Hi Serge Thanks for the info, she hasn't put much weight on considering all the mods done. Rob welded those wing tanks himself and I don't know how you could make them any lighter than they are. I suppose he could have used slightly thinner ally but that wouldn't have saved much. Have you managed to get it certified to fly over there yet? As for the cast ally gear attach brackets, they were aparently a local casting done by someone in SA. Just a word of caution, keep an eye on the bolts holding those castings to the spar. I once found one of them with its head snapped off under the passenger side. It was probably due to a rough landing he had on one of his outings to a bumpy strip somewhere. Go well Cheers
Dene Collett KR2S-RT builder Port Elizabeth South Africa mailto: dene.coll...@telkomsa.net P.S: checkout www.whisperaircraft.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Serge VIDAL" <serge.vi...@sagem.com> To: "KRnet" <kr...@mylist.net> Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 9:36 AM Subject: Réf. : KR> drills$WAF's Dene, ZS-WEC was last weighted on July last year, just before I left South Africa. She had had some modifications since her first flight. First, at a certain point in time, Rob Van der Merwe added aluminium long range fuel tanks (in the stubwings), and I suspect these are a bit on the heavy side. Then, I made a much heavier instrument panel, meaning also more wiring, etc. Last but not least, I changed the engine to a 2.4 liter VW, with full dual electronic ignition. And many more small things that add on and on... Result: 321 Kg empty (that is #707, for those who still use Units of Measure from the "stone" age ;-) ) Now, talking about the spring steel undercarriage, it sure is heavy, but not that much, and boy! It is reliable and forgiving, that much I can say. What I could never figure out is the brackets that link the U/C to the spar. They are L-shaped, and look as if they are made of cast aluminium. I always wondered where they came from. Serge Vidal Paris, France (Gee, how much I mis South Africa!) "Dene Collett (SA)" <dene.coll...@telkomsa.net> Envoyé par : krnet-boun...@mylist.net 2004-10-07 23:50 Veuillez répondre à KRnet Remis le : 2004-10-09 22:27 Pour : "krnet" <kr...@mylist.net> cc : (ccc : Serge VIDAL/DNSA/SAGEM) Objet : KR> drills$WAF's Thanks to all who responded to my questions regarding long drill bits and the attaching of the WAF's. I took a regular 3/16 bit to a new friend today who runs a business making all sorts of control cables for auto/marine/industrial and other. He is getting one of his staff to lengthen it for me so it looks like I will get the job done this week end. As for the weight of a retract system compared to a fixed gear, remember I said we mostly used leaf spring material over here because it is readily available unlike the exotic aluminuims like 2024. For interest sake, does someone have the weight of a Deal gear leg and of the attach bracket + bolts.My design does not have any attach brackets to speak of as they piggy back on the WAF bolts (aluminuim plate straddling the two WAF's) also no wheel fairings. Although the steel legs are heavy, ZS-WEC was built to a weight of around 620# originally so it needn't mean an overweight bird at the end of the day.(Serge, I would be interested to know what it weighs now??) Dene Collett KR2S-RT builder Port Elizabeth South Africa mailto: dene.coll...@telkomsa.net P.S: checkout www.whisperaircraft.com _______________________________________ to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html _______________________________________ to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html