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New member building a PA18-95

Only need two this weekend. Plan is two upside down on two place sled trailer, third on roof for future trips. Boys and I leaving in the morning, lots of stuff to get done before then. Weather should be nice for camping and fishing, 20 degrees F, 10-20 mph winds, snow and rain. Unfortunately, we likely won't have any mosquitos to keep us company. You can't have everything. If time permits on Sunday night, I'll post some pics.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Back to airplane

Trip last weekend was a success. Temps were warmer than expected, only got down to 27 degrees F, which was good. Boys and I had a blast. Have a prototype to easily convert the canoes to rowing canoes for speed and handling in the wind while fishing. Dead simple, should work well. Anyway, last of the canoe pics on an airplane forum.

Thanks,

Jim
 

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You are doing very well...
Been following as I am also busy building all the wing parts.
Your drag struts: did you just use normal Aluminium square tubing (with a sqaure inside corner, not round)?
What wall thickness did you go for, same as plans?
How does the plug work? I can't seem to visualise how it works as on every location there is a bolt through the spar. How does that bolt tighten onto the plug that is at the end of the drag struts.
Cant seem to work out how this part works.
thanks for the great pics, explains alot sometimes
 
Steel,

Version 1 was .75 OD .049 wall rounded corners. I puckered the wall when solid riveting the feet above the plugs and after reviewing what I had going on, I decided the wall was too thin anyway. Those went in the trash. Version 2 is .75 OD .062 square corners. The plug is 5/8" 6061 bar stock with a tapped hole in the end. I doubled the length of thread in mine, and lightened them up with holes in the untapped end. The plugs and the bottom part of the foot are retained in the tube with a solid rivet. The top of the foot is retained on the tube with blind rivets to keep from dimpling the tube. The plugs don't go the depth to where the blind rivet is on the tube.

The plans call for .875" .032 wall rounded corners and the plugs are cast aluminum with a fine thread. I could not find raw materials in this OD or wall thickness. Dakota Cub and Univair sell the drag struts complete, plugs, and some individual components. They may be lighter and likely are better than what I came up with.

Please keep this in mind, I'm a guy building an airplane in his shop with his kids. I'm likely making some mistakes. I'm glad to share what we are doing, but the only parts that have flown so far, and not well, are the ones that make a quick trip though the air and into the trash bin.

Stick with it and enjoy the journey. We are!

Thanks,

Jim
 
The inevitable

Boys and I worked on the wrong airplane today, but it is time. Been flying behind this for 7 years now in the 172. Always been over TBO since I've had it, now around 3700 SMOH. Yes, it's the "junky" H2AD with the T mod.

What brought this to a head was the 4 year life cycle on the 24V $410.95 battery. Could not revive the one I put on in 2012. Not putting another battery on going into winter, before this engine gets gone through, and not again without a battery minder.

Like putting off an expensive trip to the dentist. You know the tooth won't get better with time, but you really don't look forward to pulling it.

It was getting to the point where I was reluctant to stray too far from home for fear of getting stranded and spending a big pile of money fast. I prefer to empty my wallet slowly, multiple times over many months, in smaller thousand, and multiple thousand, dollar increments.

Looking forward to getting this done and getting her shaped up again. Lots of good times left to have with her and many kids who will likely learn to fly in her. Well, they for sure will now!

Part of the long journey.

Keep you posted,

Jim
 

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Yes, they are good at tearing stuff apart.

I knew that getting them the starter tool kit from Harbor Freight may have been a mistake. I should have explained not to label things in Crayon and to use more than one box!

Seriously though, from what my untrained eye without cheaters was able to see today, I'm doing the right thing. I'd be doing something shortly whether I wanted to or not.

Thanks,

Jim
 

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The H2AD will be going in the Supercub. Not going to make sense financially to go back in a certified aircraft. Secured a low time 0-320 D that makes a lot more sense for the 172. I'll be flying the 172 and building the Supercub again lots sooner this way. Out about $500 bucks and a month of time to know exactly what I have left in the H2AD. It goes on the shelf for now, money and time well spent in my opinion.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Feeling good so far...

Got the D3G the Tuesday after Christmas, two younger boys and I got it crammed in the back of the Tahoe and brought it home in below zero temps from the Fed Ex Depot. Tailgate down and rear window up, true Clampett style. Boys were excited about the box and insisted I get the engine out ASAP.

