Jun 27, 2015 Build Report

Another build day bites the dust! The airplane is starting to look like an airplane. This week there was a definite lack of kids- Josiah and Anthony were it. Its vacation time and warm so most of the young builders families have other endeavors like barbecues, weddings, fishing or just enjoying being warm and dry and just goofing off.

John W and Josiah installed the engine mount permanently. They spent a lot of time trying to figure out torque values for the bolts. 4313 does not address torque values for wood structures. After much searching on the internet by myself and Jerry F no real way was found to access what to torque the mount bolts as to not crush the wood. Pat W and Ken P worked on installing the tail feathers. Again how tight is tight enough on wood? Standard torque values will crush the wood. Interestingly after much searching we found Composite torque values in the Cirrus maintenance Manuel and they are about half the normal published torque values. even the Hawk build Manuel’s we have do not address this that we could find.  I started calling around and as usual Don Coleman has the answer and also confirmed what we found- nothing published even he could find. INTERESTING!. Anyway here is the answer per the pro Don C.- with AN hardware Snug the nut up. then on soft material (which is what we have on the tail) add 1/2 turn. On hard wood (our mount) add one full turn. The old way of tightening bolts to max and leaving off the 1/2 turn before you strip it is definitely out on wood – it just keeps crushing! Armed with this info the tail ins on. Josiah, Anthony, Pat and Ken P got er done. The mount is also installed with no innocent wood damaged in the process.

(As a side note when Tres brought his Pietenpol out to our dry climate from California all the bolts and nuts became slightly loose, When he went home they tightened right back up. according to Tres Composites also do this, that is one of the reasons for white or light colors on composites. Even on metal airplanes the cables tensions vary with temperature but not so much with moisture).

While the airplane was being properly( I hope) put together Bill Derose, John C, Anthony and I worked on the engine. Everything went smoothly until the last clamps on the push rod tubes were being installed by yours truly. A new – and I quote – new clamp decided to fail (with a loud snap) when compressed ( with the proper tool) to install it. and as usual it was on the last cylinder installed and 2nd from last clamp to install. (Murphy). So we had to loosen the cylinder to install a new clamp, When Brian brings one back from Colorado airparts.

I will be flying balloons in Provo this weekend for the Freedom Festival, so i will not be in the hanger. I have check in Wednesday 2-6 in Provo, so will not get anything done with regard to the HAWK or the Mooney. (I would rather stay here but have flown Provo for the past 31 years). I will be back Sunday because there are no flights on the sabbath due to it being Utah.

There is plenty of work to be done even without me. The baffling can be trial fit on the engine. The control installation can proceed. Hopefully Rodger will have his work of art finished (the beautiful carbon fiber instrument panel), and it can be put together. The wiring can be installed etc.

Anyway the build continues- Sorry for no pictures as my finger could not remember to find the shutter button.

Jun 14, 2015 Correspondence

On Sun, Jun 14, 2015 at 1:34 PM, Roy Evarts wrote:

Hey Eddie,

Thats really great news.    I am so impressed with whats going  on.   Any idea about the weight issue?   Not that the 0200 won’t solve a lot of that for you.
All the best,
Roy
The original airplane weighed 740 pounds. with all the changes who knows but I have cut weight everywhere I could. I am hoping we gain less than 50 pounds. We gained weight with the gear mods. We lost weight when we moved the battery forward. I do not know what it had for accessories before, but I am making sure to use everything light weight. The slick mags alone weigh more than 3 pounds less than Bendix mags. We should be able to weigh it in the next few weeks and then we will know if it is a boat anchor. It will still be a lot less than a 150 at about 1000 lbs and has the same power.

Jun 12, 2015 Build Report

We are getting closer to having a flying airplane. The number of young eagles has jumped dramatically and funding is doing much better. Champion Aerospace donated a mag kit, Sky Tech a Starter, and the engine is almost together. The airplane is looking good. So we now need a propeller. WestStar Aviation donated funds to purchase one some time ago, so now I need to get delivery info and final cost. We now have 501C3 non-profit status from the IRS for the Hawk Society so we can give “in kind” donation letters for donations. We now have over 30 members. I need to set up a meeting at Oshkosh with Mr David.  I will be there with my son Tres and the Rutan Boomerang. One of our member’s is Don Coleman the chief antique judge at Oshkosh. Our airport manager Ladd Klingelsmith has been invited to fly the STOL competition demo in his Carbon Cub. We are also working to have several of our young people at Oshkosh. We are trying to have the Hawk at Oshkosh but there is still lots to do.

