Luked

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Everything posted by Luked



  1. Luked added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club   

    Hey Chris, I'm about 10 minutes from heading out the door to Oshkosh. I'll post some pics first of the week when I get back though.
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  2. Luked added a post in a topic Just joined the Fat Avid Club   

    Hey Chris. I don't know much about Avid cowlings, but my MK-IV came with a cowl that I am not going to use. I really want to make my own. My understanding is that the cowl is for the O-200 that the original builder planned to install. If the MK-IV bottom cowl will work, it might be of some use to you.
     
    I think it's been through several project moves, and it looks a little discolored (yellowish). I can take some pictures next week if you are interested (I'm getting ready to leave for Oshkosh). You're welcome to it if you want to pick it up. Seems like you said you are from Washington, so if you ever make it down this way, I'm right on I-5.
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  3. Luked added a post in a topic Small project update   

    Hi Ed,
     
    I'm not sure I understand which tubes you mean. maybe you could show a picture. The solid model in the picture is mostly just my starting point. It is exactly as the fuselage came from the Avid factory. Except for the following changes:
     
    - Tail was stretched 16 inches by previous owner (this is pretty easy to spot in the picture).
    - Some tubes in the floor and firewall area are not shown because I just haven't added them yet, or because they have been removed on the real plane.
    - The landing gear / seat truss is my new design.
     
    I'm going to be adding some new tubes in the front area to make up for some of the nose wheel structure I removed.
     
    One nice thing about solid modeling this think is that the software calculates the weight of everything for you. It will also tall you the center of gravity. The weight is still pretty meaningless at this point though because I have a lot more to add.
     
    One more edit: There are two tubes I still need to add right under the rear spare carry through. These will change the picture a little in that area 
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  4. Luked added a post in a topic Small project update   

    I think there are some actual engineers on the forum aren't there? It seems like I remember some members mentioning it. It would be nice to get some input from them as well. I've documented all of my calculations pretty clearly, so others could review them.
     
    My brother is a professional engineer, and he has reviewed them with me (pointed out a couple of mistakes). We both know there are some assumptions made to simplify things a little, but otherwise, the results seem pretty useful.
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  5. Luked added a post in a topic Small project update   

    Hey Leni,
     
    This is actually for a bungee style gear, so the geometry of the tubes is different. The main part that I re-designed though is the truss that the bungees wrap around.
     
    It shouldn't be hard to do a truss analysis for a "bush gear style" though. If someone had some dimensions of their gear, I can see what I can come up with. There are some limitations to doing very simple truss analysis (joints method), but it can be pretty useful if you understand those limitations.
     
    Just to be clear, I'm not an engineer, but I took 2 years of engineering about 20 years ago before I went a different direction (long story). beyond what I learned in school, I'm self taught.
     
    Luke D.
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  6. Luked added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Small project update
    Well, things seem pretty quiet around here, so I thought I would show a little of what I've been working on. I finally got back to work on the Avid. Now that all of the stress calculations are done (mostly) for the new landing gear/seat truss, I wanted to see how it would fit with everything else on the plane.
     
    I made up a solid model of the fuselage. I'm also planning some other changes, and want to make sure all of the changes work together. Once I have all of the changes modeled, I'll be ready to order some tubing, and start cutting and welding
     
    Here is what I have so far.
     

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  7. Luked added a post in a topic Project 64.5 Mustang   

    Very nice. I'm jealous. I can't seem to find time for my airplane project, much less my car projects (all of our cars are projects). 
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  8. Luked added a post in a topic Control stick spacing   

    Good points guys. What you're saying makes sense Randy. I guess you can move your right leg toward the middle because there is no inward curve of the side of the fuselage like there is on your left.
     
    I'm not a big guy, so this won't be much of a factor for me, but I'd like to make it as comfortable as I can for others too.
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  9. Luked added a post in a topic N139AH   

    Glad the battery situation didn't have more serious consequences.
     
    The airplane looks great. I think I said it before somewhere, but I hope I can build an airplane that looks that nice eventually. Nice job!
     
    Luke D.
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  10. Luked added a post in a topic Empty weight   

    Hmm... I think what Bandit is trying to say is that the extra mass in the fuselage holds itself in space more than less mass would. Since the extra mass has less "give", the wings give more. When turbulence hits the light plane, the mass moves more easily with the turbulence resulting in less need for the wings to give.
     
    No doubt the ride is better in the heavier plane though. You'll be getting thrown around a bit more in the light plane.
     
    Luke D.
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  11. Luked added a post in a topic Merlin GT   

    Hi Jeff,
     
    I was searching around on google, and ran across this:
     
    http://crufc.ca/classifieds/macair-merlin/
     
    Made me think of your project since it's got an O-200. Looks like an old ad, but thought it was still interesting.
     
    Luke D.
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  12. Luked added a post in a topic Control stick spacing   

    Okay, I sat in the plane with the pedals, stick, seat, and door installed. I don't think I would want to move the stick all the way so it is centered with the pedals. It would work for me, but for a bigger person it probably wouldn't be the best. It is a little farther toward the center than I would like though. I think I'm going to split the difference, and move the center of the pedals in and the sticks out so that they are centered on each other.
     
