CONTACT! Magazine Issue 84

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CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 1

PO BOX 1382 Hanford CA 93232-1382 United States of America 559-584-3306 Editor@CONTACTMagazine.com

Volume 15 Number 1 May-Jun 2006

Issue #84 MISSION CONTACT! Magazine is published bi-monthly by Aeronautics Education Enterprises (AEE), an Arizona nonprofit corporation, established in 1990 to promote aeronautical education. CONTACT! promotes the experimental development, expansion and exchange of aeronautical concepts, information, and experience. In this corporate age of task specialization many individuals have chosen to seek fresh, unencumbered avenues in the pursuit of improvements in aircraft and powerplants. In so doing, they have revitalized the progress of aeronautical design, particularly in the general aviation area. Flight efficiency improvements, in terms of operating costs as well as airframe drag, have come from these efforts. We fully expect that such individual efforts will continue and that they will provide additional incentives for the advancement of aeronautics.

EDITORIAL POLICY CONTACT! pages are open to the publication of these individual efforts. Views expressed are exclusively those of the individual authors. Experimenters are encouraged to submit articles and photos of their work. Materials exclusive to CONTACT! are welcome but are returnable only if accompanied by return postage. Every effort will be made to balance articles reporting on commercial developments. Commercial advertising is not accepted. All rights with respect to reproduction, are reserved. Nothing whole or in part may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Six issue subscription in U.S. funds is $24.00 for USA, $28.00 for Canada and Mexico, $40.00 for overseas air orders. CONTACT! is mailed to U.S. addresses at nonprofit organization rates mid January, March, May, July, September and November. Please allow time for processing and delivery of first issue from time of order.

ADDRESS CHANGES / RENEWALS The last line of your label contains the number of your last issue. Please check label for correctness. This magazine does not forward. Please notify us of your date of address change consistent with our bimonthly mailing dates to avoid missing any issues.

COPYRIGHT 2006 BY AEE, Inc.

By Patrick Panzera Welcome to issue #83, our 12th consecutive issue. This may not mean much to some of you, but those who have been with us since we took over from the founding editor, Mick Myal, you’ll realize that this is in essence our second anniversary. And with that, I’d like to thank each and very one of you who have renewed your subscription, and I’d like to especially thank

Associate Editor John P Moyle (left) and Editor/Publisher Pat Panzera in the CONTACT! Magazine booth at Sun-n-Fun 2006 those of you who were kind enough to give gift subscriptions to a friend.

A surprising number of you actually paid for a gift subscription and asked us to give it to whomever we felt was deserving. It’s been a fun run for us, bringing you the cuttingContinued on page 27

3

Tim Sullivan’s Subaru Powered Super Zodiac CH 601 HDS With superb help from Stratus Subaru, Tim Sullivan completes his plane even before obtaining his PPL. By Patrick Panzera

10 Tim Sullivan Stratus Subaru Engine, Tim details his rebuild and installation of his engine, including cooling issues.

By Patrick Panzera 17 Sensitive Static Prop Balancer, Another highly useful Paul Lipps article, detailing the construction and use of a special fixture de signed by Jeff Jeter. By Paul Lipps 20 Thor Magic Products. Not a miracle; it Just Works As described in our mission statement, we review a new product which just hap pens to be a soap and wax. By Tim Kern 22 How I spent my SUMMER VACATION, Associate editor John PO Moyle tells the tale of his trip to the Czech Republic to assembly the CH 601 XL donated to us. By John P Moyle 27 CarterCopter issue reprinted with more pages.

Alternative Engines Volume 3 announced.

28 Sun n Fun 2006 Report.

29 Alternative engine round-up (Jean Fly-in) Report.

30 2nd Annual Cinco de Mayo Canard Fly-in Report.

Zenith open house, Cloverdale CA Report.

31 Golden West EAA Regional Fly-in Report. (Sota) 32 CarterCopter update.

On the cover: Jeff Sullivan’s beautiful Subaru powered CH 601 HDS, parked outside the EAA chapter hangar at Camarillo CA.

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CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 2

Story and photos by Pat Panzera When Timothy P. Sullivan of Newhall, CA, undertook the task of building an experimental aircraft, he didn’t have a pilot’s license. He in essence accepted a dare from his father who at the time was considering building a Murphy Rebel. By the time he actually accepted the dare, his father was two months into his project, with a completed empennage.

A certified plumber by trade, Tim is currently working outside his field for a general contractor specializing in bank construction and remodels. At the time of our interview, Tim confessed to having a total of 60 hours toward his PPL. His training came to a halt when he switched instructors while at his crosscountry phase and his new instructor wanted him to basically start his training over. Tim is now back to the point he was close to a year ago. Initially he thought that when he started to get close to finishing his plane he’d take a break from building and get his license; but it didn’t go that way. His plane is currently undergoing the test flying phase, conducted

by Richard Van Vleet, a friend and fellow member of EAA chapter 723, Camarillo CA. Between personal schedule conflicts and the temperamental weather along the coast of California, Tim’s training as well as his plane’s test flight program are both going along at a crawl. www.ContactMagazine.com

When not working, building, or flying, Tim can usually be found caring for the numerous tortoise and turtles he maintains in his backyard habitat. With as many as 60 “rescue” turtles (currently adopted out to only 8 at present) Tim and his wife have been caring for various species for the past eight years, which all began with a single little box turtle. The present family of orphans residing in his back yard include an injured three-legged California Desert tortoise (a victim of a dog mauling) and an 80 pound African Sulcata tortoise who began his life with the Sullivans when he was only 300 grams. Using his gardening skills as well as donations from local restraints, Tim keeps them well fed.

ON A BUDGET Although at first glance it may seem that Tim had a lot of money to work with. On the contrary, he’s a regular Joe, working hard to support his family, but if you’d not figured it out by now, he’s a very crafty individual with some pretty good resources. “We were working on removing all the surveillance camera systems at a bank, upgrading them, so all the stuff that they’re removing was being thrown away. I took it home and collected it all. I had hundreds of cameras, IMAP’d VCR’s, splitters that split between the cameras, monitors. And I placed an ad in the Recycler and I sold a whole load of them and I bought this tail section.” Tim told us.

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CONSTRUCTION ISSUES All in all Tim built the plane per the plans, with just a few minor modifications or improvements. Somehow Tim was under the impression that when he ordered his kit, it would be delivered both precut and predrilled. But that’s not the way it came and he’s now proud to point out that he drilled each and every hole by hand. But even as skilled as Tim might be, he wasn't confident enough to tackle the construction of his center wing spar, so he ordered it completely prefabricated from the factory.

The landing light in the plans specifies 2 lamps in the leading edge of the wing, both on the pilot’s side, one used for landing and the other for taxi. Tim obviously deviated from both the installation and wiring specifications by locating one on each wing and wiring them together so that one switch powers both lamps at the same time.

Although the plans didn’t call for it, Tim designed and installed his own electric aileron trim tab in the trailing edge of the right aileron. His reasoning was sound, yet unwarranted. He mistakenly doubted his ability to build and rig the plane true. “I didn’t know if I was going to be building a straight plane, one that would fly straight and level, but it actually it does; It flies completely hands free” Tim told us. Since installing the trim tab, Zenith Aircraft Company (ZAC) has come out with a similar modification to their plans, but according to Tim, they had the foresight to place it on the left aileron, well in the line of sight of the pilot. With Tim’s installation, he doesn't have the luxury of viewing it in flight. Since the trim is electric and subject to “runaway” conditions, Tim installed a switch to cut the power to it. For an added layer of safety, the test pilot elected to leave it off for the initial flight, but it wasn’t needed anyhow.

found that the top piece would cave in when weight was applied and the entire unit could not handle the required side-loads imposed when entering or exiting. By upping the material to .025 and adding doublers, Tim now describes his console as being “bomb-proof”.

The upholstery as it is now was inspired by the Boyd Codington TV show, “American Hot Rod”. Tim was viewing an episode where the project car was wheeled to the upholstery shop for a custom job, and the upholsterer used an electric turkey carving knife and started carving the foam to shape. Fully inspired, Tim headed out to the garage, carving knife in hand, and half a day later emerged with the foam shaped as you see it in the photo. Some pieces were adhered to others using spray glue. “I just built foam pieces that looked halfway decent, took them to an upholstery shop and I said make them look like an airplane interior” Tim said. The same method was used to create custom panels to complete the professional look. But this was not the first go at it; Tim’s previous attempt at upholstery netted an appearance that he likens to motorboat upholstery.

Although a bit difficult to make out in this photo, The plans called for a pair of “T” handles to protrude from either panel end (one on the pilot’s side, the other on the passenger’s), to be used for dual throttle. The pilot’s side handle would have been located approximately where Tim has his choke located now.

The location of the vernier throttle control is now much more comfortable and logical.

CONTROLS

INTERIOR The center console as built from the ZAC plans seemed to be a bit too “flimsy” by Tim’s standard. Ingress and egress is dependant on the ability to place a huge amount of one’s body weight on the console. Early on in the build process Tim had a chance to spend some flight time with another HDS builder and soon found out that the console/arm rest wasn’t up to his expectation. He www.ContactMagazine.com

Under the cowl we noticed remnants of an abandoned attempt at dual throttles, specifically a cross bar mounted on the firewall that was used to interconnected two pushpull cables mounted in the instrument panel at both outboard ends. This gave throttle control to the pilot’s left hand and the passenger’s right hand. The cross connect on the firewall was fitted with a pair of bellcranks that controlled their respective carburetor. Although the plan looked good on paper, the actual mechanics of it didn’t pan out. The ergonomics of the cockpit lever plus the sensitivity of the system (due in part to the lack of rigidity and poor geometry) led to rpm change while simply rolling down the taxiway, plus over or undershooting while trying to change RPM. The solution was to forgo dual

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The rudder pedals and brake system were modified slightly in order to give more leverage to the brake cylinders. The standard brake pedal and subsequent brake cylinder attach point is about half as tall as what Tim constructed, pictured above. throttles and have a custom vernier cable manufactured that split off to the two individual carbs. “I wanted to go with a vernier type throttle control in the first place, but I just didn’t know how to do it.” Once Tim bit the bullet and sought the advice of experts in the field and paid for a split cable, he was very happy with the results. Throttle control is now very fluid and accurate. He even improved the ergonomics to where he can rest his left wrist on his knee and the control is right there where it belongs.

The standard ZAC design calls for cables to actuate the ailerons. Tim didn’t much care for that design so he eliminated the aileron cabling system all together and installed pushrods. “With my system, If I were to lose one pushrod, the other 2 pushrods will still work both ailerons. With the old system, if I were to lose one cable, I’d lose everything.

