Brodhead Pietenpol Association

taildrags

Pat: that may not have been exactly the right thing to say in this crowd. "Recent upgrade of php versions"-? Many of us think of "php" as Paul H. Poberezny, rest his soul in peace and may his version never be upgraded!

-Oscar

taildrags

Yes, I got that too, until I decided to throw my own argument instead of counting errors

-Oscar

taildrags

Just the sort of scratch-building and head-scratching project that I love! Something tells me you'll be getting requests to make and sell an ignition kit

-Oscar

taildrags

Pieters; I just finished reading the current issue of the BPA Newsletter and specifically, Richard Roller's article on how he built a crank-triggered HEI electronic ignition, with manually-selectable retard for starting, for his Ford A engine. Absolutely awesome design and execution! Beautifully cra...

taildrags

My Piet has the fuel tank up in the nose, so I can't speak authoritatively on this subject. However, from what I have read of William Wynne's writing about his experience when his Piet went down and fuel spilled out of the fuel lines from the tank in the centersection and went all over both cockpits...

taildrags

John; here's my opinion on your questions. 1)Yes, it appears that those parts are not used because the part 9 looks like it does the same job of sealing the grease in the bearing. 2) Not sure, but you do need 2 of them... one for the inner bearing and one for the outer. 3) It would have to be assemb...

taildrags

Well that makes perfect sense!

-Oscar

taildrags

Okay, so I finally got my front cockpit cover fabricated and installed. My thanks to Ken Bickers for the excellent narrative and photos of how he did his, and also the source information for where he got the fasteners and tools. I followed Ken's design but limited mine to only one cover for the fron...

taildrags

In theory, these ribs would be most likely to buckle midway between the spars... right where Ken has his X-bracing. Realistically though, I think with something like a Piet with lightly-loaded wings, once the wing fabric is laced to the ribs and tautened, the ribs would be held securely in their pla...

taildrags

The short answer is "it depends". It depends on the shape of the part and the way the forces are acting on it. Each part that you intend to make out of 4130 instead of 1025 would have to be examined for how it's loaded, how it's attached, and its shape. But in most cases on this airplane, ...

taildrags

Well since some of us are stuck on the ground due to winter weather, I figured more would have time to read stuff than go fly so I pulled out the first logbook on my plane to review the test flights, which were made by Mr. Edwin Johnson down in Louisiana. Here are some verbatim extracts for your rea...

taildrags

Lovely details, all of them!

-Oscar

taildrags

Wow, that is a beauty!!! Museum quality for sure. I zoomed in on the tail to see if maybe you used wire ferrules on the tail braces but it looks like conventional Nicopress with aircraft cable. Yes-? A sparkling rendition of a classic airplane. Oscar Zuniga Medford, OR Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

Thanks to Newsletter reader, contributor, and Piet builder Peter Jhones for putting me onto this investigation. It's great fun.

-Oscar

taildrags

I began work on a "reverse engineering" article for the Newsletter on this topic. Should appear in a 2023 issue.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

Well Chris, you've described the journey I started out on with my Piet just about to a 'T'. Veterans Day 2004 my new (to me) Air Camper was being piloted (not by me) to a local school football field for a flyover at a gathering of veterans when carb ice formation began making the engine run rough de...

taildrags

That style of cover should ride out of the slipstream, so less buffeting and drumming than covers that follow the top curve of the fuselage. I'm going with the curved style since it should also serve to shed rain.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

EXCELLENT collection of photos! Very nice airplane, handsome work on it. Congratulations!

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

Wow. I just viewed the little how-to demonstration video on Sailrite's site and I think I'm sold on their Loxx fasteners and method! Like you, I already have snaps around the cockpits for the non-flight covers, but I think I'll do what you did and introduce the Loxx fasteners for the front cockpit a...

taildrags

Ken, thanks for the excellent ideas and details. At the moment I'm fixated on sheet aluminum for a cover, but I haven't finalized my thinking yet. Earlier I had thought of ripstop nylon, but I can just see that diaphragm drumming in the wind and propwash and I don't want that. I'm encouraged by your...

taildrags

John, note that you can use some AN111 cable bushings through AN100 cable thimbles to secure the cable ends to the bellcrank by passing a bolt through them. Various ways to skin this cat.

-Oscar

taildrags

Browsing around Westcoastpiet, there are plenty of different setups at that bellcrank. Here's Chris Tracy's.

-Oscar

taildrags

Are you talking about the bellcrank inside the fuselage, behind the pilot's seat?

-Oscar

taildrags

Ken; and you fly the plane with the front cover in place? Secure?

-Oscar

taildrags

I'll be at the hangar this weekend and will make some sketches of my cover scheme.

