eightyknots Posted December 17, 2012 Posted December 17, 2012 What a different aircraft ... Now dont get me wrong the plane flew very well before and I have got around 50 hours on her now and I have enjoyed every minute but I knew how nose heavy she was and also knew if I bought the CG back she would fly even better. Well the proof of the pudding is in the eating...just a fantastic difference now she now flys so much nicer....so good infact I will have to relearn her a bit more to feel fully comfortable with her as I did before the modification. I am one happy camper tonight so much so I am off early tomorrow to get some more hours up in her Mark Great news, Mark. I'm glad it worked out so well.
Kyle Communications Posted February 27, 2013 Author Posted February 27, 2013 As most who read the forum would know I have been out of action for almost 2 months now. I rebalanced the girlfriend before xmas and had a short flight around Ycab. The next day I took her out to Kilcoy for Han's surprise birthday bash on the sunday morning so it was the longest flight so far with the new CG. here is a short video of taking off from Ycab and landing at Kilcoy and the flight back. If you look hard enough you can see the nosewheel is held off much longer than before on landings and it is easy to do so. I could have held it off for longer but there was no need to. If you look at it in HD you can read the MGL EFIS speed on the left side and it is much easier now to control the speed. I have had some trouble recently on youtube with my videos after uploading they have some breakup and tearing on them this has been very frustrating I at first thought it was Imovie or my computer but a mate found some info about it and if you use a HTTPS uplink it doesnt happen so it must be some wierdo issue with my internet provider or router. Anyway this uploaded fine
rankamateur Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 Just gotta get those smooth landings happening again, I got a bit nervous just before we touched down, it is getting to be too long ago!
Kyle Communications Posted February 27, 2013 Author Posted February 27, 2013 Practice practice and more practice Steve....you need to get your bum back in the air....arrange with Bill to come up for a couple of days and get some flying in...surely you can get a leave pass for a couple of days
JG3 Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 The next day I took her out to Kilcoy for Han's surprise birthday bash on the sunday morning I note that there were twelve Savannahs on the field that day. Five of them base at Kilcoy. JG
Kyle Communications Posted February 27, 2013 Author Posted February 27, 2013 Hi John Yes it was a great morning...I am sure Hans had a good day as well...the food was pretty good too
amunro1 Posted February 28, 2013 Posted February 28, 2013 The savannah looks so stable in flight and easy to control too. What a great aircraft. Hope to hear that you are in the air soon mark. Alec Munro
Marty_d Posted May 17, 2013 Posted May 17, 2013 3 Fs? You have me intrigued about the 3 Fs. Mark, I hope all goes well at the wedding on Saturday: best wishes to Mr and Mrs Spectre!!! Just started reading this thread so not sure if anyone has already answered the 3 F's question, but it is: "If it flies, floats or f**ks... RENT, don't buy!!" (I've also broken 2. Might buy a tin dish one day too so that'll be all 3.)
rankamateur Posted May 17, 2013 Posted May 17, 2013 Just started reading this thread so not sure if anyone has already answered the 3 F's question, but it is:"If it flies, floats or f**ks... RENT, don't buy!!" (I've also broken 2. Might buy a tin dish one day too so that'll be all 3.) In all three cases it is nice to know where they have been before, and how hard they have been driven. I guess that is why we would prefer to build.
Kyle Communications Posted May 17, 2013 Author Posted May 17, 2013 phew...brings back memories of when a person was much younger and stupid.....now I build too
Kyle Communications Posted December 31, 2013 Author Posted December 31, 2013 Wow long time since I posted back in here. I thought I would fire it up again with the mods I have done to fix the girlfriend after the incident. The new panels are all clecoed in ready to rivet. I have fitted a new stronger support bar at the base of the firewall which ties back into the bottom engine mounts. I regent my stainless 90deg bend for the water outlet to the radiator to around 85 deg this makes for a better angle for the hose and no strain on the radiator at all so it won't split like a lot have. I have fitted the water thermostat its a ThermoBob one relatively easy to fit. The engine crane takes the weight off the engine mount so when the frame is riveted back and it is good to see nothing was bent at all the weight will come off the engine mount and then it will be bolted back The triangle shaped alu plate inside the cabin under the dash is for the RDAC engine unit for the EFIS I didn't want to mount it under the cowl as there is a lot of heat there Mark 2
Graham Pukallus Posted December 31, 2013 Posted December 31, 2013 Another job, well done ! Happy New year to you, the girlfriend and family.
Kyle Communications Posted December 31, 2013 Author Posted December 31, 2013 Same to you and Val Graham…hope to be doing a lot more flying this year 1 1
Kyle Communications Posted January 1, 2014 Author Posted January 1, 2014 More progress this morning…a good way to start the new year 1
eightyknots Posted January 1, 2014 Posted January 1, 2014 Great to see the mods coming into place, Mark! I hope you'll get her back into the air soon.