Not that it’s likely to ever lose a cable, but at the time I thought I’d prefer the redundancy of the pushrod system.

Notice the hole over the Hobbs meter in this otherwise beautiful panel. That’s another remnant of the ill -fated dual throttle levers.

THE PANEL The Garmin 300 XL was a gift from Tim’s boss who was in the process of refitting his L-39 Albatross and the transponder came out of his boss’s Cessna 421 refit.

Tim told us that he built the panel probably 5 times before he was happy with it. He fabricated it out of wood at first, which became the pattern on which his router bit would ride when cutting the aluminum used for the actual piece. With the wood templates still available, remaking the panels from a different material at a later date should be a snap.

Part of Tim’s day-to-day activities have him installing or otherwise refitting ATM’s at local banks. This process nets him scrap aluminum that had been “cut-out” during the construction. All the aluminum panel parts came from these otherwise scrap pieces of aluminum. If the aluminum was too thick, such as some of the .125 he used, Tim would route out the back to thin it down, in the hopes of saving some weight.

CANOPY The plans Tim worked from specified a simple yet elegant way to hinge the canopy, which can be opened either to the left or to the right. Once he found out about the more popular forward hinging canopy option he was too far into the project and didn’t want to backtrack. But Tim has no regrets; it seems that he really likes the way the canopy functions as it is.

Sharp eyes would have already noticed that in the photo on page 3, the canopy was hinged the wrong way. That’s no illusion. If built to plans, the HDS canopy can be opened from either side.

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On an unusual note, the professional appearance and the traditional “six pack” layout was no accident. Tim is not a pilot and didn’t get much in the way of guidance when designing his panel. “I copied it from magazines” he told us, “I’m not a pilot and I wasn’t around airplanes when I was working on the panel, so I just copied it from what I saw in the aircraft magazines”. In my estimation,

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While calibrating the air speed, Tim was amazed at just how little pressure the pitot system actually sees. “When I opened up the box my airspeed indicator came in, I noticed a warning to not blow into this instrument; I was so tempted… But a couple of inches of water and a piece of hose, just making the water go back and forth from the hose on the pitot tube moves that thing a 100 miles an hour.”

An access panel in the forward deck facilitates the access to the back side of the instrument panel.

Tim got lucky, as I’ve seen some pretty bad designs (in magazines) over the years, and he could have very easily copied something that was less than desirable. As it was, Tim missed installing a VOR. “I didn’t even know what a VOR was, never even heard of one when I was building the thing. I didn’t have airplane on the brain yet.

Actually if I would have known about it, I would have incorporated it in somewhere.”

Tim, opening a wing locker to show us the auxiliary fuel tank he’s plumbed in place.

FUEL SYSTEM Tim purposely divided his instrument panel into flight, navigation and communication, engine and fuel, then ignition, with each section being panelized so that he can pull them out and gain access individually. An access hatch was cut into the forward deck for additional access to the maze of hoses and white wires that makes up a typical IFR panel. This is one modification that he’s particularly glad he did, as he’s already needed to get back there 20 some-odd times by his estimation.

For driving the gyros, Tim paid a visit to the world’s largest aircraft junkyard in St. Paul, Minnesota, and picked up a $300 electric driven emergency backup vacuum pump out of the Bonanza, and mounted behind the seat.

He already had a venturi in place before he found the thing so he’s going to tie them both together and use it as a backup as intended. This was a bit of an impulsive extravagance especially since it’s highly unlikely to be needed any time soon, but he’s happy with his decision.

“Wing lockers” are an option many 601 builders choose to install. There’s not a lot to them, they don’t add any real weight, complexity, time or money to the build, so there’s really no reason not to include them. The plus side is the additional storage, on the CG, that adds utility to the plane. Although Tim elected to install them, he’s filled them almost completely with removable fuel tanks.

The standard HDS comes with a 16 gallon header tank, and optional leading edge wing tanks are available." I didn’t know about the optional leading edge fuel tanks until it was too late.” Tim told us. “It would have been a lot cleaner and it certainly would be nice to have full access to the wing locker as intended.”

PITOT/STATIC SYSTEM As an example of needing access, during the first flight the airspeed indicator and the vertical speed indicator were nowhere near indicating accurately. The flight had to be conducted using the GPS since the steam gauges were not reliable. Most of you reading this will know instinctively that this would be a pitot/static failure, and you’d be right. “I had a leak in every single fitting that could leak and I’m a certified plumber.” Tim told us, “While building, I opened the Spruce catalog and I ordered all this expensive stuff and I plumbed up. When I pulled it all out after the first flight, all these old timers were like, “Get that stuff out of there. Go to Home Depot and get some barbed fittings and hose and stick it on there, so that’s what I did. It works now.” www.ContactMagazine.com

Although the plans call for typical barbed fittings and hose clamps for the fuel system, Tim went the extra mile and used nothing but AN hardware, braided stainless hoses, or flared rigid lines. This complicated one detail

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for sure, the connection of the fuel line to the Bing carbs.

It seems that the inlet threads for the carb fuel fitting are metric and Tim couldn’t find a 10 mm to AN-4 fitting at his usual supplier, so he improvised and bought (and sacrificed) 10 mm banjo fittings, cut the threads off and welded an AN-4 fittings to them.

the top skin of the wing. The strut is suspended via a bungee cord and is capped with a little plate that keeps the leg from dropping out of its mount while in flight. On the ground, the cap will sit above the skin, giving an illusion of a fuel filler cap or other access cover, but once the weight is off the gear, the plate sits flush.

The fuel handling system was copied from a Lancair 360 Tim saw at Whiteman Airport. So now he is able to transfer fuel from tank to tank or run the engine from whichever tank he pleases, but under normal conditions the header tank is the “main” and he transfers from the wing tanks to the header, which then gravity feeds to the dual Bings under the cowl.

When Tim first built the plane, there was enough elasticity in the system to keep the cap flush even when the plane was on the ground. But as time has gone by, the gap has been opening. Not related to the gap, but certainly worth mentioning, on the first flight of this little plane the landing was a little rough. A fall from an honest 5 feet prompted the tower to call twice to ask if they were okay. The steel landing gear struts were primed before being installed, and any relative movement between the mounting block and the strut itself would leave tell-tail marks. When the plane was inspected after the “landing”, the marks showed very little travel, indicating to Tim that the gear did its job.

Another modification to the system includes external fuel vents on all 3 tanks, each approximately ¼ inch in diameter. rather than simply venting inside the wing.

The gascolator is designed for a fuel injection pressurization, for high pressure systems. Tim tried a standard unit but blew the seals with just 5 psi. Since he has the capability of pumping from both wing tanks at the same time, with independent electric fuel pumps, he felt it necessary to jump up to a gascolator that is capable of handling high pressure. Looking at the firewall from either side, one can see the remnants of the old gascolator.

LANDING GEAR One thing that most people find interesting about the HDS is the way the main gear legs protrude through

“I wish I would have had the gear struts chrome plated”, Tim said, “Either that or powder coated. I didn’t do anything to all three of them and they look pretty bad with just zinc chromate.” Tim’s initial thought was to go with powder coating like he’s done on the engine mount, valve covers and oil pan, but his experience with two local powder coaters left him with a bad distaste for the industry in general. “I dropped off stuff [at the second of three different shops] to be powder coated and when I went back three weeks later, it was in the same exact place I left, it never moved. I said, you know what, give it back. I then took it to another place, they still took a couple months.”

The wheel pants are stock Zenith parts, but with an additional 30 hours of body work on them. www.ContactMagazine.com

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ELECTRICAL Throughout our interview with Tim, he continually referenced his experience with Baja Bugs and other off-road VW conversions he’s worked on in the past. In fact, due to his familiarity with VW engines, Tim was initially interested in installing one in his HDS, but he realized that the 100 horsepower water-cooled Stratus Subaru was a much better choice for him.

Drawing from his automobile experience but lacking in aviation knowledge, Tim went after wiring the plane like it were an automobile. “I wired this thing like I wired a Volkswagen Baja Bug, mostly because I just didn’t know anything about airplanes. But then after I brought it here [EAA chapter hangar] and a few of the local geniuses took a look, I was in better shape. One advisor, who was an electrical engineer, drew sketches of how to rewire certain things, so learning from that I rewired a bunch of things. I’m not an electrician so I really can’t explain exactly what I did, but everything works.”

“There’s just a ton of wire. I was amazed, I kept ordering wire from Spruce and it’d be gone. Order more, it’d be gone, I’d have to order more. I mean just for the wings alone running wires out to the lights, to the strobe and to my fuel sender unit.”

Every piece of wiring was done by Tim; the Ray Allen stick grip itself is a maze of wires with the elevator and aileron trim micro switches, in addition to the push-totalk. We have a similar set of Ray Allen grips on our CONTACT! Magazine 601 yoke, and by the time the bundle exits the bottom of the stick, it’s almost 1/2” in diameter.

Rather than the traditional rotating beacon mounted on the top of the vertical stabilizer, Tim installed a custom flashing beacon which is actually just a bigrig brake signal mounted on the top of the ruder and it just hooked it to a traditional car flasher unit.

Tim told us that if he were to lose the alternator or the battery, he could turn the master buss off, switch to the secondary electronic ignition and secondary 20 amp battery. “That way everything is off except for the ignition which is just running on the secondary battery, so we have at least an hour. Since Tim doesn’t have an “essential buss” to fall back on, once the system is shut down, communication and lighting are gone. “Right now” Tim said, “I don’t have any form of over voltage protection on anything but I’m considering changing that.” www.ContactMagazine.com

Part of Tim’s electrical design calls for a multiple battery isolator mounted under the cowl.

While building his plane, Tim read of a Pietenpol that crashed in a corn field due to an engine failure, directly related to a lost ground to the engine. “I raced down to the hangar the next day and added another ground strap from the firewall to the engine case.” Tim said, “With everything on the motor being rubber mounted, I thought I’d better add more than just one ground after reading that.”

The second of two batteries located behind the seats.

FIRST FLIGHT Other than the previously mentioned pitot/static system failure and the hard landing, the first flight was uneventful. With no real game plan, a couple of stalls and a bit of slow-flight was all that was attempted. Since all went well, better than expected actually, the next flights will be the true test flights.

We certainly wish Tim well and trust that the next flights will be conducted safely and without incident. We look forward to seeing Tim at all the usual fly-ins around the country, as we know he will have earned it.

~Pat

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In issue #13 of CONTACT! Magazine we reported on the then latest versions of the CH 601; specifically, the standard lightweight 601, the HD and the HDS. Since then Zenith has come out with a Sport Pilot compliant XL version which is what we currently have in our hangar.