Pecked away at it from New year's to get it in the state pictured here. 6 cord of wood to split, 3 boys in two different wrestling levels and coaching one of the levels 5 days a week, daughter in gymnastics/dance, snow to deal with, work, continuing Ed one day a week, vehicular maintenance, welcome visits from family...it has been busy.

My mechanic came by tonight before I left for work and put my mind at ease. No splitting of the case necessary on this one, cylinders/pistons look good. It is nice to be pleasantly surprised and buy something used from a great distance that shows up and is exactly as described. I am usually not that lucky.

Still tons of work to do, baffling, convert to D2G, exhaust to repair, swapping starter, swapping alternator, finding different alternator bracket, new gaskets and hoses, moving oil check door in cowling, battery and tender, etc. Hopeful to be done with this before soft water fishing season.

Keep you posted.

Thanks,

Jim
 

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Finally

Darn near two years and $11,581.64 later, the 172 will fly again on Saturday. Hated to be away from the plane I wanted to work on for so long and flying period, but this plane needed to take priority over the Supercub and funds only go so far. By going slow, I learned a lot, stayed married, and am still able to feed and cloth the kids. Finished up an associates degree for work this spring. Glad to have that done. Kids and I have taken nearly 20 trips in the canoes we made. Was able to purchase some shop equipment along the way. Now I can plug the damn things in and get back to BUILDING THE SUPERCUB. I'm excited, here are some pictures.

Before Pictures
 

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After Pictures
 

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Along the way Pictures
 

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Pics of yet unused shop toys
 

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Pics of H2AD engine parts ready to be assembled for Supercub
 

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Having fun Pictures
 

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Was able to salvage the case halves, sump, crank, rods, and cylinders from the H2AD. New valves, lifters, cam, pistons, mains, etc. will need to be purchased. Plan is to assemble the engine to a point in the back of the shop, start putting the wings together in the front. Still need to plate my steel wing hardware first. This will be cheap and a good way to ease back into things. Have had all the stuff purchased for a long time, just need to experiment and get at it.

This 172 engine took over and held the shop hostage. I'm glad to have it finally out.

Thanks, post more soon,

Jim
 
Nearly forgot this picture. They might end up with the same sickness their dad has!
 

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Awesome. Back in the game with a fresh Lycoming. Those balsa stick models teach patience as a builder if you want good results, they have lots of little pieces. I helped move a Bridgeport before, not an easy task and one you don't want to botch. Is that a phase converter mounted on the side?
 
Jim

You are awesome. Great family, and memories for the boys that will last a lifetime. Well done.

Bill
 
Thanks for the kind words Bill. Cub Junkie, not a phase converter, just an old disconnect. My plan is to run it with a VFD. Pretty cool what you can do with these things nowadays. Might put one on my lathe someday as well. It is single phase so no hurry with it, but the mill isn't and will have to have something. Heavy American steel being powered by Asian gagetry. Yes patience on the balsa model thing. Boy on right got frustrated to the point of tears last year on one he was having trouble with. We had a talk about how important it was to get your butt kicked, come back and eventually win. He did. It is fun to watch this one do stuff with his hands. He's the only lefty we have and he has his own way of doing things.
 
Learning more the hard way, the battle continues...

Had high hopes for Saturday, my mechanic and I were confident. Timed the mags, twenty gallons of fresh gas, gallon and a half drained out of the lines via the primer into my john boat gas tank for next spring. Replaced the safety wire for my prop bolts (I ignorantly used .032). Everything checked off the list, ready to see if it would build oil pressure with the starter, bottom plugs out, all plug wires off, prop went round, oil pressure guage coming up. All looks good, ready to briefly light a fire and look for oil leaks.

Had my mechanic, watch the primer connections for leaks, gave her two pumps. No leaks, full rich, 1/8" of throttle, master on, start...


Fully expected her to kick first blade over. After 6 and not even a snort, my heart sank. Gas running out of the carb heat box, must have flooded her. We went to lunch, tried again, same results.


Pulled the rocker cover on number one, slowly brought it up to TDC. Intake valve opening approaching TDC. What the heck?

Ever do something a year in the past when it was easy, clean, well lit, and so sure you had done the right thing?

Helen Keller and Ray Charles can see the timing marks on the cam gear and crank idler gears. It is practically nonexistent on the crank gear. Not stamped with an indentation or dot, but a faint grey zero almost like printed on. We searched the crank gear and debated back and forth for an hour on which tooth bore the dull grey letter. In the end my mechanic and I were both confident. That's it, someone has even slightly dressed the tooth down ever so slightly with a bevel to help identify it. NEGATIVE. We are now both confident we were three teeth off.

