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  1. G

    Fuselage Bulkhead/Rib question; Curved flanges

    Find the directions that John Thorp wrote for stretch forming wing ribs for the T-18. It's been about 40 years since I made any so I don't recall all the details, but it involved a V shaped hammer, stretching down the flange (with material left over beyond what would be the flange), and lead...
  2. G

    Folding Wing Mechanisms?

    Find an Avid Flyer (or Kitfox) - they hinge at the rear spar with a pin at the main spar. V struts remain attached to the wing and are attached with a rod end bearing at the bottom. You have to get the cabin top out of the way behind the rear spar. On the Avid Flyer, the alerions were set up so...
  3. G

    MIG vs TIG re: Kitfox use MIG?

    If you know what you are doing, MIG is fine. I assume that the negativity comes from the assumption that if you are a first time learn-yourself-to-weld guy, it's easy to make welds that look pretty from the outside without realizing that, well, appearance is not everything. Eh?
  4. G

    Can you do a loop when engine is out ?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7R7jZmliGc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGEekKQHnIs
  5. G

    Cowling / prop support advice wanted.

    So the cowl is attached to the engine? How are you going to allow for movement between the cowl and the rest of the airframe? (I assume you are going to use the typical rubber mounts for the engine.)
  6. G

    Cowling / prop support advice wanted.

    The engine mounts to the cowl near the crankshaft?
  7. G

    Cost/Availability of Annual Inspections for Homebuilts?

    I had no problem finding an A&P - the first one I asked was happy to do it. He charges me a few hundred dollars for the inspection - I do the work to prep / reassemble.
  8. G

    Merlin GT

    Building is for people who want to build. People who want to fly should buy. People who want to save money should buy used. I bought an already flying Merlin GT with a Rotax 912 with about 450 hours for much less than the kit plus engine. Nice airplane to fly. More room inside than an Avid...
  9. G

    Making Aluminum Ribs

    The ribs in T-18s can be pounded out by hand witout the flutes - John Thorp described the method as stretch forming or something like that - involved a plastic hammer cut into a wedge shape and lead slapper bars to finish things off. (Memory is hazy - it was 40+ years ago)
  10. G

    Coyotes

    This one (at KNOZ) is about the size of a medium dog.
  11. G

    I witnessed a hand propping accident today.....

    It's just not that hard to have 50' of 7/16 rope in the back that you can use to tie the tail down... (Yes, I do.)
  12. G

    Motion flight simulator help

    Why a central support? More typical seems to be three or four supports around the outside mounted at an angle to be able to control x / y / z as well as pitch / roll / yaw
  13. G

    best saw for cutting wood and steel parts??

    Two or more speeds helps as well. You want to run pretty slow for the steel. How much steel will you be cutting? You may be able to get by with hand tools.
  14. G

    Air Force Structural tech looking for insite to build an A/C

    'scuse me for being a stick in the mud. Designing and building an aircraft is a good idea if you want to design and build for the sake of designing and building. If your objective is to get x number of people in the air at a minimum cost, the low cost way is to buy a well used airplane. E-AB...
  15. G

    First time home built 2-seater.

    One of the various Avid Flyer clones (Kitfox, Eurofox...)? Highlander? How fast? Materials? Tailwheel? Do you really want to build or are you trying to save money? If you want to save money, buy a used, already flying, homebuilt.
  16. G

    How many people here "Really" know how to fly?

    Just to pick a nit - the 173 second number came from a mid '50s study where they put a bunch of Cub / airknocker/ T-cart / 120 pilots with absolutly no (0, zero, nada, none) instrument time of any type at all in a partial panal Bonanza (also first time in a Bo) with no instruction on flying on...
  17. G

    What types have you flown?

    Navion (The old man had a couple when I was a kid) Thorp T-18 Champ Cessna 120 (Got my ticket in this) Cherokee 140 (I have no recolition of actually flying this - but it's in the log book ) Citabria Cessna 150/152s Beech Sport Pitts S2 Merlin GT (my current ride)
  18. G

    Engine upgrade suggestions

    The lowest cost solution is likely to be to buy another used aircraft with the engine you want. You can either swap engines and re-sell or fly the one you bought and sell the one you have.
  19. G

    4.5L turbo-diesel v8

    Is the injection pump going to hold up if you run it on Jet-A (which does not lubricate like diesel as I understand it)?
  20. G

    Engine upgrade suggestions

    FWIW - My Merlin GT has a Rotax 912. Empty weight 739 pounds.
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