them (ie not on the castored trolley) as you have somewhere to grip.  They're only 20kg but without handholds they're bloody difficult to shift around, especially by yourself.

[Marty_d]

Big day today!  My plane has moved home (temporarily).  Neighbours of ours about 300m up the road have a large shed which I helped concrete the floor of.  It's 11m x 9m so big enough to set up the plane and mount the wings, install the flaperons, test the fuel system, etc etc.

 

So on to the car trailer today - this is the first time the plane's been fully out of the shed.  Moved the fuselage first, then used a queen-size inflatable mattress on the car trailer to bring the wings up one at a time.

 

I locked the elevators by securing the stick and the rudder by means of a couple of angled bits of aluminium bolted together through the rear tie-down point.  Mind you I didn't go above 30km/h anyway.

[Marty_d]

Ah, forgot this one - crossing our bridge.  Pity about the branch in the way.

[sfGnome]

Just for a moment, that’s the highest elevation AGL that your plane has achieved… 😁

[facthunter]

He had to get Bridging finance. Looks like it's all downhill from there. Nev

[Marty_d]

Actually it was all up hill after that, 10-15 degree potholed driveway.  I don't think a 2wd would have pulled up that trailer at walking pace.

[facthunter]

Downhill from the new shed? Nev

[Marty_d]

Yep.  If it weren't for all the powerlines you could take off down that strip of road, it'd be a nice gravity assist!

Funny thing is it's a dead end with only a couple of houses above the new location.  You'd think that the chances of another vehicle on a Sunday afternoon would be remote.  But no, park a trailer on the road and start unloading it, sure fire way for a car to come up - plus a bloke walking his dog snapping pics on his mobile of a plane being delivered!

(There's an idea.  Should have wrapped it in cardboard with "Amazon" written on it.)

[onetrack]

If Amazon had delivered it, it would've been thrown over the fence, and you'd be looking at a wrecked kit.

[Marty_d]

Wings!!  Bloody annoying trying to get them on and off by yourself, without dropping, scratching, bumping or otherwise damaging the buggers.

No wonder all the advice I read says to get 2 people on it.  Trouble is I'm generally working on the plane by myself (except for @nomadpete's invaluable assistance with electrical stuff), so I really needed a way to support the wing and be able to shift it up to the fuselage by myself.

 

Some measuring and half an afternoon's building later, the wing tower is born.  Braced in all 3 planes and designed to sit on the wheeled dolly that holds the wings when they're off.  It's the right size on the top to support the wing cradle, which can be slid back or forward to get some fine adjustment in the vertical height (it's angled to give incidence).

 

I only had time to drop it up to the shed and put the wing on it, didn't have time to attempt a fitting, but it moves ok and seems to put the mounting points at the right height and incidence.

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

This has been a great long weekend so far - Anzac Day, most of Friday and today I worked on getting the wings on properly.

As of this afternoon they're both supporting themselves with the struts and wing bolts in.  Still got the jury struts to do (bit more work in them, have to make the steel brackets) but it's a fantastic feeling to see her sitting there with wings!

Feels nice and solid too.  There's no slop at all - if you move one wingtip, the whole aircraft rocks.

Edited April 27 by Marty_d

[planedriver]

Looking great Marty!

Having been following your build, I and others are probably almost as excited as you to see this.

 

[Marty_d]

Thanks Planey!

 

Got one jury strut done today, the lessons learned from that should make the other one easier.