Based on the ZODIAC CH 601 HD, the “Super Zodiac” HDS features tapered and shortened 'speed wings' to achieve a higher cruise speed than all other previous

versions. The wingspan has been reduced to 23 feet and the wing area is lowered to 98 square feet, with the outer airfoil tapering to from 58 inches at the root to a 34 inch chord at the wing tips. The speed wings also have fullspan ailerons for very responsive controls. The “Super Zodiac” HDS has the same fuselage, center section and tail sections as the CH 601 HD model; the only difference being the outboard wing panels which can actually be interchanged with the HD.

The following information is specific to the HDS, which is the most high-performance of the four different versions.

SPECIFICATIONS

Super ZODIAC CH 601 HDS

WING SPAN

23 FT.

WING AREA

98 SQ.FT.

LENGTH

19 FT.

PERFORMANCE

150

150

CRUISE (mph)

135

135

VNE (mph)

160

160

48

54

1,300

1,100

TAKE-OFF ROLL (ft.)

450

550

LANDING DISTANCE (ft.)

550

550

12,000+

12,000+

540

540

+/- 9

+/- 6.8

590 LB.

STALL SPEED (mph)

USEFUL LOAD

610 LB.

RATE OF CLIMB (FPM)

1,200 LB.

WING LOADING

12.2 psf

POWER LOADING

15 LB./HP

DESIGN LOAD FACTOR (ultimate) CABIN WIDTH

+/- 6 "G" 44 INCHES

FUEL CAPACITY (std. header tank)

16 Gallons (US)

- with Optional Wing Tanks

30 Gallons (US)

TWO Person 1,050 LB.

TOP SPEED (mph)

EMPTY WEIGHT*

GROSS WEIGHT

SINGLE PERSON 800 LB.

SERVICE CEILING (ft.)

RANGE (std., SM) LOAD FACTOR (G)

NOTE: Specification and performance figures are based on standard factory prototype test results, with standard Rotax 912 powerplant. Standard atmosphere, sea level, no wind.

All technical data, specification and performance figures subject to change without notice.

Engine Limitations: 65 - 115 hp, up to 265 lbs. max. firewall-forward weight.

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CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 9

Story and photos by Pat Panzera

COST STRATUS SUBARU Stratus Inc., founded in 1992 by Reiner and Petra Hoffman, is known for converting the reputable 1.8 liter Subaru EA-81 engine for use in experimental aircraft. On May 1, 1999, Mykal (Mike) Templeman became the new owner of the company which is now known as Stratus 2000 Inc. The converted engine incorporates a 2.2:1 belt reduction unit engineered exclusively for Stratus, and uses a 60 mm Gates HTD® drive belt coupled to hard anodized drive sprockets. In addition to the reduction drive, Stratus engines are fitted with a lightweight custom intake manifold; dual Bing altitude-compensating carburetors with filters; an ignition coil (an optional second ignition system is available); an electric fuel pump; an engine mount which incorporates Lycoming style bushings, plus your choice of prop extensions.

The Stratus core engine is “zero-timed” to factory specs, produces 100 horsepower @ 5,400 RPM, and has an estimated TBO of 1,000 hours. Before shipping, Stratus engines are completely assembled and test-run.

Although Stratus sells turn-key engines (EA-81 and the EJ-22 Legacy), they also sell the parts to not only convert your own engine, but also to rebuild the donor engine to factory spec. Tim opted for the do-it-yourself route and simply purchased parts from Stratus. He chose to stick with the dual altitude compensating Bing carburetors as recommended by Stratus, as it’s a proven system and he has total confidence in Mike, which he made very clear to us on more than one occasion. www.ContactMagazine.com

While the EA-81 conversion from Stratus runs in the $7,000 USD range, Tim Sullivan has a little over $3,000 invested in his conversion and $5,000 total invested in his firewall-forward. The PSRU alone cost approximately $2,500, which was paid for from the proceeds of the sale of his T-Bird. Tim is not a fan of direct drive with auto conversions, “I bought a Lycoming O-320 prop-strike engine out of the junkyard, just to bring it home and take it apart to see what it makes it tick”, Tim said, “I already knew it was destroyed, but I couldn’t believe the size of the front bearing. I’ve never seen anything like that. My goodness is it huge, and the case that houses it is just astronomical.” Compared to what’s available in the region of what will become the thrust end of a standard auto conversion, he has a point.

WHICH ENGINE TO USE CONTACT! Magazine, issue #71, contains the most relevant Subaru article published to date. "An Illustrated Guide to the Subaru EA81", written by Paul Messinger, graphically details the subtle differences from one series of engine to another. If you are considering a Subaru conversion, this article is a must. Of key importance is the fact that once the engine is removed from the car, it's extremely difficult to identify which engine you have without dismantling it. The serial number is absolutely of no use for anything. It would be difficult to pare down to a few lines what Paul took eight pages to explain, but suffice it to say one could end up with a really bad combination of parts if certain precautions aren't adhered to. One such detail is with the cam. The cam needs to be modified to match the intended RPM range. As a stock cam is

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reground to net and altered lift and/or duration from the high side of the cam, the base circle needs to be reduced. If the base circle is reduced too much, longer pushrods will be needed, as there's only so much adjust available from the rockers. It's exceedingly important that at least one full thread be exposed above the locknut after adjustment. The heads are usually resurfaced 0.040" to help with the valve train geometry and/or to increase the compression ratio but, in some cases, this is still not enough and the pushrods still end up being too short.

Tim is no stranger to rebuilding engines with multiple VW and Audi projects under his belt. According to Tim, there’s no need to mess with turning the crank undersized and buying other than standard bearings. He basically said that should the crank not measure up to specifications or is in any way less than perfect, chuck it and get another. “Toss it, you go to the junkyard and buy another one for 25 bucks. I bought this entire engine from Pick-A-Part on half price day for $75.” Tim explained.

When I reminded him that with the $75, he also has some sweat equity invested since he had to remove the engine, he went on to say, “You just pull it with an axe!

Break everything off around it and pull it out, maybe 30 minutes max.”

sure of the automobile application, but he developed the brackets for it. I think I paid $200 for the alternator and bracket, as well as the wiring instructions and the tech support; I could call him anytime and he’s right there to answer any of my questions.”

Pictured above: Bing altitude compensating carburetor, K&N air filter with custom “p-trap” attachment, and custom intake manifold, all of which comes from Stratus as a complete bolt-on package and can be purchased independent of other packages.

INTAKE SYSTEM “I got this engine out of a GL Wagon that had 100,000 miles on it, or thereabouts. When I was rebuilding it, I took the block and a crank to an engine rebuilding shop and they checked everything to make sure that it was still within tolerances. It was like new. Then when I assembled it I used plastigauge to double check it with a mechanic friend that came over to help me out.”

After deciding on the Subaru as well as using Stratus components to convert his engine, Tim was pleased across the board with the service he received from Stratus, in addition to the quality of parts. “You can just buy whatever you want. Like this 55 amp alternator, I’m not

Having a strong construction background, Tim recognized many of the components which make up the Stratus intake system as simple (we like simple), off-the-shelf hardware. The intake manifolds themselves are hand rail 90’s (used in the manufacturing of custom railing), with simple flanges welded to each end, and the 90’s used to connect the air cleaner to the carb are half of a commercial grade PVC sink drain trap. Other parts that come off the shelf from a plumbing supply house would include the copper thermostat housing shown below.

ENGINE COOLING Tim has an unnatural fear of things overheating, “It seems like everything I’ve ever owned has overheated at some point or another” Tim said, so his system is overbuilt by his own admission. A custom-built, $500 allaluminum racing radiator that’s the same exact dimenwww.ContactMagazine.com

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 11

sions as the Volkswagen Rabbit diesel radiator (which is specified by Stratus) completely ducted and mounted solo on the belly of the plane is what makes up the heart of the cooling system. “People were amazed I went that far; I know it’s a lot of drag but I really don’t care about drag, I care about this thing overheating.” Tim said.

Tim states that he used seat-of-the-pants engineering for the location, position and the mounting of the radiator as well as the scoop inlet and outlet sizing. “Well I kind of guessed- I looked at photos of other styles and just kind of guessed at it.” Tim said. “I just thought it’d look good right there; I wanted to put the weight in between both wheels so it was centered on the airplane. Tim was certainly happy with his decision when he met a gentleman from the San Francisco Bay area who also had an HDS with a Subaru engine, and sure enough, his radiator was in the same place. “I drove up there and flew with him for a couple of hours and it just so happens his radiator was in the same exact place. And he said he just guessed on where to put his too.”

The all-aluminum radiator was built by a local custom radiator expert, known for supplying the off-road automobile racing industry with top-notch products.

“What other people usually do, they put the small automobile-like air conditioning condensing radiator inside the cowl, but that’s just too scary to me. I’d rather have something high drag that I know for a fact will not overheat, and with this radiator, I can hit it with 120 psi of pressure and it won’t blow.” The stock diesel Volkswagen Rabbit radiator which Tim originally installed began to leak on its own, even though it wasn’t run. “It had plastic ends and a brass core and just with it sitting under there for six months it started leaking, just from sitting there.” Tim told us.

Necessity being the mother of invention, when Tim hit a wall trying to locate pre-bent tubes to weld to straight pipe, he opted to chop a few 22.5° cuts. A few welds later and his once straight tube now turns 90°.

“I didn’t order any of the cooling from Mike at Stratus or Zenith”, Tim said, “I built this all from raw stock. The piping going to and from the radiator is cut from stock aluminum tubing, mitered with a chop saw, tack welded it where I needed it and brought it to a professional welder.” Tim had difficulty finding pre-bent aluminum tubes which is probably a good thing as it might have been difficult to keep things tight to the firewall and the bottom of the fuselage with off-the-shelf bends.

Being conscious of appearance and weight, Tim opted to go with aluminum as opposed to the more traditional way of using standard copper pipes and sweating the fittings together as his instincts were leading him, since he is a certified plumber.

CARB HEAT and MIXTURE

Radiator as viewed from behind the plane. www.ContactMagazine.com

Since the Bings are altitude compensating, there’s no need for mixture control. With the air cleaners tucked inside the cowl, hovering over the engine case, Tim didn’t feel the need to install carb heat. But just as a safety

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 12

precaution, he installed a temperature probe inside the cowl so he can monitor the “ambient” temperature under the cowl, near the air-cleaners.

As a side note, with his current carb placement the engine runs poorly when not cowled. “For some reason when I run this thing with the cowling off it runs really bad. I put the cowling on back on, changing nothing else and it runs just perfect.” Tim said.

tube which leads to a cabin heat box designed to either bring heated air into the cockpit or dump it overboard.

