Finally good weather here, and I have been doing some flying. It is very easy to forget about flying when building, but keeping current is important when the big day arrives. My gliding club has got a new tow plane. We had a Piper Pawnee that was a pure joy to fly, but now we have a Aerospool WT9 Dynamic. The WT9 is still being used for check rides to get enough current tow pilots on the type, so we had to rent a 180 HP Super Cub for a few weeks. I spent a couple of days tugging gliders this weekend. I have also been taking some gliding lessons,.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Engine
Watched/listened to the webcast from Sonex about the Aerovee engine.Very interesting to see how it became the engine it is today, and why it is a kit, not a finished engine. However, the lack of anything that can be called engineering in that engine, is all too obvious. All in all; a bit disappointing, still I am left with the impression that the engine is well tested in the field, the complete package is well thought through functionality vise, and that the engine will do what it is supposed to do. A good engine for the Onex? Yes.
Avgas UL91 is coming. Basically it is unleaded avgas 100LL and with octane numbers of 91 MON, 96 RON (whatever that actually means). Statoil is starting to sell this fuel in Norway. Avgas 91 UL is for all practical purposes aviation quality Mogas, and that can only be a good thing. The ability of the engine to run on UL91 is yet another additional important factor.
To achieve 80/85 HP on the american VW conversions, I will have to use 100LL. A fuel that may not be available for much longer. All the other engines runs equally well on UL91 and Mogas.
Avgas UL91 is coming. Basically it is unleaded avgas 100LL and with octane numbers of 91 MON, 96 RON (whatever that actually means). Statoil is starting to sell this fuel in Norway. Avgas 91 UL is for all practical purposes aviation quality Mogas, and that can only be a good thing. The ability of the engine to run on UL91 is yet another additional important factor.
Name | Type | HP(max) | RPM(max) | cc | kg | Price € | TBO [H] | UL91 | Mogas |
Rotax | 912 UL | 80 | 2200 | 1300 | 72 | € 12 142 | 2 000 | Y | 95 |
Rotax | 912 ULS | 100 | 2200 | 1400 | 75 | € 13 499 | 2 000 | Y | 95 |
Rotax | 912iS | 100 | 2200 | 1400 | 75 | € 18 329 | 2 000 | Y | 95 |
Sauer | 1800 UL | 68 | 3200 | 1835 | 64 | € 7 845 | 1 600 | Y | 95 |
Sauer | 2200 UL | 85 | 3000 | 2234 | 66 | € 9 567 | 1 600 | Y | 98 |
Sauer | 2400 UL | 100 | 3500 | 2332 | 75 | € 10 574 | 1 600 | Y | 95 |
Sauer | S 2100 ULT | 110 | 3000 | 2161 | 76 | € 13 586 | 1 600 | Y | 98 |
Limbach | L2400 EFI | 100 | 3000 | 2424 | 76 | € 23 900 | 1 600 | TBD | 98 |
D-Motor | LF26 | 92 | 3000 | 2690 | 57 | € 12 600 | 1 500 | Y | 95 |
ULPower | 260i | 97 | 3300 | 2592 | 72 | € 14 700 | 1 500 | Y | 95 |
ULPower | 260iS | 107 | 3300 | 2592 | 72 | € 15 800 | 1 500 | Y | 98 |
D-Motor | LF39 | 130 | 3000 | 3993 | 79 | € 17 800 | 1 500 | Y | 95 |
ULPower | 350i | 118 | 3300 | 3503 | 78 | € 18 800 | 1 500 | Y | 95 |
Limbach | L2400 EB | 84 | 3200 | 2424 | 82 | € 19 500 | 1 400 | TBD | 98 |
Revmaster | 2300 | 85 | 3200 | 2331 | 77 | € 5 729 | 1 200 | TBD | 98* |
Verner | Scarlet 7H | 110 | 3500 | 4127 | 82 | € 11 990 | 600 | Y | 95 |
Hummel | 2400 | 85 | 3600 | 2400 | 76 | € 4 850 | 0 | TBD | 98* |
AeroVee | 2.1 | 80 | 3400 | 2180 | 73 | € 5 083 | 0 | TBD | 98* |
Great Plains | 2300 | 80 | 3600 | 2276 | 75 | € 5 199 | 0 | TBD | 98* |
AeroVee | 2.2T | 100 | 3400 | 2180 | 80 | € 7 266 | 0 | TBD | TBD |
Viking | Honda | 110 | 2300 | 1500 | 81 | € 9 439 | 0 | TBD | 98 |
Jabiru | 2200 | 85 | 3300 | 2200 | 64 | € 11 263 | 0 | Y | 95 |
Jabiru | 3300 | 120 | 3300 | 3300 | 84 | € 14 460 | 0 | Y | 95 |
* with reduced compression ratio, and thus reduced HP and efficiency.
