PROJECT NEWS

Projects which inspire others to build their own aircraft Compiled by Mike Slaughter

Project News

ell, here we are again, Guy Fawkes and early

Wsunsets, so the fl ying season is replaced with the building season. This month we have two interesting projects for you, a Sherwood Scout and a Europa. I often look at the Scout with envy as my distant forerunner of the type, the Escapade, has GRP deckchair-shaped seating that, while padded, is the wrong shape for my back and renders me with back pain if I don’t sit in a chair profi le with cushions. But, the Scout has seats that look like they fi t the human sitting posture – I can only dream! Another intriguing norm for the Scout is the use of the Oratex covering scheme. Some of you will be familiar with aircraft covering and know how long-winded some of the systems can be to apply, using 20th century chemicals. Oratex is a 21st century system using a water-based glue and no further chemicals or paint. Some will say it’s too expensive, but that isn’t an accurate representation of its costs. Having priced a wing repair and re-cover, I know it is not as expensive as it seems. It’s a modern, clean, and quick system that I’d love to have the opportunity to try. Steve Ivell tells how he has brought a stalled Europa kit to life having taken it on from its original builder who lost heart when some mindless vandals re-worked it for him. So many Europa kits were sold that, statistically, there must still be a number of sleepers out there waiting to be brought into the sunlight. Steve’s is an interesting project adopting an unusual approach to instrumentation. Thank you to all those members who continue to forward their build stories to Project News and those patient ones who’ve yet to see their tale in print. If you’ve a fi nished or part-built project, do get in touch. To tell your story, report a milestone or just to send a picture, email: projectnews@ laa-archive.org.uk. Please share your story!

G-CLWT (LAA345 - 15671) Sherwood Scout By Archie Liggat

Along time ago I built an Evans VP1, and subsequently I shared ownership of various permit and CofA machines, before retirement brought on a hankering for another build. The craft most fancied by our syndicate was a bush-plane type – something simple, rugged, and fun with just a hint of challenge. Speed was not as essential as STOL capability, whilst range was more desirable than comfort. We looked at several offerings, with a desire to support British industry if possible, and after close study of the prototype at Sywell, we fi nally plumped for the Sherwood Scout. A proven iteration of the Escapade, the Scout is extremely strong and has been well sorted aerodynamically by the team at TLAC. Encouraged by Dave Unwin’s glowing assessment of the type in the June 2019 edition of Pilot (which, now familiar with the machine, I would agree with emphatically), an order was placed for the 499kg VLA kit and a couple of months later, in late February 2020, just as lockdown was starting to look like a distinct possibility, a big box duly arrived on the back of a lorry.

A pharaoh-ole heave

Above The group’s Scout fi nished in Blue and Silver Oratex.

Photo: Archie Liggat

wooden rollers, looking like something from the age of the Pharaohs. Inside was a pair of optional quick-build wings, fresh from the TLAC wing jig (so that the geometry would be perfectly true), a plethora of beautifully welded and powder

coated frames, some highly attractive chunky tundra tyres, stacks and stacks of neatly packaged bits and bobs and a pair of optional and beautifully formed aluminium 50 litre wing tanks. We are of an age where fl ight endurance is not necessarily predicated on tank contents anymore, but nevertheless we wanted to be as free as possible from refuelling concerns while fl oating around the wilds of Scotland. Missing was a noseleg mount and associated gear, as this was to be a tailwheel version only. Lockdown seriously interfered with communal building, so I was pretty much forced into getting down to it myself, with the others contributing where they could, and this extended the build signifi cantly. Wings, fl aps and ailerons require some conventional building, much of it blind riveting and epoxy bonding. The Escapade-based build manual is pretty clear and uses some very clever techniques for reliably setting up critical spar attachment brackets and cut-outs. Prefabricated components in the Scout kit are excellent, with minimal fettling required to make it all slot and bolt together into a pleasing aeroplane shape. Only the undercarriage bungee wrapping brought forth any seriously loud rude words, but with assurance from TLAC that only fi ve wraps were required rather than the published six, blood vessels defl ated, and the job was eventually done. In fact, relatively little help was required from TLAC and only then where the Scout and Escapade structure diverged signifi cantly. Advice and photographic back-up were invariably immediate.