COWL, OIL COOLER and CABIN HEAT Tim had concern with the stock (Comanche-style) cowling inlet allowing water in and drenching the top of his water-cooled engine, so he blocked it off internally with a baffle just behind the PSRU, which does benefit from fresh air for cooling. With his radiator being located on the belly it doesn’t need air from the cowl inlets, so he figured there would be no harm in essentially shutting off the engine compartment from the outside.

A cabin heat box is mounted on the firewall and is used to divert heated air from the back side of the oil cooler either into the cabin, or overboard.

Additional blast tubes come off the back side of the baffle and cool components such as the alternator on an “as needed” basis. The aluminum baffle also acts as a great heatsink for his MSD coil joiner. We did caution Tim that some form of electrical insulation should be maintained between the joiner and its mount, (including hardware).

The baffle also gave him a great place to locate the oil cooler which is fitted for an extra blast tube, but it cools great without one, probably too good as he never sees over 110°; a bypass is in order and on the agenda. On the back side of the baffle is an oil cooler outlet blast www.ContactMagazine.com

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 13

all the way up, so the engine RPM stays down around 5,000, which in my opinion isn’t all that low. “We were just completely stressing the motor out just to see if anything would happen and nothing happened. I wanted to make sure before it flew for the first time.” Tim said.

Installation and tracking of the belt wasn’t difficult for Tim. He’s very mechanically oriented and, from the look of his craftsmanship, he’s not a stranger to attention to detail. “Mike sends you special wrenches that turn the eccentric for tracking, and along with a gauge for setting the belt tension, that’s all you need.” Although Tim’s intuition told him that he’d have tracking problems for sure, once it was set, it’s been perfect ever since. The recommended interval between belt changes is 300 hours or one year. Tim’s conservative nature dictates that he change his belt at well before 300 hours, as the belt replacement is simple and cheap at $100 for the belt itself.

PROP

The final fit and finish of the cowl is first rate. Tim was quick to point out that he has 30 some-odd hours in detailing the cowl and getting it to fit as it does. Zenith really has their act together when it comes to providing for the Subaru installation. Tim started with a Rotax cowl, and with the addition of the fiberglass parts provided by Zenith, the cowl fits the Subaru installation perfectly.

With the addition of the Zenith-provided blisters and intake scoop, mixed with a little elbow grease, the Rotax cowl is neatly converted to fit the Sube.

REDRIVE Tim has done extensive runups with the 2.2:1 Stratus redrive. He has about 10 - 11 hours of full throttle ground runs, just to shake down the systems, including the redrive. But static runs like this won’t let the engine spool www.ContactMagazine.com

Stratus recommends the ground adjustable Warp Drive and Tim opted for the three-blade version but didn’t opt for the tapered tips. He thought about installing an IVO in -flight adjustable but he heard some of the horror stories and decided to stay clear.

The spinner is as provided by Warp Drive; it came with the prop. “I wanted a spinner that would wrap around the prop hub like spinners usually do but the people at Warp said, oh just try this one, if you don’t like it, if it doesn’t look quite right, please send it back, we’ll give you your money back and you can get another spinner. But I ended up liking it” Tim said, “I thought it would look dorky but I like the mechanical look of all these nuts and bolts showing. I like mechanical looking things.” Before he installed it, Tim spent a few hours on the buffing wheel getting the hub to shine as it does.

ENGINE MOUNT The portion of the engine mount that is attached to the firewall came from Zenith and is designed for a Rotax 912. Stratus supplied, in essence, adapter pieces which bolt the Subaru engine directly to the Rotax attach points. Simple, clean and clever. Tim had the parts powder coated blue.

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 14

DUAL IGNITION Stratus offers both single and dual ignition. Although the dual ignition does not use redundant sparkplugs or wires, nor does it utilize dual distributors, rotor or cap, there are two coils and two sources of timing. The standard single ignition utilizes an otherwise stock Subaru (but remanufactured) distributor, with the bone stock Subaru automobile electronic pickup. The optional secondary ignition uses a GM style sensor but its looking at the flywheel on the redrive. The pickup itself is attached to the side of the engine block as seen below.

Although this photo is intended to show the exhaust system, it also shows the engine mount brackets provided by Stratus, used to adapt the Subaru conversion to the stock Rotax-to-601 engine mount.

EXHAUST The custom exhaust system, including the muffler, was completely fabricated by hand from stainless by a friend of Tim’s who is an expert in thermal research and development. With top-of-the-line equipment, he operates a business where he makes custom mail-order exhaust systems. After owning and operating a muffler shop for several years, he found that fabricating his own bends and mufflers was the way to go. He could make his own supplies for half the price of what he was paying wholesale, so he became a full-fledged manufacturer. Tim is very pleased with the exhaust in general, but is especially happy with the exhaust note. “I was just going to put two pea-shooters straight out, straight exhaust- I like loud stuff but I’m so glad I didn’t do that here.” Tim said.

At one time the exhaust was really polished out but it dulled up after a while. The builder wanted Tim to send it back to him to get it ceramic coated once it was proven, but Tim’s against that idea now. He likes it as-is.

To ease fabrication, Tim had the engine mounted to a mocked-up firewall, affixed to an inexpensive rolling engine stand that allowed the engine to be rotated upside down. This really facilitated the fabrication of the pipes.

The “brain” of the second ignition unit is nested inside the cowl, close to the location of the pick-up.

HOSES Anyone looking in the engine compartment of Tim’s plane will instantly notice the liberal use of Firesleeve thermal hose protectant on his fuel lines. “All this fireproofing red rubbery stuff, I bought a big roll of it from a place in Burbank that I get all my AN fittings from; it’s like an aircraft salvage hardware store. So I just paid pennies for all this stuff.” Tim once read an article about someone who had an in-flight engine fire and it had an impact on him. “This stuff gives you a few Continued on page 19 www.ContactMagazine.com

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 15

Story by Paul Lipps Design by Jeff Jeter Photos and drawings by Pat Panzera Here's the incredibly sensitive prop static balance device that Jeff Jeter designed and made for me. When correctly adjusted, it will show an out-of-balance indication when a #4 washer is placed at the tip of a 63" diameter prop.

I just re-balanced my three bladed Elippse prop after painting one blade red and another blade blue to go along with the white one. I just kept spraying color on the front side and flat-black on the back side of a light blade until the balance was right on. Spray your way to balance! You can even watch the balance change as the paint dries! When I put a response on the google.rec.av site, I got several replies from people who want to know how to make it so I figured that this might make a useful article for CONTACT! The commercially produced propellers I have experience with have a 2-1/4" hole in the back which centers the prop on the crank flange of a Lycoming, but I’m not sure about Continental. There's generally a 3/4" hole through the center, but not always (sometimes the 2-1/4” hole goes all the way through), and shouldn't be used as the reference center. That's why the tube is 5/8" OD to clear it.

Jeff used Loctite to secure the tube into the base, then turned the base so that both were concentric. The 4" portion of the base disk bears against the bottom of the prop to support it so that the 2 1/4" is only used for centering. A similar mechanism could be made that would have a ferrule inside the tube adjustable up and down through a threaded mechanism. The ferrule would have a conical hole on the bottom of it that would fit over a pointed rod up through the center, rather than being supported by a cable. Of course that wouldn't have the indicator disc. The real secret of the sensitivity of either form is to be able to adjust the support center up and down in the tube until it is just very slightly above the prop's fore-aft CG. When it is there, just the slightest unbalance lets it hang at

Start with a 7/8” x 4-1/2” aluminum disk. Drill and secure the 5/8” tube into the base using red Loctite, then turn the assembly on a lathe once the Loctite cures. This gets the base to run true and concentric with the tube. Also turn the ferrule and the two piece cap. After turning the cap as a unit, slice off the end piece. Polish the mating surfaces of the cap and end piece for a frictionfree fit. A little car wax certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Retainer Thread the 1/32” stainless Loop steel cable through the two-piece cap and the Base ferrule. Cut a piece of a rubber pencil eraser (or similar material) and thread the cable though it while inserting it inside the ferrule. This supplies friction for holding the Ferrule ferrule in place, midway inside the tube. The fer15” x 1/32” rule needs to be adjustaStainless steel ble as it will be positioned cable on the cable differently from one prop to another,

www.ContactMagazine.com

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 16

an angle. The cable-supported version has the big advantage of having that indicator disc which shows the magnitude and direction of the unbalance.

No scale

depending on the thickness of the prop’s hub. Fasten a loop onto each end of the cable. Insert the base and the tube into the prop. Thread the ferrule in place and secure it in the tube in the approximate center of gravity of the prop being balanced. Place the cap on the end of the tube and hang the prop from the fixture making sure that the wire retainer is centered in the bottom of the base. A little tape will help act as a third hand.

End piece Cap

Loop

When this set-up is adjusted for maximum sensitivity, a comparable round bubble-level would have to be way more sensitive than any of those you normally find. We had level bubbles that we use to level our Atlas guidance radar antenna that would show 1 arc-second. If you lighted it with a flashlight, the pressure of the light would displace the bubble; true story! You could move the bubble back and forth. We had to shield it from any strong light source. We used two of these mounted at 90 degree angles with each other. We would read both of them every 30 deg. azimuth, then put the data through a simple graph which would show the

Start with the ferrule about mid-way down the tube and gradually push it down until the prop flops over and the tube rests on the cable. Move the ferrule back up slightly and the sensitivity of the balancer should be set.

A plastic soda straw can be used from either end of the tube to properly set the ferrule just about the CG of the prop.

www.ContactMagazine.com

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 17

magnitude and direction of level error. We had three adjustable support legs on the antenna's base; one was never moved, it was the reference. The graph would show which legs to adjust up or down. The legs had a vernier adjust mechanism which had a sensitivity of 10 clicks per second of level. The antenna level spec. was 2.5 seconds P-P maximum. I have a bubble which is about 20 sec/inch. Try holding that baby steady! But I digress...

Here're some photos of the balancer in operation. In the photo below you'll see a prop out-of-balance. Note that the cap indicator disc shows not only long-axis unbalance, but also cross-axis as well.

We were fortunate to have more than one prop to check with Paul’s balancer. In addition to the Sensenich prop shown to the left, we checked a Warp Drive (above) and a Prince 3-blade, shown below. With no visible signs of post-production balancing, we were stunned to see that the Warp was just about perfectly balanced.

The long-axis is balanced by means of the nickel not too far out on the root as shown below. Finally, the addition of 2 quarters and one nickel gives the cross axis balance. Very slight movement of the coins caused deflection in the cap disc indicator. It's also important not to have even the slightest breath of air blowing on the prop.