So yesterday afternoon I had my first experience pulling an accessory case on a mounted engine. Not much fun, heartbreaking really. Luckily it wasn't a greasy, grimy, gritty mess to start with. I did manage to make about a 1 quart lake of 40 weight mineral oil. Another dingbat move, had 8 qt. in it, should have drained two out through the sump drain before ripping and gouging. I was confident I would be buying two new gaskets and using 1.25 of them. Unbelievably, that was not the case. I'll get to that in the end.

Mechanic came back this morning to evaluate with it opened up. More head scratching, I can't see that can you? Finally a picture taken from my Spock like Tri-corder phone thingy told the tale. With the flash you could faintly see the letter. Three teeth off. Properly timed, the two of us got the case back on. Lots harder to get everything to mesh with the engine in the horizontal. Torqued up, again this is lots easier in the vertical, well lit and tons of fighting room. Slight film of gasket maker on gaskets curing till tomorrow. Got the mess cleaned up and it didn't appear as though I contaminated the oil that I left in the sump while doing battle. Retiming mags and trying again tomorrow.

Kudos to this stuff. My mechanic insisted I use it. Never used it before this project, will never try to use what I have used before on mating surfaces for oil again. Loctite and Permatex, (same company now I believe), make an anaerobic gasket sealer/maker. It will not set up like silicone until you squeeze all of the air out of the two surfaces being mated, giving you practically all the time in the world to get things right. If any excess squeezes out of the mating surface, it cleans up like red grease, not gacky silicone. If I would have used a thin film of silicone to hold the gasket in place, I'm sure I'd be waiting for replacement gaskets. Once the joint popped, the accessory case gasket was left in tact, and was easily saved. I couldn't believe it. Again, not an expert, obviously. Consult your mechanic.

In good spirits again. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Thanks,

Jim
 

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Boy this thing is fighting you tooth n nail all the way.......
You certainly have great determination and patients to no end. :???:Wishing you the very best of luck with your
project Jim.
E
 
Thanks. I'm confident it's gonna happen, if it was easy I'd probably lose interest anyway. It'll be worth it soon.
 
I'm flying again

At 7pm she started like I flew it yesterday. Amazing what happens when the engine is timed properly. Tonight was what I fully expected last Saturday, prop came around not quite twice and she was running.

Mechanic and I ran her for 1 minute at 1,000 RPM, tested both mags, all was as expected and shut her back down. No oil leaks, oil pressure in the green.

Unbelievably smooth and even. Nothing like my tired old engine and mounts.

One more night in the hangar without the cowling on to observe for stray drips, then cowl it up and fly.

Mechanic and I will go together for the break in.

I'm one happy and excited dude.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Uneventful, just like I like it...

First time as a co-test pilot today. Thought when the time truly came to put the 172 back in the air I might be nervous, but strangely that wasn't the case. Vigilant yes, nervous no. Probably because I saw first hand every piece from start to finish(corrected mistakes and all). Very grateful to my mechanic for being so patient and willing to work with me on this.

Flew left seat, very different procedure from everyday flying, neat experience.

Now just everyday flying. Going to put 10hrs or so on it before hauling kids, they are anxious.

Last picture of two tin cans. The one behind me is happy to be flying again and I am happy to be flying it. The one in my hand was a celebratory PBR. High brow stuff, but I'm worth it and it was a special occasion.

Next pictures will be Supercub stuff, I promise.

Thanks,

Jim
 

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Adventures in Alchemy

First try at plating today. Pleased with the results. Not cheaper to do this yourself on a big pile of small parts, but I wanted to do it and show the kids. $555 bucks in stuff here. $255 in kit from Caswell, roughly $200 for cheap power supply, and $100 bucks in pots, thermometers, alligator clips and the like.