-Oscar

taildrags

I'm thinking I'm going to try to shape some aluminum tubing (small diameter) into a shape that follows the outline of the front cockpit and fits snugly over the coaming. Then one or two fore & aft stiffening tubes with pulled rivet gussets, then an aluminum skin riveted onto the tubular frame. W...

taildrags

Since it's been pretty quiet on this forum and we're starting to get into the no-fly winter season (for me, at least), I thought I would reopen a thread from the past... cockpit covers. I have a couple of ideas for a cover for my front cockpit and I'm going to tackle it this winter. If anyone else i...

taildrags

I believe Kevin Purtee has that style tank on his Piet, but I don't know if he's on this discussion board. I know he's over on the Pietenpol facebook page.

-Oscar

taildrags

JimBob; they said the same as me because I'm an "old timer" too! I'm 71 years old and piloting a plane that was designed 93 years ago, sonny boy!

-Oscar

taildrags

JimBob; I'm not familiar with the Stewart System, but in the Polyfiber world, anti-chafe tape is used to put over sharp corners, metal edges, and rough joints before putting the fabric on over those. Reinforcing tape has a different purpose: it's laid down over the fabric directly on top of the rib ...

taildrags

My airplane does have vertical strip of wood running down the underside from firewall aft, which means that the belly fabric does not touch the plywood except at the longerons. Perhaps the slight 'v' shape along the belly can be seen in this pic: gear_small.jpg Oscar Zuniga Medford, OR Air Camper NX...

taildrags

Boy, now I'll have to go look at my plane because I think mine has a 'razor ridge' running down the belly, similar to the ones on the sides to hold the fabric away from the wood and turn flat panels into slightly prism-shaped ones. Stand by...

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

When you think about it, the Maule series of aircraft (one of the few fabric-covered aircraft still in current production) are covered using the *medium* weight certified fabric. The M-7s carry twice as many souls as an Air Camper, have a gross weight twice that of an air camper, use engines with tw...

taildrags

John, not sure what you're asking, but what holds the wheel assembly in place on my airplane is the shoulder on the inner end of the axle. That shoulder rides against the wheel bearing.

taildrags

I forgot to mention what I have for tubes. I have flat aluminum wheel covers on my main wheels and they help to keep dust and grit and debris out of the bearings. So, in order to get at the valve stems to check the tire pressure or add air, I either have to remove the wheel covers (3 screws each) or...

taildrags

John; just bear in mind that there are dozens and dozens of variations of these wheels out there, some take different parts for different reasons (which I found out the hard way). The parts that my wheels use may be different from yours. And it looks like you already have very decent felt rings and ...

taildrags

John: these are the parts that I used on my wheels.

-Oscar

taildrags

PS, you'll find the thin stainless rings and the felt seals in the Landing Gear section of the Aircraft Spruce catalog, under Cleveland 6.00 wheels. I'll get you the part numbers.

-Oscar

taildrags

John; my wheels are assembled as follows (best I remember). On the inside, Timken 13889 brearing, greased. It's held in place by its taper and by the raised shoulder on the axle. On top of the bearing, one of those felt grease seals sandwiched between two of the thin stainless rings, then that sandw...

taildrags

John; I've recently been through this with my 6.00x6 Clevelands and scratched my head a lot until I found the correct group of parts to both seal the greased bearings and secure the wheel and assembly onto the threaded end of the axle. I'll dig up photos and parts that I used to see if it will help ...

taildrags

Experimental three-four kilo papa, advise when ready to taxi ;o)

-OZ

taildrags

1. Yes, I'm one who has used the tapered shims to get my Piet's wheels to track exactly where I want them to. Now, with the spring-strut "Cub style" gear that I'm using, the geometry changes and the gear is loaded, both static (just adding passenger and full fuel to the plane where it sits...

taildrags

A marriage made in Air Camper heaven! Nice work, Richard.

-Oscar

taildrags

John; I don't have any parts to offer you, but can tell you about my 6.00x6 Clevelands with brakes. Mine are off of a 1960s-era Bonanza and take 1-1/2" axles. Between the 5" and 6" Cleveland wheels, there are variations that take 1-1/4" and 1-1/2" axles but nothing as small ...

taildrags

Jeffrey; there are resources for those who are interested in making their own props and several talented builders have posted their methods and progress on this forum, on the Piet facebook group, and on their own blogs. The thing is, the Corvair turns in the opposite direction from conventional airc...

taildrags

Looks like an Aviation Products (API) tailwheel. I hear good things about them. Also, Ken, I notice that you have some bellcrank extensions on your tailwheel. Was this done to slow down the response a bit? My Piet had similar extensions on the Scott 2000 but I found nothing in the logs during the ai...

taildrags

Yes, that's one way of doing it with a wrench, some spring scales, and a 3 ft cheater bar. That is, unless you have access to one of these (like I do)-

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

Nice and clean. Very pretty engine.

-Oscar

taildrags

Well now I can say I've seen hardwire tail braces nicopressed!

-Oscar

taildrags

Well I'll be hornswoggled! I don't think I've ever seen one with nicopressed hard wires! I couldn't tell from the photo, but are the short tails of the wires thenbent back up against the nico sleeve like they are with wire-wound ferrules?

-Oscar

Search found 553 matches