Paul Lipps

www.ContactMagazine.com

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 18

Continued from page 15 Engine type

All-aluminum, four-cylinder, fourstroke, liquid-cooled, pushrod, normally aspirated

Displacement

1781 cc (109 in3)

WEIGHT

Power output

100 hp at 5,400 rpm

Tim didn’t bother to weigh his firewall forward, but his empty weight is on the heavy side for an HDS. The factory specification calls for 590 pounds, empty, while Tim’s plane tips the scale(s) at a whopping 730 pounds, making it around 140 pounds heavier than the Rotax 912 powered prototype. But how much of that is from the engine and related components and how much of it is from the installation of the auxiliary wing tanks, full IFR panel there’s 100 miles of wire behind the panel according to Tim), venturi, electric vacuum pump, and all the other fun things Tim installed? I guess we may find out if and when Tim ever has to remove the engine and remembers to weigh the thing. Oddly enough, with both of the batteries and the electric vacuum pump located behind the seats, and with the radiator located spot on the CG, the W&B came in perfect the first time with no need for ballast to offset the weight of the engine. With that, and with Stratus’ claim of 200 pounds for the converted engine, it seems entirely possible that Tim came in at or under Zenith’s requirement of 265 lbs max. FWF.

Bore

92 mm (3.62 in)

Stroke

67 mm (2.64 in)

Fuel

Unleaded gasoline

Weight

200 lbs Includes only items listed in this table, plus engine mount adapters

Reduction ratio

2.2:1

Direction of rotation

Clockwise

more minutes of protection. I mean it’d look a lot better if I didn’t have it on there; I have all these nice shiny stainless hoses all over, but I figured I’d be a little safer with it in place.”

Zenith sells optional wing tanks for the HDS and specifies their weight as a total of 30 lbs. With that in mind, Tim's wing locker tanks (as mentioned in the previous story) could easily account for 21% of his plane’s obesity. As a side note, with his tanks located directly on the CG, the placement and subsequent use of fuel in these tanks has a negligible affect on CG. The plane was designed around a gross weight of 1,200 lbs. Since the addition of extra fuel tanks, located in the wing as opposed to the fuselage, Tim feels confident that upping the gross an additional 60 lbs to 1,260 is reasonable, and as the builder, it’s his prerogative to do so.

www.ContactMagazine.com

Reduction system One 60-mm wide HTD belt Cooling

50/50 water-glycol mixture

Ignition

Single electronic, single spark plugs

Alternator

55 amp

Dual Bing altitude-compensating carburetors, dual intake, K&N filters 3.2 to 4 gallons per hour at 75 percent Fuel consumption power Carburetion

Starter

Electric gear-reduction Stratus 2000 Inc. 5145 SE 3rd St Corvallis, OR 97333 Phone: (541)754-4114 Fax: (541)754-4114 Email mjt@camano.net ~Pa

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 19

We met Jason Thor at the 2nd annual US Sport Aviation Expo, Sebring, FL, this past January. He had an exhibitor's booth next to ours and we struck up a friendship. We were so impressed with Jason’s young age and the fact that he developed his own product that we asked if we could publish his story.

We were also fortunate enough to meet KITPLANES writer Tim Kern at this same event and managed to put the two together in order to get the story written.

Jason sent us samples of his product to test for ourselves. I warned Jason that we would evaluate his stuff and report honestly on the outcome, good or bad. Jason wasn’t concerned. Associate Editor John Moyle and I washed several planes and cars with the Thor line and were pleased overall. Look at the end of this article for a few details. ~Pat

“One younger brother,” Jason said, “likes to travel, as I do. He always wanted to be a pilot, and now he is doing GPS mapping of parks. His comments, pretty much, are what got me interested in aviation products. He even tried to talk me into being a pilot.”

Jason likes flying, but he’s not on a tight timetable. “I fly with friends whenever I get a chance. I’m taking flying lessons, on and off, but the business takes so much time…” Besides, Jason’s business is growing. “To fly the shows, I’d need a pretty big airplane – the product and displays, etc., are a little heavy to fly with.”

Jason’s interest in finish products is more than shinedeep. “Over the years, I’ve learned what was in the products I was using. I kept working with other product, and saw ways to make them better.”

Jason Thor was in high school when he launched his own company, detailing cars, trucks, tractors, and motorcycles in Lexington (KY). Routine tasks led to morecomplex tasks, and Jason took them on, learning as much as he could from each new challenge. He developed a reputation as the go-to guy for detailing and overspray removal.

Jason won’t talk too much about the formulation of Thor products, but he’s eager to say their's no silicone. “It’s hard to paint over, you don’t want it on boots or seals, and you sure don’t want it on plastic; it’ll dry rot it. It takes a long time to do that, but silicone is not good for plastic or rubber, in the long run. Even the show car guys don’t use any silicone products any more.” If you have some silicone-based shiner-uppers and you don’t want to just waste them, “you can put it on your tires, because you’ll probably wear the tires out before they rot.” (Not on motorcycle tires, though. Silicone is slippery!)

He didn’t rely on elbow grease alone. “Over the years,” he said, “throughout the industry, I learned what was in the products I was using. I started working with some chemical suppliers, notably Dow Chemical. They helped me out big-time.”

Jason’s Aircraft Concentrate, the Dry Wash, and the Spray-on Wax (Thor Aero High-Performance Coating) all have corrosion inhibitors. He says the corrosion protection “…doesn’t really help the glass birds any, but it doesn’t hurt them any, either.”

Access to industrial products helped his business; it also led him to investigate the market for do-it-yourselfers. “In the 60s and 70s, you had better products out there.

Since then, producers have ‘watered down’ their products – lighter concentrations – to make more money. But they don’t work as well.” Today, he has his own formulas. “My products are professional grade, but they’re retail-friendly.” He started the business because, “I thought retail customers should have better products than what they had available on the market.”

He hasn’t formulated products for fabric airplanes. “They asked me a lot about that at Sebring, and a little at Sun ’n Fun,” he said. “Some day, we’ll have something for fabric airplanes, but it won’t be immediately. I wish I could make every product I’d like to, but I have to do these products one at a time.”

By Tim Kern A CONTACT! Magazine exclusive.

Copyright ©2006 All rights reserved.

Jason, now 28, maintains his proprietary line of automotive cleaning and finishing products, but he’s been bitten by the flying bug as well, and has developed speciallyformulated products for aircraft. www.ContactMagazine.com

REAL TESTING SHOWS REAL IMPROVEMENT Thor made a lot of “noise” at last year’s National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) show when he disclosed that his airplane “wax” will make airplanes faster.

He already had empirical evidence: “One pilot who was flying for forty years said he saw a 2-3 knot difference in his 172. He flies it three times a week. Plus, he’s protecting that machine from corrosion.”

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 20

Jason can confirm that pilots are, by nature, skeptical. “It was taking some time for pilots to believe that you just had to spray on the Spray-On Wax and it would work,” he said. “So I did some wind tunnel research and met up with a company called Vigyan (www.ViGYAN.com).” Jason had them put his finish to the test. “I picked Vigyan through my own research and through talking with several wind-tunnel companies. ViGYAN has worked with NASA n past occasions. I talked with their engineer several times and thought that they were the best for the project. I don’t know anybody else who has done this kind of testing and research.

It took them about three months to conclude their testing but ViGYAN’s testing verified the ol’ 172 driver’s observation. Since then, many pilots have tried Thor High Performance Coating on their planes, with similar results.

(Right now, Jason is looking for the guy with a Mooney 201 that wants to be flying a “Mooney 206.”) Recent tests show that the goal of a ‘Mooney 206’ is totally feasible. (Scientific air flight testing with a Bravo GX showed a 5%+ drop in drag. Notably, the new Piper 6XT and a Columbia 400 also showed drag reduction of over 5% and over 4%, respectively.)

TOOLS MAKE THE MAN Cleaning and preserving an airplane (and that’s what we’re all doing, with our washing and waxing routines) require care and knowledge. Jason’s Bug Sponge is a special-made ‘foam brick’ that fits well in your wash bucket. Jason notes, “It removes dirt, grease, and oil, and it won’t scratch the paint.”

Thor Products brushes are really soft. Thor said, “A soft brush is always better than a stiff brush. If you’re using horsehair or our nylon, that’s fine. Horsehair brushes, by their construction, are pretty wimpy though, and they’re expensive and hard to find, especially in the 8” or 10” sizes.” His new Belly Scrubber, he says, “makes it easier to get under the belly.” Really.

Jason’s wax is carnauba-based, specially emulsified, and “It does all the repelling itself.” Carnauba wax, he said, “…is very expensive – it’s the ‘head of the wax family.’” Don’t rely on Teflon. “It has a bigger molecule than carnauba. It’s harder to emulsify it.”

On your transparent parts, Jason warns, “Don’t use ammonia-based window cleaners. It’s tough on plastic and acrylic.” (Jason’s dry-wash products are safe for such uses.) “We use dry wash, because a lot of airports won’t allow a water spray, due to the potential for hazardous runoff or even for the sake of water conservation. The environmental regulations of airports vary.”

What’s a “dry wash?” Jason explained, “It’s kind of like applying a wax – it breaks down the dirt so it won’t damage the paint, and then it applies a polish to the surface.

Dry washing is effective and environmentally-friendly, but it takes longer than wet washing. There’s your pluses and minuses.” www.ContactMagazine.com

HELPFUL HINTS When you have an expert available, get his advice. Jason offered, in the course of the interview, a number of useful tips.

 “If there’s a lot of dirt in your wash bucket, dump it.

You can get that dirt on your brush or cloth, and that will scratch the finish you’re trying to protect.”  “Stay away from the static port. Tape it, or at least stay away from it. Make sure you’re getting the dry wash product completely off; don’t leave the residue. (You shouldn’t leave the wax on a car that way, either.)”  “Don’t super-clean your struts. The seals need a little lubricant on the outside, too; and the oil film prevents corrosion.”  “Don’t soak cleaning solutions or finish products into cracks and seams.” (Jason is developing a product to help remove excess buildup from such areas.)  “Watch out that anything you use on your airplane doesn’t contain silicone or mineral oil.”  “Make sure the product is ‘aircraft-friendly.’ Car products are for cars; aircraft products are for airplanes.”

(Most car-finish products contain either silicone or mineral oil, to help keep the shine and repel the water.)

“When washing, keep the foam [sponge] wet. It helps to keep the dirt and grit suspended, so it won’t scratch your paint.”

