Anatomy of a Super

Latest Pics

2008-08-23T11:14:00.002-05:00

Here is the airplane as it is today. I'm waiting until after the move to Chico to complete the plane. Should be able to finish it in another 5-10 hours though.

Most of what's left is minor. Some basic electrical wiring and attaching the ailerons. We'll also need to paint the pod, but that comes last.

Another Overdue Update

2008-08-04T19:04:00.003-05:00

I bet you lost faith, didn't you. Well, don't worry. I hereby declare that the plane will be flying before the end of the year. Isn't it funny how in May I was so quick to say "it'll be up in a week."

And truthfully, there's only a few more hours of work on this beast. Namely, I need to:

1) Wire the electronics
2) Paint the pod
3) Attach the ailerons
4) Attach a few wing wires, and...
5) Mount the propeller

But without the necessary electrical prowess, I have to bring in a third party (you rock, Art) and that cost $$$. Not that I don't have any, but I'm just a little reluctant to spend right now since I don't have a job. Not to mention that I'm almost certain there will be additional unforeseen costs when I get airborne.

According to my logbooks, I haven't flown since November 28th and it's killing me. I can't wait to get back in the air. But patience is a virtue, they say...so I will wait.

I promise to get some recent photos up in the next few days. I know I haven't even posted anything since we recovered the wings and made it look like an airplane again. I sense progress in the air. Will keep you updated.

Some perspective

2008-01-06T18:37:00.000-06:00

I'm not a slacker

2008-01-05T21:32:00.000-06:00

It's just that the holidays are so demanding. Nevertheless, I've made a little progress. Here it is

Update: New Plans for Plane

2007-12-16T00:48:00.000-06:00

The plane is still moving right along. I don't spend as much time as I would like at the hanger, but I have still managed to make some progress. Right now, I've got the trike structure completely assembled. Tomorrow, Mark and I will take apart the 503 (that's the engine Mom) at his shop. Luckily, Mark's shop is heated and we won't have to bear the 40 degree windy weather. Up next is the seat and harness attachment, followed by the pilot faring (pod) fitting. Then the instruments, engine mounting and wiring and finally painting.

I'm still planning to get the plane completely assembled prior to leaving for California on the 25th. However, instead of doing the recovering here and risking damage to the shiny new sail set during the move, I'm going to wait to re-cover the wings and tail until I get to Cali. This will make transport a lot easier as well because now I can remove the old sails and just deal with transporting the tubes. I still have to find someone to follow me to Corning in a U-haul though.

Hopefully, I'll still be able to do the test flight at Kittyhawk with the old sails. They are in good shape (just ugly) and I just need to inspect the wing structure to ensure that it's ok too. (picture pending)

Smoke on a plane

2007-12-08T15:02:00.000-06:00

The Aforementioned Altitude Chamber

2007-12-04T20:57:00.000-06:00

Nice Rubber Family

2007-12-04T20:56:00.000-06:00

These are the dummies used in crash tests at CAMI in Oklahoma City where I went through the Physiology of Flight course today. If you've never been in an altitude chamber, try it...it rocks. I didn't quite pass out but I did have a slight case of hypoxic amnesia. That is to say, at least one minute of my life went by unnoticed. But I did get to take note of my individual hypoxia symptoms which was kinda the whole point. What was most amazing though was how quickly everyone recovered after donning the oxygen masks. Where as the symptoms of hypoxia set in about a minute after rapid decompression (to 25,000 feet), the recovery happens almost entirely within the first few breaths of pure oxygen

Tomorrow we are scheduled to do the Post-Crash Survival course. This will probably not be quite as fun, but we do have a water egress scenario in the FAA pool. By the way, thanks to any taxpayers reading this. You are our benefactors.

It's almost a go cart

2007-12-01T15:46:00.000-06:00

Finally

2007-11-30T22:48:00.000-06:00

Something that looks like progress. I've been real slow getting anything done lately, but I finally got some momentum going today. Finished refitting the new axle and attached the tension struts. I'm hoping to install the root tube and tri-bar assembly tomorrow.

Sorry for the long delay

2007-11-28T11:21:00.000-06:00

Since I've been back from California, I've found it pretty hard to post. I'm staying in a different place every night and continuing to live out of a duffel bag. As far as the plane goes, progress is slow but I'm not too worried just yet. I moved it to one of the T-hangers so that I could work on it without distraction, but that hasn't worked out that well. I'll try to be better about posting.

Pokin around

2007-11-07T20:00:00.000-06:00

One of the best things about this class is that we're able to look under the hood of certified airplanes.

Lassen Peak

2007-11-04T16:11:00.000-06:00

I should be studying today but I had to get out at least once during this trip. Drove out to the nearest national park and hiked the biggest hill I could find. Turns out they have mountains in California and their air is real thin like. This particular mountain/volcano was well worth the hike.

