Rans S21 Outbound build French Island. Nic and Mike. Start date 3rd May 2022. Finish date 1st February 2023. Target $ spend to be determined.

[RFguy]

Nev,  I see lots of GA people AMS, LAMEs  running engines without cowls well above runup speed and I voice my opinion...

People just dont realise that the air must go between the fins, and will ONLY do so if there is no other choice. 

Blowing air across the tips of the fins (open cowls)  is almost useless compared to the actual airflow requirement...

[Mike Gearon]

Aircraft 1

 

We have a prop. Just waiting on inspection and getting the cowl done and we are flying. As Rfguy mentions it needs cowl. We’ve gotten away with the baffles topped with cardboard for now. No engine temp problems. Run it without the cardboard on top simulating a cowl and it’s quickly hot.

 

I’m travelling at the moment. Looking forward to getting in and flying…. Next week?

Aircraft 2.

 

Well……sitting in the record cutting studio right now in Taiwan. Only here a few days and then into aircraft building pretty much full time unless something gets in the way. I’m keen to build now like I was last year. Hoping when Nic hooks in with me we have it built by…. Christmas?

 

Other pics above  finishing up a runway extension. Not having easy access to road grader we are using the 8 ton excavator as small bulldozer. Bucket takes out hills and fills holes. The traversing backward and forward and angles really levels the ground. The tracks press the freshly cultivated soil down. Overall a win against the 6k it’d cost to bring the family road grader back down with barge and float costs.

 

Runway now finished and as soon as the grass grows it’ll be fly straight out of the 2nd hangar up the hill for northerly take off. 600m and that uphill is a huge help for landings from the south. I should have put the runway there in the first place. Realised the mistake when landing about a month back with a 20kn direct cross and battling in with the geese and the uphill downhill and 3 goes to land. Total runway length is now 1km if you don’t mind a dogleg from the south at 500m then it’s another 500m uphill to arrest excess energy,

 

Bonus I hadn’t realised with the extension is that instead of facing the full force of westerly/ north west winds the uphill section is protected by topography and trees.

 

Thinking I might now list it as an uncertified airfield. I’ll discuss pros and cons with people. With the extension take offs and landings can all be done to the south and not annoy neighbours. It’s also less challenging now. I got over having people in after watching a few very hairy landings. Particularly a jabiru that looked perilously close to dropping a wing on the ground at the apex of hill in a crosswind. Scared the bejezeesus out of me just watching.

 

I said to Nic this morning the key to aircraft building is (IMO) having an end date in mind to be flying. That gives you the enthusiasm to power on. I started prepping yesterday to paint the fuselage and when back from Taiwan end this week it’s pretty much full time building aircraft 2. I think it’s been a year off. Have achieved a hell of a lot as making that worthwhile.

 

 

 

[rodgerc]

As a repeat offender, my experience suggests the keys to aircraft building (IMO) are:

1. To do something on it everyday,

2. Acknowledge that the hours required to build will be at least 3 times that indicated (guaranteed) by the designer/kit supplier,

3. Accept that when it looks ready to fly, you’re about 50% finished, and

4. Understand that the aircraft cannot fly until the weight of the paperwork is greater than the aircraft’s MTOW. 
 

You’ll undoubtedly have her in the air by Christmas….But by which Christmas?…. Well how heavy is the accumulated paperwork? 🤔

[Mike Gearon]

11 hours ago, rodgerc said:

As a repeat offender, my experience suggests the keys to aircraft building (IMO) are:

1. To do something on it everyday,

2. Acknowledge that the hours required to build will be at least 3 times that indicated (guaranteed) by the designer/kit supplier,

3. Accept that when it looks ready to fly, you’re about 50% finished, and

4. Understand that the aircraft cannot fly until the weight of the paperwork is greater than the aircraft’s MTOW. 
 

You’ll undoubtedly have her in the air by Christmas….But by which Christmas?…. Well how heavy is the accumulated paperwork? 🤔

I might become a repeat offender. Already looking at the RV14 to replace the RV6.

 

Everyday is definitely the way to go. Entirely agreed. It’s a bit difficult when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Daughter 2 added a new project a month back. 1.2m x 2.4m spotted gum table. That was in top of the farm season stuff, runway extension and Asian trips/ projects. Thankfully they are all under control.  Home Monday and a business partner arriving as I get off Qantas flight. Meeting him at Moorabin airport for project then flying him to French island in the RV. He’s staying the night and I’ll still make sure some S21 stuff happens! So, it’s now finally a priority again. It’ll help next week when Nic and I start flying the S21 with build,enthusiasm.

 

I guess that’s if it’s passed final inspections and it should.