Basically it goes like this, sand or bead blast your parts so they are spotless. Degrease them in a darn near boiling degreaser powder/water mix (from Caswell), Mix up a solution that if I had to guess is mostly vinegar and salt (from Caswell) in distilled or RO water. Circulate the solution with an aquarium pump and heat the solution to 110 degrees F. Hang two zinc plates in it, (also from Caswell), and hook the positive lead of a constant current DC power supply to the zinc. Hang your steel parts that you are plating from copper wire from a copper tube and hook the negative lead from the power supply to that. You run .14 amp/square inch through the parts for 20 minutes. You are basically putting the positively charged zinc in solution and depositing it on your negatively charged steel. The pulley cages took 1 amp total, and the flap hinges took 6 amp total. I had the voltage set at a max of 12V, but in reality, it doesn't take near that much. The amps are what drive and regulate the process, so a power supply with constant current is what you want. Most of the switching power supplies have both CV and CC. I would not recommend the one I have pictured here. It is of poor quality. I have used it twice and had to fix it both times before using it. It did not come from Caswell.

After parts are plated with zinc, rinse them with distilled water, and dip them in the yellow chromate/distilled water solution at 80 degrees for 30 seconds to give them the cadmium color. Rinse again and let dry.

You rinse the parts back to the buckets you did the last process from to keep from contaminating your baths and wasting materials. You cover the buckets with gasketed lids until next time.

The stainless pots have water in them to heat the solution in the plastic buckets. Tank heaters that won't contaminate the process are expensive. This old range from my wife's parents was free 23 years ago and I use it for heating 7018 rod, making jerky, and now plating. It will also bake cookies and cook pizza!


You can homebrew the elixirs and buy the zinc from somewhere other than Caswell. If you did this I'm sure you could do this lots cheaper than what I have done, but I didn't want to do that on these parts and I figured I didn't need to complicate things on my first try.

The only semi-nasty stuff is the chromate or color. It is an etching acid. Keep it off your soft and tender parts. I'd compare it to battery acid. Have a fan going, don't be stupid with it.

You can make these parts shiny with a brightener in the plating bath, but I opted to leave them dull like what I think of with true cad. From what I read the zinc does the lion's share of the protecting. The chromate does some too but is more a matter of preference.

Again, not an expert, not a professional plater. Just trying and learning new stuff by slowly building an airplane in my shop with my kids.

Lots of fun.


Thanks,

Jim
 

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Plating Progress

All the small parts for the wing are plated. I am down to the longer stuff that won't fit in my plating tank (bucket). I have a plan for this stuff, flap/aileron hangers and the like. Going to give it a shot before I take any pictures of that.

In doing small batches like I am, it is hard to keep the final color consistent. You can see there is some variation throughout the parts. I've learned that it pays to take the zinc anode out between every batch and clean it. It gets like a wet soot on it during the plating process. The soot washes right off with a spray bottle of distilled water. The anode also keeps breaking down into the brine solution even when there isn't current flowing through it. If you pull it out between batches it will last longer and keep the solution cleaner. I filtered the plating solution once through coffee filters, I'll likely do it again before the bigger parts. You also have to monitor the color that comes out on every batch and add a small amount of brightener solution periodically. You can do some nice looking stuff with a setup like this, and if you can keep it to one batch, which isn't much, your colors will be consistent.

Uniform color wasn't the most important thing to me with this. Most of this stuff is buried in the wing. What isn't will get some paint shot over it anyway. I'm confident all of this stuff has a good coating of zinc that won't blister or flake off. For good measure, I have rattle canned a thin layer of clear over top of all the small parts(no pictures of that yet). It takes some of the vibrant color away from the shiniest of parts, but it improves the luster on the dullest and helps improve the color variations.


Sharing some pictures of my "cheap" little blast cabinet setup. I bought it to clean up cylinders with walnut shells on the engine project/projects. I have since switched over and tried glass beads and finally aluminum oxide for the current project.

All I had for a compressor at the time was a 22 gal portable. I knew it wasn't near enough, but it was what I had and it worked well enough to start with. Surprisingly, I didn't lock it up. Finally saved enough for what I wanted and got it playing this weekend. 60gal two stage, regulated down to 120psi, teed in with old compressor and about a 10 gallon portable tank. This is nice. Big compressor actually shuts off while blasting, and with nearly 100 gallons of storage, gives it enough off time. C-Aire is the make, they are the same company that made my little compressor, hopefully this one is just as tough. Both were at least assembled in the U.S. Best of both worlds, smaller compressor for small jobs and everyday stuff, big compressor when needed.

Some other blast cabinet improvements were the hillbilly dust collector and two $5 dollar magnetic/Velcro LED lights for in the cabinet. Both the dust collector and the lights work surprisingly well. Just need to pulse down the baghouse between batches to keep the Shop Vac filter from blinding(shake).

More pictures soon.

Thanks,

Jim
 

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