• Welcome aboard HomebuiltAirplanes.com, your destination for connecting with a thriving community of more than 10,000 active members, all passionate about home-built aviation. Dive into our comprehensive repository of knowledge, exchange technical insights, arrange get-togethers, and trade aircrafts/parts with like-minded enthusiasts. Unearth a wide-ranging collection of general and kit plane aviation subjects, enriched with engaging imagery, in-depth technical manuals, and rare archives.

    For a nominal fee of $99.99/year or $12.99/month, you can immerse yourself in this dynamic community and unparalleled treasure-trove of aviation knowledge.

    Embark on your journey now!

    Click Here to Become a Premium Member and Experience Homebuilt Airplanes to the Fullest!

HummelBird

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

12notes

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2014
Messages
1,286
Location
Louisville, KY
I acquired a 35 HP Global 1/2 VW engine, and decided to build a HummelBird behind it. This is my first build, so I've done some research before deciding on it, including looking up every NTSB report on the plane and reading the entire builder's group archive (1999-present) on Yahoo. I started copying from the builder's group to a file the answers to where people had difficulty, but only from 2008-present, I'm going back through them to get the rest so I can know what to expect. A few established, Hummel- acknowledged modifications to the plans will be made:

Riblett GA30-613.5 Airfoil replacing the Clark Y. This will require a slightly larger spar web, and a small angle to the front spar.
Firewall 2 inches forward. This will allow for a slightly larger fuel tank.
Engine mount 2 inches longer

Other possible modifications that I will decide upon later, these have been done before by others:
Wing tanks
Rudder cables instead of pushrods.

Plans were received 9/5/17, since then the garage has been mostly cleaned out and organized thanks to a convenient junk day in my neighborhood, and some needed tools purchased/ordered. The Riblett airfoil and flange have been modeled in CAD, still a work in progress. I plan on having the ribs laser cut, as I can use a laser very inexpensively. I'm going to start work on the fuselage, so I have some time to complete this.

The first physical work on the actual project began 9/28/27, a "light table" (actually a sheet of acrylic on two milk crates with a clamp lamp underneath) is being used to trace the bulkheads and all other full size parts to plain white, removable, contact paper, a suggestion from the builder's group. This will allow me to cut the parts out and keep them protected until used, and preserves the plans. All full size fuselage parts on the plans but one bulkhead ("C") have been traced, still need to trace the bulkhead forms. Forms will be made this weekend/next week, then it's aluminum cutting and smashing time.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top