Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Richard Roller

Thanks for the pictures! Beautiful woodwork. Is the door in the front cockpit your design?

Richard Roller

Well, I feel silly! I just realized who I was talking to. I'll blame my slowness on the weather!

Richard Roller

Rob. I see you're building with steel tube, which would be my preference. What engine do you plan on using?

Richard Roller

This is what I was referring to earlier as to tank mounts. Ken didn't do this and as you can tell from my prior pictures he built the tank to fill the maximum area between the spars for maximum fuel.

Richard Roller

Rob. Yours if very close to 34KP's setup (flying since 2000). The wedges were added in 34KP's case due to oil canning being heard when fuel was put in the Tank. Ours is also a very tight fit with the tank cover holding the tank in. I like that you off-set your filler to one side. Ours is in the midd...

Richard Roller

On 34KP the tank sits on the plywood bottom piece. I believe on the drawings they show a cross piece attached to the spars that the end of the tank rests on.

Richard Roller

John. I have Ken Perkins Piet, N34KP. Ken built lots of steel parts for other builders while he was still alive. For his landing gear he built a fixture to hold the gear V's and the axles in position while welding. I don't have a picture of the fixture, but I'll try to explain how it worked. The upp...

Richard Roller

Sounds interesting. Do you have any sketches, doodles to see?

Richard Roller

I'd like to see some input on this subject also.

Richard Roller

All you OLD people! (Only 68!)

Richard Roller

34KP does not have a stringer running down the bottom. Flat plywood, fabric covered.

Richard Roller

N34KP is covered over the plywood on the bottom. For what it's worth, plywood covered wings are generally covered in fabric, for abrasion purposes.

Richard Roller

34KP has medium weight SuperFlite on it. Personally, I would hesitate to use light fabric.

Richard Roller

When Ken Perkins built N34KP he used wood screws in the brackets in the holes going through the bottom of the longeron. Posting some pictures of the area taken during a recent repair.

Richard Roller

Well, the Ford ran great after I got the new ignition system figured out. Just prior to leaving for Brodhead it started shooting oil out of the seal on the prop end, so I ended up driving to Brodhead. When I returned I thought I'd try an experiment to see if I could stop the leak. My theory was the ...

Richard Roller

As soon as my spark plug wires show up! If everything works out I may end up doing part of the break in on the way to Brodhead!

Richard Roller

Richard Roller

Richard Roller

Back on the mount.

Richard Roller

Richard Roller

I bought mine from Matco. Mine are 1-1/4", because I was modifying my Piet to brakes. They have multiple 1-1/2" wheels and brakes.

Richard Roller

Pistons in, head on and initial round of torques completed.

Richard Roller

Oscar. I did the same thing on my tail hook release.

Richard Roller

34KP has 12 gauge wire on the tail braces and 11 gauge wire for the center section rack wires. The bends aren't that tight, they bend around the nicropress sleeves.

Richard Roller

The engine for 34KP is going back together. Clearances on the crank bearings checked today. The crank is now installed and the caps torqued.

Richard Roller

N34KP has tail brace wires of hard wire with nicropress sleeves and turnbuckles. I'll see if it can find a closer shot.

Richard Roller

So true, Oscar. N34KP is still Ken Perkins Piet. I'm just the current caretaker.

Richard Roller

Magnetic attachment. Well used, as you can see.

Richard Roller

Looks good Rob. How goes your Piet?

Richard Roller

The forward brackets should be on the station. Just move it to the station and plug holes.

Richard Roller

One suggestion, if you haven't already built your tank. If I were building a tank I would put the filler on either the left or right side of the tank instead of the middle. When filling the tank as built it is difficult to see the fuel level as you fill. On N34KP this has resulted in numerous overfi...

Richard Roller

In the case of N34KP the tank is held in by the aluminum tank cover with a row of screws around the cover. There are wedges under the tank and felt strips on top of the tank for a snug fit in the center section, for no tank movement. IMG_20220124_124011.jpg IMG_20220123_133046.jpg IMG_20220124_12493...

Richard Roller

On N34KP Ken heated the tubes and then squeezed them between aluminum blocks (with nice large radius) screwed to vise jaws. He told me there was a strip of wood set to the proper angle attached to the vise to eyeball the tube angle to. I don't know how many attempts it took. He squeezed the tubes an...

Richard Roller

Solid Works is no longer available for free through the EAA.

Richard Roller

Do you get the newsletter? I wrote an article on converting N34KP to brakes. It's in the members section.

Richard Roller

Rubbing against the leading edge of the horizontal stab is a common occurrence. If you build to the plans it is going to happen. Several builders, including the builder of N34KP have raised the bellcrank behind the pilots seat up to gain cable clearance. It is a minor thing and in the case of N34KP ...

Richard Roller

Richard Roller

Ken Perkins built this Piet. He made the prop hub per the plans. The prop is an Ole Fahlin prop Ken ordered in the early 1980's. Ken made a few 6 bolt SAE 1 hubs that would fit the Model A crank, I think Dan Helspur's Piet might have one, but I'm not sure. I don't have one. I don't know if anyone is...

Richard Roller

Paul. Most people fly with high compression aluminum heads. The Piet I fly has a model B cam in it. Previously it had a touring cam. I have a single mag drive off the crankshaft at the moment. There are several with duel mags, driving off the crank and the governor drive on the side of the engine (i...

Richard Roller

N34KP, the Piet I fly, was built by Ken Perkins and has been flying since 2000. Ken did not braze any of the parts. I believe he used ER70-s2 rod. So far, so good.

Richard Roller

There is a young man in the Czech Republic that is building a Piet using a different water cooled engine. You might want to take a look.

https://www.historicpropellers.com/pietenpol-aircamper

Richard Roller

https://www.antiqueenginerebuilding.com/model_a.html

Try here.

Richard Roller

It get mighty hot and humid in that part of the world!

Richard Roller

Piper. I've been reading the various posts you've put up on building your Pietenpol. You seem to be overthinking this process. Maybe a little more information would help us all. Are you attempting to build an ultra-lite version? What engine? How much horsepower? Fuel consumption. If an ultra-lite yo...

Richard Roller

I've put 2 hours on the new wheels and brakes, 7 touch and goes and landings. So far no problems. The a/c continues to track straight and to be docile on landing. I currently have 15lbs. of air pressure in the tires. Probably about right if I take a passenger up, but I have to ride the brakes a lot ...

Richard Roller

By the way Terry, good to see you back on the site.

Richard Roller

Dan. Are the red straps control stops?

Richard Roller

We've had a lot of rain. They finally got a chance to mow yesterday and today. Maybe they should bale it.

Richard Roller

N34KP flew again today! The new wheels and brakes worked well, they track straight. I did cut the grass while I was at it.

Richard Roller

Yes there is a break in routine and they are getting better as I taxi.

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