My Savannah S model rebuild Blog

[Kyle Communications]

About the last final bit fixing the original butchery that was done to this aircraft when it was built. They didnt fit the bark part of the cabin seat to baggage compartment properly which of course supports the flaperon mixer and you saw way back the fantasttic job they did on that with redrilling those V brackets. They overlapped the back to the baggage front floor which of course is not right and redrilled all new holes. So its all now back with new V brackets and everything is now square. I folded up a cover strip and redrilled it to suit with a nice edge so thats now done. Also the control rods are now all installed correctly that go from the control rod bellcrank..which is also now on the right way and not backwards oh and shock stunn amaze all those rods are now equal lengths not like then they cam off the aircraft.

If your wondering what the holes are in either side of the front baggage floor are they are the holes that take the extra straps for the ballistic parachute those come from the rear wing mount through those holes and wrap around the undercarriage this keeps the cabin frame and cockpit all intact if the chute is engaged. It never used to have those straps in the original chute installs but the Germans required it for their approvals

 

Been busy doing lots of other stuff this past few weeks like the new throttle system that will be fitted to Mabel and also the S-21..when I eventually get to start it. That wont be too far away now as all the parts are pretty much done and its now time to scuff and etch then prime and paint. This has been far longer than I originally thought but I am pretty happy with the whole project

 

 

[Paul davenport]

Hey Mark what’s been happening with the Sav

[Kyle Communications]

Hi Paul

 

Not a lot lately worse luck. Just getting back to it now.

 

Had some skin cancers cut off my left leg. 5 in all. 4 required skin grafts and one was just sliced out and stitched. The others were above the shin bone and went down almost to the bone. I had to stay in bed with my leg up for several weeks but the bottom 2..the largest 2 got infected..thats a story by itself but wont go into that. At one stage I thought I was going to lose my lower leg about 6 inchs up from the foot. Ended up back in hospital for 5 days and then many many weeks on the bed with my leg up on pillows. Anyone who knows me knows I have to be busy and it was killing me especially as I couldnt get on my leg. The upshot is 15 weeks later my leg is finally good enough to be able to stand on regularly now. Its still not fully healed and big holes still in it but progress has been slow but now at a point where this weekend I am back doing some work on it now. 

 

i could post some pics here but dont want to gross anyone out  😱

 

I am getting the spray booth organised this weekend and once erected I have to make a exhaust system for it. Then I can start to paint Mabel and once that done she will go down to the hangar for assembly. The engine is away at the moment getting a big bore kit fitted. New Eprop has arrived for it and the RANS as well. I am also putting in another large storage rack to crib more space as I have 2 aircraft in this shed of mine and its getting crowded with such large parts in here. Worked on getting the twin stick assembly mostly together last night.

Almost finished the new throttle mod for both the Rotax engines I have here and finalized the CNC parts for the production versions of the throttle mods and they will be ordered and should be here in about 10 days time. So have to start to get at least 25 or more of those ready to go out. Had to make another quick batch of my replacement CDI modules and have another big batch on the go now.

So this past 2 weeks or so has started to get me back into the swing of my usual daily plans.

 

My other leg needs some work done on it with the skin cancers but am holding off on that again and looking at some other methods. The ones on my right leg are no where near as severe as the left leg so thats a blessing and maybe able to do it with Efudex or something like that

 

 So expect some more posts soon here

 

Mark

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

It feels good to be actually accomplishing things again

 

The spray booth is underway. Its a wedding marquee 6m x 3 mtrs  its big enough..was only $110 on ebay...One side is atatched to my carport the other side will be ropes to pegs in the ground. The inside at the bottom on the 2 long sides and the rear will have 70x35 wood alog the inside and on the concrete that will allow the legs to be straight and the external cover to be on the outside. it will also allow me to run the plastic sheet on the floor around and up to the side walls. The end at the workshop will have a wooden frame and a intake fan and filter media in it and there will be a outlet at the back again with filter media. I will be able to roll the parts straight from the workshop into the spray booth. Will get the wood tomorrow from bunnings aerospace and should have it ready to cover hopefully by tuesday

 

[Kyle Communications]

Yeah well cheesed off with my great idea of a quick and nasty spray booth....a squall came through late last week and destroyed the frame..folding it over the existing large carport even tough it was tied to the existing carport and tied to start pickets on the other side...it broke all its ropes and tried to go flying

 

So after moping around and swearing at the dog who was looking at me to say..."why?..it wasnt me you fool that thought of it"

 

