Well, I finally decided to write a build thread as I want to progress seriously on my project. The objective is to share my experiences that could maybe help other builders or receive some advices in case I am doing something wrong.
I started the project in 2009 but it was stopped few years for personal reasons (divorce, but not related to the plane
). I will briefly describe the past work but don’t hesitate to ask if you are interested by more details on some specific topics.
After purchasing the plans, I did a list of the main material needed. I then ordered some kits from Aircraftspruce plus other required stuff. As I live in Switzerland the shipping is often an issue with large or heavy items. There is an Aircraftspruce in Germany now but the prices are much higher so it’s often more efficient to order from US.
Had to deal with this...
This order preparation is long but is important. For example, in the Aircraftspruce kits there are some aluminum sheets 0.090 or 0.063 that are useless. This requires also to have already a precise idea of some developments. During the building of the wings I decided to use ply leading edges. I am therefore left with a lot of aluminum sheets that I will never use. Other mistake from my side : I ordered the Cleveland wheels kit with brakes, but it comes with the wrong master cylinders. As they worth USD 700 each, I had the choice : adapt my construction or lose USD 1400… I’ll discuss this later.
I started the project in 2009 but it was stopped few years for personal reasons (divorce, but not related to the plane
). I will briefly describe the past work but don’t hesitate to ask if you are interested by more details on some specific topics. After purchasing the plans, I did a list of the main material needed. I then ordered some kits from Aircraftspruce plus other required stuff. As I live in Switzerland the shipping is often an issue with large or heavy items. There is an Aircraftspruce in Germany now but the prices are much higher so it’s often more efficient to order from US.
Had to deal with this...
This order preparation is long but is important. For example, in the Aircraftspruce kits there are some aluminum sheets 0.090 or 0.063 that are useless. This requires also to have already a precise idea of some developments. During the building of the wings I decided to use ply leading edges. I am therefore left with a lot of aluminum sheets that I will never use. Other mistake from my side : I ordered the Cleveland wheels kit with brakes, but it comes with the wrong master cylinders. As they worth USD 700 each, I had the choice : adapt my construction or lose USD 1400… I’ll discuss this later.
