Marty_d

One plane that you'd find hard to kill you. As long as you keep flying over water and have a quick exit.

As opposed to the fact checking done by social media?

Bet it's not as easy to board with bullets flying around you... in any case, I'd prefer mine to be "anti-gravity", not Gravity...

Working on the cowl at the moment - https://www.recreationalflying.com/topic/28196-marty-ds-ch-701-build-log/?do=findComment&comment=508749&_rid=2988 Both the top and bottom are of carbon fibre, but I used gel coat on the top and didn't use a proper PVA release so I need to do that again. The bottom came out well though.

Looking good Kyle. The structure of that wing brings back memories, very similar to the 701. Bending the leading edge over with a strip of timber clamped to it and ratchet straps to tighten it down is the same process too.

Good luck Duncan! Looking good. What sort of engine are you considering?

Again, your comments are all probably perfectly correct IN GENERAL, now look at the specifics. 1. No one cares if a homebuilt aircraft has factory purchased plans. It's homebuilt. Build quality, components and looks will vary whether it's kit or scratch built. My aircraft has Savannah slats, Savannah undercarriage, Savannah fuel tanks, modified elevator trim, and a homebuilt cowling that bears no resemblance to the factory ones. I don't really care if it's called a 701 or not. 2. This is not a status symbol like a designer handbag or a Ferrari. They're not built in factories anyway (see above). So the question of authenticity is moot. 3. Copyright is not involved. I purchased the paper plans. What I do with them after that is my business. If I choose to give them away I can. I'm not setting up a factory to punch out aircraft kits based on 701 plans (Savannah already did that). 4. As a homebuilt aircraft, RA-AUS doesn't care if it's from plans purchased from an aircraft factory, second hand plans, or out of your own head. So the bit in your first post about not being able to register the resulting aircraft is simply not true. Anyway I think I've said enough about this - if you want to go on about it then feel free, but as far as I'm concerned the subject is closed.

There's a lot of talk about intellectual property and making sure the designer gets his dollar. Not to mention some misleading information about not being able to register the aircraft with RA-AUS. I think you're all kind of missing the point with this aircraft. This is not in any way a piece of technology that needs its intellectual property rights protected for the company to maintain a competitive advantage. It was designed almost 50 years ago and has been copied by every man and his dog, as anyone who flies a Savannah will know. It's been made redundant by the 750 and the Cruzer in any case, and by the way, the designer just died. So no, I can't see that Zenith will be too pissed off about someone getting a second hand plan instead of buying it from the factory. I don't think that any prospective buyer in the future will give a toss that the builder didn't buy the plans from the factory. I also don't think that the recipient of the plans deserves to be called a "thief". I paid for the plans in the first place and I willingly gave them away. Other people here on this site have helped me with parts and materials. So let's all just take a bit of a chill pill regarding the absolute letter of the law and remember we're all reasonable human beings who help one another.

Have a look at Ebay - https://www.ebay.com.au/b/Commodore-Vintage-Computers-and-Mainframes/162075/bn_1843604 People pay stupid prices for these "vintage" computers, and if you have a bucket of software it's worth another motza. Sell, young man, sell!

2 degrees air temp and 13 degrees water temp - I don't call that inviting!!

I don't know, Mike, but can't see that it's relevant. I've given away the original copies of the plan, which is my right to do as I bought them in the first place. If the person I gave them to subsequently goes and builds a plane from them, that's nothing to do with me. As to the manufacturer not supplying parts, it's hardly relevant with the 701 - all I've bought from Zenith are the gear/strut pickups (which can be welded by a competent person) and the wingtips / flaperon tips, which could be moulded from fibreglass/CF easily enough. Besides, Zenith are happy enough to sell bits to anyone. The only thing they probably won't do is provide builder advice if you're not the registered owner of the plans.

That one doesn't look laminated at all. Was it carved from a single piece @Thruster88?