As previously mentioned, Jason sent us a sample of his products for us to use and evaluate. We used it on two ultralight type planes (4oz Dacron sailcloth), one standard fabric and wood plane, one all-metal plane, two fiberglass ships, and one certified spam can. The messes ranged from accumulated dirt, a year’s worth of bird droppings, typical bug splat, to typical belly oil. We also washed three different automobiles and a 20’ aluminum box trailer that had been hauled halfway across the USA. We give high marks to all the products used for delivering as advertised.

The only thing we didn’t get a good chance to fully evaluate is the drag reduction claim of the wax. The spray-on feature sure made things easy, but unfortunately we don’t fly the same plane enough to notice a small percentage of performance change that can’t be attributed to temperature, altitude, mixture, etc.

But we’re not done and we’ll let you know when we discover more. ~Pat

Thor Products www.thormagic.com www.aerothor.com Jason@thormagic.com 1-800-323-3066

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 21

Photo courtesy Pat Panzera

By John P Moyle Photos by Richard Hansen and John P Moyle At the world’s greatest aviation event, Oshkosh AirVenture, 2004 (OSH), I was diligently manning the CONTACT! Magazine customer service booth, where I enjoyed assisting the hordes of hopeful new and renewing subscribers. This is lots of fun and while sometimes very busy, there are ample opportunities to have real conversations with our supporters. One of the truly steadfast friends of this publication came to visit for awhile; actually he sort of staggered into the booth, looking as if the Wisconsin heat and humidity had exacted a serious toll. He told me of his troubling situation. He reserved a production slot to build a Zenith Zodiac CH 601 XL during a ten day build program at the Czech Aircraft Works (CAW), through their US distributor, SkyShop, Palm City, FL. His long scheduled production slot was quickly approaching but recently advanced health problems were putting his personal ability to follow through on this schedule in serious jeopardy. Travel abroad was really out of the question, so after much thought he made the difficult decision to place his project on the market.

A few weeks after my return home to California, Pat Panzera, the editor of this magazine, received a proposal from this gentleman. Having marketing it for 1/2 day and received no offers for the as yet commenced project, he decided that there could be a satisfactory tax advantage in donating the project to Aeronautics Education Enterprises (A.E.E.) and could lighten the financial consequences of just forfeiting the commitment. A.E.E. (a bona fide non-profit corporation recognized under chapter 501 (c)3 of the Federal tax codes) is its parent organization of CONTACT! Magazine, whose expressed mission is to be a solid, educational resource for our fellow experimental aviation enthusiasts.

AN INVALUABLE DONATION After careful consideration of the amount of additional responsibilities we were taking on, and the possible benefits which A.E.E. might realize from this endeavor, (as well as owning and operating our own CONTACT! Magazine experimental aircraft) we accepted this generous donation; but we faced an immediate problem. Someone www.ContactMagazine.com

The official CONTACT! Magazine CH 601 XL sitting outside its Hanford CA hangar, fully rigged and flawlessly painted, awaiting plumbing, electrical and (of course) an alternative engine. needed to go to the Czech Republic and participate in the builder-assist program. Patrick Panzera, besides publishing and editing CONTACT! Magazine, owns and operates a flourishing residential design business which requires his attention on a daily basis. He barely has time to escape for the various air-show venues that he enjoys attending. It seemed that of the available board members and other friends of A.E.E., only I had sufficient time available to squeeze in an impromptu trip to Europe.

I was certainly thrilled to accept the burden (said dripping with complete sarcasm) of an all-expenses paid trip to Europe, to work in a professional aircraft manufacturing facility while receiving expert assistance with the build of our newly donated 601 kit. One issue which needed immediate attention was that I had only one week to prepare and I didn’t have a passport. A three hour drive to San Francisco and a long wait in line at the State Department’s regional office netted me the necessary international travel documents. Some time on the home computer examining airfare options resulted in a bargainbasement, last-minute price for passage from San Francisco to Prague.

A TRIP TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC Once the decision to travel was made, my closest friend, Rich Hansen, declared that he was going along on this journey and volunteered to pay his own way. Rich is an RV-4 builder with useful metalworking skills. He is also a former professional photographer so his companionship was really a great benefit. Following a twelve-hour flight with a change of aircraft in Frankfurt, we landed in the beautiful and historic city of Prague where we rented a car with far less difficulty than we normally experience in the USA. From there we were on our way to the southeast corner of the Czech Republic. The CAW factory is located in the small village of Stare Mesto, which is adjacent to a middle size town, Uherske Hradiste, which has a fine hotel and good restaurants. Don't even bother to attempt vocalizing the name of this place; even the locals don't bother, they just call it U-Rad. Apparently they can't pronounce it either!

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THE CZECH AIRCRAFT WORKS FACTORY The reason the CEO of CAW, Wisconsin expatriate Chip Irwin, chose this geographic location to create an aircraft factory, is pretty simple. Until just a few years ago there were no less than three major aircraft assembly facilities within a very small radius of Stare Mesto. Some of you may recognize the name Zlin, which sold some fine aerobatic aircraft in the USA. They are right up the road a few miles and almost completely out of production. The other local factories were likewise foundering, each suffering from either the lack of soviet bloc orders, or the general turmoil of a country recently out from under communist domination. This has placed a great many highly experienced technicians out of work. Mr. Irwin has been able to offer an ever-expanding number of these well-trained and talented people positions in the free market economy which this country now embraces wholeheartedly.

able to offer a quick-build, builder-assist program quite unlike any other. Keep in mind that the factory crews build an entire aircraft in about six days. That is a fully painted, well instrumented, nicely upholstered, airworthy plane. We of course wanted to participate (as you must if you wish to remain within the FAA-mandated requirements for an amateur-built, experimental type certificate) so it went less quickly. We also benefited from several high-tech improvements which have been made to this kit, as well as the guidance of the quality-control advisors, not to mention a lot of expert hands to hold things while we got them aligned, Cleco’d, set in place, and ready for permanent Avex brand blind (pop) rivets.

Although possibly considered crude by today’s CNC standards, these wing rib templates are capable of creating very accurate matched-hole parts. This same method is used for virtually every part throughout the project.

With the number of CAW employees available, when it came time to do multi-person tasks, all John and Rich had to do was ask. In this photo, the fuselage is being flipped over onto its wheels where it stayed for the duration of the build.

At the time of our visit there were more than 150 skilled men and women employed by CAW, producing the Zenith 601 and 701 models plus a popular line of aluminum floats. When we arrived at the factory, we met with Chip Irwin who explained to us what they do in this facility.

Their primary mission is to produce ready to fly “turn key” aircraft for the global market. It seems that there are many distributors selling these planes in nearly every part of the world. There is, however, a smaller segment of this general business that caters to the American experimental aircraft builder. Because this factory uses some advance preparation methods, such as matchedhole tooling and high precision permanent jigs, they are www.ContactMagazine.com

Unlike the standard Zenith Aircraft Company (ZAC) kit purchased in the USA, the Czech version (which has since become the basis for the ZAC quick-build kit being offered by the Heinz family) features an extreme upgrade in the level of predrilled and preformed parts. All of our fuselage and wing skins were fully drilled in precision patterns, thus there was next to no chance of making errors regarding measuring the rivet spacing or laying the rivets out in a less than perfectly straight line. Not only did the predrilled skins provide visually ideal rivet lines, but this also meant that our structure is just a bit stronger too, since the loads are distributed exactly as originally engineered. Even though the Czech version has refinements that aren't available in the standard kit from the North American designer and kit producer ZAC, you should understand that the European airplane is built from very high quality U.S. provided structural materials.

SKILLED TEACHERS/ASSISTANTS The high level of component development, as well as the superior training and multiple repetitions of aircraft completed by the factory staff assistants, add significantly to the speed and accuracy possible for owner/builder participants like Rich and me, operating in the Quick Build program at the factory. By comparison, in my home shop there is a great deal of pondering before any component gets cut, trimmed or fit prior to eventual attachment, with

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many hours of head-scratching, double-checking and anxiety coming before each assembly process. This was not the case for us during the builder assist program at the Czech Aircraft Works. The directing technicians kept their charges fully integrated into the planned activities of the day, allowing only brief respites in labor to organize the next procedure. It really wasn’t possible for us mere amateurs to progress at the speed of the professionals, but every effort was made to keep us moving along at the fastest reasonable rate.

BEGINNING THE BUILD One of the real advantages of being led by experts was that they knew what we were doing, even if we didn’t, and could spot an error before it became set by a rivet.

Every procedure included a briefing for us at the plan set, followed by some pre-cut, pre-bent, or otherwise pre -shaped components being moved into position for trial fit. Most parts had been pre-drilled with pilot holes to allow immediate temporary attachment with Cleco fasteners. There were few if any rough edges to wound us. The parts all fit perfectly. Every tool needed was on hand right next to our work position when we were ready for it.

Every process with which we were less than familiar or we lacked the confidence to forge straight ahead on, was cheerfully demonstrated by one of the factory staff until we were assured that we were able to do it correctly.

These folks were incredibly helpful and patient. Rich Hansen is an RV-4 builder, and knows his way around metal working tools better than most. I was building a Sonex as my own personal project at home, and I’m a graduate from A&P training twenty five years ago. We are both what one could call “moderately skilled” and somewhat experienced guys; but we both felt like rank amateurs next to these folks.

inforcing angles on the zinc chromate treated inner skin surface, then the bulkheads were aligned with the existing pre-drilled rivet holes and permanently attached.

Each piece fit right the first time, and our expert assistants seemed not at all surprised, even though we realized what a rarity this is in typical home projects! The forward fuselage was much more complicated, but equally well designed for ease of assembly by “rookies” like us. The previous experience of the factory staff has come into play here after building hundreds of these Zenith designs, and they knew (and shared) the shortcuts that they have discovered and perfected.

The cockpit section shown mounted to one of several precision jigs used to speed the assembly process, while adding a high degree of accuracy.

When the cockpit section was mated to the tail section, the project suddenly looked a lot like a nearly finished aircraft! This would be a false assumption if we were building this plane at home but, in this case, proved to be true. Once the fuselage was joined, we immediately flipped it upside down and attached the main gear, disc brake systems, wheels and tires. When we placed it on its mains we were then able to complete the nose gear installation on the firewall. Now this machine is really looking a lot like an airplane!

Rich Hansen (right) being assisted (by a CAW employee) with the assembly of the tail cone.

We started the actual airframe construction by assembling the tail cone, consisting of three flat aluminum panels, some extruded aluminum angle and a bunch of blind style rivets. First, the individual panels received their rewww.ContactMagazine.com

John Moyle takes the assembly to the next level and affixes the cockpit assembly to the tail cone.