So I have decided to bite the bullet and put up a carport as I actually do need another. But it wont have any sides. i will use corflute sheets 2.4 x 1.2 and attach them to the outsides when I need to spray in there. Seal the edges with duct tape. There are some nice premade steel skillion sections available and I will just sit on 2.5 mtrs steel posts anchored to the concrete and the roof will butt up to the edge of the existing large carport..all will be come clearer when I get it done. Should take a weekend or or so and it will be done. Just waiting for pricing but I dont expect it to be more that 900 bucks in bits

 

So finally got around to finishing the steel brackets atatched to the rear of the sav fuselage so I can put it in a rotisserie to paint it. I made some angle alu brackets that attach to the fin post and tailpane mounts also on the steel frame there are 2 square sections that get bolted to the 2 lower rudder hinges...its not going anywhere. Just have to make the plate that bolts onto the 4 engine mount spots on the front. It will be ready by the time the carport is done

 

 

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Well I got the carport made...pretty pleased with it actually for $1000...lots of sweat though. Its been really muggy and hot up here this past few weeks so I have been squelching in my shoes while building it.

 

Now the good and bad news....bad news...well not so bad. I have a nice long carport for the new Triton so can get all my vehicles finally under cover. It wont be used as a spray booth though. You know the old someone who knows someone etc..we my mate Danny has come up with another good one. Turns out he has a business customer that restores old car classics and this guy has a full blown pro spray booth at his house only about 5km away from here. He has a you panel beater /spray painter he keeps busy all the time there basically gainfully employed most of the time but there are times he is struggling to keep him. He doesn want to lose him apparently he is pretty good.

So he lets this young guy do "foreigners" in the spray booth there and this young guy only charges 25 bucks an hour. He has had experience with aluminium prep and painting. So I will supply the paint which I already have and he will do all the work. Sounds damn fine to me...so he will paint Mabel..then my old Iveco van which has spent the last 15 outside will get a rust and quick make over..then of course the RANS will get done. My granddaughters old Supra needs a respray and Danny has 2 planes as well for him to do...so hopefully we can keep him gainfully employed and it saves me a ton of work and time for a very very reasonable cost...winner winner chicken dinner.

 

So I had built a wooden rotisserie to paint the fuselage but I wasnt happy with it..turns out my boss at work has a proper one fully adjustable for cars...its a oldie and had plenty of work but a little TLC which I did tonight on it when I got it home today and it looks like it will be great.

So I will make the attachment mounts tomorrow hopefully and it will be ready to put some temporary wheels on it and I can get it over the painter. Danny has a rotisserie he made for Savannah wings so we will use that. Its a single ended one so the root of the wing attaches to the rotatry part and the wing is held up by the wing strut.

I will get the painter to do all the smaller parts like tail feathers etc first. The only problem I have now is to decide on my paint scheme

 

 

 

 

 

 

[eightyknots]

8 hours ago, Kyle Communications said:

Well I got the carport made...pretty pleased with it actually for $1000...lots of sweat though. Its been really muggy and hot up here this past few weeks so I have been squelching in my shoes while building it.

 

Now the good and bad news....bad news...well not so bad. I have a nice long carport for the new Triton so can get all my vehicles finally under cover. It wont be used as a spray booth though. You know the old someone who knows someone etc..we my mate Danny has come up with another good one. Turns out he has a business customer that restores old car classics and this guy has a full blown pro spray booth at his house only about 5km away from here. He has a you panel beater /spray painter he keeps busy all the time there basically gainfully employed most of the time but there are times he is struggling to keep him. He doesn want to lose him apparently he is pretty good.

So he lets this young guy do "foreigners" in the spray booth there and this young guy only charges 25 bucks an hour. He has had experience with aluminium prep and painting. So I will supply the paint which I already have and he will do all the work. Sounds damn fine to me...so he will paint Mabel..then my old Iveco van which has spent the last 15 outside will get a rust and quick make over..then of course the RANS will get done. My granddaughters old Supra needs a respray and Danny has 2 planes as well for him to do...so hopefully we can keep him gainfully employed and it saves me a ton of work and time for a very very reasonable cost...winner winner chicken dinner.

 

So I had built a wooden rotisserie to paint the fuselage but I wasnt happy with it..turns out my boss at work has a proper one fully adjustable for cars...its a oldie and had plenty of work but a little TLC which I did tonight on it when I got it home today and it looks like it will be great.

So I will make the attachment mounts tomorrow hopefully and it will be ready to put some temporary wheels on it and I can get it over the painter. Danny has a rotisserie he made for Savannah wings so we will use that. Its a single ended one so the root of the wing attaches to the rotatry part and the wing is held up by the wing strut.

