Glad you made it there and back , Jim. I was following your progress on your web page and wishing I was there.
My aileron counterbalance brackets are also Aluminun ( as I'm sure most KR's are) . I made my own brackets from 1/8 " 6061 Al using a large ( 1/2" ) radius to avoid cracking . But after hearing your story , will be checking them regularly for any evidence of cracking. Thanks for the tip. Chris Gardiner C-GKRZ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Faughn" <jfau...@mvp.net> To: "KR Net Response" <kr...@mylist.net> Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 6:27 PM Subject: KR>Aileron Weight > Hi all. I had a great trip to the Gathering this year. You read that I > was stuck in Trenton, MO when I made a no-go decision after looking at > the weather heading up to Red Oak. I have been portrayed as a > conservative pilot and that is a title I like. I enjoyed my time in > lovely Trenton and the airport manager was great. I stayed overnight and > then back to the airport the next morning to watch the clouds go by. > About 2:30 in the afternoon, I had seen the cloud layer stay the same > height for quite awhile so I thought it was time to see if I really had > a 700 ft ceiling. I did and got out of Trenton and headed to Red Oak. I > can't say it stayed that high the entire trip and if I was doing it > over, I would have stayed in Trenton. However, I made it under the scud > and on to a great Gathering. After arriving and the usual Hi's and > initial questions, I unloaded the plane and went flying with Steve > Alderman. We went for a few passes in formation and Steve told me he saw > something fall off my plane. Since I didn't feel anything I thought it > was probably one of the gap seals or part of one. They are made of a > very light Mylar and have broken and come off in the past. I made > another 200 mph missed approach and then came back around and made a 60 > mph pass. I then landed and was looking for the missing gap seal. None > were. What happened was I was missing an aileron counterweight. The > weight didn't fall off, actually the aluminum L bracket broke at the > manufactured corner and the weight with the arm fell off. This was > something that you can't inspect because it is buried under the > fiberglass. At 6:30 I tapped Mike Garbez and we went to his shop, made a > new bracket out of 4130, made new weights, drilled the holes and brought > it back to the hanger. I assembled most of it Friday evening and quit at > 10:30. Finished it up in about an hour Saturday morning and declared it > fit for flight after inspecting everything another 3 times. > > Everything worked well so I gave rides to the people that were > anticipating their first flight within the next few months. I was very > pleased to do this and that is what I enjoy doing. Sorry about not > jumping to give rides to those who are thinking about a KR or who are > thinking about whether or not to finish one, that just isn't my thing. I > have a passion for keeping people alive who are about to fly but I'm > just not the factory giving rides for motivation or a new sale. The "new > wave" will have to step in for giving rides next year. > > Anyway, the purpose of the message is to acknowledge that I no longer > have a "plans built" KR. I have changed something so Mark, I guess I've > come around. PLEASE think very seriously about changing your aluminum > balance arms to steel. PLEASE. > > Take care. > > Jim > > Jim Faughn > 4323D Laclede Ave. > St. Louis, MO 63108 > (314)652-7659 > Email - sub @ for "at" jfaughn "at" socket.net > Web Site http://jfaughn.com > > > _______________________________________________ > see KRnet list details at http://www.krnet.org/instructions.html