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in less than two working days, including the strobe/ position marker installations in the fiberglass wing tips and welded aluminum fuel tanks in the wing leading edge. Even the most aggressive homebuilder would typically take at least several weeks to accomplish these tasks. Once again, the knowledgeable assistance of the men and women who do this professionally, every day, is invaluable and saved us many hours of deciphering plans and laying out the tools and materials.

A pair of aluminum wing tanks, complete with filler bung and fuel level sender mounting plate, awaiting their home in the leading edge of our 601.

The airfoil assembly was a real eye opener. The factory has a pair of permanent upright steel wing jigs (left and right) into which the preassembled main-spar is clamped and to which the preformed aluminum ribs are attached.

When the predrilled wing skins were lifted into place, the holes aligned perfectly with the intended rivet holes in the ribs! This was not exactly a surprise anymore, but it sure was a delight to find that the same high level of accuracy found in the fuselage layout was also present in the wing assembly process.

Here John is checking the fit of the precut and preformed leading edge skin.

Standard kit builders will understand how much prefabrication and permanent tooling contributes to the speed of assembly when I tell you that both wings were completed www.ContactMagazine.com

When the canopy installation phase began, the nice gentlemen who handle the acrylic bubbles showed us the basic process, but then denied us the opportunity to actually put our hands on the great flopping chunk of plastic. They made it abundantly clear, in their heavily accented attempts at some twisted form of English, that we Americans are far too ham-handed for this delicate work and we were made to stand clear and watch until they had secured the bubble to the welded steel canopy frame. With their help, we managed to complete the attachment without creating any cracks in the canopy, something that they seem to believe is impossible with American builders who attempt this feat without their help. Rich and I were, however, allowed to attempt the installation of the completed structure over the cockpit opening with little or no objection from our “assistants�.

Overcoming fear and trepidation, John skillfully drills holes through the canopy for attachment to the frame and fairing.

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I won’t bore you with the mounds of assembly details we undertook while at CAW, but I will wind down by saying that once we had everything built, we fully assembled and rigged the plane as if we were going to fly it home and not have it loaded into an oceangoing container and ship it half way around the globe. Normally, the last day of assembly is spent in the engine shop, but our benefactor had chosen a firewall aft project with the intention of bringing the finished airframe home to the U.S.A. for a custom powerplant installation. So the plane was taken apart and sent to the paint shop in pieces.

We completed our coast-to-coast highway trip roughly four days after it began, when we unloaded the still undamaged airframe in our hangar at the Hanford Municipal Airport in California’s beautiful Central Valley.

WE COULD USE SOME HELP

As John and Rich were leaving the CAW, one of the last sights of the freshly built 601 was that of the wings being literally carted off for paint.

BACK TO THE USA As we departed Stare Mesto, we watched our plane being pushed into the paint booth where it received a flawless finish in Arctic White. Our trip back to the U.S. via Lufthansa was uneventful, even though we were pretty well exhausted from the intense pace of the previous two weeks… but this story doesn’t end here. Six weeks after we arrived home in California, a shipping container arrived in the Port of Miami. After clearing customs, it was delivered to Skyshop, Inc. of Palm City, Florida. Pat Panzera, his lovely wife Veronica and I took a commercial flight to nearby Fort Lauderdale, rented a large Penske truck and drove over to load the plane for its 3,000+ mile road-trip home to California.

We found that our new plane had been well packed for transoceanic transport and was free of damage. We then carefully loaded the aircraft for the long trip and I waved good-bye to Pat and Veronica as I drove off to begin the trip to California, complete with a detour through our generous benefactor’s mid-west hometown. This allowed us to show him the results of his much appreciated philanthropy, plus assist him in clearing out his residual component cache from the leased space which he had occupied for years. It was a great pleasure for me to spend time with our most generous donor, a very wise gentleman who has become such a valued advisor and a true asset of CONTACT! Magazine, as well as a treasured family friend to both me and Pat’s entire family. www.ContactMagazine.com

The staff of CONTACT! Magazine (that would be Pat and me) has now assumed the mantle of responsibility regarding the securing of an appropriate engine for this amateur-built experimental aircraft. We have agonized over several prospective powerplant choices, with our strong desire being to support an “alternative engine” in the tradition of what CONTACT! Magazine has written about since its inception nearly fifteen years ago.

We have been hopeful of receiving a donated engine, and we have been offered a fair number of instruments and avionics once we get this plane powered up, so we feel pretty confident that when we finally score a suitable powerplant, things will again advance rapidly. If you know of an engine or have any ideas that may help us with the acquisition of an engine, we’d certainly like to hear from you.

ONE LAST NOTE ON CAW I would be remiss if I failed to mention the latest happenings from Czech Aircraft Works, as they have recently added three new aluminum aircraft of their own design to the products they are offering. The Lake Sport Amphibian (a.k.a.” Mermaid”) has garnered much attention, and the Parrot cantilevered high-wing, a very roomy plane with features that will appeal to many, plus they have now announced the new Sport Cruiser, a low wing trigear, similar to the 601 except much sleeker. The Mermaid is available as either a quick-build kit or ready to fly S-LSA, while the Parrot and Sport Cruiser are currently only available as S-LSA, turn key aircraft. Danny Defelici, owner and operator of Skyshop Inc. and Sport Aircraft Works in Palm City, FL, is the importer and support for Czech Aircraft Works product lines in America. The phone number is (772) 223-8915 or you may visit the company web site, which features lots of info on the new aircraft that the Czech Aircraft Works has developed. www.sportaircraftworks.com John P Moyle, Associate Editor

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Continued from page 3 edge of true experimental aviation, and we certainly hope to keep it up. Your support will certainly make that happen and we’ll all benefit from it.

propeller that sparked my interest and caused me to contact Carter Aviation and request an article on it. I can hardly wait to see that prop on the nose of an experimental fixed-wing aircraft!

CHECK YOUR LABEL Speaking of expired subscriptions, check your mailing label. We don’t usually send out reminders. We really don’t have the desire nor the resources to send you junk mail that you’ll probably throw out anyhow, not realizing that it’s actually from the editor of your favorite magazine. So please help us out and diligently check your mailing label to make sure you are not about to expire.

This is issue #84. If your label has a little “84” in the lower right hand corner, this is your last issue. If it has a “85” in the corner, you are about to expire and it couldn’t hurt to re-up now. If your number is higher, don’t worry, you are ok for a while.

CARTER REPRINT The last issue we published, commonly referred to as the “CarterCopter issue” was a raging success. We’ve received more positive mail form that single issue than all issues combined. We received absolutely no negative mail, and the majority of all the mail said in essence, “Keep up the good work”. (THANK YOU!) Of those of you who commented on it, 100% said that they approved of a “single topic” issue from time-to-time, and even though rotorcraft is not the main focus of this publication, it was certainly a welcome distraction.

Since the issue’s popularity was so overwhelming, we’ve gone back to the printers (we had to, we ran out of back issues) with a new version. One feature I wanted to add to the original printing, but didn’t have space or time to publish it, was the CarterCopter’s unusual planform rotor and how it contributed to their record-breaking success. I asked Jay Carter to give us four additional pages on the subject and he was more than happy to oblige. Jay was so pleased with the coverage of his various projects that he offered to pay for the additional pages, as well as to have the entire issue reprinted in color! Jay Carter, as well as Rod Anderson (the person most responsible for the articles in issue #83) have since become real friends to CONTACT! Magazine, and we look forward to many years of working and growing together. We certainly wish them well in all their endeavors, and we’ll keep you all abreast of any future developments that may be of interest to us fans of true experimental aviation.

So by the time you get this issue, we’ll have a healthy supply of “special edition” reprints of issue #83, complete with four additional pages of content. We’ll be selling these back issues at our normal price of $5 USA, Canada and Mexico $6, all other countries $7 if you are interested. We’ll have a good supply with us at AirVenture (OSH) if you’d like to get one there.

This just in… I just received an e-mail from Rod Anderson that as a result of our publishing the Carter story, a composite contractor has partnered with carter to produce their prop to offer to the general (experimental) public. If you’ll remember from the last issue, it was the www.ContactMagazine.com

VOLUME 3 Speaking of Alternative Engines, Mick and I are collaborating on Volume 3. In case you are not familiar with this series of books, approximately every five years, Mick has compiled all the engine articles from CONTACT! Magazine and put them in book format. Volume 1 (the black book) contains the first five years, Volume 2, (the silver book) contains the next five years, and now Volume III (the gold book) will contain the following five years worth of engine related articles. We sell these books through our website and at the various shows we attend for $42.00 each, but we usually bundle them with a subscription for a reduced rate.

Now we are formally offering Volume 3, at a special prepublication price. We need the revenue from pre-selling the book for publication costs. We’ll offer the book at this reduced price for a short period. If we don’t raise enough money, we’ll send refunds. As soon as we reach the magic number to print 1,000 copies, we’ll go to print.

A special order form can be found on the back of the protective cover-wrap on the back of this magazine. A comprehensive table of contents will be published on our webpage as soon as it’s completely developed. Visit: www.ContactMagazine.com/Volume3.html If you don’t have internet access, either call me or drop me a letter and I’ll gladly send you a printed version.

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A BUSY THREE MONTHS As I write this, it’s been about three months since we attended Sun-n-Fun 2006. The details of our adventures will follow, but right now I’d like to talk about SnF.

Mark is a HUGE supporter of CONTACT! Magazine and can take credit for technical assistance with virtually every issue we’ve produced since taking over from Mick. He works behind the scenes, not for glory, but rather for the love of our sport.

SUN-N-FUN 2006 This year’s event kicked off our fly-in season as usual.

The weather was very cooperative and from our vantage point (locked up in the vender’s building all week) attendance was on par. I didn’t get out to the flight line as much as I wanted to, but I did find a few points of interest, hopefully some of them will mature into future articles.

Of particular interest to me was seeing the growing number of Corvair powered aircraft. (Some of you might remember that I’m a huge Corvair fan; see issue #75) It seems that every year there are twice as many as the previous year.

Dave “The Bear” Vargesko flew his freshly hatched Wag-

abond in from not-so-far-away Spruce Creek FL, which in and of itself is no particular feat, but what is noteworthy is that many “experts” have said all along that the relatively fast-spinning (direct-drive) Corvair engine is not well-suited for draggy planes such as the Wagabond, since the prop diameter is limited to 68”. Dave has now proven them wrong and is enjoying stellar performance with his beautifully crafted plane. Congratulations Dave, maybe we’ll get an article?

And then there’s Mark Langford and his incredible KR2S.