I will get the painter to do all the smaller parts like tail feathers etc first. The only problem I have now is to decide on my paint scheme

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am glad you have someone sorted for your painting.

 

I am still thinking about my own colour scheme too. Mmm? What to choose...

[IBob]

Hi Mark, sounds like a win/win, and that's certainly a great looking rotisserie setup!

 

For others who may be interested, I used a simpler arrangement, and it wasn't ideal, but could be made so:

I used a rope attached at two points in the shed roof, crossed over itself and hung under the engine mount. To rotate the fuse, I lifted the weight of the front fuse just enough to loosen the grip of the rope and turned it. Once back on the rope, the friction of the rope held the fuse in the new position.

 

1. The main drawback with this was that the engine mount is not at the centre of gravity, so the fuselage suspended this way is very belly-heavy, and a lot of muscle was required to turn it belly-up (and I never did get it entirely inverted). Another time, I would make some simple frame (maybe a reel made of heavy ply bolted through blocks) to attach to the engine mount, allowing the rope to cradle lower down.

 

2. This did involve running the rope through slits in the roof of my spray tent, and I was concerned that this may shake loose dust. But I ended up topcoating the fuse in 4 separate stages (top, 2 sides, then bottom) and this was not an issue.

 

3. The rear fuse I had just resting on a padded sawhorse. Again, since I painted in 4 stages, this worked fine, but obviously this would not work if painting all in one go.

 

4. FWIW the Savannah fuse does lend itself to being painted in 4 stages, just mask along the skin edges. As an amateur painter, I found this more manageable.

 

It's a lot of work however you do it. While I'm certainly glad I did my own, I also wouldn't look forward to doing it again!
 

Looking forward to seeing what scheme you choose, Mark.

Edited March 5, 2021 by IBob

[Mike Gearon]

Great to get this update. I was wondering what’s happening with RANS. Playing with ordering  a kit with titan 174hp 8:1. Seems worth dropping a few HP for the lower compression.
 

So sorry to hear about your health problems. Bugger! I just met up with an old friend with both a Ross river diagnosis and holes in head from cancers cut out. Yeah, no pics. Good plan!

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Yes Bob I painted the Girlfriend here at home and didnt do it with a rotisserie at all...I used a epoxy primer that set hard as a rock and was a nightmare to sand...the painting nearly broke my resolve. I was going to do it again but with a rotisserie but if this guy is pretty good it is worth paying him to do it. The side benefit of course is now knowing someone who can do a good job and doesnt charge a fortune. If I can get my aircraft painted for 2.5K or less it would be worth every penny. Means I can get Mabel flying faster and The Mistress started quicker as well. Yes its a win win 🙂

[Kyle Communications]

Raced off to Bunnings Aerospace and got some plywood this morning and made the couplings to the rotisserie ends. I set it up for the same datum to make it easy to rotate which it does...I am quite pleased with how easy it is. Just have to either use the original UC or make a temporary one..which is probably what I will do anyway so I can roll it around and this will make it easy to get it into the rotisserie ends anyway. Cant work on it tomorrow got a aeroclub committee meeting which will most likely be all day 😞 so during the week I will sort it out and do some welding

 

 

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Getting closer now :)...dinky little push around undercarriage that I made this arvo after work seems to work great. just using the main UC mounts. A bit of steel angle and some spacers to make it level attached by the 2 long bolts that attach the under carriage. Then some 40x40 legs and Bunnings Aerospace 150mm cheap wheels a couple of more bolts and she moves.

 

Pulled off the rotisserie and it came off really easily so should go back on the same. A few little things to do this weekend and I think I am almost ready.

 

[jackc]

Better than the main undercarriage on my Aircraft 🙂

[Paul davenport]

The wait will be worth it fantastic effort, thanks for sharing your journey with us 

[Jabiru7252]

Oh No!!! The National Tiles advert - I HATE it. Great video though, that rotating jig is cool...

[Kyle Communications]

Finding all the rest of the bits to get ready for painting. Have the trapdoor from underneath currently coated in paint stripper and then almost forgot the doors.

 

Started pulling the outer door covers off so I can paint strip them and also replace the 1.5mm lexan windows as they are pretty crazed and not clear. I forgot how many rivets are in them especially when you have to drill them all out then of course put them all back in then get painted again. I found one door the pilot door had a whack in it too so fixed that.

