Brodhead Pietenpol Association

taildrags

Shop? Who's got a shop? Wooden table under a shade tree ;o)

-Oscar

taildrags

Are you building the one-piece wing, or two-piece with centersection? Big difference. I'm assuming you're building separate outer wing panels, which makes it easier. You're probably not going to find many wing rotisseries than one like this Super Cub builder fabricated: http://www.mykitlog.com/users...

taildrags

Well, good on ya, Tools! Thanks for breaking the ice! Many more enjoyable flights in '20 to you, sir.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

Since it's so awfully quiet on this list, I thought I'd throw down the gauntlet to any who might be interested in making their first flight of the new year on Wednesday this week. It's forecast to be rainy and cold here in my neck of the woods so I don't know if I'll even make the attempt, but if it...

taildrags

Sounds like a very affordable way for somebody to get a quick start on a rolling Piet fuselage. I'm sure potential buyers will be asking you for photos of what you've got, especially some close-ups of the fuselage glue joints and the welds on the landing gear, things like that. Oscar Zuniga Air Camp...

taildrags

PietenAsia; the Riblett airfoil is the GA30-612, which as I understand Mr. Riblett's nomenclature means that it's a General Aviation airfoil with its maximum thickness at 30% of chord, and at that point it's 12% deep. So, for a 60" chord such as on the Air Camper, the maximum thickness would be...

taildrags

I bought a pair of those military-issue tanker goggles and have worn them with glasses and a canvas flying helmet, flying my Piet. They work pretty well but like most of these, in order to get a good tight seal (they were made for wearing in dust and sand), they obstruct side view considerably. They...

taildrags

Another thing to consider is that the Pitts employs the NACA M6 airfoil and has a 36" chord. The M6 is a 12% airfoil so that makes the depth of the wing ribs about equal to that of the Piet airfoil (12% of 36" = 4.32" for the Pitts) but the Piet airfoil is about an 8% (4-3/4" dee...

taildrags

PietenAsia; I concur that there are some things that can be changed or sacrificed to bring down the weight. Example: my Air Camper has 6.00x6 Cleveland wheels with hydraulic brakes and corresponding tires and one could easily build with 5" Azusa wheels and smaller tires and no brakes and save s...

taildrags

auburntsts; I'll chime in with my take on this. I do not have a Corvair powered Piet, but considering that the carb on my Continental A75 is probably in just about the same location as the one on a Corvair Piet might be, I'll just address the fuel tank question without implicating the differences be...

taildrags

PietenAsia; not saying it can't be done, just suggesting that you not try to pare the weight down on structural elements without doing some structural analysis. My airplane was re-weighed in 2009 when I swapped the A65 on it for an A75. No fuel, no oil, no seatbelts or harness in the front cockpit, ...

taildrags

OK, understood. If you want a 2-place but you're wondering about reducing the longerons and cross-bracing from 1"x1" to 3/4" x3/4", consider this. Here in the US, the design loading for "Normal" category certification (not Utility, not Aerobatic) is +3.8G and -1.52G. Th...

taildrags

PietenAsia: why bother with all of those revisions? Here's something that will meet your weight criteria without modifications: http://rogermann.org/ragwing/designs/rw1/

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

Tbopper, it is my understanding and belief that the use of existing 121.5 Mhz ELTs is not prohibited... only the manufacture, importation, and sale of them, and of course the certification of any new models of them. Therefore, I believe your inspector was in error in denying your registration on the...

taildrags

I don't think I've seen any Piets that don't have at least partial controls up front (stick, rudder pedals, throttle), but quite a few people remove the front stick to make it easier to get non-pilot passengers in and out or to stow gear. Not having controls up front means it won't be possible to sa...

taildrags

Let me try to understand which member you're referring to. The crossmember that secures the bottom edge of the pilot's seat is also the aft pivot mounting point for the aileron bellcrank beam that links the two control sticks. Where it mounts to that crossmember, the pivot bearing has two bolts goin...

taildrags

Luke; start out by giving your location. The cost of shipping a core engine is going to be more than the cost of the engine so it's best to find one close to where you are so you can drive to where you're going to pick it up from.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR

taildrags

Tom: yes... that's it! But the detail isn't just for a GPS! If you'll look closely, Bill shows a similar holder for a handheld radio, mounted to the longeron ;o) Thanks, you're a lifesaver! I've got to get a decent handheld because my very small and old Icom requires too many button presses to chang...

taildrags

Pat; many thanks for that! And I think it's a fitting tribute to Bill to keep those drawings in his original hand-written and -drawn format, but it would be short work to redraw any of them in CAD to produce crisp graphics and text if there is any interest in 'modernizing' them. I'm hesitant to do t...

taildrags

Pat: earlier, you made mention about Bill's packet of details and construction hints being handed over to the BPA to administer. I'm at the point where I'm considering a more permanent setup for my handheld COM radio and one of the details that was in Bill's packet is an aluminum holder for such a r...

taildrags

Old Rhinebeck Just punch in NY94 and hit 'GOTO' and follow the course deviation indicator ;o)

-Oscar

taildrags

Hey, nice airplane! Can't quite make out the graphics on the side of the fuselage. Got any other pix? And what size are your tires? I have 6.00x6s on my airplane right now but also have a set of 8s in the hangar that I'd like to put on it instead. I like the look of the slightly larger tires. Oscar ...

taildrags

Well, Jake Schultz in Issaquah is/was building a steel-tube frame Piet with a Rotec radial, but it's not flying yet and he's been AWOL from the list for awhile. I don't know of any others.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

Just maybe not a great time to visit this week though, huh? Looks like Dorian is soaking that area right now...