Working with Oratex

Covering brought about the requirement for a signifi cant new skill. Oratex, with its odourless water-based adhesive and massive heat ‘shrinkability’ is an immensely strong, durable, self-coloured, super-light, German wunderkind. This makes it refreshingly non-smelly and quick to apply compared with, say, Ceconite, but I wouldn’t say that it’s altogether challenge-free. TLAC’s one day Oratex course was a joy, and a clear highlight of summer 2020, but there remained much to learn. The material will crease quite easily off the roll and can then mark, so it needs thoughtful handling from the outset. It’s expensive so you don’t want to waste much and it’s also extremely thin, which means, if you’re not going to largely defeat the object by slathering it with paint, there is little capacity to build up and then smooth down the fi nished surface. Unless the base is super slick, every tiny bump and ridge underneath will show, so preparation is everything. There is also a real knack to manipulating the material around corners. YouTube shows slack and wrinkly covering efforts tautening miraculously to a drum skin under the heat gun – and you may well get away with it – but my advice is to take your time and get it as neat and tight as practical before wholesale shrinkage. A judicious degree of very light shrinking during initial application is likely frowned upon, but I found it helped occasionally. Your masterpiece will inevitably end up with a few crinkly bits here and there, but these can normally be coaxed away beautifully if the material is carefully shrunk either side of the offending wrinkle to ease it out. Never heat the wrinkle itself or it sulks, and downright refuses to go away. Oratexing can initially be an infuriating and fi ngerscorching process, but is very satisfying when you fi nally get a feel for the material and the various temperatures required to tack it down – make it fi nally stick where you want it and then tighten. It’s not particularly diffi cult, just different. Take care not to slop too much adhesive around Above The modern car style seats slide fore and aft on rails, and also tip forward, allowing access to the huge baggage area. Photo: Archie

Liggat

Below An honest, straightforward instrument panel.

Photo: Archie Liggat

as it will show slightly grey when dry (depending upon the colour – silver is fi ne) and it’s a devil to get off. Once the cement fully heat-cures, Oratex is on for good so don’t think you can adjust it later, you can’t. However, that also means that patches and repairs are relatively straightforward to apply and end up pretty much welded in place.

A good allrounder

The biggest visual difference between the Scout and its Escapade close relative is in the tail, the surfaces of which are much enlarged. Test fl ying shows the machine to have excellent control characteristics down to very low speeds, and particularly good directional stability. Coming out at a basic weight of around 280kg, it’s a very ‘lifty’ aeroplane, the pronounced under camber and big fl aps yielding impressive STOL performance even at MAUW. Of course, you pay for this in lively gust response and modest speeds, but a 95kt cruise is practical so it's a fairly good all-rounder, with a cavernous baggage bay to boot. The Scout is an honest, agile STOL taildragger, with spectacular visibility from the fl ight deck, and we look forward to many hours of fun with this aerial 4x4.

G-STES (PFA 247-13931) Europa XS Trigear By Steve Ivell

Responding to an advert I had left on AFORS for a stalled kit/project, a chap named Bruce called me out of the blue – albeit that it was two years since I had placed the ad! He told me he had a Europa kit for sale, and after a bit of discussion, I agreed to go and have a look.

I also persuaded my fl ying buddy and Skyranger builder,

Steven Ridge, to come along to give a second opinion. Bruce explained that he had struggled with the kit for a number of reasons, but the fi nal straw came when vandals attacked. All his tools were stolen from a lock-up, and as a parting gesture the thieves took an angle grinder to the lower fuselage. This resulted in a long cut and various scores to the port side of the lower fuselage tub. Bruce moved house several times, taking the kit with him until he fi nally gave up and called me. A couple of days later we loaded the kit into my work’s tipper truck, and trundled over the hills from Howarth to

Oldham, where it lived in my neighbour’s garage until we were ready to get started. In the meantime, I had managed to persuade Steven to join me in the build – I was to do the building and he was to do the preparation and painting, no mean feat! We spent several weeks looking at the long list of Europa modifi cations… some of them mandatory, others optional.

We quickly decided that the Hi-top Mod was top of the list, along with the cockpit widening mod. Cue the £4k bill for all the optional and mandatory mods.

Going glass

As most pilots know, the panel is a big consideration, and I was keen to go down the ‘glass panel’ route rather than use ‘steam’ gauges. I convinced Steven to take a look at the panel of a Eurostar pilot mate of ours, John Parker, and he was quickly sold. So, the engine would be monitored by a Grand Rapids 4000, which would then talk to an iLevil, which would then talk via wifi to an iPad. A bit convoluted but it gets there in the end. It took us fi ve months before work started in earnest, which was the reinforcement of the wings internally. Working through the build manual, several months went by before the wings were ready for closure, a daunting task as it’s a one hit wonder, get it wrong and it’s wonky wings forever.

Bonding the fuselage

Wings out of the way and shipped over to Steven’s garage in Sheffi eld for prep and paint, I had space in my garage to get going on the fuselage, and one of the early jobs was repairing the damage infl icted by the vandals via an LAA Engineering approved repair scheme. The build manual tells you to bond the top and bottom half of the fuselage before the undercarriage work is done, but I suspect this is a hangover from the fact that the original Europa was built as a monowheel. Installing the legs before bonding the halves together was a real labour of love, but doing this post bonding seems like it would be a nightmare – I know that some owners have retrofi tted the tri-gear setup and they deserve a medal! After the tricky job of setting up the undercarriage legs, the upper half of the fuselage had to be fi tted with a sliver of fi breglass going from nothing at the tail to 3½ Inches wide at the fi rewall – this provides the additional height which is the Hi-Top modifi cation. Once bonded it was a relatively straightforward task of binding the two halves together, lots of Clecos, a big tub of Araldite and suddenly the bathtub began to look like the fuselage of an aeroplane – success.

