I have kept so quiet lately that some of you may think I'm dead, or worse, that I have given up building. Well, not so. In fact, although I haven't seen my plane for nearly 4 months, I managed to do a few things at home. I also received a much awaited parcel from Aircraft Spruce, which contains everything I need to complete the overhaul, so I'm running short of excuses not to complete the rebuild project this year.
I will not be ready to rebuild until I complete the new wing ribs, to replace the ones I have destroyed in order to remove the WAFs. But in the meantime, I concentrated in making "ready-to-assemble kits" for all the parts to reassemble, neatly packed in transparent plastic bags. By making small kits ready to the last washer, I try to save time at the hangar. Since I have to travel for nearly two hours each time I go there, and week-ends are short, every minute counts. Here are some of the things I made: - WAFs: I have resurfaced them all, and made two new ones (there was a pair of WAFs which had an oversized bolt hole, and that offended my sense of uniformiy). - Aileron bellcrank assemblies: I have resurfaced or rebuilt them entirely (I chose Alodine as the surface treatment, rather than Zinc chromate). - Pulley brackets: I rebuilt them in accordance with the latest version of the drawings (which has much improved cable retainers). - Tail section: I cut and installed an inspection hatch. - Tailwheel assembly: I have resurfaced the tailwheel blade, and redrilled the axle to a larger diameter to cope with tear (that sounds simple?). - Tie down brackets: I have made a pair of L-shaped brackets that hold to the lower outer wing WAFs bolt. At the bottom of the bracket is a nutsert. The plan is that on the rare occasions when I will need I to tie down, I will screw some eye bolts to the brackets, through the wing skin. - Control cables: These I have to change entirely, because the current ones are less than the specified diameter, and the local airworthiness authorities ain't going to like that. Here I tried to be smart. I ordered new ones with one end already swaged, so I will only have to Nicopress the other end. - Cable ties holders: I prepared plenty by gluing my favourite type of plastic ones to a thin sheet of plywood. This way, I could get a nice bond in workshop conditions. So, they are now lined with plywood, and experience shows that it is way much easier, in hangar conditions, to glue plywood to plywood than soft plastic to plywood!. - Pitot /static tube: I rebuilt it, because the previous one was made of thin steel tube, which tended to rust no matter what I did, and weighted a dead horse, as we say in French. The new one is made of thin anodinized aluminium tubing, and looks pretty nice The difference is 150 grams, can you believe it? Serge Vidal KR2 "Kilimanjaro Cloud" Paris, France
