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  1. Richard Roller

    Bronze vs. sealed precision bearings for control surface hinges

    When the Beechcraft Skippers came out the rudder had a mild steel pin for the top rudder hinge point, riding in a needle bearing at the top of the stabilizer and a spherical bearing on the bottom. Of course the needle bearing promptly ate the steel pin. The fix, through Beech engineering, was a...
  2. Richard Roller

    Perfect Rivets

    So, you're not really looking for tips for riveting, just criticing everyone else's experience and techniques. As mentioned in the very first of this thread, practice, practice, practice. I personally don't like 2x guns, I find them hard to control and that they work harden rivets because of the...
  3. Richard Roller

    What did you do on your airplane project today?

    I'm getting some work done on the Pietenpol, between time taken for continued paperwork related to my wife dying. I've moved the pilots seat back upper station back to it's new location and also the aft diagonals. No gussets yet. Next step is to cut off the 4 longerons and splice the new ones in...
  4. Richard Roller

    Aviation related music.

    I first heard this while in high school. Orsen Wells narrates it. Loved it. I had a copy for years, but it seems to have disappeared. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Airborne_Symphony
  5. Richard Roller

    What did you do on your airplane project today?

    I've pulled the plywood off the sides and removed the turtleback. The longerons will be spliced in the rear cockpit area. I'm going to slope the pilots seat back some more while everything is apart. Also, after closer inspection I found both lower longerons cracked just forwarded of the tail post.
  6. Richard Roller

    What did you do on your airplane project today?

    With help from a buddy I got the Piets fuselage in the dining room yesterday.
  7. Richard Roller

    Smith Termite

    Pietenpol Air Campers have 1" square longerons
  8. Richard Roller

    What did you do on your airplane project today?

    Warehouse construction. That or a housing addition.
  9. Richard Roller

    What did you do on your airplane project today?

    This last July I crashed N34KP, a Pietenpol Air Camper, on the way to Brodhead. After thinking about it for a while, I've decided to rebuild. My good friend, Ken Perkins built this Piet and I couldn't stand the thought of it not flying again. I've built a work table in the dining room and I'll...
  10. Richard Roller

    Curtiss-Stinson Special

    I lost my wife suddenly on Christmas day. It's hard, everything is a mess, I'm a mess. Good luck, take strength from friends/family when you can.
  11. Richard Roller

    Engine cooling, my solution

    There was a mod when I still worked on Bonanzas, back in the 70's - 80's, that put a sheet metal divider down the spine on the engine, dividing the two sides of the engine. It was attached to the cowling centerline hinge channel. I can't remember if it was a Beech mod or an STC. I installed...
  12. Richard Roller

    Three cylinder VW

    There is a Hickman converted Lawrence at Brodhead, Wi. They run it in July, during the Pietenpol flying.
  13. Richard Roller

    Could a wooden sailplane beat a fibre glass/carbon sailplane in L/D ?

    I wonder, not having immediate access to my ANC 18/19 books, how the process and results differ from similar sounding processes from the 1930's and 40's.
  14. Richard Roller

    Bolt torque

    Pops. Do you use metal bushings or phenolic? I'm getting ready to convert my Pietenpol wing to three pieces so doing some research.
  15. Richard Roller

    Keyed/splined oleo strut?

    Some WACO's used splined gear legs.
  16. Richard Roller

    A Detailed Look at PSRU Design Methodology

    I fly an Air Camper with the Model A. My friend that originally built it said he thought he had about 70 hp, based on other people's builds, but I've always thought it was closer to 60, based on fuel flow and performance. The prop is bolted directly to the crank, as in all Pietenpols. That big...
  17. Richard Roller

    Use of WEP (War Emergency Power) On GA Aircraft

    Kind of WEP story. We had a "shade tree used aircraft salesman" at one airport I worked at. He sold an early post war Aero Commander to a farmer to get his twin time in. I believe they had GSO-480's. Pressure carbs and big superchargers. The pilot took off in auto-lean with 48" of manifold...
  18. Richard Roller

    Fastener Heads

    I've used a fair amount of tri-wings.
  19. Richard Roller

    JAL on fire in Tokyo

    I would appear, reading further into the article, that the aluminum/aluminum lithium fuselage was the original concept. A carbon fiber fuselage is production, with aluminum/aluminum lithium comprising about 19% of the structure.
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