Below left The damage caused to the lower fuselage when vandals broke into the lock-up where it was stored.

Photo: Steve Ivell

Below right Here we can see the long thin sliver of the Hi-Top Mod and all of the work to repair the vandals’ handy work.

Photo: Steve Ivell Fitting wings to fuselage

Fitting out the fuselage required the wings to be set up on the fuselage to set the incidence angle exactly, so it was a trip over the Pennines in the back of the trusty tipper to Sheffi eld, where the two were united in Steven’s garage for the fi rst time. Setting the incidence allows the relevant attachment brackets to be fi tted, as well as a carry-through tube to stop the fuselage fl exing in fl ight. I had read the procedure over and over and was pretty certain that it would take no more than half a day; guess what, two days later we had it all set up and were able to step back and let it cure for 24 hours. With the wings set up it was a matter of installing rudder pedals and cables, fi rewall, brakes and the many other bits and bobs that make a little aeroplane work. Without the engine installed the fuselage wants to sit on its tail, so we took the decision to fi t the engine prior to prep and paint. We had sourced a 400-hour 912ULS Rotax, which came from a Gyro imported by the fearless fl yer Bobby Frankham, and a Fiti variable pitch propeller from a Bristell, quite a marriage.

Run in to the fl ag

The fuselage was now beginning to look the part, and it was now ready for prep and paint. Back over to Sheffi eld in the tipper for a sustained spell of serious fi lling and sanding in Steven’s garage before he could apply the fi nished paint. Some heavy duty cutting and polishing, and it was now looking like the real thing. Steven had already built up the instrument panel (more prep and paint) so it was left to me to wire everything up. We had kept the build fairly simple, in spite of the modifi cations, and keeping weight down was always in the back of our minds. Fitting out the fuselage with three-way stretch lightweight carpet gave a satisfactory internal fi nish, so it doesn’t look like the inside of a portaloo! All of the internal fi tting out fi nished, it was back in the tipper and over the hills to Crosland Moor Airfi eld for fi nal rigging and fi nish. Once again, a process planned to last a few weeks took three months or more, but fi nally it was done. The fi rst 30-minute test fl ight went well but Nigel Jones, our test pilot and Inspector, highlighted some relatively simple snagging which had to be completed before the rest of the fi ve-hour fl ight testing schedule could be done. So, what has this taught me about building a Europa (and probably a good many kit aircraft)? Always allow three times more time than you estimate; try to get the advice of another builder, and when it seems like you’ll never get it fi nished, hang in there! My thanks to Steven Ridge whose part as prep and paint expanded into most parts of the build.

Below Preparing to bond the fuselage halves – only one go at this! Photo: Steve

Ivell

Right All painted and fi nished, a lovely looking aircraft.

Photo: Steve Ivell

New Projects

If your aircraft has been featured in the New Projects list, please let Project News know of your progress at: projectnews@laa-archive.org.uk

■ Van’s RV-14 (LAA 393-15787) 22/9/2021 Name & Address held by LAA Engineering ■ Starduster Two SA300 (LAA 035-15786)

21/9/2021

Mr J Ball, 33 Old Park Road, Bassaleg, Newport, Gwent, NP10 8BR ■ Van’s RV-14 (LAA 393-15783) 1/9/2021 Mr T Bills, 5 Eden Park, Brixham, Devon, TQ5 9LS ■ Van’s RV-14 (LAA 393-15785) 10/9/2021 Mr J Hancock, 39A Kenton Avenue, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex, TW16 5AS ■ Aeroprakt A32 Vixxen (LAA 411-15784)

1/9/2021

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering

Cleared To Fly

If your aircraft has completed its maiden fl ight, Project News would like to hear from you at: projectnews@laa-archive.org.uk

■ G-CLFD Brandli BX2 Cherry (PFA

179-14726) 10/9/2021

Mr Ray Rawles, 82 Northmoor Way, Wareham, BH20 4EG ■ G-CLWT Sherwood Scout (LAA 345-15671)

2/9/2021

Mr Sean Withams, Trustee of: Kingsmuir Group, 15 Bonfi eld Road, Strathkinness, St. Andrews, KY16 9RR ■ G-EIGT Van’s RV-8 (LAA 303-15234)

23/9/2021

Mr Michael Benham, The Bridge, Glenmore Road, East Crowborough, TN6 1RE ■ G-CLZA Zenair CH-601HDS (LAA 162-

15679) 16/9/2021

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering ■ G-CMBO Aeroprakt A32 Vixxen (LAA

411-15724) 17/9/2021

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering ■ G-CMDM Van’s RV-9A (s/n 90324) 29/9/2021 Name & Address held by LAA Engineering ■ G-RPEZ Rutan Long-Ez (PFA 074A-10746)

16/9/2021

Name & Address held by LAA Engineering ■ G-SLZT Sling 2 (LAA 399-15648) 29/9/2021 Name & Address held by LAA Engineering