    Ed, I know what you mean about making changes. I started building a plane back in 1991 when I was just out of high school. I made a lot of changes, and the build kind of stalled (mostly because I got married though). Believe it of not, I am trying to limit the things I am changing. I'll admin that I do have a hard time building to plans though...
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  13. Luked added a post in a topic 1000 hrs   

    That's great. I think there are a lot of homebuilts out there that have more hours in the build log than they do on the hobbs. It's great to see homebuilts getting lots of use once they are done.
     
    I've never had much experience with 2 strokes, but I'm starting to think the Rotax 2 strokes must be pretty good. I guess I've been around too many certified types that dismiss them. Maybe if my plane didn't already have the tail stretch, I'd just bolt on a 582, and be done with it. Your 503 must be pretty good for you to stick with it for 1000 hrs.
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  14. Luked added a post in a topic Control stick spacing   

    I brought the fiberglass seat home from the hangar last night. I'll try it out today.
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  15. Luked added a post in a topic Airventure 2014   

    Thanks for doing that Larry. I'd be happy to pitch in.
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  16. Luked added a post in a topic Airventure 2014   

    Well, in a last minute decision, it looks like I'm going to make it to Oshkosh this year (first time). Just two days though. I'm flying commercial. I'll get there Thursday night, and leave Sunday morning. If you guys have settled on Friday, I can be there, and I'd like to meet everyone. What food should I bring?
     
    Luke D.
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  17. Luked added a post in a topic Clear   

    Sounds like I should suggest to my friend that he convert his plane back to having the folding capability. I think he might still be able to fold the wings, but I think it may require some dis-assembly now.
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  18. Luked added a post in a topic Clear   

    Thanks again for sharing your pictures. Your posts always give us lower 48ers some new perspective and familiarity with what Alaska is like.
     
    In the beginning, I wasn't thinking of retaining the wing fold feature since my plane will live at the airport. My friend is building his Magnum without folding capability. I've been thinking more and more that it would be nice to have occasionally though. This is a good example.
     
    Luke D.
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  19. Luked added a post in a topic Control stick spacing   

     
    Well, I'm not making a new stick assembly because of the offset stick spacing. I just thought that if I'm making a new one anyway, I might want to center the sticks on the pedals while I'm at it. I may even end up making the new assembly with the same spacing as the old, but I haven't had a chance to get in the plane and test it out yet. I was just kind of wondering if anyone had any reasons not the center the sticks with the pedals.
     
    Luke D.
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  20. Luked added a post in a topic Control stick spacing   

    Thanks Ed. That makes sense. I'll probably do a quick mockup to see what the clearance to the outside (door, etc.) would look like. It's not really a large difference. I was just curious.
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  21. Luked added a topic in Avidfoxflyers General Hangar   

    Control stick spacing
    I'm planning to make some changes to my control system that will include re-making the front control stick assembly. I noticed that the spacing on the front sticks is about 14 7/8" from center to center. The center to center distance of the ruder pedal pairs is about 17 1/2". It looks like the reason for the closer spacing on the sticks is to accommodate the aileron bell crank on the left side. Does anyone see any problem with making the stick spacing match the pedals? The bell crank won't be a factor anymore.
     
    Thanks,
    Luke D.
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  22. Luked added a post in a topic Merlin GT   

    No problem. I'll be taking a look at this myself to see how things will add up on my project.
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  23. Luked added a post in a topic Merlin GT   

    I did some searching for the 8000-38 form, but the closest I could come up with is this:

    http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/gen_av/ultralights/amateur_built/kits/media/AmBuiltFabAssyCklistFW.pdf
     
    I also found this page on the FAA website:
     
    http://www.faa.gov/forms/index.cfm/go/document.information/documentID/181636
     
    I'm not sure why it says cancelled in parenthesis.
     
    Also, here is the page that the above form was linked from:
     
    http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/gen_av/ultralights/amateur_built/kits/
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  24. Luked added a post in a topic Merlin GT   

    Hey Ed,
     
    I'm planning to go the "built from parts" route too. I guess I need to get my ducks in a row before I get too far on anything. When I started my first homebuilt back in the early nineties (it's the one in my avatar that never got finished), there were no approved kits. Each builder just had to convince the inspector that they built over half of the plane.
     
    If I remember correctly the FAA felt that there were too many planes being built by hired guns, so they came up with a form that you had to fill out showing all the tasks that you completed yourself. If the tasks you did added up to more than 51%, you were okay. Is this the form you are thinking of? I guess I need to start looking into the paperwork I will need to do. I think the idea of "51% approved" kits came about at the same time to make it easier for the majority of home builders.
     
    Luke D.
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  25. Luked added a post in a topic Almost There...   

    Looks good. Thanks for sharing Randy. If you get any more pictures of the plane as it gets completed, it would be nice to see. I like to see activity on other people projects. Helps motivate me. I hope to get back to working on mine soon (if I can get some free time).
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