 

I didnt realize the door lexan was 1.5mm so will order that on monday. Should be here this week hopefully

[Kyle Communications]

Been trying to decide on a paint scheme...not too fancy but not as complicated as the girlfriend was. I quite like this one but as I already have the paint..ex Virgin airlines so its good stuff 🙂

 

I have red white and dark gray

This scheme is very similar to the Rans S-21 scheme on the very first one they flew and the one I had 2 flights in. I think I will have the wings white and a single starburst style red on the top

Where it is yellow on the picture I might have red then under that it will be white and under the bottom like on the S-21 pic I will have dark gray as it shouldnt show too much mud/dirt

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Worst job you can do on a Savannah rebuild....derivet and pull the doors to bits, strip all the paint off, cut and replace all the polycarb and rivet it all back together

Lost the pax side ball attachment hinge for the door...pulled the place aprt twice now but will look again...dont want to have to make one :9

 

3 jobs to do. That is strip the undercarriage and paint it also maintain the bearings and brakes then cut and fit the parachute external cover plate on top of the fuselage. Fix the bottom of the cowl and strip it back and make sure it all fits properly then she can go and get painted...

 

[jackc]

Mark,  Information on the polycarb material size, source etc please.

[Kyle Communications]

Australian Sheet Traders near Archerfield...Unit 7   57 Mortimer Rd Acacia Ridge The sales manager is a good guy. Where I work we used to get all that sort of stuff from them. The doors are 1.5mm and I already have the sheets to make the windscreen and overhead. That is 2mm thick. The sheets are 2440 x 1220 and not expensive about $62 each. The 2mm was a similar price.

 

Give me a call or message me and I will give you Gary's details

 

[Marty_d]

You can get polycarbonate at pretty much any plastics supplier.  I got mine at a local one, Associated Plastics I think it was.  As Mark says, not real expensive.

[Kyle Communications]

Pulled the workshop apart again. Can not find that rear pax door hinge...ok just have to make one. I used a threaded ball from a gas strut end and turned the shaft down in the lathe. Cut off the hex end and went over to Danny's place...he tigs a lot better than me. Made it this arvo and it fits just like a bought one so the pax door is now fitted. Undercarriage and cowls will come out of the container tomorrow and I will get them sorted

 

 

[Jabiru7252]

When windows 95 came out (in 1996) I lost the CD. Yep, it disappeared off the face of the planet. Found it twenty years later inside a book. A book on circuit analysis that hasn't been used since the seventies. I lost 5 years through stress and frustration over that. Your hinge will appear, perhaps in a bowl of soup in a restaurant in Iceland. But it will turn up.

[Kyle Communications]

Well its been a while since I posted here. Poor old Mabel has been in a waiting game for a while. Too many things happening around here. Building a house at the farm and all the dramas that come with that, CDI modules going out the door faster than I can get to make them due to the world wide shortage on parts, Getting all the special bits made for the throttle bar setups...sorry to the people wanting them but they are not far off.

 

The wings and tailfeathers went for painting about 4 weeks ago and they should be back on this Thursday hopefully. Then the fuselage can go over to get painted. The engine is currently getting the big bore fitted but a small snag today reared its ugly head and cost $280 bucks from our best friend at Floods.

At some stage the engine must have been sitting for a while...maybe when it changed from the original owner at Blackwater until it went to central NSW. Looks like a inlet valve got stuch and when the engine was started the piston got a bash on the top. You can see it in the picture.. Of course I am not using the original pistons and cylinders but the valve isnt bent but I dont want to use it so I have ordered a new one for it. The engine should be finished in the next week or so ready for when the fuselage comes back from painting.

Another issue was both axels on the UC were bent. None here in Australia and will be a long wait for some so I got 2 new ones made by a mate of mine out of 4140 which are better than the originals anyway. I have to totally clean and refurb the brakes yet.

 

Once the fuselage gets back here then its mount the UC on then the nose leg and then the engine. I will then mount and wire all the avionics and fit up the twin sticks and get all the controls done. Mabel will be ready then to go down to the hangar for the final assembly

 

Getting there a lot slower than I had planned but at least its a lot closer now

 

Mark

 

[Kyle Communications]

Mabel is getting some dress up today. paint finally going on. This was done about 2pm and the clear was about to go on. I will be picking all that up tomorrow then loading the other wing onto the rotisseri so it can be painted. Then hopefully maybe sunday I will be picking that up and it all will be going down to the hangar. Then the fuselage will go over for painting probably monday or tuesday not sure but it will be done sometime late next week. The fuselage will come back here for engine and avionics and controls to be done.

Finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel