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Lowrider LSA

I have most of the boot cowl done, just the nut plates left to do. The compound bends are no fun...real easy to get wrinkles and hard to get them out.

I'm off to Vancouver Island for a week and I plan to eat myself silly on all that fresh Pacific seafood...only thing they miss out there is the hush puppies!!

Fly Safe ya'll!!
 
Great trip to the Island...highly recommend the seafood.

Spent a few hours on the overhead console which will hold the XM radio, a red LED light, a white LED, switch for rear white LED and an overhead cigarette lighter plug for things that may need one. XM antenna will attach on the top of the console directly under the sun roof which should provide perfect reception at most any flight attitude. There is also room for a GPS antenna should I need it or whatever else that might fit.

Thursday, 8 Oct 15 will have me flying back East to pick up my 170 after it's slow but detailed rehab and annual and I'll be flying it back to SZT semi-directly or as the mood strikes me.
 
Re sat radio antenna location: I know exactly when I'm having to much fun, the Sirius receiver loses its signal! A temporary problem, my antenna same place as yours. Maybe a aero plane has it on a gimbal.
 
NEVER NEVER take anything for granted...IA said the 170 was ready to go so a friend from ID and I flew back to pick it up and fly it back...well...it wasn't ready and still isn't. We got as far as Eastern Ohio and developed a left main gear issue. TOO much BS to detail but suffice to say the plane is still in Ohio and I'm back in Idaho and working on my LSA.

I'm putting a door in the left side of the boot cowl and am wonder what would be the best way to cut the hole in 2024 without distorting the skin? I think the best way might be using a cut off wheel and carefully trimming the hole to make it neat and clean. Any other ideas?
 
It's laid out for a 1/2" radius and the inner ring will stiffen the skin...just need a neatly cut hole...I'm never real good with inside cuts.
 
Good idea Glenn! I have a couple small routers. Will the rotozip bits fit and work on the router...I think the Makita chuck is 1/4". The 2 cutter carbide router bits tend to grab material and cause the thing to go astray when used freehand but the rotobits won't I think.
 
The sheet rock Zip bit did a fine job on cutting 0.025 2024...it would be even better if my hands were more steady. The bit which the expert at Home Depot said wouldn't cut aluminum did in fact cut aluminum in my mini router at 16,000 rpm. The non-believers at HD said the alum would burn up the bit but it cut nicely and never got hot. I did stray inside a bunch of times but a file and Scotch Brite wheel fixed my errors and only the bottom left radius got a little bigger than planned by maybe the width of a Sharpie line and I can live with it since I can't see once it was cleaned up.

Thanks Glenn! Your idea worked well and it left a nice straight edge when I did my part. Using a straight edge to follow worked great.

One point, my router has a base maybe twice the size of the RotoZip machine and really added to the stability of the cut.
 
Door is done less CamLoc's. I do a picture of it however, I upgraded to the free Windows 10 software and it for some reason will not allow me to post pictures...haven't seen any real improvement over Windows 7.

I'm looking at the gas collator and wondering if it would make sense to put it behind a door as well? I want it mounted ahead of the firewall and inside the engine mount to protect it in case of an ooopps where the nose is in the dirt. What is the popular opinion for mounting it behind a door (I know...extra weight)? My idea is mount it just above the floor and still have it the lowest point in the fuel system when the plane is in a 3 pt position which is the normal position for pre-flight fuel check...also have sumps on each tank. Thoughts?
 
Well, the gas collator gets a door in the engine cowl when the time comes.

Has anyone had any experience with the
[h=1]Fast Find 220 Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)[/h]It apparently does just about everything the more expensive PLB's do at $165. It's made in the UK and looks like a good deal for just about any activity. I have an ACR 375 I believe but would like to have more than one so I always have one on land sea or air. Thoughts please!
 
I've been packing one in the plane and the mountain bike for 3 years or so. No complaints, good price, small and light, I have no idea if it will really work in a pinch, but it sure makes me feel better having it along for the ride. Much more then my FAA required ELT (old style).
 
Thanks Courier! I think we need a good impact activated PLB to replace ELT's. Let's see...an impact switch should add $5 to a PLB...more thought needed though...and why can't the PLB's use dated batteries that are user replaceable?

I try to remember to carry the PLB from one vehicle to another but don't always remember. I do carry a cell phone but most of the places I hunt there is no service...like my house!

I was out last Saturday by myself for the last day of bear season and was 11 miles from nowhere on the 4 wheeler in the dark and remembered I had forgotten to remember the PLB...hence my desire for several PLB's. I carry a good survival pack on the wheeler but it would be nice to have the PLB on me also. I could have walked out if the wheeler broke but not if I was hurt badly...think I need a couple more PLB's.
 
Well, the gas collator gets a door in the engine cowl when the time comes.

Has anyone had any experience with the
[h=1]Fast Find 220 Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)[/h]It apparently does just about everything the more expensive PLB's do at $165. It's made in the UK and looks like a good deal for just about any activity. I have an ACR 375 I believe but would like to have more than one so I always have one on land sea or air. Thoughts please!

I've got one that I hang around my neck on a lanyard when I fly. Light, compact, easy to have with you all the time. I've not had to use it, but those who have said they work well. Mine is just about due for battery replacement, and I guess they need to be sent to a service center. We'll see how that goes - anybody here had the batteries changed on a McMurdo Fast Find?
 
Caution - fuel system mods

I'm looking at the gas collator and wondering if it would make sense to put it behind a door as well? I want it mounted ahead of the firewall and inside the engine mount to protect it in case of an ooopps where the nose is in the dirt.

LR,

I would be very reluctant to change Bob's fuel system design. Movin the gascolator ahead of the firewall will raise its position relative to Bob's original fuel system design. If you move the gascolator, the fuel selector will need to be moved (else it will be lower than the gascolator- not a good idea). If you then raise the fuel selector, how will you re-route the fuel lines so they remain higher than both the selector and gascolator?

Check your reference materials for fuel system design, and you'll see how good Bob's original design is...

(Building a Bearhawk Patrol myself.)
 
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Good point Jim!

I have redesigned a number of things on the plane which is why the plane is called "Lowrider LSA" and not the name given by the original designer. Main reason I chose the basic design is the Riblett wing profile and I wanted a metal wing, otherwise I would have built a light Supercub.

The fuel lines all run down from the tanks to the proposed location of the collator and there will be no places for water to collect short of the collator.

Thanks again for your thoughts!!
 
I don't use a PLB because if my friends and family have to search for me, they might remember me alittle longer.. Or not!
 
Damn Don...that puts a whole new wrinkle in the possibility of being down or lost in that great big wild world. I never thought that someone wouldn't be interested in finding me...perhaps that requires some direct questioning regarding intent if I come up unaccounted for...fortunately, I think I'm worth more alive than dead...well maybe.
 
I'm thinking of a shade for the skylight and what comes to mind first is a kydex blind in a track that folds up like a Venetian blind under the rear of the skylight. That will provide the protection from the sun and shouldn't add much weight.

Yes, I have some alumanized bubble wrap that I can shove up there if needed but it doesn't stay there if the windows are open or the door is off.

Any other/better ideas?
 
I'm almost done with the 3rd iteration of the instrument panel and I think I have it right this time...old fashion steam gauges and room for electronic wonders too. The glare shield will be covered in something like black felt or maybe some thin rubbery stuff that will hold on to things I lay up there so they won't end up on the floor. I am a total convert to Garmin Pilot but I still like the idea of paper charts being available if needed or to get a little better perspective on what's ahead, especially in or around the mountains.

Any ideas of what would hold on to things on the glare shield? The phone salesman at Wally World gave me a small pad with a peel off side that sticks and the other side is a "non slip" rubber surface that does a great job of holding my cell phone in the truck. That's what I'm thinking would work great on the glare shield but I can't find a source for it in a piece large enough to cover the glare shield.

Next question...I'm planning to use a flat black on the instrument panel that won't reflect red or white lights. I was planning to do a flat powder coat but the flat material I've see used still reflects some light. Any ideas there?

By the way...call your national reps and ask them to support PBR2...they say we're close to some action in the Senate.
 
I'm thinking of a shade for the skylight ..... That will provide the protection from the sun and shouldn't add much weight.