 

With balance in mind I happily dropped aircraft building while making daughters table.  I fly the RV6 up to the family farm at Wangaratta and help with seasonal work. Return was help with the table. It’s getting a penny in corner and other pic was assembly on the way to airport for Taiwan trip I’m on now. 
 

 Daughter will have this table for life and maybe a grandson will have the S21. So, it’s all relative. 
 

Re build time. I get that it’s like a house. At lock up stage a house looks done but it’s  half built.

 

Time….. I think in a few weeks it’s going to be painted gray underneath, white sweep with white tail and all the rest red sitting on wheels and looking excitingly finished. But, of course it won’t be. Avionics are near done. Nic is my savior here. I just do what he says. It’s right in his wheel house.
 

He and I will hook into the build in between flying the UL520t. Really hoping it is going to be a great engine and we can report only good stuff. Reality is probably going to be a bit of work on getting the cooling sorted. Our plan is to just do our best. Fly and modify airflow until it’s sorted.

 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

A small hill or some trees won't stop a wind but will modify it.. Usually makes it more turbulent.. Nev

[sfGnome]

2 hours ago, Mike Gearon said:

Daughter 2 added a new project a month back.

I can identify. 🫤 Just as I’m really enjoying building (every day!), one son wants me to build an office in his garage (new progeny means he’s running out of room in his quite small house), and daughter wants a fairly complicated new interior for one of her built-in cupboards. Happy to do them, but it’s really hard to get started on them when the shed is calling…

[Mike Gearon]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

A small hill or some trees won't stop a wind but will modify it.. Usually makes it more turbulent.. Nev

True. But I’m very sure of what’s happening here. I’m living it. The  blue area has virtually no protection from westerlies. As you go up the hill it changes quite dramatically. The whole orange shaded area is low hills and trees. 
 

Other bonus of the extension  is there is nearly a km to sort where the cape barren and water hens are to land before or after them. Useless buzzing them with low passes. They ignore the aircraft. I’ve been flying here long enough that a number of them will have been born in the runway area and grown up with the big noisy bird as normal. I’ve made landings where the pair ahead of me as I slow down don’t move at all. I have go around them. Makes juggling the idiosyncrasies of a tail wheel even more interesting.

 

 

[facthunter]

Birds will be an ongoing problem. I've seen after rain hundreds arrive to get the crickets coming out of the cracks in the ground... My student was going to do a touch and go . He obviously hadn't seen them. They were ALL walking around eating and not flying.  Nev

[rodgerc]

Given the amount of heat you’ll be managing with that big ULPower engine, have you considered adding the Coandra exit fairing and cowling lip that other S-21 (and RV) builders have resorted to, before your first flight?
 

Since the clecoes are still in your lower firewall, it might be easier to do before riveting and painting. 

[Mike Gearon]

Wow, that’s a good idea! I know just enough to understand that it’s that exit air that’s most important if the inlets are sized okay. That and the air is ramped up on the inlet and not leaking anywhere/ everywhere. 
 

I believe the plan is to do the minimal and then test. Pic here from today. We are choosing if the spinner area should be lowered or lower the top cowling and raise the inlets. The cowling provided from UL USA obviously needs a bit of massaging.

 

 

[Mike Gearon]

Update 

 

Aircraft 1

 

We hope to be flying today. Test pilot visiting and if all go we fly. We are higher temp on cylinders 3 and 4 on high rev taxi so this could influence our decision making. 
 

Nic was very certain we wouldn’t have a vacuum explosion when vacuuming out the tanks with a little gas in the bottom. Thankfully he was correct. I must admit I was a little chicken and stayed back out of shrapnel range. 
 

 

Aircraft 2

 

I had a moment where deep red seemed the modern option looking at the latest car colors. Returned to a more traditional fire engine red. Which red is better? I still don’t know 🙂

We are thinking of leaving the wings off aircraft 2 and maybe even the wheels to make interior/ avionics easier to work on. Sit the fuselage on a box about half what it’d be on wheels and no climbing over wheels or ducking under wing to work. 
 

Only disadvantage I can see is it won’t be looking as finished and exciting as sitting on wheels with wings on.

 

little yellow balloon stayed up for 24 hours on 1 wing tank without deflating. Made it through 6 hours on tank 2. No visible leaks with soap test so I think okay. No proseal used between gasket and tank. Proseal between gasket and wing skin.

 

 

Edited November 5 by Mike Gearon

[sfGnome]

My beloved gets to choose our car colours, and her choice is normally red. However, her current car is white because she hated the ugly dark reds that seem to be the only option these days. Definitely a vote for nice bright fire engine red! 

[Mike Gearon]

10 hours ago, sfGnome said:

My beloved gets to choose our car colours, and her choice is normally red. However, her current car is white because she hated the ugly dark reds that seem to be the only option these days. Definitely a vote for nice bright fire engine red! 