Kyle Communications Posted January 1, 2014 Author Posted January 1, 2014 This morning I will tighten the engine mount bolts up then I can fit the muffler system back on and mark and fit the new cowl and she will be almost ready for painting 1
Kyle Communications Posted January 4, 2014 Author Posted January 4, 2014 Worked on the girlfriend the last 2 mornings…got so hot yesterday I had to leave the hangar before 12 and today before 11am…supposed to get to 41 deg today and it feels like it will. Even the magpies were sitting in the shade of the hangar yesterday. Cowl is fitted and 2 screws on each side fitted the bottom screws on each side I need to get my heat gun out and heat the glass up to form it better at the bottom to the outside skin otherwise it pulls too much. Fitted the D nose skin for the tip and all the tip parts…had to find my plywood jig I made to form the D skin so I could cut and fit the fibreglass tip…at least I had the old one it wasn't damaged too much to make the cuts so it was a easy fit. just need to rivet it all now. Yes Steve I nearly forgot to pull the former out too lucky I hadn't riveted it yet, I will do the cowl mods tomorrow and fit the exhaust and see if I have to make any more cutouts in the cowl. I saw "speedy" yesterday he is the local go to guy for painting aircraft at Caboolture…and he is the best around for sure going to do the painting. Dropped off the paint to him I had left over so colour matching should all be fine Mark
gareth lacey Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Job well done Mark , won,t be long before your flying again Happy new year cheers gareth
Kyle Communications Posted January 4, 2014 Author Posted January 4, 2014 Hi Gareth same to you and Craig….how is yours going has she flown yet?
gareth lacey Posted January 4, 2014 Posted January 4, 2014 Hi Mark still waiting for paperwork to come back from Raa, at present am putting poh and start procedures together also a dash layout with all items marked up to send to Trevor its a waiting game at the moment ,i am back at work and away for three weeks from the 6th , Craig is also very busy with work and it is to BLXXDY hot to do anything LOL will send info to Trevor and hopefully rego come s back soon cheers Gareth
Kyle Communications Posted January 5, 2014 Author Posted January 5, 2014 Got a few things done today had a early start 6am at the hangar..although today was no where near as hot…it was 45 deg yesterday!!!!!!!! riveted the tip repairs all done ready for paint. Did the 600kg upgrade mod. Put the cowl on and heated the glass to make the bottom screws fit better it now conforms better to the side of the aircraft. Fitted the exhaust system back on to check the fit to the cowl. I will have to make the same mod as I did before with a small hole and cover it with metal mesh to stop the exhaust burning the cowl, Just need to fit the hinge for the oil door flap and the door then and pretty mud the plane is ready for painting
rankamateur Posted January 5, 2014 Posted January 5, 2014 Cowl is fitted and 2 screws on each side fitted the bottom screws on each side I need to get my heat gun out and heat the glass up to form it better at the bottom to the outside skin otherwise it pulls too much. The new cowl is way more transparent than mine, the old white gelcoat version. I am pretty sure I can see the engine covers through it in that first photo. It might take more coats of paint to make it look solid.
Kyle Communications Posted January 5, 2014 Author Posted January 5, 2014 My first cowl had a crap load of gelcoat all over it…to hide all the imperfections and I fixed a lot of low points in it the gelcoat it was 2mm thick in places…this new one is at least 2kg lighter than the first one. Undercoat will cover it easily. Just finished off the modified rudder pedals tonight..new coat of black paint to boot. Interesting the backplate of the new bolly spinner is predrilled for the 6 bolts it sits over so that saves a lot of work. I didn't get a hinge for the oil door either so it looks like a trip to Bunnings to get something or maybe Ralph might have something at ASAP aircraft spares..need to get it done this week as painting is starting. Mark 1
Kyle Communications Posted January 5, 2014 Author Posted January 5, 2014 So Steve the pictures have been coming at a snails pace bro……come on send some more… 1 1
dan tonner Posted January 8, 2014 Posted January 8, 2014 Wow long time since I posted back in here. I thought I would fire it up again with the mods I have done to fix the girlfriend after the incident. The new panels are all clecoed in ready to rivet. I have fitted a new stronger support bar at the base of the firewall which ties back into the bottom engine mounts. I regent my stainless 90deg bend for the water outlet to the radiator to around 85 deg this makes for a better angle for the hose and no strain on the radiator at all so it won't split like a lot have. I have fitted the water thermostat its a ThermoBob one relatively easy to fit. The engine crane takes the weight off the engine mount so when the frame is riveted back and it is good to see nothing was bent at all the weight will come off the engine mount and then it will be bolted backThe triangle shaped alu plate inside the cabin under the dash is for the RDAC engine unit for the EFIS I didn't want to mount it under the cowl as there is a lot of heat there Mark Hello Mark; I have been following your build on both this site and the Savannahaircraft site since I started building my own Savannah VGW (same plane - North American designation) here in Nova Scotia, Canada, in July of 2011. I have over 1000 hours of logged build time on my project and expect to be airborne in the spring. The attached picture was taken in early December just before I stored her for the winter. I spent most of the summer of 2012 redesigning the wiring plan and getting input on the mods before doing the electrics installation in the fall of that year. The final revision of my schematic is posted on Savannahaircraft. You make reference to "the incident" in this post which, I surmise, occurred sometime between May and December of 2013 - but give no details. Is there anything I should be aware of before I begin trials with my plane? Your repairs look as good as (better than?) the original; especially the lightweight cowling fitted outside the fuselage skin (where ICP should have put it in the first place). Did you layup the fibreglass yourself or is the cowl available through the ICP network? All the best for 2014; I've thoroughly enjoyed your posts; Fly safely, Dan Tonner
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