Recent content by Victor Bravo

'Pastie, also look into the slot and roller method, which may be easier to build and install than the over center device.

Yeah, I would definitely be going public with the praise, contacting the newspapers, sending thank you cards, and tooting their horn in public. Your show of support could possibly save someone else who is in the same situation next time. Welcome back !

If the insurance company has any defensible path to denying a claim, they will take that path. If your policy says that your coverage is invalid if your medical lapses, then they will try to deny the claim based on that, regardless of whether it was legal to fly the airplane. If the insurance...

I should mention that the glider I was flying in the above incident HAD an over-center on the spoiler control. The main spoiler blades themselves were not moving, it was the thick white "contoured" spring loaded caps that were bouncing up and down on their mounting springs. Those springs were to...

Yeah but I think that's noise insulation, not fire blanket??? The Cessnas also have that horrible fiberglass stuff, contact-cemented in place for all time.

Wow, I didn't know he had passed. Interesting guy, great stick, and a true champion. A legend in every sense of the word. My sincerest condolences to his wife Gladys and to the rest of the racing community. He was pretty kind to me as a brand new racer, and even gave me a couple of suggestions...

Some crossover form the "What did you do o n your project?" thread, but...: I have been working on my little Ridge Runner project 3-4 days a week. Yesterday I went to a friend's hangar (who has the required amount of horizontal surface space) and copied the one-piece windshield/skylight from...

See, now that's an innovtive freakin' idea! A Vans version of the Tin-Wind, using RV construction methods, and having it be sort of a tribute to Steve Wittman. EAA would get behind it, and even the Tailwind community would get behind it.

Buy a used Twin Otter. Or, "Crazy Dave" Morss used to have an old school bus that he used to transport his racers in, but it wasn't as far as you need to go. Actually, if you're smart, and using ideas being talked about in this thread, you will do a lot better by building a wooden box with...

Not a recovery from the dive in the traditional sense, but yes I was pulling a fairly small amount of G to level off at high speed... to stay just underneath the top of the start gate. So yes, the wings did indeed flex upwards a little during that maneuver and yes this likely did contribute to...

The stuff I played with some years ago would start to flake apart or "shed" if you were folding it or forming it with your hands, or with any abrasion. It gave me the immediate impression I wanted it to be contained in something, for the same general reason as you would want for the heat...

Not going to give you back 10 or 12 mph I'm afraid.

The ZippySport in that video took about as much room to take off as an over-gross, cocaine-filled Twin Beech ! (but the RPM was really low, so I'm guessing the prop pitch was huge :) )

Pops you might be able to spray some high temp sealant onto that Fiberfrax to keep it from turning into powder. There is a thick goopy stuff called "Ocean" coating, very heat-resistant. It is used to seal firewalls IIRC. I believe ACS has it. You could thin that down and spray it, or even roll...

OK I understand better now. The notched angle riveted around the perimeter is possibly the best choice. To be the most conservative, use steel rivets because an engine compartment fire could melt through soft aluminum pop rivets and make the firewall system come apart in flight. That's very...