Everything is from solar energy. Strangely enough, I'd rather eat vegetables which are concentrated solar energy and cows, which eat other vegetation which is concentrated solar energy, than lumps of coal. So why not leave the coal in the ground and get the solar energy straight from the source?

Refuelling shouldn't be a hard ask for a drone. From my limited knowledge I believe that all you have to do is meet the recipient at a specified height and location, then fly extremely stable and steady racetrack patterns.

Mods - I really think Off Topic is the spot for this thread.

Quick update - I finished trimming the lower cowl today (apart from where the exhaust will exit), located it properly and did a 1/8" hole on each side so I could cleco it. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to use the top cowl - it got a couple of cracks when I was trying to lever it out of the mould, and when I try to press it down in position it creases along the crack lines. I think I have enough pieces of carbon left to do another one, and this time I'll use PVA - I'm a convert Peter! I did some weighing today - the trimmed lower cowl is just on 2kg, the top (which I can't use) is just over 1kg. This is fairly light compared to fibreglass - there's a top cowl the guy who lent me the mould gave me made out of chopped strand and poly, that weighs over 2kg.

My engine came out of a well maintained training aircraft so I might leave the adjustments as they are initially!

Bob, I've just been watching some youtube stuff about dzus. Apparently some have a reduced section on the shank so you can slip a circlip over them which goes between the parts to be held. This would keep the dzus attached to the outer part when they separated. Like below: these ones from Bullant seem to have a nylon washer (1.3mm thick), not sure how it goes over the large part to be held on but it'd certainly stop accidental droppings.

That's the thing isn't it. I can imagine that the cowl is on and off like a bride's nightie while the plane is under construction, FWF is being sorted out and everything adjusted. But after you start flying, how often do you remove it?

Thanks Bob. Being a scratch built cowl, there's no guarantee that other planes would have the same thickness. I'll measure as best I can to select the right length. Great advice - keep it coming!

Yes it's starting to look like DZUS are the way to go. Someone gave me a link to an Australian supplier so will calculate how many I need and put in an order.

Thanks Bob, Peter and Planey. Bob, that's interesting that the Sav has the cowl inside the fuse ally. Everything on the 701 is built so the overlaps are downwind, ie the bit that's towards the front always goes over the bit behind it. I always assumed that cowls would be like that too. The installation instructions for the factory cowl (attached) have it overlapping the fuse and screwed to it, with the top overlapping the bottom and screwed together. I especially like the bit on page 8 that says "Note: on our demo, we push up the bottom cowl to fit around the fuselage and ignored the beveled flange along the top of the bottom cowl." Maybe I should do that - not worry about trying to bevel the joint, the top cowl is only 3 layers of CF thick anyway so it wouldn't hurt it to sit over the bottom cowl. Actually it's interesting that they just use countersunk flat head screws into flush riveted nutplates on both the fuselage and joining the cowls. Maybe I should do that - sounds easier than trying to run a hinge along it! Yes access to the oil tank - definitely will have a door there. r912s-ring-6.pdf

F10, there's quite an extensive thread about the Orange Clown in the Off Topic section. However letting people know that you think he was an effective president is kind of like telling people you think getting syphilis is a character-building experience - you're fully entitled to your opinion but you probably won't get much agreement.

Hey folks, As promised - some photos. I took off the muffler today and started test fitting, need to work out where the exhaust is going to exit the cowl and cut accordingly. Haven't got the prop yet but bought a spinner that bolts on the front of it, temporarily bolted that on with some BA (Bunnings Aerospace) bolts to get some idea of what it'll look like. By the way - thinking about how the top and bottom pieces will go together - planning to use aluminium piano hinge on the sides and maybe Dzus round the firewall connection. Any advice (and pictures) of the best way to do this? Overlap? Rebated piece under on one surface? Butt join? Thanks!

Obviously not appropriate if you're only pulling 10 rivets, but my generic air riveter has pulled around 6500 with only occasional unjamming required.