Peter,
I've pasted an e-mail I sent the other day to another interested Aussie that
may help to summarise and answer some of your queries/concerns. Have a read
and drop me a line if you like as I am local. This will bore you other
builders but since this forum is read by people like Peter, maybe the odd
but of advertising wouldn't go astray. By the way, if you have no kids yet,
get on with it, otherwise in the future you are a lot more vulnerable to a
counter argument!
Quote:
Paul,
I think for a fibreglass mouldless construction that fills a price niche
between "fast glass" and "rag and tube" it does the job well. Firstly, you
need to appreciate that the reason it fits this price bracket is because
rather than the manufacturer having to spend thousands of hours and dollars
developing moulds and appropriate building methods to suit, we simply put
those hours in ourselves. You will spend probably 200+ hours with a sanding
spline in your hand just profiling the filler that you will put on your
wings! The aircraft requires big skin layups that once you start there is no
turning back! This I am finding is probably the most stressful part of the
build, and you probably need to hit the bigger layups with as little time
between them, so that you don't lose your skill and familiarity. The other
stressful part of the build is the removing of foam in the act of shaping
components such as the stabilator tips. If you get it wrong, such as
flatspotting a portion of a hemispherical contour, what do you do? You
either accept it and realise that you can use filler later to pack out your
error, or cut it off entirely, glue on a new piece of foam, contour it to
suit and then complete the shaping process. This can however also be a
god-send, the flexibility of the foam core material. For example, my fin had
a bow in it because it was made up of 2 pieces of foam joined together to
make a larger foam billet prior to hotwiring. I had to finally 5 minute
Araldite it to its foam jig block, and forcibly remove it after the first
skin layup. This resulted in foam cone shaped chunks coming away from the
underside of the fin. I was mortified! I initially tried to sand the
original pieces a little and glue them back in place, but after considerable
timewasting, I realised that I could take to it with a sharp blade, cut out
the offending area, and replace it with an appropriately shaped plug. I left
the plug slightly proud, and later sanded it flush. I then created a
"gutter" around the plug, wedge shaped in sectional view, which was filled
with dry mico later.
You will do lots of smaller layups such as what is known as closeouts which
are the shape of 1/2 a capital "I" if sectioned vertically through the
centre of the centre vertical part ( "C" shaped, so to speak ). You work the
cloth down into a cavity, across the base, and then up the sides without
creating a bubble in the 2 internal corners. This secures the top and bottom
skins together at the ends, such as the root end of the all flying
tailplane, the stabilator.
Back to the "having to keep going", once you fill the pores of the foam with
the microslurry, it is then prepared to accept the cloth. Why you have to
keep going? The entire structure above the foam should be attached as best
as is possible to it. If you stop because you wreck a cloth skin, the
microslurry filling the pores will cure, and have a hard, smooth surface
totally unsuitable for future bonding, so keep on going you go! I had my
major workbench only 900mm wide originally and was using it to cut cloth on,
as well as doing the job on. The cloth is 1000mm wide and obviously overhung
the bench by 2" either side, which was a real hassle when it came to
cutting. I consequently did my cutting in advance and rolled the cloth onto
dowels which is a great tip for ensuring straight fibres when laying it onto
the wetted out foam. I then stuffed up a closeout 1/2 way through one day,
using the very mobile cloth called bid ( bi-directional cloth where the
fibres are 50% one way, and 50% the other). I had a long narrow strip,
rolled up and 1/2 unrolled onto a wet surface, when the centre section of
the roll fell out the end from the middle. This stretched the cloth, which
is one of the features of the weave; you can pull 2 opposing sides and it
will lengthen between, and narrow the other 2 sides toward each other. I
then had to pick up everything and put it "on the floor", unroll new cloth,
cut it out and then relocate everything back onto the workbench to continue.
I didnt have a dedicated glass cloth cutting table during layups, a big mistake!
I considered that my workshop was well planned out and yet I still came unstuck.
It is however probably far more satisfying at the end of a successful stage
than an aircraft that has come out of a mould, and you simply have joined 2
hemispheres. Mind you, their skins come out beautifully smooth and require
very little preparation before painting.
If you really want to fly in a hurry maybe it would be best to buy a Pulsar.
You'll get a swift machine, although the Europa will eat it up at the end of
the day. You'll get a machine that, to my knowledge you can't take the wings
off requiring permanent hangarage. If the wings do come off, you can be sure
they are not specifically designed to do so, with award winning flight
control "mating" features ( no undoing of nuts and bolts). You will not be
able to do positive aerobatic manoeuvres to 4 1/2 G as to be approved by
Aussie CASA in the foreseeable future. You won't have had the prototype spin
tested up to 12 times in each direction! You won't look as pretty in the
air, roll in 2 seconds from one 45 degree turn into the other (>120 degrees
a second for a continual turn in one direction!), and most importantly glide
at 17:1 after suffering an engine failure to a field well beyond twice the
distance away that a Skyfox or similar machine can reach, and 1/2 as far
again as your Piper Warrior or Cessna. When you do reach that paddock that
would have left the opposition hanging in the branches "short", you can
cross the fence at a speed below 50 knots, which is survivable at an impact
angle of > 45 degrees even if you were to clip one of the downwind trees.
Build time to answer your question: A long time if you want a pretty
aircraft that will pull a larger price second hand. I reckon you would be
nuts if you didn't expect to take about 2000 hours! That is 3 hours every
day of the year for 2 years! I reckon if I can fly by 2000 ( the year now),
I'll be happy.
The cost: Tthe aircraft alone will cost about $40,000.00.
Then there is an engine,an induction system and exhaust system, paint, and
instruments.
Instruments alone can set you back a fortune, but I am estimating that a
good Artificial Horizon, GPS, Engine Management/Indication System,Air Data
Computer and radios will cost me about $10,000.00.
You'll end up with a $70,000.00 aircraft that if you build it well, will
sell for more than that I will guarantee you.
I don't know your position but you should think of it progressively. Buy the
kit, and take 3-4 years to buid it like everyone else. Pay for it as you go
so that when it is finished, or close, you are ready for the next big
investment, the engine. By then the factory will have considered another
engine type, just like they are doing now with the Jabiru. Now you might
want to correct me and say that it is others in the UK doing the trialling
and you would be correct. But I hear that the Norton Rotary is a disaster,
the BMW is years away, so what is left? What is left is a little Aussie
engine, significantly lighter than any of the competition, half their cost
with everything that hangs off them included, and certified already! You
tell me that the Pommies aren't hoping that these others succeed with their
Jabiru engine.
If you can't afford $300.00 for a perfectly flat homemade workbench,
$1500.00 for a minimum workshop setup, $500.00 minimum for a second hand
airconditioner, and probably $1500.00 for all the other things I have
forgotten, maybe this kit is not for you. Mind you, all the others wil need
similar tooling.
Whilst I think of it, this is also probably the best kit aircraft forum
around, and you can build in complete isolation from other builders, and
still feel as if you have one building right next door.
Hope this helps. Start with the tail kit to alay your fears, and then "Go
got IT"
Regards
Tony Renshaw
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