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CriCri MC-15 in San Francisco

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michael

Active Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2011
Messages
25
Location
San Francisco, CA
Hey there,

I have been looking into building a CriCri for a while now and just recently actually started making my very first own parts. There is a blog I started about a year ago and I'm trying to update this thread as well as my blog from now on, so you can follow either.

I won't promise a lot of progress, but hopefully you can still enjoy following my build! :)

Here are the last few entries from my blog:


3/11/11 Where to start…

What is this blog about? Well, I’m intending to use it as a way to document the process of building an MC-15 (“Cricri”), the smallest twin engine aircraft of the world.
Now, you might be inclined to ask why on earth I would actually build an aircraft; secondly why this design? I guess I’m still trying to figure out the answers to those questions myself but let’s rewind a little bit to 2009. That’s the year when I first got actively involved in aviation and made the decision to get my Private Pilot Certificate. I started taking first lessons April 2010, almost a year ago and am now close to taking my check ride.
Sometime last year the idea of owning an airplane began to manifest and I was researching options. Buying a new airplane wasn’t anywhere near my possibilities so I started looking at used planes. Somewhere in that process I found out that people are also actually building their own planes. How crazy is that?! Being someone who has always been into making things I was immediately intrigued by the thought of building my own plane. Looking at several kits I realized soon that it was not only going to be pretty expensive as well but also that I had no space to build it.
Then I found the Cricri. Soon my thoughts about this quirky and incredibly small plane changed from disbelieve to amazement and finally the crazy urge to build and own one of these peculiarities. It also seemed to solve some of my issues: it’s very affordable and can be built in small spaces.
Through more research I found some builders blogs and information on how to obtain a set of plans. A couple of months passed until I finally made the decision to contact the designer Michel Colomban, a French man, while I was visiting my parents in Germany Christmas 2010. For specific reasons Mr. Colomban doesn’t support North America, so I made arrangements to have the plans sent to my parents house who would then forward them for me to San Francisco.
I’m well aware that a plans built aircraft can take considerably longer than a kit built one, despite (or especially because?) its small size. But then, too, I’m a very perseverant person!

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3/20/11 The Plans

A couple of weeks ago they finally arrived in the mail!
The set consists of 40 large sheets of construction plans that are scale 1:1 for the most part. Along with that you get a few manuals. The Construction Manual contains general workflows and techniques and describes the individual steps and assemblies in detail.
Over the next couple of months I’m going to study the plans in advance and try and understand as much as possible. I’m also going to make a list of parts that need to be made and materials I’ll need to acquire. Starting to draw out some of the parts for the CNC is going to be one of my next steps.
So far I’m planning on making as many parts as possible at the Tech Shop in San Francisco before beginning with any assemblies and storing them in my garage. I haven’t yet really solved my space problem and am not sure where to actually build my Cricri. But at the rate of progress I’m anticipating I’ll still have some time to figure that out.
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3/18/12 Progress

Wow, I can’t believe my last blog post is pretty much exactly one year old! Lack of posts doesn’t mean lack of progress though.
First of all I earned my Private Pilot certificate in June 2011 which was a big step. You should be able to fly after all if you are undertaking to build your own plane! Secondly I did a lot of research for my build. I read every post in the various yahoo groups (CriCri and cricridrawings), learned about aircraft hardware, bend allowances, the materials and tools to be used, vendors to get my materials from and the list goes on and on. It feels like the more you learn about one subject, the less you actually feel you know. But, alas, I think I learned a great deal so far which is going to make my build easier.
Thirdly I started converting the plans to CAD files. Since I decided to use the CNC machines that are available at the Tech Shop I needed to redraw all those parts I am planning on cutting out on either the Tormach mill, the ShopBot or the WaterJet cutter. It turns out that it’s quite a bit of work. Especially because I am pre drilling all my parts on the CNC. The plans often times don’t specify exact location of drill holes as they assume the builder would drill upon assembly. That means there is a lot of cross referencing involved between the parts and calculations of bend allowances to to be made to assure that the parts will fit precisely. So far I have a bulk of the work done, but there are still quite a few parts yet to be drawn.
Last but not least, during the last couple of weeks I actually fabricated my first parts. Mainly bits and pieces from the control system, as they are made of the thicker 4mm 2024 stock that I can cut on the Tormach which I’m most familiar with at the moment. The order in which I’ll make the parts will most likely be completely random. I’m still fairly slow, simply because I’m still learning and making mistakes at the CNC (costing me end mills, time and aluminum), but I’m hopeful that I’ll get faster once I have more practice.
These are the parts I made so far:

  • 211-15: Spacer
  • 302-12: Rudder Horn
  • 600-10: Pivot Plate
  • 600-14: Horizontal Bell Crank
  • 600-15: Vertical Bell Crank
  • 601-29: Flap Lever

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So far so good! My progress will still be slow but I’m expecting to make at least a few parts every week.

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3/25/12 More Control System

Today I cut out more control system parts (600 and 602) as well as the wing pin reinforcement plates (202-09). I still need to ream all the parts that will eventually carry the spherical bearings as well as the wing pin plates. I haven’t ordered any of the bearings yet (which I might bring back from Germany when I go in June).
I’m making it a rule to only pre drill all the holes with a 1/16in bit on the CNC and then drill to size once I have all the parts for a sub assembly ready and pinned together. This way I can guarantee a perfect fit.
Cutting the parts doesn’t actually take a whole lot of time, but preparing the files, cleaning off the tabs and tool marks and polishing is more work than anticipated. But even more so – I’m not sure if I wanted to tackle a project like this without the help of CNC.
These are the parts I made today:

  • 202-09: Wing pin reinforcement plates; still need reaming
  • 600-07: Lateral Bracket
  • 600-08: Bell Crank
  • 600-09: Lower Pivot Plate
  • 602-01: Mixer Support
  • 602-02: Bell Crank

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I’m getting close on completing all the parts of the 4mm stock, so I might move on to some 3.2mm parts the next time.
I also just looked over my parts list and noticed that I still have A LOT of cad drawings to make.
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