FredStork

I never found the video mentioned in the beginning of this video referring to making the bungee cords... That's why I published my post above....

Adding to this topic...
I just made and replaced my shock cords
...thought I should share what I went trough...
Aircraft Spruce 06-12400 is the 3/8" shock cord you need Thank you Jim for the reference!
For 7 warps you should have 90 inch between the loops Thank you Steve for dimensions and instructions! With 20 feet you will have more than you need and be comfortable, 18 feet is strict minimum as you will need a little extra to pull on when making the in loops. (Note that the tension/extension tool used will influence the amount of cord needed...)
I made a simple tool from some scrap material and spent the (very little) extra time to do something reusable rather than an quick and dirty setup for single use. After all I'll be doing this every 5 years.  Thank you http://avidflyer.wikia.com/wiki/Shock_Cord_Fabrication_and_Replacement for inspiration!  
Decide how much pre-tension/extension you want when wrapping the cords. I arbitrarily went for a 50% extension (20 cm relaxed, 30 cm with tension applied). Form a loop and place something to increase the friction cord to cord between the cords (I used a large rubber band...) and clamped the cords with a few cable ties.  2 additional cable ties will keep the cords together when wrapping them. Place the cable tie on your loop end before applying the tension to indicate where the limit of the wrapping - as if applying it later it might end up too close to the end of the loop.A small amount of neoprene glue between the cords will increase the friction and 2 smaller separate wraps with safety wire is safer than one big...To protect the metal safety wire cover the wraps with cotton band and textile glue before covering them with transparent shrink tubing.That's it! Once you have the tool and material you can do 2 new bungees i less than 1 hour! 
How to replace the bungee cords easily is described by Steve in the Bungee installation.doc link above. 

USB charger static
We do have another problem with using USB changed devices in flight. Most USB chargers, converting from 12 volts, are doing this with methods (don't ask me how...) that have a tendency to generate significant amount of static.
I installed a second USB charger in my plane and it makes it impossible to use the radio even when no device is connected to the charger... 
My first charger, still used for the iPad is not creating the much static. Unfortunately I dismantled it and have thrown away the casing so I have no way of identifying it to get a second one.
If you have a good (static free) experience from a  USB (from 12 volt) charger please post references in a reply to this string (or even better, direct link to the product on whatever web site you found it on). 

Sure it's a bummer, but more so it is a story with a happy end...
Power failure during initial climb is without doubt the worst moment as it is (or should be) the only situation where the pilot didn't have the choice to be somewhere else. Like a little more to the side of the direct route where there are nice places to land if the engine goes belly up ,or minimizing that traffic pattern so that you reach the strip and don't end up in someones back yard when the engine start coughing on base or long final...   
It takes a good pilot not to do the "impossible turn" and go for the hostile environment straight ahead landing and a good plane that can land slow enough to let the good pilot walk away without a scratch.
And Greg, you had both the right pilot and the right plane! 
We will follow you rebuild closely, keep us posted
Regards,
Fred

On the same topic... While a lower amp plug might maintain the charge of an iPad (or just make it last longer) it will have the iPad battery working and therefore heating up. Not a problem in the winter but when it is already hot outside and with some direct sunlight the iPad will easily overheat and, as protection, power off... Been there, done that.. I was very happy to have both a good map and a river below me to follow until it cooled down again... NEVER rely on your iPad or other GPS as only navigation device. I now double with the same navigation app (and route) on my iPhone as well as paper map... 
It is easy nowadays to find appropriate converters (try amazon and search for "12 volt to usb 2amp") but note that converters with multiple sockets will divide the amps by the toys you connect... 
Note that direct sunlight on the iPad can still, even with an appropriate changer, make it overheat. I made a ventilated iPad support with outside air coming through a vacuum cleaner hose directly to the back plate of the support to keep the iPad cool. Don't forget to close the vent in the winter... Have had no issues since doing this. 

   
   

Larry, when you say "My wife can't lift a can very high" I do see alternative, non mechanical solutions... but maybe we better take that discussion over a beer...

50 shades of aluminium...

Opps, not sure how I missed that... 
Rob,
great to hear from you. Best wishes for you continued recovery - and hope we can all learn something from this.
Regards
Fred
  
 

Any news from Rob?

Yeah, the pie-chart is just so true... and I'm really jealous of you Randy, that is a helluva man-cave! (agree, I would live in it as well)
It is still a mystery to me how this plane could come out of "My Shop"... it did take a long time as nothing could be done in parallel but still...
 

