Monthly Archives: May 2012

Chapter 6 – Part Deux (or Zwei!)

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome to Germany!

As for the actual build in Germany, I’m starting out with a deficit: I didn’t realize until after I unpacked my fuselage here in Germany that the movers had cranked down too hard on the cargo straps and cracked the lower longerons (stringers) in two places and crushed the foam in the lower middle section of the fuselage (I had briefed the moving crew on how to pack it and tie it down… for some mysterious reason they didn’t listen).  So, while April was a month of preparations, May will be a month of fuselage repairs!

9 May 12

IMG_07

IMG_09

IMG_011

IMG_014

As you can see, the damage is fairly extensive.  Although I have tons of BID and UNI cloth on hand, I don’t have any lengths of triangular Spruce, so immediately ordered lengths of 3/4″ triangular longerons from Aircraft Spruce.   My next step is to prepare a plan for repairing this fuselage damage. Continue reading →

Germany Shop Preparation

Posted on by
Reply

I had to get my shop organized and put together before I could start building again.  I shipped my glassing table, my roll-around bench and my long work bench over to Germany.  Below are some pics showing the preparation of the shop and getting things like the epoxy ratio balance re-calibrated.

Newly mounted Glass Storage/Cutting Table

 

Folding Glass Cutting Table - New Digs

 

House workshop

 

House Workshop & Fuselage Bottom

 

Recalibrating Resin/Hardener Ratio Balance

Checking the Feather Lite Order

Posted on by
Reply

Today I tore into the downstairs room that will become the second of two shops here in Germany.  The main build shop will be in the single car garage.  The glass cutting, prep and small layup shop will be downstairs in my house.  It has a fairly large window that vents out to the outside, so ventilation is ok.

I have three (3) large boxes from Feather Lite currently sitting in this room.  I cracked the boxes open not only out of shear curiosity, but to ensure all the pieces were there and make sure there wasn’t any visible damage.  Two of the large boxes contain the foam cores for all my Long-EZ’s flying surfaces:  Wings, Upper & Lower Winglets, Roncz Canard & Elevators.

Feather Lite Order InventoryFeather Lite Order Inventory

The third large box contains the Upper & Lower Carbon Fiber Cowling halves that were originally designed by Mike Melvill and made off the composite plugs he designed.  The CF cowling weighs around 13 lbs, so its almost half the weight of the original glass cowling.

Feather Lite Inventory - Melvill's Carbon Fiber Cowlings

Included in the large boxes were smaller pieces for the cowlings and the instructions on how to configure the cowlings to maximize engine cooling.  Kind of cool thinking how these cowlings have such a significant part in the history of the Long-EZ!