dle's Oz Build

[David47]

Time for some more building confessions. Spent the whole of Easter fabric covering the LH wing (I have a very understanding partner - thankfully) .... the RH wing I'd covered earlier in the year. I've included a few photos of the process along the way, more for new builders than the folks that have been there before. My build space gets very messy during this stage because there ain't much time to push a broom when you have various adhesives and other compounds that go off in higher temperatures so there's stuff on the floor that normally isn't there. So after this weekend just gone, both wings are now covered and just need the 96 coats of polybrush and polyspray to complete ... and then only before the final paint scheme .... Maybe I should have looked at Oratex after all !!.

This weekend, I also fitted up the engine and trimmed the lower cowl to suit. I had a friend over to help and he put together aluminium alloy trays for the fuselage aft of the baggage bay. Somewhere down that way I'll be mounting the battery, and maybe a backup ... not sure about that yet. I'm also looking at putting on a T3 tailwheel kit with a twin fork 8" Matco or something similar as I plan on doing mostly outback or bush flying. But I'll have to do some preliminary weight and balance to make sure I don't drag the empty weight CG too far aft. Just out of curiosity, has anyone weighed their wings (covered) and fuselage (covered) as individual assemblies before final spray painting ?. If someone else has done so, would appreciate some weights, otherwise I'll try and rig up something myself.

[rosslr]

Great progress Dave - it's looking good! Didn't weigh parts individually so can't help put there. We'll have to make another visit soon but I'm in Perth this week and then Bali for 2 weeks so looks like May/June.

It's great to see the engine fit up - and the extended baggage tray is 'solid' - what do you plan carrying back there??

cheers

ross

[ken nougaret]

David,
I dont know if your 233 (and t3 double fork) is heavier than my o200 (and standard tail wheel), but i initially planned my odessey battery for the tail and it moved the cg too far aft. I ended up putting it behind the seat and my 58lb tail is perfect.

[David47]

Thanks Ken. The O-233 weighs 210 lb, but I don't know the weight of the O-200. But I think your number of 58lb on the tailwheel resonates because I think others have come up with similar numbers. So maybe that's a good guide at this stage.

[aviator79]

Looks awesome David! Keep the pictures coming, they really are helpful to other builders.

[jrevens]

You’re making great progress, David! It looks really good to me!

[David47]

It's great to see the engine fit up - and the extended baggage tray is 'solid' - what do you plan carrying back there??

cheers

ross

Plan on using the extended baggage area as patient transport, competing with RFDS !! ... . Back to the real world: Made it longer as a “just in case” I want to carry longer items, like a mountain bike, beach fishing rods etc.

[David47]

Had a week off to gather my sanity and then launched into it again. (our place is like Grand Central Station sometimes ...). Spent the weekend finish taping the HS, and then covered the elevator and rudder. Fabric forming around the relatively tight radii of these surfaces is challenging, but with the help of a good EAA video and the Polyfibre book, all seemed to work ok. There's the odd wrinkle here and there, but the small iron seems to get rid of most. Also, the bias tape I've found to be really good. It forms really well with no wrinkles. The most difficult part of these surfaces was the base of the rudder. Took me some grey matter time and several cups of coffee to decide what to do, which was just cover it without any foam blocks and Hysol. If I held my head at the right angle, held my tongue out and crossed my eyes (i.e. my normal appearance) it seemed to work out.... One mod I did decide to make though is to incorporate a removable plug at the base of the leading edge. I'm yet to decide what it'll be made of and how it'll be attached but it's a backup for when, not if, I drop a bolt, nut or washer when installing or removing the rudder. So that's a JIC mod. I also started cutting holes in the Instrument panel. Mine will be a mix of the old and the new, with the old being a backup ASI and ALT. The new is the MGL Light 8.5" screen with V6 Tx/Rx, Trigg Tpdr and a Garmin 795 GPS in the middle. I've also started making mounting structure for external cameras which I plan to use for private (and Team Kitfox) video's. These'll be fitted with cameras installed as part of my flight testing program.

[rosslr]

Great progress Dave - its all starting to come together now!

By end of year both you and Ben should be flying - that will be fun to meet up for some adventures!

cheers

r

[Mcgaero]

Sounds like you have a good handle on the fabric work now! Making great progress!
Looking forward to a 3 formation of Kitfox adventures