Brodhead Pietenpol Association

I’d be surprised if you can get anyone to say on a public forum that smaller wood sizes than the plans are okay, especially when no one has seen the wood species or quality.

If it were mine I’d be looking at similar designs and seeing what longeron sizes they went with. The list of open cockpit ...

Not much new to report on. Too many projects in the shop means I’ve been distracted but what I have found is some JB Weld filling pits in the head. Looks like I’ll have to grind it all out and have the pits TIG’d before I have the head get a skim pass to straighten it up.

Looking ahead, what head ...

Looking ahead a bunch, what are the other Model A flyers using for torques, clearences, etc. when building up an engine? I don’t mind being directed to a specific book on Model A rebuilding but are there any aircraft-specific differences?

I’m not great at reading plugs, what’s this one trying to tell me? Lol
IMG_7742.jpeg

Other than that, the engine so far has been about what I was expecting. The head gasket shows signs of being blown in two places, most of the valves are sticking, there’s rust but so far nothing critical.

So far ...

I gave myself an education today in how not to remove a Model A engine. Nothing broke, it was just more work than it needed to be.

Looking back, I should have pulled the wood engine rails and their steel braces off along with the engine. It doesn’t seem obvious at first glance though so let it be a ...

Thanks for the offer and I’ll definitely be looking for all sorts of info on clearances, etc. when I get to it. I expect they’ll be different in an airplane than they would be in a car. No doubt I’ll be looking for other advice too.

For now though, is there anything non-obvious about taking an A ...

Hey all, 626 hasn’t flown in a couple years because the engine is just clapped beyond clapped. It was never quite right in all the time I’ve been around it, leading to the airplane’s grounding, which brings us to yesterday when I started prepping to pull the engine.

Anyways I’m starting this thread ...

Sounds like a real leg up for someone. Where are you located?

It’s true that I’m due to brush up on 43.13 again but in my defence I’ve been using it off and on all year for other wood projects.

I was more curious about Pietenpol-specific examples. What’s out there, what’s gone well, what’s been regretted. That sort of thing.

I’m sure it’s come up before but I was wondering what kind of history Piets have with woods other than spruce in the airframe, preferably while keeping the dimension callouts from the drawings. I have no intention to build from trash, I’m just sort of in that research phase where I’m looking at all ...

This has everything in it

https://www.pietenpolaircraftcompany.com/product-page/product-7-description-complete-original-pietenpol-air-camper-package-of-plans

Excellent. Looks like I’ll be buying a new set of Sky Scout plans to build from and borrowing the Air Camper supplements to annotate ...

If I were going to put brakes on a Piet I’d probably go mechanical and look at the way they’re actuated on a Canadian Tiger Moth. Basically the cables are connected to the rudder bar and are normally somewhat slack, not bringing on any brake until the rudder is near the stop. A hand brake lever ...

So are the ‘33 plans the latest word in how an Air Camper should be built, at least from a structural standpoint? Were there any later amendments? Newer engine choices aside, of course.

I know the Air Camper has been updated a bunch over the years to reflect best practices and the general experience of builders and fliers, but has the same been done for the Sky Scout? Are there newer, ‘better’ plans than the 1933 FGM articles?

I"ve been operating a Verner 3 cylinder for a couple of years now. 42 horsepower with a big prop would probably be fine for a Scout.

I was thinking of one of Verner’s five cylinder engines. There was at least one Velie powered Sky Scout so it could be made to look at home. A radial is my least ...

Tim, it sounds like you have studied the plans and other examples of the airplanes enough to get an excellent handle on what goes into building them.

I see it as I know enough right now to know how much I need to sort out still. It’s a start and when I get a thread going for the project I’ll ...

taildrags wrote: Wed Apr 23, 2025 12:23 pm Since the Scout is a single-place, there are some things about the Air Camper than won't play into your build.

You’re right, not everything will apply but off the top of my head there are things like jury struts and the tie bars under the fuselage and things like that which are worth considering.

Welcome, Tim. It will be interesting to hear & see what you intend to implement in your build of a Scout.

Just low cost simplicity, as intended. The basic plan is to not get fancy and to keep it light. I know the Air Camper has evolved a bit over the last near-century(!) so the first job is to ...

Hi all, Tim here. I fly for a living but don’t hold that against me, I also fly for fun and have been around antique airplanes nearly my whole life. I’m the current caretaker of the 626 replica and I’m looking at starting a Sky Scout in the fall. 626 is complete and presentable but it needs some TLC ...