May 21, 2015 Build Report

May 21, 2015 Build Report  The belly is paintedTHE BELLY IS PAINTED- Anthony, John C and John W came out for the afternoon. I quit working on the Mooney and worked with Anthony to get the belly painted. After a little instruction on how to work a paint gun and how to paint I turned him loose with the gun. This fine young man did an awesome job for his first time ever of painting with an HVLP gun . I have seen professionals not do as good a job. It takes a lot to impress me but he did it. He laid the paint on like he had done it all his life. He left before the revel but I know even he would have been surprised. Now we can remove the paint booth and continue with the assembly of the Hawk- another hurdle done.

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Apr 25, 2015 Build Report

Another day, more done. Saturday was another interesting Hawk build day. I had a new high school student that was really interested in the project and took to it Like a duck to water. Elijah is his name. Both he and his dad helped out Saturday and we managed to get the belly edge paint removed for the pinked reinforcing tapes and most of the tape installed. I am sure he will be back, his goal in life is to be a professional pilot. Very sharp young man. I also had both Silas’s working again this weekend plus Silas’s (guess Which one’s?) Dad who is a CFI and an A/P and works at WestStar. The word just keeps getting out. So far the list of young people regularly working on the project is expanding. They are Josiah, Jake, Haley, Sterling, Parker, Anthony, Silas, and another Silas, and now Elijah plus the Mentors. Things so far are working well as they do not all show up at the same time and there is plenty to do. Next build session should be interesting in that we will need to build a temporary paint booth as we are about ready to start spraying the silver and the paint. I plan on Making a paint booth out of PVC and plastic to keep the over-spray off everything in the hanger- another project!

The engine is proceeding nicely. John C, Anthony and Pat W managed to get Ken P’s lapped valves re-installed in the cylinders, and they do not leak, they held solvent. I took the valve springs to Auto Machine Services and they let me play with their spring tester at no charge. THANKS. The springs tested to new standards and I think they were new. this allowed the springs and keepers to be installed. The case is currently being tested for clearances and alignment and hopefully it will check out. After that I am going to take the steel parts to WestStar for Magnaflux. Then we can begin final assembly. Brian took the rods to Skyways and had them reconditioned. They now have the piston pin bushing replaced, the twist and convergence checked, and the rod bearing journals honed, and they are Magnafluxed. They are certified and we have paperwork, but we are $200.00 poorer. (Cheap for all that was done, normally $100.00 per Rod. Thanks SKYWAYS.) We have paperwork on the cam and lifters, and when WestStar is finished with the Magnaflux on the metal parts, crankshaft and gears etc, we will have paperwork on them also. This engine will be basically new and could go into a certified airplane as an overhaul. We do not have an original log book for this engine, so the time will start from 0 even though some parts are not new. Times unknown. The crank, the case, the pistons, the valves, and all normal replacement parts are new. The only thing old are the cylinders and some of the gears. The cylinders are .015 oversize. The total cost so far is not bad for basically a new 0-200 engine about $3000.00.

The only other things needed are an 0-200 carburetor, mags, plugs and an alternator. Brian brought back an alternator core from Skyways,, but it is a 70 amp Prestolite (off a Cessna 150) and I do not think it will fit between the firewall and the engine. (Plus it is very heavy.) Ladd gave us an 8 amp B&C alternator, but is driven by the vacuum pump drive which is located on the front of the engine, and we do not have the vacuum pump drive gears and drive pad . Cheaper to get a new alternator. Jerry talked to the President of Champion Aerospace at Sun and Fun about a Slick mag kit and he told Jerry that Champion normally does donations at the end of the year and since this is not year end he will take it under advisement. (Keep your fingers crossed). If this does not fly, then I am going to push for an electronic ignition again to save weight. Jay Scheevel thinks this is the way to go and is looking into it. So do I, but that green stuff keeps getting in the way of rational decisions. This would definitely mean we need a reliable alternator, or E-mags which do not need anything. Again we could throw lots of money at it, if we had it. (An airplane is a large hole in the sky that sucks up money.) Some of the things we need ASAP are the correct color paint, some intake hoses and a few engine gaskets, The engine mount spacers for conical mounts (Ercoupe C-85 to 0-200 to clear cowling) and new rubber mounts, $120.00 for the spacers, and lots of time. Once the belly is painted, then it will be time for final assembly of the airframe. Things should go fairly quickly at this point, as most of the large hard parts are finished, except for the new gear bungees (my project). As to paint, I could spend money with Poly fiber or I can have Pat Trim of Hightower Suppy color match and mix some Polyurethane paint that is flexible and can be put on fabric. It would be cheaper (probably nearly free).  Pat is an old time modeler (part president of the Grand Junction Modelers) and uses it on his models, He said it would work good. ANY THOUGHTS on THIS WOULD BE APPRECIATED! I am in the hanger every Wednesday afternoon if anyone has time to work on the Hawk or I can fit to daily schedules that work – Oshkosh is coming fast!. ANYWAY THE BUILD CONTINUES!