Mark Langford’s Corvair powered KR2S. www.ContactMagazine.com

Mark and I became Corvair junkies about the same time and sort of “grew up together”. Through this common obsession we have become good friends. Mark finished his plane (I hesitate to say “finished” as I know he’ll never stop improving it) 14 months ago, and even after a few setbacks, still managed to find his way to SnF. Although his project took to the air long before mine ever will, it’s satisfying for me to see such a good friend reach his goal. Mark’s original 3100cc engine is featured in issue # 75, his wings are featured in issue # 57 (in an article written by another great friend of CONTACT!, Oscar Zuniga) and I hope we will be honored with being the first magazine (in a long line of many I’m sure) to feature his plane.

We’ll have to reserve the cover for him, for whenever Mark finds the time to write and submit it.

But the highlight of SnF for me was the stick-time I re-

ceived in a new LSA entrant. The Sport Cruiser, built by the Czech Aircraft Works and marketed by Sport Aircraft Works (owned and operated by Danny Defelici) This is one sweet little plane, offered at a very reasonable price.

In a market flooded with $80.000 and $90,000 “affordable” planes, this little beauty slips in under the radar at $60,000 (Sorry, I don’t play that $59,995 game; I calls it likes I sees it).

About 35 minutes in the right seat of this little sports car and I was hooked. It has no bad manners, plenty of power for its mission, crisp, intuitive controls; my only complaint is that it stalls so slow that the Dynon stops registering a speed well before stall. (Actually that’s not a complaint, I was being facetious). Power on or power off stall was a non-event. Using my digital camera’s movie mode, I shot a few seconds of the approach to and the stall. I was surprised that when I watched the play-back, I could hear our conversation. This tells me that the plane is so quiet that one could probably fly it without headsets!

But what do you expect with a fully muffled 100 hp Rotax 912 ULS spinning a 67” WoodComp Klassic carbon fiber propeller, designed to comply with the strict European noise rules?

Other items of interest which should develop into future

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articles are:

 Raven Redrives: Geo Metro and Suzuki automobile conversions. 58-115 HP.  32 cubic inch military GPU conversions.  A-16 Sport Flacon (more on this later).  Vari-Prop in-flight adjustable prop. ...and more.

ALTERNATIVE ENGINE ROUND-UP, 2006 April 28-30, Jean NV No sooner did we get back from SnF, I had to start preparing for our own fly-in. I had already set things in motion long before SnF, but now it was crunch-time.

You may remember Chris Boultinghouse’ article two issues back, in which he outlined step-by-step instructions on how to make custom wheel pants. The following note and photos comes from Chris.

Hi Pat, I sent my friend Fred Hulen a copy of your magazine. He was, of course, the whole reason for the madness of the wheel pant project! He sent me the attached pictures of the pants installed on his Zodiac, and gave me permission to share. I thought you might like to see the results.

The weather was wonderful, the hotel/casino was nearby and we didn’t have a care in the world. In attendance were four Dragonflies, four Q-200s, two Cozys, a couple LongEZs, a Vari-Eze, a Velocity, Jess Meyer’s RV-6 with 4.3 liter Chevy V-6 power, and Gary Spencer’s eightcylinder monster EZ! Among the smattering of certified aircraft in attendance

You may recognize Gary Spencer’s all aluminum 302 Ford engine from issue #70. Gary did a wonderful job presenting his engine forum on an impromptu basis. was KITPLANES writer Ed Wischmeyer’s nicely restored Cessna 172 which was used as the photo plane to get shots of Jim Patillo’s award-winning Q-200 which should appear in a future issue of KITPLANES. The nontowered field which was a mere 20 miles southwest of Las Vegas was also host to a few high-speed passes down the runway from our experimental aircraft.

The forums ran all day long and although key speakers like Paul Lipps, Scott Castler and John Moyle were unable to attend, we filled their spots with impromptu speakers like Alex Strong of Strong Pitch Trim LLC, and Gary Spencer who entertained us with the story of his 240mph Ford V/8 powered, direct drive Long EZ. Scheduled speakers such as Joe Horvath of Revmaster aviation and Jess Meyers of Belted Airpower did professional jobs of presenting their topic. Oh yeah, yours truly didn’t www.ContactMagazine.com

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do badly either filling in for those who were unable to attend as scheduled.

One last thing; The forums were professionally video

taped by Loren Shelby who drove all the way to Jean from Morongo Valley, CA, just to tape the forums and donate the rights to CONTACT! Magazine. Copies will be available for sale through our website as soon as the editing and packaging details are completed. Expect to hear more about this in the next issue of CONTACT!

lumbia, CA It seems like during the past 3-4 years I’ve not been able to be a pure spectator at any fly-in event I’ve attended. If I’m not presenting or hosting a forums, I’m sitting in a booth presenting CONTACT! Magazine. So when the opportunity came up to go visit a newly emerging event that promised to have a source of alternative engine projects to review for our magazine, I jumped at the chance.

Renting a Cessna 182 from the local FBO, Associate Editor John Moyle and I packed up and headed to gold country.

When we arrived we were glad to see a representative from just about every Rutan canard design ever made available to the experimental aviation community. There were of course several Long’s and Varieazes, but also represented were Cozy, Velocity, Dragonfly, Berkut, Q200, and even a vintage Variviggen. 42 homebuilt fiberglass canard aircraft all in all, netted us at least three future alternative engine articles.

But our day didn’t begin and end at Colombia CA. We

A TRIP TO CAMARILLO In December of 2005 I attended the LSA tour when it landed at Camarillo CA. While I was there I spotted the little HDS that is the feature of this issue and made plans to return for a photo shoot and interview with the owner.

While at SnF, I fell in love with a tandem seated LSA that was also based out of Camarillo, so as soon as the Jean fly-in was concluded I made the trip and killed both birds with the same stone. The LSA I’m referring to is the Avia Design A-16 Sport Falcon.

The thing that truly caught my eye is the cockpit comfort

actually had another event to attend that same day, half way across the state, so we packed up out rented 182 and headed Cloverdale, CA.

ZENITH OPEN HOUSE

and the simple ingress and egress. With the low sill height, which once folded down becomes a foot step, getting in and out, even in the rear seat, is easier than any other two or four-place aircraft I’ve ever encountered. With that, the fact that it’s all-metal, made in California and should be priced lower than most of the imported competition, this is an LSA that I can get behind. I conducted an interview with the owner of Avia Design who directly designed the plane. His design criteria was straight forward and it seems as of he hit his mark with this plane. At the time of the interview, the plane had very few hours on it, but once the full S-LSA certification process is completed, we’ll get the article in print.

2nd Annual Cinco de Mayo Canard Fly-In Cowww.ContactMagazine.com

Since we have our own Zenith project in-house, and since the event is on our own back yard, we figured that we’d check it out. Although we didn't get there in time to get fed properly (they ran out of food just as we got there) we had a good opportunity to catch up with old friends like Art Beer who has presented his BMW R1100 FWF at Copperstate for us, and John Thompson who’s

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Art Beer’s motorcycle based BMW R1100 engine was shown to us at Cloverdale. See issue #80 for an article on an engine similar to this one.

Kitfox graced the cover of issue #80, not to mention Michael Heinz who I met at the LSA expo last year in Camarillo, who was kind enough to give me a familiarization flight in his 601.

This event may be the first for the Cloverdale operation, but it won’t be the last. Coming this fall, workshop #1 (September 8-10) will be on installing the Jabiru 3300 in a Zodiac XL. Jim McCormick of Jabiru Pacific will be on hand to teach the installation process during the threeday workshops. Builders will have an opportunity to see and to participate in a complete engine and firewallforward installation for the Zodiac XL. The following month, Workshop #2 (October 6-8) will be on installing a Corvair engine in the XL. Similar to Workshop #1, Corvair guru William Wynne will lead the way during this three day workshop. During either event, we should expect to see a complete firewall forward installed and running by the end of the workshop.

While most of us were there for the social aspect of the gathering, some were there to actually work. www.ContactMagazine.com

GOLDEN WEST EAA REGIONAL FLY-IN June 9-11, Yuba County Airport, Marysville, CA was an exceptional venue for me this year. Although we didn't break any records for subscription sales or renewals, this event marks my wife’s first event. For the first time ever, my wife Veronica joined me in the booth and we both really enjoyed it. Although she probably won’t be accompanying me to the large shows (OSH & SnF) any time soon, I can probably count on her joining me at some of the smaller events we attend.

WE NEED AN ENGINE If you’ve already read John Moyle’s article entitled “What I did on my summer vacation”, you already know that we are in need of an alternative engine to power our official CONTACT! Magazine airplane. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I look forward to hearing from you. ~Pat

In loving memory of our dear friend Vance Jaqua.

1929-2006

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Mat Recardo

By Rod Anderson Carter made the decision to prototype a military version first. It will use of the 45-ft diameter rotor and wings, the 180 HP Delta Hawk turbo diesel, and have the ability to carry 2,000 lbs of fuel for extended flight and loiter time.

The civilian prototype that follows will be similar but with the 34-ft diameter rotor and wings and smaller fuel tanks.

Differences in wing and rotor diameters are essentially just a change-out. The wings disconnect just outside the wheel wing-pods. The 45’ and 34’ diameter rotors use the same molds. A mold section is removed to make the 34’ rotor.

The Delta Hawk turbo diesel will be upgraded later for more power. The differences between the 180 HP / 200 HP and the 250 HP Delta Hawk engines are primarily in the way the fuel is injected into the engine. Delta Hawk uses a mechanical fuel injector that works well for the 180 HP / 200 HP versions. A 250 HP version will require an electronic fuel injector being developed by TGR Helicorp Ltd. In Auckland, New Zealand. The same engine compartment, engine mounts, and other components should be useable for all three versions. The higher the HP, the lower the expected TBO. www.ContactMagazine.com

The designs of all components are essentially finished and there appears to be no show stoppers. A few components need final detailing and double checking using finite element analysis programs, prior to the designs being released for machining. A complete computerized model of the propeller design has been finalized so all parts needed for its construction can now be made on a CNC machine. One rotor blade is completely finished and the entire rotor should be finished by next week.

Testing on major components of the landing gear begins this week.

Carter plans to assemble all PAV mechanical components into an “iron bird” before the end of this year. This includes almost everything except the air frame. The iron bird will be extensively tested to assure all components work together correctly and have the necessary safety margins.

The plugs for the air frame are completed and will now be used to make the molds. The top half of the center wing mold is almost finished. The structural analysis for the wings and fuselage is well underway. The analysis will be used to fabricate the actual parts once the molds are completed.

Rod Anderson

CONTACT! ISSUE 84 PAGE 32