Luked

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Posts posted by Luked

  1. Posted

    Thanks Doug. I took a look. Unfortunately the pull sheets just have the Avid part number, but not much description otherwise. Looks like Avid called them F-38 and F-39. It does show that they are 3/16" x 3/16".

     

    I think the point Dusty made about the swivel at the bellcrank may mean that the parts the factory used won't be what I'm looking for anyway. I think the parts I had just happened to provide extra motion. I think I'm on my own.

  2. Posted

    Does your project have a"rotator"where it couples to the bellcrank ,this should negate the miss alignment issues?

     

    Good catch Dusty. I know what you are talking about. I am actually designing my own control system, so it's a different situation. I had the stock system though (sold it to another builder), and remember that the bearings they used had a lot of misalignment motion.

     

    IFMT, thanks for the heads up on the jam nut. This will be important with the setup I'm planning because if the jam nuts get loose, it could rotate and wear on the treads like you say.

  3. Posted · Edited by Luked

    Well, I went ahead and ordered a bearing from Spruce to try out. It's the Aurora GMM-3M-470. It's their "General Aviation Precision" bearing. Has 3/16" bore, and 1/4-28 shank. The key is that it has 17 degrees of misalignment motion. If I have one of these on each end of a pushrod, I get a total of 34 degrees in rotation. I plan to set my stops at 30 degrees total rotation. I just got one to check it out. I'll eventuatlly need 4 total. I'll let you know how it works.

     

    Oh, I forgot that I was going to put a link to their catalog:

     

    http://www.aurorabearing.com/pdf/aircraft.pdf

  4. Posted

    Hi Ed,

     

    Thanks for your help. I should have explained my question better. You are right that they are 3/16" bore, and shank. I'd like to know the Hiem part number to look up though because those two rod ends (male and female) need to have a certain amount of misalignment angle capability because of the way the control column rotates.

  5. Posted

    I'm working on my control system, and trying to find the rod end bearings I need. I found this picture in one of Doug's for sale posts. The parts I'm interested in are the ones that are circled and labeled "see SB #6".

    post-53-13154370095273.jpg

    I'm not sure where to get Hiem FRE-48 or FRE-49 bearings or even how to find the specs on them. I'll probably end up using Aurora bearings, but I wanted to know what Avid and Kitfox used just for comparison. I just don't know how to find any info on these. Anyone know another part number for them?

     

    Thanks,

    Luke D.

  7. Posted

    Hey Ed,

     

    I'm no paint expert. I do read quite a bit on Vansairforce.net since we make products for their airplanes. As you can imagine, the topic of painting aluminum comes up a lot over there since that's what their planes are made of. They actually have a whole section of the forum just for primer:

     

    http://www.vansairforce.com/community/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=54&page=1&pp=53&sort=lastpost&order=desc&daysprune=-1

     

    There are also a lot of opinions about it, so they refer to this topic as "Primer Wars".

     

    From what I've read about it, I think the concensus is something like this:

     

    Spray can self etching primers are okay for most stuff where you just need to protect against corrosion. It won't hold up well in areas with high wear (cockpit, etc.). It's recommended that you scuff with scotchbrite first. Some recommend heating parts before painting.

     

    Alodine plus some kind of primer is better than just self etching primer. Alodine, and then apply any type of primer you like.

     

    Epoxy primer is best. AKZO seems to be the prefered brand. Of course you have to clean up your spray system after every use.

     

    I'm not sure you need to do much to alclad. It probably depends on your preference, and the area you are operating the plane in. I would definitely prime any "bare" aluminum though.

     

    Here's a link to a guy who compared spray can self etching primers. Pretty interesting reading:

     

    http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=96070&highlight=primer

     

    Also, for some entertainment, here's a past thread that relates to the topic :P :

     

    http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=98446

     

    Luke D.

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  8. Posted

    I was planning a -12 then I have the option. No progress lately. The lack of work on the plane is embarrassing  :P. I did organize my garage a little over the weekend. Made a little rack to store my chromoly tubing so I can see what I have on hand. Hope to get back to work on the plane sometime soon. Work is consuming all my time right now though.

  9. Posted

    Don't have a complete engine yet. Just some parts (yellow tagged flange crank). I plan to get the engine when I'm closer to needing it. I was pretty impressed with what Frank Knapp could do with a C-85. Of course, his engine has had quite a bit of extra help to make it perform like that, and his airplane is stripped down to almost nothing. Still, I think it will be a pretty good fit for the Avid if I can keep the airframe weight down. I think he has a Catto prop. Not sure that's in my budget. I'll probably use a wood one.

  10. Posted

    I think Luke is planning a C-85 for his new bird...

     

    Yep, that's my plan. The reason is that it should be small enough to hand prop so I can run no electrical if I decide to. This saves starter, alternator (or gen), and starter battery. If I decide I hate hand propping, I have the option to take the weight penalty, and add an electrical system.

  15. Posted

    I don't really know anything about belly radiators, but this made me think of a video I saw about a guy that put a V8 in a Zenith. He had some interesting comments about getting his belly rad to work properly. He said that until he got it working right, the air was actually flowing backwards through it. Here is the video. Radiator info starts around 3 minute mark.

     

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  16. Posted

    As Sed mentioned, if you are going to increase the strength of the carrythrough, you may want to consider other areas too. I plan to put KF wings (longer span than Avid) on my MKIV. I've already increased the cross section of my strut carry through. I added half of a square tube on top of the existing 3/4" .035" round tube. I also added 1/16" plates overlapping the ends of this tube going all the way to the bolt holes for the struts.

     

    My thinking is that because this is mainly a tension member, the shape of the additional cross section isn't that important (It's also very well braced laterally for compression anyway). But, making that extra cross section continuous from the strut bolt on one side to the strut bolt on the other is important. Otherwise, you may be adding extra weight for no benefit. Kind of like the chain is only as strong as it's weakest link idea.

     

    I'm also increasing my spar carrythrough tubes to the size used in the KF-4 1200, and increasing strut tube sizes as well. The wing and it's supporting structure will be pretty much the same as a 4-1200. When I get a chance to get out to my garage, I could take a picture of the strut carrythrough mod. I haven't touched the airplane for many months. Good luck with your mods.

  21. Posted

    Someone on one of the Vans forums did a similar Hitler video. This came about because there was an argument about the best RV takeoff procedure I guess. I thought they were a little hard on the guy, but it was funny:

     

    1 person likes this