Bob,

Thank you for your comment on my hinge vs flex hinge question.

 

Gene Kujawa

Hi Bob-  Wanted to let you know my throttle quadrant should arrive any time. Rock Baxter is making a custom one to clear my console bell crank space.  Can hardly wait to finish the console area.  Another question- are you going to the cc# 25 in Leesburg, Fl or Sun-n-Fun.  If so, I have a couple of things I would like to discuss with before you go.  But not on ZAC discussions or profile pages.  My email is frschu7@aol.com.

 

Have a great day and stay warm up there

Fred Schutt

Hi .Bob-  I want to thank you for your hard work on the info on the throttle quadrant questions that I had.  This should be just what I need to give Rock Baxter.  I'll send him some drawings of my planned console- clearances that I'll need for the aileron bellcrank and the info you gave me.. We met at corvair college #17.  How is your engine and airframe progress doing?

 

Thanks again-Fred Schutt -Aspers, Pa

Hi Bob, if you let me have your e-mail, I will send you an invite to the Medicine on the Move ning - it is like this site, but invitation only to allow more open discussion about the challenges we face in HAL operations. Thanks - and keep on flying safe!

Bob,

Thanks for your comment on the fuel lines. I have a buddy who is an A&P and watching me build my 750. He wouldn't fly with the rubber lines. I will be ordering braided ss very shortly. I see where you are going to use a Corvair engine. That is my choice as well. How far along are you?
Thanks,

Blaine Schwartz

Hi Bob
A while ago I drew a design for a fellow xl owner who was not happy with how his pedals fell to the floor when he took his feet off them. So I had a bit of a think and came up with the following design. I thought I'de post it here and not in the Q&A forum. No offence taken if you don't like it.

Regards
Phill

Thanks for your recent comment on my painting blog Bob, it would have been much easier to have just sent it all to the paint shop and written out a big cheque, but I want to keep to a budget and do it all myself - so many new skills picked up on this project. (Already I have son and my brother wanting me to help them paint their boats next!)

I have now painted the flapperons and slats, next the wings. Good job its summer and I can sit outside in the shade as I do the preparation.

Regards

Jock Struthers, NewZealand

Bob, it's a bit tricky going back for Medical, you want to make sure the AME will pass you. Denial is not a good thing, you lose all privileges including Sport Pilot. It is best to let it expire when the time comes. Seems like you already have that plan in mind since you are building a Light Sport aircraft. My next hangar neighbor is retired Air Force, Earl Pitts, he's 80 something and he finally got tired of jumping through all the hoops, bought a Thorpedo and let his medical lapse.

I do have Grove gear, it is gundrilled and I used their lightweight wheels and brakes. It saved 13 pounds, about $100 pound is what I figure. I deleted the landing gear from my original order with ZAC. My goal from the beginning was performance and that meant keep it simple and keep it light. I occasionally make the right decision.

Bob, I've been watching the mailbox for the letter from the FAA. I was Light Sport legal about a year ago after my Cardiologist released me. My Medical had actually lapsed when the condition was discovered. The story is more twisted, I presented the short version.

Now that I have a current Medical, we're in the same boat, but I need to provide a cardiac status report, echo, etc. before my Medical expires to the FAA at least a month before my next Medical exam with an AME. Basically, I need more data. I can choose to let my Medical lapse and still be Light Sport legal. The key is to not have been denied or suspended.

I used to think Sport Pilot was for old guys ;-), not for me, I was only 50.

Bob, I agree with your thoughts on brakes. With the upgrades, it gives me a chance to address those things I didn't mostly because it was my first airplane. It's a steep learning curve.

Unless I am very much mistaken the mods would require me to disassemble and cut open my plane in order to "RV it up a bit".... the result of which would be (like an RV) an aircraft which is significantly overbuilt for its mission and it anticipated operation.

Now I guess if I was building the wings right now, I might happily add the changes and accept the added weight in order to keep everybody content and have more idiot-proofing built into my plane. The problem is that my plane is completed and painted and flying just fine... no wrinkles in the skins, no fretting at the bolts, no smoking rivets, no loose cables, no vibration or flutter inflight. I wouldn't put too much stock in my own experience since one plane is not a very significant sample for analysis and I only have about 45 hours at present. On the other hand, there are a crapload of XLs out there with 100 or more hours and they have the same experience with much more use (the factory demo for instance).

I am definitely not a top gun sort of pilot... I'm more of an airline sort of pilot. In fact I have been on airliners that landed a lot harder than my worst landings. I have only rarely flown from a grass strip and then only grass strips that were in very good condition and I have no bush pilot aspirations for the future. If the air gets bumpy, I slow down; if it stays bumpy, I land. I find that not only sensible but much more comfortable. I like nit-picking my plane when the weather is crappy so careful maintenance is not a burden to me.

In short, at present I am not inclined to re-engineer my plane to please folks who believe there can be a perfect world in which no bad things happen. Since the mods are only recommended and have been made for business survival and anti-lawsuit motivations (none of which apply to me) I think I'll pass. The plane will be sold only when I die or am too ill to fly. It will be sold for whatever it will fetch and will be "as is" with the drawings included with the POH.

Your case is probably very different and likely so will be your reaction. In any case good luck and trouble free building.

Ed