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

I just watched the latest installment of HomebuiltHELP "Tip of the Week" videos, this one featuring the Piet. Specifically, interviews with Dan Helsper and Randy Bush sharing their love of our favorite airplane at Oshkosh. Available on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MfyH8weTag&a...

taildrags

Because Harbor Freight needs the business, that's why!

-Oscar

taildrags

My recommendation on changing the fuselage framing member sizes is "don't do it". You'll end up scratching your head more often than getting anything done, because changing the dimensions will lead to changes in many, many other connections throughout the airplane and you'll probably be th...

taildrags

Brian; just looking at the Forest Products Laboratory tables that list the mechanical properties of various woods, American basswood is considerably weaker than both Sitka spruce and Douglas fir in most of the important characteristics. It is lighter than either of the other two woods, but proportio...

taildrags

I have seen posts from people who have used door skin material for their gussets. Readily available and sometimes in several choices of wood type, 1/8" thick. In the airplane supply aisle at Lowe's ;o)

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

I received mine in the mail; thank you! It will be read cover to cover, and I will be pulling out my field notes and measurements from when my airplane underwent W&B after repairs and minor rebuilds during the repair efforts. The W&B was performed by three people, one of whom is an EAA Tech ...

taildrags

Greetings, Pieters- There is a home-built fly-in to the Cottage Grove airport (61S) on Saturday, August 31... the Labor Day weekend. I'm planning to fly my Piet up to the event and stay for lunch, then head back home before civil twilight. No electrics, ya know. https://oregonaviation.org/events/gre...

taildrags

Here's another idea: why not use an existing and beautifully-populated site to post these pictures? I'm talking about Chris Tracy's Westcoastpiet site, which is a gold mine of information and photos.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

gseiter- Others may chime in here with other background information, but in fact a fellow named John W. Grega developed an adaptation of the Pietenpol Air Camper in the early 1960s that utilized a number of subassemblies and parts from the J-3 Cub into his GN-1 Aircamper. The upper mounting points f...

taildrags

gseiter- Others may chime in here with other background information, but in fact a fellow named John W. Grega developed an adaptation of the Pietenpol Air Camper in the early 1960s that utilized a number of subassemblies and parts from the J-3 Cub into his GN-1 Aircamper. The upper mounting points f...

taildrags

Ah, yes... the continuing glue discussion. Probably one of the most-discussed topics on this list and it's a good one, given the fact that the structural airframe of an Air Camper (and much of the non-structural part of it as well) is made up with glued wood joints. Gussets and joints generally also...

taildrags

PS, if you looked at the webpage that I linked to, you may be wondering about the plugged bung that's welded to the back of the aft stack, just down from where it bolts to the head. That's the port where my smoke system injects the oil (not connected at the moment), and I think I followed the direct...

taildrags

Yes sir... those are off the shelf Aeronca stacks. Aircraft Spruce has them, but you're not going to like the price. I had some just like that on the A65 until they rusted through. Had a guy weld them here and there, then I blasted them and applied VHT and baked it, and they lasted a little longer b...

taildrags

Hey Tools- Either there's a technical glitch with the website posting or else your Piet For Sale is the most-viewed thread ever seen on this list. It currently shows 13,016 views ;o) I know that the pictures you posted show your Air Camper topless and all (uncovered cockpits), but that's a lot of vi...

taildrags

Probably the best place to start in Utah would be with Steve Eldredge, who owned and flew one of the iconic Air Campers of our era (the one shown as the Piet list icon on Matronics, dark green with silver wings and a big silver "E" on the tail). I believe he and his brother were both in th...

taildrags

It won't be the first Piet to fly behind a Pinto engine, if I remember correctly. I just don't recall whether they used a redrive on it or not. There are many variants of that engine too... a low compression and a higher compression, different carburetion, a turbocharged version, and other variants....

taildrags

Brian, if I'm not mistaken, Popular Woodworking or Woodworker or one of those magazines ran a head-to-head series of tests on a half-dozen different types of wood glues. Titebond, T88, Gorilla, several others, hide glue. A good comparison test was Mark Schofield's review in the July/August 2007 issu...

taildrags

One question that I see quite frequently from people who are just learning about the Air Camper, who are building one but have never flown one, or who are going to be transitioning into one is "what's it like to fly one?". With as many onboard video cameras as there are these days, and wit...

taildrags

Excellent information, thanks to all who replied! Our friend Down Under is looking into getting a prop made for his PietenVair and now has some very solid data points.

-Oscar

taildrags

Looks like it's ready for a Corvair... engine mount and graphics on the side of the fuselage are both Corvair.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
NX41CC

taildrags

Here's a question for those of you who are flying a Corvair-powered Air Camper with a wood prop. What diameter and pitch prop are you flying? I've gone through the photos such as on the Westcoastpiet site and Flycorvair, but there isn't much prop information given. I'm fairly certain that people lik...

taildrags

Anybody happen to have a 70x40 or 70x42 prop for a Continental flanged hub? It's something I'd like to try on my A75. Post reply here or direct to me at taildrags@hotmail.com .

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC

taildrags

Alan; I'm not that far behind you in the rear-view mirror... I'll be 68 this July. I have an older sister, but she's only a year older than I am. Her name is Patti and she's definitely not a pilot! Besides moving my Air Camper on the flatbed trailer, I've also moved it in a Penske/Ryder van. I was m...

taildrags

Alan; put the wings on the bottom and build a simple framework over them so you can roll the fuselage up onto the trailer with the wings underneath.

taildrags

Riley; contact me off-list at taildrags@hotmail.com . See top picture here: http://www.flysquirrel.net/corvair/corvair.html . This Tennessee Props propeller is sized as per their recommendations and has not yet flown.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

taildrags

Alan; it doesn't have an engine.

Oscar Zuniga
Medford, OR
Air Camper NX41CC, A75 power

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