Talking about Matco and Phat Tires..., the video on their site made me smile. I don't know those guys so I didn't really expect this...
http://www.matcomfg.com/PhatTires-idv-3744-24.html 

Well, that is exactly what you want; that the wood should should soak up the glue. The first application will saturate the wood and seal it, the second will make sure there is a sufficient amount of glue on the surface. When gluing to wood the real bond is creates inside the wood and not on the surface. The already partially glue impregnated plywood of the rib caps are not really sponges in terms of soaking up the glue... The remaining 3 sides of the rib cap should obviously be properly protected with varnish and the here critical surface will be protected by the hot melt glue and the fabric.
If you do this properly there is no need for rib stitching. But if you varnish the cap strips to prevent the hot melt to penetrate it, prematurely age the varnish by heating it (what is the best way to remove paint and varnish...?) and glue the fabric to the varnish you better double your rib stitching...
I did not rib stitch, there is no need for it with modern glue on 1 inch rib caps... not at the speed we fly our birds...
 

My old "garden variety uncontrolled" heat gun would in position 1: not activate the glue and in position 2: melt the fabric... Nothing beats working with proper tools. 
And it is not the iron and heat gun that will alter the bottom line when placing the Oratex order and it is not worth the time chasing a cheaper supplier on the web, the difference will probably disappear in freight anyway. Both highly re-usable anyway for repair or other needs.
 

 
Hi Rob,
if you want to glue anything to wood make sure you glue it to the wood and not to anything else. Varnish have none (or only few) of the characteristics of glue so you would glue the fabric to varnish and have to count on the much weaker link, varnish - wood, to keep your fabric to the frame. And the few interesting characteristics of the varnish might be altered when applying 130 degree Celsius to it. The minimum impact to the varnish would probably be premature aging, and we don't want that...
So make sure you remove any trace of varnish before applying the hot melt and sand the surface, this is to open the pores to make sure the hot melt can enter the wood and create superior bond. You should obviously apply a appropriate protection to any surface not covered with hot melt and fabric...

Rob,
good to hear you will be OK! We all share your pain.
Thank you C5Engineer for relaying the, in the context, good news. 
Fred
 

This is what we need - but preferably with different price tag...
 

An Avid Flyer with skiis makes you like snow... This was my first time on skiis (a few years ago now)...
 

But Luke, more concerning is the holes drilled in the tubes - both for rust and strength.... I would replace all pierced tubes...

Factory jig is a good guess. They are clearly not used, or needed, later...

So far very well - but I have only done 2 flights before I had to stop for the holiday break. Perfect palance, nothing to adjust or trim (see alos my blog). I have a minor leakage of cooling liquid to fix but other than that I flying again.

Bryce,
Enzo Simonini replies in good english to email. I have not spoken to him directly on the phone.
Fred

No, left seat. The super wide angle lens is distorting the perspective (and maybe I'm leaning a little to the middle as I'm flying "hands off").  

There is nothing saying it would be the same resin used for cowling and tanks. It could be, but could just as well be different. I think the non resistant resin get rather sticky if you apply etahnol directly on it but have not tested myself.

 
Hi Knucledragger,I installed a tank in my left wing 2007 an succeeded to dig up a paper copy of the mail with instructions I got from Steve Winder. Put it through a text recognition program on my iPad... After a few initial mails to confirm the exact wing, confirmed to be a "true heavy hauler" we get to the actual instructions (if your wing is not a true heavy hauler you might need to change the procedure slightly): 1st Leak check the gas tank. Put about 10 liters of fuel in the tank and Stand it on end. Roll it around to see if it leaks. If you do find a leak. Clean around the area and fill/coat with some of the structural adhesive / epoxy.  If No leaks then ready to proceed. ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING. YOU MUST INSTALL THE TANK WITH THE WING ON THE AIRPLANE. OTHERWISE YOU WON"T GET THE ATTACH BOLTS IN. What you have to do is Remove THE DRAG TUBE, THE First 6 nose ribs AND the First 4 ribs. But ONLY remove THE PIECES OF ribs BETWEEN THE FRONT AND REAR SPAR. I.e. Leave the Trailing edge of the ribs from the rear spar to trailing edge, attached to the spar. AND you must leave about 4" of the Top and Bottom Capstrip FORWARD of the Rear spar in place. (I have found that Hacksawing the Ribs close to front spar and about 4" in FRONT of the rear spar works. Can then use a Heat gun and HEAT the ribs at the Front spar—will break away very cleanly.  Use the hacksaw to remove the 4" piece of Rear Spar Rib BETWEEN the capstrip) These Pieces of Top and bottom capstrip attach/glue down into the SLOTS of the new gas tank. You will also need some fiberglass Mat (2 pcs 40" x 30 " ) and Fiberglass Cloth (2pcs 40" x 30") AND about 1 litre of Polyester Fiberglass Resin with Hardener. When you have removed the rib material between the spars you slide the gas tank between the spars to check fit etc. With Wing Folded, Put Glue on spars and tanks and slide in place. Put wing in place and put Front pin in. Align the wing tank with Trailing edge pieces of ribs and capstrips. Clamp wing spars to tank and leave to set. CLAMP andGlue the capstrips down to the Notches in the top / bottom of tank. When everything has glued and set up you WRAP the tank with the Mat and then the cloth. This "locks" the tank in place and puts the strength back.