Glad to hear that. I’ve also seen dark gray in the new car pool. It’s a really popular option. I can’t understand that one at all.

 

Should aircraft builders follow color fashion? I think it was peer group pressure driving down the road and seeing the dark reds one after another.

The decider was when I was reviewing old pics and came across this one. Contrast between the inner and outer wasn’t going to work well. Also, I’d put a fair bit of work into the interior paint. Blasting it deep red didn’t seem right.

 

Wing painting today. 

 

[IBob]

It seems to me that aircraft are like cars, in that certain models look good in certain colours or colour schemes.
I do think that some homebuilts are let down by poor choice of colours/schemes, which is doubly unfortunate given the amount of time and care that goes into them.

One approach to choosing a scheme is to colour in a profile of the aircraft, but I found this not useful at all, actually quite deceptive as the aircraft rarely appears in straight profile. I found it far more helpful to view the numerous shots of real aircraft online.

[facthunter]

Use colours for good visibility and staying cool in the sun. Thick paint is not for you either. It adds quite a bit of weight.  Consider using a paint you can touch up , like Acrylic Lacquer.  Nev

[spacesailor]

A query on !.

Were to donate aircraft paint/thinners .

As I have a couple of old cans to go .

 

As you can see . No label. 

spacesailor

 

[facthunter]

Use it to remove sludge etc from the innards of old engines. or to remove  grease  and wax prior to painting.  Nev

[Mike Gearon]

Aircraft 1

 

Pics below. Test pilot Ben checking detail throughout the aircraft before scheduling a test flight day. I thought it was the test flight day. Makes a whole lot of sense to spend a day thoroughly checking every aspect of the build before venturing into the air. We were lucky to get Ben as test pilot. He spends most of his time flying executive jets around the world.

 

Aircraft 2

 

It’s the first time for a year that I’ve been able to get stuck full time into the build. It’s a bit like your first day on a new job starting back in. I got off to a rocky start putting fuel tank holes in the wrong spot a few months back. If you don’t do any building you can’t make a mistake. But….slowly got back into it and it’s been very satisfying laying down paint that’s not orange peel. Used to be and the paint shop sold me a HPLV spray gun. What a difference. I apply the paint in 1/4 to 1/3rd runs that isn’t too thick. That way if it’s slightly under or over the paint blends in and it’s near enough to perfect.

 

Put the header tank in with triple and quadruple checks before drilling holes. The manual actually tells you to triple check. Don’t know what I was thinking when I drilled those fuel tank holes wrong. Probably over confident. Fixed that problem now!

 

I’m back to the rhythm I had a year ago. Enthusiastic and putting in 8-11  hour days not including time spent each day on YouTube’s and sitting watching tv while thumbing through Rans parts, text and figure manuals. 
 

Nic and I are off to Parafield this weekend for an SAAA course in maintenance. Compulsory if you want to do your own annual etc. 8 participants and apart form the boring regulation stuff it should be fun with fellow builders. I then fly back to Melbourne and immediately board flight up to Taipei for 5 days. 

‘Then back into build process only interrupted by hay baling. Nic will work with me on avionics. Expect to have avionics done and Titan engine all plumbed in by years end then maybe January finish up the skylight, windshield, doors and engine cowling. 
 

We should be flying Nic’s really soon.

 

 

[Mike Gearon]

SAAA Maintenance course. Adelaide at Parafield. Norm, Greg and Martin presented. Must complete this course to sign off annual. Also involves about 3 hours of online exam. Even open book it takes time. 

 

First day is a lot of regulations and it’s extremely difficult to stay awake. Norm did his best to make it lively and I don’t think it could have been presented better. The side detours to aircraft war stories make it much more interesting and I think we really benefit from those decades of experience. Second day is a bit more hands on but we don’t get greasy hands. Just writing up info as if we are doing actual maintenance logs.

 

I get it. We become the Lamie/ A&P. It’s a bit like radio calls with who we are, where we are and what we are going to do.

 

In this case it’s roughly…..

 

Why we are qualified to do it.

What reg we do it under.

Why we are doing what we are doing.

What we are doing/ replacing the thing and what maintenance info we referred to.

 

Biggest benefit of doing all this properly is our own reference and a secondary but I ortant consideration is that the aircraft is worth more to sell if the records look good. So, in conclusion it’s a big hassle but worth it!

 

Aircraft 1 is still about to fly, maybe next week.

 

Aircraft 2 is starting to move along. Brake lines, header tank and fuel lines in. Controls mostly complete. 
 

Painted most surfaces and tail feathers and engine possibly on next week.