Update: Status of Airplane

2007-11-01T23:41:00.000-05:00

Recently, this blog has turned into a commentary of my day-to-day rather than an account of the Super rebuild. Unfortunately, being in California precludes me from getting any work done on the plane, so I have to either write about what I'm doing or risk falling out of the habit of writing and giving up on the blog all together. Truthfully, I don't think all two of the people that follow this site mind if I digress from talking about the plane every once in a while (especially given that neither of you two are pilots).

However, given the original intent of the blog and the lapse since the last "plane post", here is the current status of the whole thing. As I write this, the airplane sits in pieces, in boxes in San Antonio. I have all the parts necessary for the rebuild save one Chromoly tube (which I will order this week) and the BRS ballistic chute (which I actually have, but need to send off for a repack when I get back to Texas). I think that's everything but I'm almost positive more items will come up as I start the reassembly.

Here's my plan. When I get back to Texas, I'll chill out for a day or two in Austin and then I'll stay in SA until the job is nearly done. I plan to work only on the plane (in addition to providing flight training for my one real student). My goal is to get the trike together and the engine running within one week. Beyond that, I'll probably need another two weeks for the rest of the assembly (sails included). So three weeks is the goal which means I'll probably get it done in three months, but I guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Hand propping

2007-11-01T19:26:00.000-05:00

Propeller repair

2007-10-31T13:12:00.000-05:00

This was cool because we got to hack up the prop beforehand.

In the Spirit of Halloween

2007-10-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

I've decided to go with a pumpkin color scheme on the new sail set for the Super. No sense in talking me down, I've already placed the order with Quicksilver. Before you criticize my sense of style, let me explain. The burnt orange you see in the picture is actually not anything close to what the finished sail will look like (and thus, it will not really look like a pumpkin). The actual color is called Day-Glo Orange and it makes the plane stand out like a red-neck at a Radiohead concert. I'm not even sure if I'll install a radio, so I really want people to see me. From what I've heard, planes with the orange sails can be seen as far as ten miles out.

Black is favored on the bottom of the wing to offset the glare from the sun. I convinced the guys over at Quicksilver to do a non-standard stitching pattern that allows for different colors on the top and bottom of the wing. Whereas the colors normally wrap around to both sides, mine will be stitched together just aft of the leading edge on the lower wing surface (that is, the color pattern will be inverted here). Hopefully, this will keep the brightness to a minimum in the cockpit. Thanks to Richard and Barry at Quicksilver for working with me on the stitching.

Mark has also agreed to help me paint the pod. I'm thinking of a black and orange starburst. Whadaya think?

Composites

2007-10-25T22:22:00.000-05:00

Today, we learned about composite repairs. Did you know that the tensile strength of the composite material that makes up the Lancair IVP is about eight times stronger than steel? Me neither. There are a few caveats (e.g. only in tension, not in compression), but I still found that pretty impressive given that it weighs almost nothing.

I'm pretty tired now though, so I'm gonna get some rest. I'll probably have some more stuff to write about after the weekend.

Another Hiatus

2007-10-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

It's taking longer than I expected to get going on the plane. Currently, it's entirely disassembled and sitting in boxes in San Antonio. I'm in Corning, California taking the Rainbow Aviation LSA maintenance repairman course. Since I already have all the parts I need to finish. I should have the plane together in no time when I get back to Texas in three weeks.

I'm a little jet lagged tonight, but I think I'll be back to normal by tomorrow. There are about 15 of us in the course, and so far it seems like everyone is pretty cool. I think my experience in San Antonio puts me somewhere in the middle in terms of prior knowledge about the course material. That is, I think I know more than most about the regulations and certification stuff, but in the shop I'm a little behind. I spent about 20 minutes today trying to identify a particular sheet metal nut. I spent another 10 minutes putting safety wire on two prop bolts. But I've got a lot of books that will help out if I can manage to study a little when I'm not at the airport.

Clarification

2007-10-12T19:06:00.000-05:00

Just in case anyone was wondering how I'm spending so much time on this, here are a few things that I've been dealing with. Pictured below is a tube that has been compressed by an overzealous bolt-tightening previous owner. It's not necessarily detrimental to the overall structure, but it is a weak point. I've replaced a few tubes like this.

Next we have an elongated bolt hole. This occurs over the years as a bolt is stressed to and fro during flight (or often during taxi which is the most stressful portion of a flight). The elongated hole pictured below is on the chromoly-steel frame that supports the pilot and the overall structure. Some suggested that I simply sleeve the inside of this tube with a smaller diameter aluminum piece and then redrill the hole. That would work, but it would also be slightly weaker. You could also weld over the hole and redrill it, but that requires special welding equipment that I don't have. Luckily, my good buddy Danny has an extra set of these tubes that he is willing to give me.