A tiny bit too early for a conclusion. But the Rotax, D-motor, Viking, Limbach, Verner is realistically no longer options for me. It will be too much work to redesign everything firewall FWD. Limbach is too costly etc. From the other manufacturers I have received very positive correspondence about how to proceed and what kind of help I can expect. Sauer will be a drop-in replacement, with only minor modifications. ULPower have a guy selling motor mounts, etc. The list is therefore shortened to:
Name | Type | HP(max) | RPM(max) | cc | kg | Price € | TBO [H] | UL91 | Mogas |
Sauer | 2200 UL | 85 | 3000 | 2234 | 66 | € 9 567 | 1 600 | Y | 98 |
Sauer | 2400 UL | 100 | 3500 | 2332 | 75 | € 10 574 | 1 600 | Y | 95 |
ULPower | 260i | 97 | 3300 | 2592 | 72 | € 14 700 | 1 500 | Y | 95 |
ULPower | 260iS | 107 | 3300 | 2592 | 72 | € 15 800 | 1 500 | Y | 98 |
ULPower | 350i | 118 | 3300 | 3503 | 78 | € 18 800 | 1 500 | Y | 95 |
Revmaster | 2300 | 85 | 3200 | 2331 | 77 | € 5 729 | 1 200 | TBD | 98* |
AeroVee | 2.1 | 80 | 3400 | 2180 | 73 | € 5 083 | 0 | TBD | 98* |
Great Plains | 2300 | 80 | 3600 | 2276 | 75 | € 5 199 | 0 | TBD | 98* |
AeroVee | 2.2T | 100 | 3400 | 2180 | 80 | € 7 266 | 0 | TBD | TBD |
Jabiru | 3300 | 120 | 3300 | 3300 | 84 | € 14 460 | 0 | Y | 95 |
To achieve 80/85 HP on the american VW conversions, I will have to use 100LL. A fuel that may not be available for much longer. All the other engines runs equally well on UL91 and Mogas.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Left wing and rear mid spar
Drilled and riveted in the left side angle bracket that were wrong, and riveted on the rear spar.
Then I remembered I have one more spar, the rear mid spar. Drilling, deburring and started stacking. The outer spars are going to slide into the mid spar. It will be interesting to see how that works out when Sonex had no measurements to give out when the brackets had to change.
Then I remembered I have one more spar, the rear mid spar. Drilling, deburring and started stacking. The outer spars are going to slide into the mid spar. It will be interesting to see how that works out when Sonex had no measurements to give out when the brackets had to change.
Left wing
Monday, March 17, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Left wing and the ONX-W10-03 fix
Continued on the left wing. Countersinking holes and riveting aileron brackets. Finally received the angle stock from ACS, and made new angles for the aft main spar according to this from Sonex aircraft. The description from Sonex of what is wrong and how the parts are to go together to make it right is nonexistent, and the drawings give no dimensions whatsoever. Sonex isn't even willing to send me new correct parts. Really disappointing.
The error is the pilot holes in the angle is too far down so the aft spar will be mounted too high. The result in the skin will not fit. With the new angle made, it is easy to get the rear spar to fit using some aluminium strips. The problem is getting the dimension along the aft spar correct. I used the bolt holes for the original angles, since there are no dimensions in the drawings.
The error is the pilot holes in the angle is too far down so the aft spar will be mounted too high. The result in the skin will not fit. With the new angle made, it is easy to get the rear spar to fit using some aluminium strips. The problem is getting the dimension along the aft spar correct. I used the bolt holes for the original angles, since there are no dimensions in the drawings.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
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