Any other/better ideas?
What are you using for the skylight? I used a very dark grey Plexiglas which when on the bench looks too dark to see through. When you are inside the plane looking out it works great. You may not need a shade.
 
That's a good point Sky, but my wife has informed me in very direct and binding terms that she will not "sit in an oven" with the sun beating down. Given that, I'm trying to come up with a simple solution to provide shade...I'll float the "tinted skylight" idea and see how that works out.
 
Following a detailed explanation for my wife, we're proceeding with a dark tinted skylight plexiglass and scrubbing the sliding shade thingy...Good idea Sky...seems you have many...thanks!!
 
You may still decide that you want a shade, but the dark plexi will do a really good job for starters. Use a lighter tint for the side windows and windshield. Clear just doesn't do the job for me. Too much light/glare gets through.
 
At the recent fly in on the Nevada dry lake bed, I got involved in helping take a plane apart for trailer transporter (it had a gear failure). As the sun set, I kept thinking "no problem, plenty of light left". But when I finally got in my tinted windshield/skylight plane and fired it up, I realized/remembered that the very low ambient light combined with the featureless lake bed ( think glassy water on floats or a flat light snow day on skis) and the glare from digital flight instruments (couldn't remember or never knew how to dim it, I never night fly) I said screw it and just fast taxied tail up the 2 or 3 miles back. Slightly embarrassing but safe enough. If I build again I'd forgo the plexi skylight over the passenger's seat. Overall I like my tinted glass, I just stayed on the ground too long.
 
Over 30 years ago my wife took off VFR from HOM, AK for ANC and was returning to HOM when it got dark which it does up there in the winter. No big deal you say...Homer has lots of lights and a good VOR to follow and if you head South and get over the Bay you are pretty close to the airport. Well, she wears glasses and she only took her tinted ones since she thought she would be back before dark.

All ended well but the lesson is not forgotten so we had a talk about not using tinted windshield. I am using a tinted windshield but will use clear on the sides so I can always land using the side view.

Courier...I'm thinking you have a point about the rear skylight...really don't need it with the L21 style side windows I'm using. Side shades are easy and I won't be inverted for long periods anyway.
 
Well, this has been an interesting period of time. We (the NW) had a pretty strong wind storm come thru knocking out electricity to hundreds of thousands of folk. I lost power for a day or so but have a generator so we were warm and suffered little except my computer was cooked by the initial power surge...lights were on but no one was home. After several days of trying everything we could think of or my smarter than me offspring the computer is toast. So we moved another computer into the office and it's now working fine. Other than loosing everything on my other computer it was kinda like a blessing since I got rid of the damn Windows 10 and we're back to windows 7 which works great. And I can post pictures again.

Anyway, the shot below is my roughed out instrument panel. The open space in the middle is for a GPS/flight control and will also run the auto pilot. The compass will not reside there, rather I'm leaning toward a radio there. I am very happy with the Garmin Pilot on my Android tablet and also like the Foreflight on my wife's mini. As much as I like them they will not drive the auto pilot so I need to come up with something to use for that purpose that doesn't break the bank. Any thoughts for a no alternator battery only system?



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.... Any thoughts for a no alternator battery only system?
That is the route which I took. I have an oversize Odyssey battery in the rear for CG purposes. This has enough capacity to run the plane all day long, including as many as ten engine starts. My primary reason was to avoid the FAA requirement for a transponder and ADS-B under the class B airspace where I live. I figured that since I could run everything on a sail boat for a couple or more months without a charge then I could run an airplane for a day. I put the charger on when the day is done just for general principles. It has never let me down. I don't take it on long trips away from home overnight. I am thinking of a wind driven generator just to be completely independent of ground power. (Maybe I'll get around to it maybe not).
 
Same reasons as well as less weight I want to go that route.

I've seen pictures of a homemade air driven alternator that looks like a ducted fan with what looks like a small motorcycle alternator on the back and is placed in a gear fairing to reduce drag. The concept is very simple and I guess it weights less than 5 pounds. The duct was maybe 6" in diameter. Wish I could remember where I saw it...maybe Homemade Airplanes site.
 
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