Big changes

 

N494BP has changed!  We initialy started building a KR2-S, however when the fiberglassing of the wings went wrong, I realied it was time to move on to something quicker to build if I wanted to enjoy it with Dad.  

I purchased a Zenith 701 kit and in a few short years, completed it and it is now flying.  The reservation for N494BP was assigned to this aircraft.  

I may one day pick back up on the KR2-S project, but for now the focus is enjoying the Zenith 701.

Summery of 2013 Q1-Q3

I'm behind as usual on the posts.  No surprise there.

Since last year, we complete the foam wing rib and skins, and fiberglassed the entire wing with the help of 4 friends.  Progress has been slow for the last few months as the majority of the work has been sanding and filling on the tops of the wings.  We are using "Superfil" due to its extreemly light weight.  It's expensive at $200 for 3 gallons, but it only weighs 6 lbs per gallon, so on such a weight sensitive airplane, it's worth it.

I had planed on purchasing a great plains engine kit, but with more and more wishy washy answers from greatplains, I have decided to look elseware.  Until we get done flipping the airplane over while sanding it and filling, the engine could not be mounted and would just be sitting there rusting and getting dirty.   Waiting a little longer will probably work out better.

I have some tools now that should make it easier for me to stay caught up on my posts.  Well see how that goes!

Fiberglassing wings complete!

On Saturday morning, we completed fiberglassing the tops of the wings!  The bottom of the wings were completed 7 days earlier and were done in 4 sections per side.  At 4 sections per side, it was not bad at 70 degrees.  As the day got warmer it got harder and harder to work with.  By the final piece, it was a race against time.

This Saturday, the low was 58 degrees and the high was 70.  We completed each side of the wing in just 2 pieces of glass each!




 We were very fortunate to get almost the same crew as the first wing. Jeff + his son Josh, John and Rama.  We did a great job together and it is probably just as well we had one extra person with how big the layups were.  The top came out really nice.  I'm very pleased with how it all turned out.  There is some filling to do, but most of it is due to a little miss shaping in the foam skins.  Thanks to all the volunteers that made it happen.  Jeff, Josh, John and Rama.. And of course Dad, but he's always a key part of the process!

Soon we will be creating the wing tips and cutting out the ailerons.

Bottom of wings fiberglassed

This memorial day weekend we had 3 great volunteers help early Saturday morning to fiberglass the bottoms of the wings.

The first wing went great, but by the time we started working on the second wing, it was clear it was getting too hot.  Both wings came out fine, but the second one will take a little more cleanup and sanding that the first.

We found that 5 people seemed to be the right number of people to accomplish this.  We had 1 person pumping epoxy and making Micro, 2 people wetting out cloth on the templates we made, and then Dad and I placed the fiberglass and applied the peal ply.

I have heard very differing amounts of how much Epoxy was needed.  We decided to start with fresh cans to see what it took.  When we were all done, we had about 1/3 of a gallon left of Resin.  It took roughly 2/3 of a gallon for the bottom of the wing.  10 Yards of KR Cloth and 10 yards of Peal Ply seem to be about right for each side.

Thanks to all my helpers!  Jeff, John, and Rama (and of course Dad!)

Way behind again

We managed to complete the sheeting on the bottom of the airplane at the end of last season, however, we missed the last opportunity to fiberglass the wings.

This winter, we didn't do much with the plane.  We made some decisions, but that's about it.

We were planning on using the Corviar engine we had, but after yet another crank failure, and the rising cost of all the modifications, we have abandoned the Corvair.  I have always wanted to build a Zenith 701, so the corsair will sit in the corner awaiting the next project where it will have a redrive system and the crank should not be a factor.

As it's getting warm out, we are coming around to Fiberglass season.  The bottom and top of the wing are prepped, the templates of the fiberglass to cut out has been made, the majority of the fiberglass is there.

We need one more weekend to cut out the fiberglass and plan for the fiberglass day, and then we are ready!

May 21st - Starting the bottom sheeting

 Today we glued in 1/2" square strips at the join between the spar and the top sheeting.  This creates a lot more surface area to adhear to and also pulls the sheeting down tight on all edges.

We also started on the bottom sheeting.  The inboard panels for the center and front sections are in place, but not all glued down.

As we were about the glue down the bottom leading edge sheeting, we realized that we hadn't installed a Pitot static system yet!

Dad had ordered the tube a while back, so we had the material.  We started uncoiling the tube and making the pitot tube.  We then decided to add the static tube next to it.  We followed plans we found to create the static tube and installed it.

April 29th - Flip Day!

Today, after finishing all the Top wing sheeting, we flipped the plane over to start sheeting the bottom. Here it is just outside the hanger with the flipping jib attached where the firewall will be.

And to the right is the plane in the hanger after the flip.  It only took 2 of us, be it probably would have gone smoother with a little help.