Finally, some tubes were just worn from abrasion with attached parts (tube clamps, throttle housings etc.). Below is an example of this where the seat downtube was rubbing against the exhaust system. Though this tube is double-walled and it would've taken another hundred hours or so to become a problem, I went ahead and replaced it.

Can't be complete without chrome

2007-10-10T11:57:00.000-05:00

I saved a lot of money on this project in some surprising ways, so I've got a little extra in my budget for a few cosmetic changes that I think are well worth the costs. This one in particular I would've done regardless. Here are the before and after shots of my exhaust system. I sent it off to the great guys at Cradin Industries in Boerne and I'm very pleased with the results. The chrome plating is only a few microns thick so it hardly adds any weight, and it looks awesome.

I mentioned that I'll be repainting the main axle...I think I'm going to have Cradin work their magic on it if they're willing. Not sure if I'll use chrome, but they have a lot of other options to choose from.

Backwards Progress

2007-10-10T09:16:00.000-05:00

I've gotten a lot done in the past few days, but I'm still diverging from anything that looks like an airplane. Here's the structure as it stands now. I ended up having to take the whole thing apart (even down to the wheels and tires) just to replace the downtubes that had minor abrasions. Since I've got it apart, I'm gonna go ahead and disassemble the main axle and get it painted so that everything looks spiffy (resale value in mind).

Sorry for the long delay

2007-09-25T09:37:00.001-05:00

I do plan to keep this updated regularly; however, I've been studying for the Sport Pilot Instructor checkride and I told myself I wouldn't touch the Super until this process is completed. I should be done with all that in the next week or so.

I have received most of the parts I'll be replacing, but I've been trying my best not to mess with anything yet. As I expected, the registration came back from the FAA incomplete (this happens a lot), but I resubmitted and I think it'll go through this time.

In other news, I've been flying this plane lately. It's a Challenger II that a customer wants me to train him in. Most of the guys around here aren't too fond of these planes, but I met a nice guy named Kyle who flies one. He taught me a lot about the airplane and how it was made to fly and personally, I don't think it's all that bad. Kinda flies like a boat, but it's smooth and quiet. I'd take it cross-country anyday.

Side note: Test Flight

2007-09-06T13:08:00.000-05:00

Had to include this because it's awesome. I made the maiden flight on this brand new Sport 2S last night. Our trainer is a 400 hours and this bird has less than 2. The difference was incredible. Handling, climb rate, everything was just better. Most of the guys around here attributed it to tighter sails and I think that's probably mostly right. But this got me thinking. We've got a fairly dirty prop on the trainer and I'd like to see the difference after it's been cleaned and all that parasitic drag has been removed from the airfoil. We're also getting slightly higher RPMs on climbout in the trainer which indicates a difference (albeit minor) in prop pitch. Still, I'd like to run an experiment on the climb rates after the prop has been cleaned if for no other reason than to determine the real world effects of a dirty prop. More on this later. Here's a picture of that new plane we built.

I haven't come very far on the Super other than sending out a few emails to price some of the parts I need. I sent Quicksilver a list and I'm still waiting to hear back on that. So far, I think my repair budget (which is in the realm of $5000) is on track. However, the ballistic recovery chute that came with the plane is no good so I'll still have to buy a new chute which will be around $2000. If I can get the new sails for $1500, that still gives me $1500 for new tubes, gauges, and miscellaneous items. Admittedly, I'll probably dip into my savings a little when all is said and done because I won't stop til it's perfect. But I think the budget planning is solid for now.

Stripped!

2007-09-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jim Russell for helping me completely tear apart the plane last night. I helped him with some certification stuff on his plane and he helped me pull the fuel tank, seat, pod, prop, drive shaft, and engine. Sounds like a fair trade, doesn't it?

Anyway, I can really see what's going on with the structure of the plane now that all the extraneous parts have been removed. I sent Mark Smith from Tri-State Kites in Indiana an email about the painted (and non-anodized) tubes. The original seller had called them Mark Smith mods and I wanted to check on their integrity as they are non factory parts. Mark has been a Quicksilver dealer since they first started back in the good old days and he has been modifying MX's since the 80's. When I contacted him, he was actually familiar with my particular plane (The red, white, and blue Super from Texas). He said the painted tubes are ok as long as they're in good shape otherwise. I personally would prefer to have nice new anodized tubes, but at this point that would be mostly cosmetic and extremely expensive. Note: Anodization is a process used by Quicksilver to coat the tubes in all their aircraft. It serves to prevent corrosion and works better than paint. In my case, I will inspect carefully for corrosion while the plane is taken down. Any new tubes will be anodized.

My plan is to ensure the integrity of the tubes on the trike and then order whatever I need. In my spare time, I'm going to pull the head of the engine (Rotax 503, by the way) and do a thorough decarbon/inspection. Mark will be helping me take on the engine inspection as I've never done clearance measurements or inspected cranks before.